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McChrystal Speaks Out Against Lee — Amid the furor over changing the name of Washington-Lee High School, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who attended W-L, says it’s time to set aside icons like Robert E. Lee and “combat our desire to mythologize our history and our leaders.” [Washington Post]
Soft Opening for Shirlington Ice Cream Shop — Rolled ice cream shop I-CE-NY is scheduled to hold a soft opening tonight in Shirlington from 4:30-9:30 p.m. [Instagram]
(Updated at 7:30 p.m.) Arlington and Fairfax firefighters responded tonight (Wednesday) to a fire at a mid-rise apartment building along Columbia Pike.
The fire broke out around 4:30 p.m. at The Shell apartments at 870 S. Greenbrier Street.
A crash at the intersection of N. Pershing Drive and Route 50 is causing significant backups.
The crash was reported around 5:45 p.m. As of 6 p.m., all westbound lanes of Route 50 (Arlington Blvd) were blocked and traffic was backing up past Courthouse.
Facebook has been making headlines lately for all the wrong reasons, so we checked in with Justin Bensan, Social Communications Specialist at the Rosslyn Business Improvement District, to talk about what’s going on in the world of social media.
This episode was recorded prior to Amazon’s HQ2 announcement, but we asked Justin about what it means for a place like Rosslyn nonetheless.
This week’s Arlington Pet of the Week is Bella, a schnoodle puppy in Ballston.
Here’s what her owner, Robin, had to say on her behalf:
The first TV commercials started around Halloween. Mall storefronts began to change over around the same time.
Yes, Christmas starts early these days. But not everyone likes the mid-autumn kickoff to the holiday season.
Murder Case Advances After Court Ruling — “The Maryland man charged with brutally killing his lover’s ex-boyfriend laid in wait at his Arlington town house before strangling, shooting and stabbing the man to death, prosecutors said.” On Monday, an Arlington judge “ruled there is probable cause [Jitesh] Patel killed 40-year-old John Giandoni in March 2018.” [WTOP]
Food Safety Tips for the Holidays — Arlington’s health department has compiled a list of safety tips for those cooking holiday meals at home. Regarding turkey, which has been blamed for a recent salmonella outbreak, the department notes that “food handling errors and inadequate cooking are the most common problems that lead to poultry-associated food-borne disease outbreaks in the United States.” [Arlington County]
(Updated at 9:15 a.m.) Southbound Route 110 at Boundary Channel Drive, near the Pentagon, is currently closed due to a crash.
The crash involved two dump trucks, according to initial reports, which were echoed by a tipster who works at the Pentagon.
Activists Speak Out Against Amazon — “Activists who believe the fix is in and the Arlington government already has rolled over for Amazon used what limited opportunities they had at the Nov. 17 County Board meeting to demand more accountability and transparency from elected officials… The confrontational stance taken Saturday by a coalition of left-leaning groups on the issue ended the five-day high Arlington officials had been on since” the Amazon HQ2 announcement last week. [InsideNova, YouTube]
Experts: Amazon Real Estate Boost May Take Awhile — “The arrival of Amazon is likely to help boost parts of the local real estate market… But pump the brakes on the enthusiasm just a bit — any growth regionwide in home sales due to Amazon will be a plus, but not so large that it overshadows overall market dynamics. ‘My sense is that Amazon’s arrival will not have an immediate noticeable impact, but will over time be a contributor to increased values in close-in Northern Virginia,’ said Carol Temple, a certified residential specialist with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.” [InsideNova]
Arlington and Virginia economic development officials have landed the big prize — Amazon — and now are hoping that the e-commerce and cloud computing giant’s arrival will help them lure other West Coast tech firms.
Victor Hoskins, Arlington Economic Development Director, said Friday at the DCA Live Big Growth Summit in Crystal City that he and state officials have taken trips to Silicon Valley and other West Coast locales in an effort to convince companies to consider moving or opening offices in Arlington.
New Elementary School at Reed Site Approved — “The Arlington County Board today approved a new elementary school for up to 732 students at the Reed site, 1644 N. McKinley Road, in the Westover neighborhood. The Board voted unanimously to approve a use permit amendment for Arlington Public Schools to renovate and expand the existing Reed School/Westover Library to create a neighborhood elementary school.” [Arlington County]
Here’s Where Amazon is Coming, Exactly — Amazon will be leasing office space at three JBG Smith buildings in Crystal City: 241 18th Street S., 1800 S. Bell Street and 1770 Crystal Drive. Amazon also agreed to buy two JBG-owned land parcels in Pentagon City that are approved for development: PenPlace and the remaining portion of Metropolitan Park. [Washington Business Journal]
