Author: Ethan Rothstein

Events

Civil War Re-Enactments Scheduled for Sunday

By Ethan Rothstein

Starting at 10:00 a.m., members of the Arlington County Board and the Old Glebe Civic Association will be on hand to unveil a replica cannon, three new viewing areas and nine new interpretive signs, all built as part of the Fort Ethan Allen Interpretive Project. In addition, a built-to-scale bronze replica of the original Fort Ethan Allen — which was built by the Union as part of the defense of Washington, D.C. — will be unveiled for the public.

The project was funded after Old Glebe requested it as part of the Neighborhood Conservation Program and the Board approved it in 2010. Construction began last fall.

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News

Board Approves Hotel in Wilson Tavern Space

By Ethan Rothstein

The hotel construction will displace Wilson Tavern and Northern Virginia Mixed Martial Arts on the 2400 block of Wilson Blvd.

The construction will also include four single-family homes behind the hotel on 16th Street N., acting as a buffer between the new building and Lyon Village’s existing single-family homes. The houses standing now, which are occupied by renters, according to the county, will be torn down and replaced.

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Feature

Pike Startup Making Lawsuits Easier For Big Firms

By Ethan Rothstein

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

That’s why the three left their jobs and founded Mindseye in 2008 as a next-generation tool for eDiscovery, giving law firms and corporations the ability to save heaps of time scouring electronic files for documents.

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News

UPDATE: Two Killed in Nauck House Fire

By Ethan Rothstein

(Updated at 7:05 p.m.)Two people were killed in a two-alarm blaze that engulfed a house on the 1900 block of S. Langley Street this afternoon.

The Arlington County Fire Department confirmed on Twitter that two occupants of the Nauck two-story house who had been unaccounted for more than an hour after the fire was reported were found dead. The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing.

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News

Arlington Could Extend Tax Breaks to Small Tech Firms

By Ethan Rothstein

Currently, technology firms located in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, Crystal City, Columbia Pike and Shirlington only have to pay 50 percent or less of the county’s standard business license tax rate, 36-cent per $100 of gross receipts. For tech companies with between 500 and 999 employees, the rate is 14 cents. For tech companies with more than 1,000 employees, it falls farther to 10 cents.

Tech companies located along the Pike or in Shirlington have no minimum for the amount of employees to qualify for the reduced tax rate. However, in the R-B Corridor and Crystal City — the county’s two “Downtown Technology Zones” — tech firms must have at least 100 employees to pay the 18-cent rate. The County Board could approve waiving the minimum at its meeting this Saturday.

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News

Williamsburg Residents Speak Out After Pedestrian Death

By Ethan Rothstein

Arlington County Police Chief Doug Scott gave members of the Williamsburg Civic Association updates on the investigation into the death of 39-year-old Jennifer Lawson, and he took questions from more than 20 residents, most of whom demanded action to increase pedestrian safety in the area.

Scott said the driver of the truck was neither speeding nor distracted when his vehicle struck Lawson’s minivan.

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News

County Board to Consider Dedicated Funding for Baseball, Softball Fields

By Ethan Rothstein

Currently, the county collects fees from all leagues that use county fields — for youth, it’s $8 per resident and $20 for non-residents. It’s $100 per team per season for adults — but there is no dedicated funding stream for the improvement of baseball and softball fields. The fees have, to this point, been used to fund the replacement of soccer and other rectangle fields with artificial turf.

If approved, the Field Fund would be segregated, and fees collected from using diamond fields would be reserved just for those fields. In addition, staff is asking the Board to dedicate $85,000 in seed funding for the field improvements.

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News

Board Expected to Downgrade Historic Status of Pike Buildings

By Ethan Rothstein

The County Board will likely decide on Saturday to designate 2408 Columbia Pike and 2338-2344 Columbia Pike as “historic facades,” a step down from their current “historic buildings” designation, which grants them full preservation.

The two buildings were designated as historic in 2002 as part of the Columbia Pike revitalization plan. According to the county’s staff report, they were again designated historic in the plan’s 2005 update.

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Schools

APS Wants Nearly 100 Trees Removed For Ashlawn Addition

By Ethan Rothstein

The initial use permit for the addition called for 54 trees to be removed to make room the expansion. After consulting a certified arborist, Arlington Public Schools staff is asking the County Board to approve the removal of 40 additional trees.

Once construction is complete, APS is suggesting planting 224 new trees, up from the 127 that was approved by the County Board last May. The increase is to comply with county policy on replacing trees that are removed for construction, Assistant Superintendent for Facilities and Operations John Chadwick told ARLnow.com.

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Events

Shirlington to Host Spring Beer Festival

By Ethan Rothstein

The event, the inaugural Springfest, is planned for Saturday, April 26 from noon to 7:00 p.m. Forty-five breweries, almost exclusively from Virginia, D.C. and Maryland, are expected to pour their brews at booths. According to Capitol City Director of Brewing Operations Kristi Griner, the format will be the same as Capitol City’s annual Octoberfest, but the event will be smaller.

Partygoers can pay $30, which will give them a wristband and 10 tasting tickets. Additional tickets are $1 apiece, but must be bought at least five at a time. The event will likely shut down Campbell Avenue in Shirlington Village, although specifics about road closures have not been determined.

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