Katie Pyzyk | ARLnow

Morning Notes

Published January 22, 2013 at 9:05AM

Absentee Voting Bill Passes State Senate — The state Senate passed legislation that would allow residents age 65 and older to vote by absentee ballot without having to give an excuse. Currently, Virginians can only vote absentee if they meet one or more of the requirements on a list of reasons for not being able to make it to the polls on election day. Del. Alfonso Lopez (D) introduced similar legislation that failed in the House of Delegates. [Washington Post]

Water Main Issues Continue — Repairs on the broken 30 inch water main at Arlington Blvd and S. Irving Street are expected to take several more days. While draining the pipe on Sunday, a significant pressure drop occurred. Customers may experience low water pressure during peak times (6:00-9:00 a.m and 5:00-9:00 p.m.) and are asked to minimize water use during those times.

News

Star Gazing Event in Arlington for Inauguration

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 18, 2013 at 3:55PM

The David M. Brown Planetarium (1426 N. Quincy Street) will host NASA’s Star Party. Astronauts, astronomers and other experts will be on hand to talk about current NASA missions and the future of space exploration.

Weather permitting, one of the big attractions will be star gazing through the 15 telescopes set up in the plaza surrounding the planetarium. There will also be a variety of displays (both indoors and outdoors) relating to NASA and astronomy, including one featuring real meteorites.

Around Town

Lotus Grill Closes Temporarily Just Days After Opening

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 18, 2013 at 3:15PM

A tipster sent ARLnow.com a photo of the county inspection sign that went up on the door yesterday, claiming the building is unsafe.

According to a representative with Arlington’s Inspection Services Division, the restaurant had opened before receiving its certificate of occupancy. The county worker said the restaurant owners took it upon themselves to open when they weren’t authorized to do so.

News

Commercial Property Values Fall After Two Years of Growth

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 18, 2013 at 1:15PM

Commercial property values decreased by 0.1 percent in Calendar Year (CY) 2012, coming in at $30.4 billion. Although multi-family rental properties fall into that category and increased by almost 1 percent, the rest of the commercial property types (office, retail, hotel) declined by 0.5 percent. Commercial properties still account for 49 percent of the county’s tax base.

A county press release suggests the drop in commercial property values is due to impacts from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) in Crystal City and concerns about federal budget issues. The budget concerns are expected to have an impact for the next few years. While state and federal grant funding remains uncertain, real estate tax revenues represent approximately 56 percent of the county’s total revenues.

News

Weekend Closures for MLK Day, Inauguration

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 18, 2013 at 11:50AM

A number of road and government closures will be in place on Monday for the observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and for the Presidential Inauguration.

The following government offices will be closed on Monday, January 21:

News

Favola Introduces Anti-Bullying Legislation

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 18, 2013 at 10:55AM | Updated January 16, 2018 at 2:44PM

The legislation defines the term “bullying” and requires school boards to prohibit students and school employees from engaging in any actions that fall under the definition. The bill also requires local school boards to implement policies and procedures for reporting, investigating and addressing acts of bullying.

The part of the bill defining bullying reads:

News

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 18, 2013 at 9:40AM

Citizen Receives Reward for Crime Tip — A tipster will get a $650 reward from Arlington County Crime Solvers (ACCS) for helping police solve a case from Christmas Day. The tipster’s information helped police arrest a suspect from an armed robbery of a 7-Eleven. “We are delighted to pay a reward to a local resident whose tip led to an arrest in an armed robbery,” said ACCS President Andres Tobar. “We encourage local residents who have information on a crime to call the ACCS tip line at 866-411-8477 to remain anonymous. If the tip leads to an arrest, a reward will be paid.” [Arlington County Crime Solvers]

Tejada Launches Campaign Targeting Childhood Obesity — County Board Chairman Walter Tejada kicked off his Moving Forward Together Campaign at a community meeting yesterday. The initiative involves the county working with a volunteer coalition and community members on several points, such as getting kids moving more at recess and in after school programs, establishing healthier vending options and training childcare providers in nutrition and physical activity. Residents are encouraged to get involved with the newly formed Healthy Community Action Team (HCAT). [Arlington County]

News

Water Pressure Woes Continue in S. Arlington

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 18, 2013 at 8:45AM | Updated January 18, 2013 at 9:10AM

Residents in Lyon Park, Buckingham, Douglas Park, Arlington Heights, Alcova Heights, Arlington Ridge and portions of Crystal City may be affected, along with portions of surrounding neighborhoods. According to the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services (DES), the worst pressure issues will likely be during peak times in the morning from 6:00-9:00 a.m., and in the evening from 5:00-9:00 p.m.

The county is asking residents to help reduce the pressure problems by minimizing water use at peak times. For example, run dishwashers and washing machines during off-peak hours or take a shower at a different time.

News

Group Forms to Question Streetcar Plan

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 17, 2013 at 4:00PM

The Arlingtonians for Sensible Transit (AST) website lists its goals as educating residents about the streetcar, offering a bus rapid transit (BRT) system as a streetcar alternative and encouraging community discussion about a BRT versus a streetcar system. The group contends the County Board didn’t hire “truly independent contractors” to do a cost-benefit analysis of the two systems, and didn’t engage in a community conversation about whether the streetcar is the best transit choice. It’s asking the Board to perform both of those tasks.

“The CP streetcar was conceived many years ago in a rosier economy. Since then, the CP streetcar’s price tag has soared,” AST spokesman Peter Rousselot said in a statement. “We now have substantial new experience and data regarding the relative economic and operating performance of both modern streetcars and modern BRT systems. In light of these changed circumstances, our community needs to examine and discuss this new information before making an irrevocable commitment to a project now estimated to cost over a quarter of a billion dollars.”

News

Same Sex Couples Request Marriage Licenses in Arlington

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 17, 2013 at 1:45PM

Dozens of demonstrators seeking same sex marriage rights packed the square in front of the Arlington County Courthouse this morning, before marching into the District.

Members of the Campaign for Southern Equality work to bring attention to the desire for same sex couples to get married in Southern states. The group’s website states: “The actions on January 17 are intended to highlight the lives and stories of LGBT people from across the South; the powerful reality that in our nation’s capital LGBT people have the right to marry; and the injustice that legal marriages between same-sex couples are not recognized in the South.”

News

Library Lists Most Popular Items of 2012

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 17, 2013 at 11:50AM | Updated January 17, 2013 at 12:54PM

(Updated at 12:55 p.m.) The Arlington Public Library is getting in on the trend of compiling year-end lists. It has released three lists of the library’s top materials in 2012.

The lists released on the library’s website are Top 10 Books of 2012, Top Ten DVDs of 2012 and Top Holds of 2012. Coming in at the top three for books are Bossypants by Tina Fey, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.

News

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Published January 17, 2013 at 10:00AM | Updated January 17, 2013 at 12:02PM

Low Water Pressure Issues Continue — Residents in parts of Lyon Park, Buckingham, Douglas Park, Nauck, Arlington Ridge and Crystal City may experience low water pressure this morning due to various water issues. According to Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services, yesterday’s break in a 30-inch water main at Arlington Blvd and S. Irving Street is isolated and awaiting parts for additional repair work. Several water leaks also have been reported this morning at S. Stafford Street and 16th Road S., 26th Street S. and 26th Place S., and 31st Street S. and S. Woodrow Street.

Protein Bar Opens in Two Weeks — According to its Twitter feed, the new Protein Bar restaurant is set to open at 800 N. Glebe Road in Ballston on Wednesday, January 30. The restaurant will start serving its healthy food at 11:00 a.m.