Author: Alex Koma

News

County Plans to Pilot New Bike, Pedestrian Features on N. Pershing Drive

By Alex Koma
A rendering of changes along N. Pershing Drive as it runs up to N. Barton Street (via Arlington County)

Arlington is gearing up to test some protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety features along a heavily trafficked stretch of N. Pershing Drive in Lyon Park.

The county plans to install the new “safety and accessibility improvements” on the road between Washington Blvd and N. Barton Street in the coming weeks, as part of some previously scheduled summer paving work in the area. Mainly, the construction will focus on adding protected bike lanes alongside some new landscaping designed to better separate cars from pedestrians.

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News

Morning Notes

By Alex Koma
Rosslyn Metro station (Flickr pool photo via Wolfkann)

Arlington Has Some of the Oldest First-Time Mothers Nationwide — A new analysis suggests that the average Arlingtonian mother has her first child at 31, putting the county sixth in the nation in terms of the oldest average age. Falls Church ranks fourth. [New York Times]

School Board Approves Final Reed School Design — After reviewing plans last month, school leaders have signed off on new schematics for an elementary school in Westover. [InsideNova]

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Events

County Holding ‘Our Shared Street’ Block Party to Educate Commuters

By Alex Koma

Commuters looking to learn more about local transportation options can swing by a block party along Columbia Pike tomorrow night (Tuesday).

Arlington Transportation Partners is hosting its second “Our Shared Street Pop-Up” event on a closed street at the intersection of S. Oakland Street and Columbia Pike, just across from the Oakland Apartments.

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News

Police Investigating More Airbag Thefts in Crystal City, Pentagon City

By Alex Koma
File photo

Arlington County police believe “the windows of approximately 20 vehicles were smashed and airbags stolen” across the area sometime on Friday night, according to a crime report.

They add that the thieves stole the tires and rims off two of those vehicles. In all, police believe the incidents occurred on the following streets:

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News

Arlington Democrats Back Striking National Guard Workers

By Alex Koma
County Board Chair Katie Cristol (middle) meets with striking Didlake workers in June. (via @kcristol)

Arlington Democrats are throwing their support behind a group of workers with disabilities who have spent the last few months on strike, demanding the chance to unionize.

The county’s Democratic Committee voted Wednesday (Aug. 1) to urge Didlake, a Manassas nonprofit who employees the workers, to “respect the rights of its workers” at the Army National Guard Readiness Center on S. George Mason Drive and recognize that they’ve repeatedly voted to form a union.

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News

Washington, D.C. Man Pleads Guilty to 2017 Murder at Williamsburg Party

By Alex Koma

Jason Allen Johnson, 39, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and two gun charges on Tuesday (July 31), averting the need for a trial previously set for September.

Investigators believe Johnson got into an argument with 23-year-old Michael Gray of Manassas on Feb. 17, 2017 while the pair attended a party at a home on the 6300 block of 29th Street N., not far from Bishop O’Connell High School. Police believe Johnson then shot Gray, who later died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.

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News

JUST IN: Girl Believed to be Abducted from DCA Found Safe

By Alex Koma
JinJing Ma (courtesy of Virginia State Police)

The 12-year-old girl police believed was abducted from Reagan National Airport yesterday (Thursday) has been found safe.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says JinJing Ma was located today, after issuing an Amber Alert for her yesterday. Ma was “found in the New York City borough of Queens, safe and in the custody of her parents,” according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

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Around Town

Construction on Dudley’s Picks Up Steam, As Opening Nears

By Alex Koma
Work on Dudley's Sport and Ale in Shirlington continues (via Facebook)

Work on a long-awaited Shirlington sports bar seems to be picking up steam.

Dudley’s Sport and Ale, set to be located at 2766 S. Arlington Mill Drive in the Village at Shirlington, could be open in time for football season to kick off, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

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Schools

APS Presses Ahead With W-L Renaming Process, Despite Lawsuit

By Alex Koma

Arlington Public Schools is pushing ahead with the process of renaming Washington-Lee High School, just a few weeks after three current students filed a lawsuit to block the move.

The school system opened up applications last night (Thursday) for anyone looking to serve on the committee charged with finding a new name for the high school. The School Board voted two months ago to effectively strip Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s name from the building, after calls for a change intensified in the wake of last summer’s violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

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