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Morning Notes

Published March 31, 2022 at 7:30AM

Rainy day at Amazon's under-construction HQ2 in Pentagon City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Local Chef Now in Poland — “Bayou Bakery’s David Guas started the day the way he starts many days — before dawn with a table full of biscuit dough. This Friday morning, though, the New Orleans-native stood in a kitchen in Poland — far from his Arlington, Virginia, cafe… working with José Andrés’s organization World Central Kitchen (WCK). Guas is spending two weeks volunteering in Poland with WCK, cooking and packaging food for the tens of thousands streaming in from Ukraine.” [Eater]

Cars Collide Multiple Times on Bridge — From Dave Statter: “Caught on camera… this was a pretty wild #crash on the 14th Street Bridge (I-395N) at 2:15 this morning. Looked like bumper cars… You’ll see one car slowing down almost to a stop in VA b4 the bridge waiting for the 2nd car. Was this a #DragRace that went bad or #RoadRage or a little of both?” [Twitter]

Arlington Pet of the Week: Monty

By ARLnow.com

Published March 30, 2022 at 11:45AM

Say hello to Monty! This fluffy 10-year-old is Arlington’s latest Pet of the Week. Monty is an avid adventurer who is loved by his humans.

His owners had a few words to say about him:

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 30, 2022 at 7:30AM

Lunchtime in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Public Safety Watchdog Profiled — “Like a lot of people, Dave Statter got a bit bored when the pandemic hit and he was pretty much confined to his home. But unlike most of us, Statter lives high atop a Crystal City building overlooking I-395. Why binge Netflix when just outside the window is real-life drama, pathos, tragedy and comedy, all captured by the five video cameras Statter has trained on the traffic below?” [Washington Post]

Aquatics Center Struggling to Hire — “It’s been open for almost three-quarters of a year, but Arlington’s Long Bridge Park aquatics center is not immune for finding personnel that are plaguing the rest of the county government… The aquatics facility, which opened last summer after a lengthy and difficult birthing process, is still in need of a general manager and aquatics-program manager, and the 16 lifeguards on staff would require an infusion of eight to 10 more to bring it to a full complement.” [Sun Gazette]

News

ACPD: Man who skipped out on bill nearly struck security guard with vehicle

By ARLnow.com

Published March 29, 2022 at 3:00PM | Updated March 31, 2022 at 3:57PM

File photo

Another incident drew a police response to a rowdy block of 23rd Street in Crystal City on Sunday night.

Police say a couple skipped out on their bill at an establishment on the 300 block of 23rd Street S. just before 11:30 p.m. A security guard who tried to write down the license plate of the suspects’ vehicle was then nearly run over, and another parked car was damaged, as they made their getaway, according to a crime report today.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Are you using Nextdoor more or less than last year?

By ARLnow.com

Published March 29, 2022 at 10:00AM | Updated March 29, 2022 at 11:01AM

Love it or hate it, Nextdoor has undeniably found its place in local life here in Arlington.

It’s a place where people go to buy, sell and give away things; kvetch about noise or other local inconveniences; share crime and safety tips; and — for the past week at least — share lots of photos of cherry blossoms. It’s used by thousands of Arlington residents and the county itself to share information.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 29, 2022 at 7:30AM

Cherry blossoms in Pentagon City in 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Changes Coming to ‘Crossing Clarendon’ — “Our central greenspace, The Loop, will be expanding to offer more spaces to walk, shop, relax and explore The Crossing Clarendon. This renovation includes natural planting and landscaping, a modern play structure for the kids, upgrades to the water feature, increased pedestrian zones, and updated seating for our visitors. Construction is slated until late 2022.” [Instagram]

HQ2 Is Attracting Companies, Investors — “The National Landing area, which encompasses Crystal City, Pentagon City and part of Potomac Yard in Arlington, has an $8B development pipeline, $2.5B of which is from Amazon, National Landing BID President Tracy Sayegh Gabriel said… Neighborhood leaders, developers and brokers said that HQ2 is drawing new global investors and commercial tenants to seek opportunities in the area.” [Bisnow]

Around Town

Local officials cut ribbon on garden featuring 33,000 daffodils

By ARLnow.com

Published March 28, 2022 at 11:35AM

County Board member Libby Garvey and other officials get a tour of Culpepper Garden's spring daffodils (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The weather may be windy and cold today, but it was sunny and more spring-like on Friday for the opening of a local retirement community’s famed daffodil garden.

A number of local officials attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Culpepper Garden community for low-income seniors, located in the Buckingham neighborhood at 4435 N. Pershing Drive.

News

TSA nabs pistol-packing Arlington man at DCA

By ARLnow.com

Published March 28, 2022 at 9:45AM

"This gun and ammunition were detected by TSA in a traveler’s carry-on bag at Reagan National Airport on March 24" (photo via TSA)

A local man is facing federal charges after bringing a handgun to Reagan National Airport.

The unnamed Arlington resident had a gun and five bullets found in his carry-on luggage at the airport’s security checkpoint, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 28, 2022 at 7:30AM

Pastel colors in the skies over the National Mall during peak bloom weekend, as seen from Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Traffic Restricted on Deteriorating Bridge — “As a result of a bridge inspection today, Friday, March 25, engineers closed the existing southbound lane of the West Glebe Bridge between Arlington and Alexandria due to further degradation of structural beams. The northbound lane of the bridge over South Four Mile Run will remain open, making the bridge one-way to traffic and requiring a detour for southbound automobiles. The bridge’s maximum load rating of 5 tons will remain in place with a critical need for heavier vehicles – primarily buses and dump trucks — to comply for public safety.” [Arlington County]

Graupel Covers Fields, Prompts Tweets — An ice pellet downpour covered the ground in parts of Arlington on Saturday afternoon: “Well that was wild… heavy downpour rain and graupel swept through near Clarendon.” [Twitter, Twitter]

News

NEW: Asian food chain Wagamama coming to former Oz space in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Published March 25, 2022 at 4:30PM

Food at Wagamama (courtesy photo)

A British restaurant chain serving “Asian food inspired by the flavors of Japan” is coming to Arlington.

Wagamama is expected to open in Clarendon this summer, the company announced. It will be located in a 5,100 square foot space at 2950 Clarendon Blvd — formerly home to Oz Restaurant and the short-lived La Tagliatella — and will be the first D.C. area location for the company.

Schools

Elementary school locks down iPads after ‘inappropriate use’

By ARLnow.com

Published March 25, 2022 at 2:45PM | Updated March 25, 2022 at 4:01PM

Apple iPad (file photo)

(Updated at 4 p.m.) Oakridge Elementary students are no longer allowed to take their school-issued iPads home due to reports of “inappropriate use.”

The policy will be in place “for the foreseeable future,” Principal Lynn Wright told families in a School Talk email, after “teachers, students and families have shared that iPads are being used inappropriately outside of school hours.”

Around Town

Open houses in Arlington this weekend

By ARLnow.com

Published March 25, 2022 at 12:45PM

3100 N. Oxford Street

Happy Friday and welcome to another round of open houses as we enter the last weekend in March.

In the last 4 weeks there have been 177 new listings and 239 sales, according to Homesnap. Currently, there are 413 homes for sale with 292 of those being condos. The median sales price is $620,000 and the median list price is $552,900.