News

Projected Subsidy Soars for Aquatics Center — The planned Long Bridge Park Aquatics Center could require more than $4 million per year in subsidies from the county government, according to new projections. That’s up from projections as low at $1 million per year. “Certainly there are other priorities that arguably should come before building a luxury pools facility,” said local fiscal watchdog Wayne Kubicki. Construction contracts for the aquatics center are expected to be awarded early next year. [Sun Gazette]

County May Allow Less Office Parking, For a Fee — Arlington County is considering a system that would allow office developers to build less than the currently-required amount of parking, in exchange for a per-parking-space fee. The fee would then be used for public improvements in the area around the building, or for Transportation Demand Management Services for the building’s tenants. [Greater Greater Washington]


News

Construction on the Pentagon City Multimodal Project on S. Hayes Street is expected to wrap up this spring, county officials say.

The project has been under construction since the summer of 2012. It’s expected to bring numerous streetscape improvements to the stretch of Hayes Street between 15th Street and Army Navy Drive. The stretch includes entrances to the Pentagon City Metro station and the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall.


Traffic

Two passengers of a Red Top taxi cab were injured in a three-vehicle collision today.

The crash happened around noon in the southbound lanes of George Mason Drive, in front of the Army National Guard Readiness Center. Initial reports suggest an Arlington County work truck and the Red Top Cab sedan were stopped in the right-hand lane when the cab was rear-ended by an Advanced Towing truck. The cab was sandwiched between the other two vehicles, causing front- and rear-end damage.


News

The incident happened just past 11:00 a.m., near the intersection of 16th Street S. and Glebe Road. A man struck his nephew in the head with a baseball bat following a verbal argument, according to police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck.

The victim was transported to the trauma center at Inova Fairfax Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, including a “significant laceration” on his head. He was alert and conscious when police arrived.


Opinion

One of the county’s best-known Christmas tree sellers, the Optimist Club of Arlington, is expecting a record number of sales this year, according to the Sun Gazette. The club has ordered 1,200 trees from forests in North Carolina — 100 more than last year, when all trees were gone by Dec. 18.

The Optimist Club sells its trees from the parking lot of the Wells Fargo bank at Glebe Road and Lee Highway. Other Christmas tree sellers around town include the Boy Scouts (6000 Wilson Blvd), the Lions Club (Columbia Pike and George Mason Drive), and the Knights of Columbus (830 23rd Street S.), according to a recent forum thread.


News

Sheriff Sees Former Inmates Around Town — Arlington Sheriff Beth Arthur gets recognized by former inmates when out and about in Arlington. “I’ll be in the grocery store, and they’ll come up to me and say, ‘Hi, I was in your jail,'” she said in an interview. [Washington Post]

Metro Sends Ad Out to Alert Subscribers — Subscribers of MetroAlerts received an ad from WMATA — selling tickets to the BB&T Classic basketball tournament — in their inbox last week, upsetting some customers. Opined a Greater Greater Washington writer: “Spamming riders with promotions unrelated to Metro service reduces the value of MetroAlerts and it wastes riders’ time.” [Greater Greater Washington]


Feature

(Updated at 12:20 a.m.) If you’ve managed to digest all the turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie, survive awkward in-law encounters and avoid the Black Friday shopping crowds, congratulations: you can officially start the non-stressful part of the Thanksgiving weekend.

For those looking to do a little home shopping with their holiday shopping, there are plenty of open houses this weekend to check out.


News

Yes, another Black Friday is here, complete with the massive pile of circulars in the newspaper and the requisite TV news images of shoppers rampaging through big box stores at midnight.

Of course, Black Friday is no longer the only post-Thanksgiving shopping game in town. Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday have joined the ranks as industry-created shopping holidays.


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