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Morning Poll: Do You Support Sen. Ebbin’s Marijuana Decriminalization Bill?

Published January 15, 2016 at 11:00AM | Updated January 16, 2018 at 2:31PM

Ebbin, who has won the endorsement of the pro-pot group NORML, proposed a similar bill last year, but it failed in the conservative Virginia General Assembly.

The bill, SB 104, would reduce marijuana possession to a civil offense punishable only by fines, like a traffic ticket, rather than jail time. It would also reduce the criminal penalties for marijuana distribution and possession with the intent to distribute.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 15, 2016 at 10:00AM | Updated January 15, 2016 at 10:17AM

Another Roll-Over Crash on I-66 — Last night, around 3 a.m., an SUV that was being chased by police overturned after exiting I-66 at East Falls Church. At the same time, another roll-over crash happened on the Fairfax Drive ramp to westbound I-66. A vehicle flipped over as a result of a crash involving it and another vehicle. [WTOP]

Planned Power Outage at Courthouse Plaza — Businesses and elevators at the Courthouse Plaza shopping center will be without power from 3 a.m. to noon Saturday as part of scheduled electrical work. Among the businesses affected will be the AMC movie theater and the Starbucks. [Twitter, Twitter]

News

State Police Chase Ends With Wreck in East Falls Church

By ARLnow.com

Published January 15, 2016 at 8:50AM

The vehicle pursuit began around 2:45 a.m., when a Virginia State Police trooper pulled over a Nissan Xterra that was heading east on I-66 at a high rate of speed.

“During the course of the traffic stop, the Nissan fled from the trooper and headed east on I-66. The suspect vehicle took Exit 68 and the trooper lost sight of it,” according to a VSP press release. “As the Nissan came through the exit ramp, it ran off the road, went through a fence, struck a tree and then an unoccupied vehicle in a parking lot. The driver then fled the scene on foot.”

Traffic

Flashing Yellow Arrows Coming to Arlington Intersections

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2016 at 3:45PM

The flashing yellow signals will replace the familiar left turn signal with unblinking green and yellow arrows.

The older signals run from green arrow, to yellow arrow, to a solid green light, followed by a solid red. They’re accompanied by a metal sign that says “left turn yield on green.”

News

Pace of Road Paving in Arlington Has Tripled in Five Years

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2016 at 11:40AM

The pace of road paving in Arlington has more than tripled in the past five years, according to newly-released stats.

News

ACFD Responds to Carbon Monoxide Incident at Fort Myer Child Center

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2016 at 11:00AM | Updated January 14, 2016 at 12:09PM

The incident is taking place at the Cody Child Development Center on the base. Firefighters were dispatched there shortly after 10 a.m.

According to scanner traffic, employees and children were evacuated to an auditorium due to a high level of carbon monoxide in the building. The source of the CO has been traced back to a malfunctioning boiler.

News

Accessibility Changes Coming to Crystal City Shops

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2016 at 10:20AM

A citizen’s complaint led federal prosecutors to investigate the indoor shopping concourse, which runs along Crystal Drive and connects with the Crystal City Metro station. The complaint stated that portions of the shops are inaccessible to those with disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

As a result of the agreement, Vornado will build ramps or lifts in portions of the shopping center that were previously only accessible by stairs. New signage, accessible parking spaces and accessible restroom fixtures will also be added.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 14, 2016 at 9:15AM | Updated January 14, 2016 at 9:34AM

State Lawmaker: Add Lanes to I-66 — State Sen. Chap Petersen (D), who represents part of Fairfax County, doesn’t much care for Arlington’s efforts to dissuade VDOT from adding an extra lane to I-66. “When I was a little boy, we put a man on the moon. We can figure out how to put six lanes through Arlington County,” Petersen said in an interview. [WTOP]

Del. Levine Proposes Minimum Wage Increase — For his first piece of state legislation, freshman Del. Mark Levine (D) has proposed a bill that would allow localities in Virginia to raise the minimum wage up to $10. The maximum amount would then rise every year with the consumer price index. The likelihood of the bill passing is slim. [InsideNova]

News

Crime Report: Young Man Gropes Butt, Teen Smashes Mug on Man’s Head

By ARLnow.com

Published January 13, 2016 at 4:55PM

A young man groped a woman’s butt while she was walking in the Columbia Heights West neighborhood last Friday morning.

From this week’s Arlington County crime report:

News

Arlington Man Charged in Alexandria Murder

By ARLnow.com

Published January 13, 2016 at 1:20PM | Updated January 13, 2016 at 6:55PM

Edwin Umana was charged in the homicide of a 22-year-old man, Eduardo Almendarez, whose body was found stabbed in Four Mile Run Park, near Potomac Yard, on Dec. 4.

Alexandria Police say the the crime was “gang-motivated” and that Umana was a member of the MS-13 gang. Almendarez was not in the gang, said Alexandria Police spokesman Crystal Nosal.

Opinion

Morning Poll: More Snow, Please?

By ARLnow.com

Published January 13, 2016 at 11:45AM

There’s some additional potential snow in the forecast for Sunday, but nothing of the Snowmageddon variety.

Are you hoping for more snow this winter, or rooting for the current snow-less trend to continue?

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 13, 2016 at 10:30AM | Updated January 13, 2016 at 11:01AM

Advisory Board Wants Birthday Cake Banned from Schools — Student birthday celebrations are getting out of hand in Arlington Public Schools, with too many sugary treats being consumed as a result. That’s the view of the Student Health Advisory Board, which made its case to the School Board last week. Some individual schools in Arlington have banned birthday celebrations or, at least, sweet birthday treats. The overall school system, however, does not currently have a formal policy on the matter. [InsideNova]

Del. Hope Wants to Ban ‘Conversion Therapy’ — Del. Patrick Hope (D) has introduced a bill to ban so-called conversion therapy for minors in Virginia. Practitioners of the controversial “therapy” claim that it can change the sexual orientation of individuals from homosexual to heterosexual. [Washington Blade]