Author: ARLnow.com

Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. The ARLnow staff byline is used for the Morning Notes and reporting done by an editor or other member of our full-time staff.

Around Town

New Italian Restaurant Coming to Ballston

By ARLnow.com

A new Italian restaurant is coming to Ballston early next year.

Il Forno Restaurant is coming to the ground floor of the Virginia Tech Research Center building at 900 N. Glebe Road, near the Greene Turtle. The restaurant will have 124 seats and a pizza oven that’s being imported from Italy, according to owner Charles Nejat, a sales manager at the nearby Arlington Mercedes-Benz dealership.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Greens Vote ‘No’ on Park Bond — The Arlington Green Party has joined the Arlington County Republican Committee in opposing the $50.5 million park bond that’s on the Nov. 6 ballot. The bond would largely help fund a new Long Bridge Park aquatics center. The Greens said the aquatics center is “wasteful” and a “vanity project.” The Greens stayed neutral on the $42.6 million school bond, with some members criticizing the plan to build two new elementary schools because it is “too costly and eliminates green space and recreation fields.” [Arlington Mercury]

APS Enrollment on the Rise — Enrollment at Arlington Public Schools is up 3.7 percent versus one year ago. The growth — mostly at the elementary school level and mostly in North Arlington — is in line with school administrators’ projections. There are now 22,657 pre-K to 12th grade students enrolled at Arlington’s public schools. [Sun Gazette]

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Around Town

ACFD to Host Open Houses for Fire Prevention Week

By ARLnow.com

In addition to placing Fire Prevention Week signs outside fire stations (see the Spider-man sign, left), the Arlington County Fire Department will be hosting open houses at 8 of the county’s 10 fire stations. (There will be no open houses at fire stations 2 and 4, which are both undergoing renovations.)

The open houses will be held on Saturday, Oct. 13 from 10:00 to 4:00 p.m. Depending on the fire station there will be activities and food, including moon bounces and popcorn, plus fire safety handouts for adults and kids. Firefighters will also be available to answer fire safety questions.

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News

Columbus Day Closures in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Among the closures are county government offices, courts, DMV Select offices, the Department of Human Services, libraries, and public schools.

Community centers are closed, with the exception of Barcroft, which is open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Washington-Lee High School pool is also open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Wakefield and Yorktown pools are open from noon to 6:00 p.m.

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Around Town

Rose Celebration at Rose Garden Canceled Due to Lack of Roses

By ARLnow.com

The event was to include “docent led tours, potting stations for your own rose rootings, poetry readings, cookies and lemonade” at the garden, which contains some 2,000 roses. Instead, the event was called off last week because of a midge infestation that decimated most of the rose buds before they had a chance to reveal their fall blooms.

“The reason for lack of bloom was due to an insect (i.e. midge),” Arlington County Environmental Landscape Supervisor Patrick Wegeng said in an email. “We found the midge’s work approximately three weeks ago. We sprayed last week to halt the infestation… It has been determined however that most bloom will not recover this season.”

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Around Town

Melody Tavern Closes Its Doors

By ARLnow.com

Melody Tavern (3650 S. Glebe Road), a bar/restaurant that hosted live music, has closed after about a year in business. On Facebook, the owners thanked customers for “10 wonderful months.”

“This location is far more challenging than anticipated so we have decided to close the doors,” the Facebook post said. “We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause some. Thank you and God Bless.”

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Around Town

UPDATED: Cantina Mexicana Expanding to Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

Update at 4:15 p.m. — Co-owner Gloria Arias tells ARLnow.com that the restaurant will have the same menu as the Crystal City location. She’s hoping to open the new restaurant in November.

Crystal City Tex-Mex restaurant Cantina Mexicana is expanding with a second location in Arlington.

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News

Power Outage in North Arlington

By ARLnow.com

The outage has been reported in the Westover and Bluemont neighborhoods, as well as in the area around Virginia Hospital Center. Traffic lights are out along parts of George Mason Drive and Washington Blvd, according to several Twitter users. The outage was first reported just before 12:30 p.m.

Dominion is telling customers the outage is the result of “a circuit breaker issue,” according to a tipster.

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