Around Town

Arlington’s resident running superhero Michael Wardian is preparing to attempt another outrageous athletic feat.

Having already run 10 marathons in 10 days, nearly qualified for the Olympics, run across Israel in a record-breaking 10 days, won a marathon while dressed like Elvis, set a world record for running back-to-back marathons on all seven continents, and set another world record for fastest indoor marathon, Wardian is planning to go full Gump and run across the continental United States this summer.


Opinion

There’s little doubt that a retail apocalypse is underway, though there is some debate about how to assign blame.

Store closures and imminent closures in Arlington since last summer include Abercrombie & Fitch, Swatch and Papyrus at the Pentagon City mall; World Market in Pentagon City; Rite Aid in Crystal City; and Pier 1 in Rosslyn. Malls in Tysons have also seen a spate of recent closures.


News

No Coronavirus in N. Va. So Far — “UPDATE: Tests came back negative on a second Northern Virginia resident suspected of having the novel coronavirus.” [Twitter]

HQ2 Search Was Intended to Extract Handouts — “When Elon Musk secured $1.3 billion from Nevada in 2014 to open a gigantic battery plant, Jeff Bezos noticed. In meetings, the Amazon.com Inc. chief expressed envy for how Musk had pitted five Western states against one another in a bidding war for thousands of manufacturing jobs; he wondered why Amazon was okay with accepting comparatively trifling incentives.” [Bloomberg]


News

Kabob Palace restaurant in Crystal City has sent a cease and desist letter to ARLnow, threatening legal action over an article that reported on a possible measles exposure there.

The article was published Friday evening, after Arlington County and the Virginia Dept. of Health issued press releases warning that a person with measles had traveled to a number of places in Northern Virginia, including the restaurant on the 2300 block of S. Eads Street.


News

A Pentagon City resident was attacked and robbed while walking back to his apartment early Saturday morning.

The incident happened around 3 a.m. Saturday, on the 400 block of 12th Street S. — which is home to a pair of high rise residential buildings and is a block away from Amazon’s future, under-construction HQ2.


News

Cristol Reacts to Lawmaker’s Arlington Suggestion — After another Republican state Senator suggested, jokingly, that Arlington and Alexandria go back to being part of D.C., Arlington’s state lawmakers and County Board member Katie Cristol were not amused. Cristol tweeted: “Hmmm, is it possible their grievance is that my diverse, progressive constituents are EXACTLY what it means to be a ‘Real Virginian’ in 2020?” [Twitter, Blue Virginia]

More on Planned Pentagon City Study — “County staff have been overwhelmed by a flood of new development applications in the area since Amazon announced its intentions to set up its second headquarters. And the sizes of some of those projects have been so large that staff have begun urging developers to be patient and wait for a revision of the area’s planning documents before pursuing them.” [Washington Business Journal]


News

A person with measles might have exposed people to the disease at a local restaurant last weekend.

Arlington County and the Virginia Department of Health disclosed today that the measles patient visited Kabob Palace in Crystal City, at 2333 S. Eads Street, from about 9 p.m. Sunday to 1 a.m. Monday. The patient also spent time Dulles International Airport and sites in Fairfax County, including a hotel and Inova Fairfax Hospital.


Around Town

Progress is being made on Huevos, a new “all-day egg concept” from Chef Victor Albisu of Taco Bamba fame.

Albisu tells ARLnow that the restaurant’s design is nearly complete and the interior build-out will begin soon. He still expects the restaurant, in the former Yona space at 4000 Wilson Blvd, to open at some point this spring.


Around Town

(Updated at 9:40 a.m.) The Ballston Harris Teeter store is set for redevelopment, but in the meantime it remains open and is reducing its hours.

Signs posted around the store say that starting Wednesday, Feb. 26 it will go from being open 24 hours a day to being open from 6 a.m. to midnight.


News

Small Apartment Fire in Waverly Hills — “At approx 2 p.m. units were called to the 2000 blk of N. Woodrow St. Firefighters quickly extinguished fire in kitchen with minimal fire spread. Occupants escaped unharmed, not expected to be displaced. No firefighter injuries. Cause of the fire is under investigation.” [Twitter]

Parents Anxiously Waiting for APS Schedule — “Some Arlington parents are frustrated school leaders have not confirmed when school will start this fall. ‘We all like to plan ahead,’ said Arlington parent Meghan Thomas who is trying to plan her family’s summer travel and her kids sports schedule. ‘It is very frustrating not knowing right now what the August schedule is going to be.'” [WJLA]


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