Around Town

An Arlington man is preparing to scale the highest peak in Africa with a prosthetic leg, aiming to fundraise for clean water and inspire other amputees.

Jacob Rainey, who walks with an artificial right leg, is embarking on a seven-day, 43-mile challenge to hike Mount Kilimanjaro this February. Alongside a group including veterans and former athletes, he is raising funds for Waterboys, a clean water advocacy initiative by former NFL defensive end Chris Long.


Around Town

A tight-knit construction crew’s months of labor and progress in Ballston are the subject of an online photo album by a neighborhood photographer.

Since the spring, David Moss has captured dozens of scenes conveying the teamwork and physical feats of construction workers at the UrbA phase II redevelopment site next to Harris Teeter, where a 197-unit apartment building is getting built at 600 N. Glebe Road.


Around Town

Langston Blvd has been without its McDonald’s for about seven months, but that’s about to change.

The company is in the final stages of constructing a “modernized” restaurant on the grounds of its former red-roofed joint at 4834 Langston Blvd. The new build, which replaces the old-school look with the franchise’s updated, neutral color palette, is expected to open next month.


Around Town

Ruthie’s All-Day and Our Mom Eugenia made it in The Washington Post’s new “40 Best Restaurants in and Around D.C.” list.

Departing Post food critic Tom Sietsema featured the two restaurants in his annual list of the top 40 restaurants across D.C., Maryland and Virginia, which came out yesterday (Wednesday).


Around Town

The owners of a small wine bar and restaurant in Ballston are closing their doors for good this month, citing rising operating costs, flagging sales and a struggling region-wide economy.

Pirouette Cafe & Wine Shop’s last day of service is Saturday, Oct. 18 at 4000 Fairfax Drive, owners Jackie and Philippe Loustaunau announced on social media and in an email to customers yesterday (Wednesday).


Around Town

A week of countywide dining deals kicks off on Monday with the return of the annual Arlington Restaurant Week.

Over 80 Arlington restaurants plan to offer discounts, specials and prix fixe meals from Oct. 13-20 as part of the yearly promotion by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. Participants range from fast-casual to formal dining and include local favorites like The Italian Store.


News

An Arlington artist with a growing involvement in civic life is planning a new project in the aftermath of Arlington Independent Media’s demise.

Wilson Bender — the Penrose-based satirist behind numerous posters poking fun at local public figures, a new zine about life in Arlington, and a pop-up art studio in Clarendon and Courthouse — has announced plans to launch “Arlington Autonomous Media,” an independently funded Roku channel with a focus on local happenings and political commentary.


News

The Goodwill on S. Glebe Road is closing this month to redevelop as a mixed-use affordable housing project.

The donation center, retail store and career center at 10 S. Glebe Road is set to close for about two years beginning on Monday, Oct. 27. Goodwill expects to begin demolition this winter, making way for a six-story building with 128 units of affordable housing, a 3,000-square-foot child care, and a modernized retail and donation center.


Around Town

A Tony Award-nominated actor from HBO’s “The Gilded Age” will play the lead role in Signature Theatre’s rendition of “Fiddler on the Roof” this fall.

The Shirlington theater has cast Douglas Sills as Tevye, a Jewish peasant and the musical’s narrator who endures rising antisemitism alongside his family and neighbors in Czarist Russia. The actor is known for his role as chef Monsieur Baudin on “The Gilded Age.”


Around Town

A new facial studio has opened in Clarendon with a repaired storefront, just days after the business’s windows were shattered in a vandalism last week.

Glowbar is now in business with fresh windows at 2930 Clarendon Blvd, where Verizon closed earlier this year. This is the skin care brand’s first Virginia location.


Around Town

An award-winning Thai restaurant from Reston is laying the groundwork for a new location in Crystal City.

Tiki Thai has signed a lease on the ground floor of Reva at 244 19th Court S. and plans to fill one of the apartment’s empty retail bays within a year, owner and chef Porntipa Pattanamekar told ARLnow.


Events

A grave conversation is coming to Courthouse Library next week.

A sold-out “Death Cafe,” seeking to “increase awareness of death” and put society’s stigmas about it to rest, will involve a free two-hour group discussion over tea and cake next Tuesday. Volunteer and Courthouse resident Stephanie Dillemuth hopes to help attendees “make the most of their finite lives.”


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