Author: Morgan Fecto

Around Town

Local Writer Chronicles ‘Eccentric’ Arlington

By Morgan Fecto

Clark peppers his columns with unusual people and Arlington history, and he saved the best 100 columns for his book, he said. Clark will discuss “Arlington County Chronicles,” which was published in April, at Arlington Central Library on Monday, July 7, at 7:00 p.m.

“It’s a little bit of history, public policy, baby boomer nostalgia and neighborhood flavor,” Clark told ARLnow.com. Clark will read from his book at the talk, cherry-picking ones that are “humorous enough in style to bear reading aloud.”

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News

Arlington Watches U.S. Men’s Soccer Advance in World Cup

By Morgan Fecto

(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) Summers Restaurant in Courthouse was saturated with beer, World Cup fans and support for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team this afternoon. Bargoers were on the edge of their seats before the game between the U.S. and Germany even started.

“This is, like, the biggest game of my life,” said Joyce Batka, a soccer fan since kindergarten and supporter of U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann since he played for the German national team in the 1990s. “I’m really torn. I’d love it if there was a tie today so that both teams advance.”

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Around Town

Spice in Clarendon Now Open

By Morgan Fecto

(Updated at 1:15 p.m.) Spice, the Italian hoagie and Mediterranean food shop at 3033 Wilson Blvd, is now open.

The shop is at the former location of “Le Sandwich,” a French-style sandwich shop that was open for all of 10 days before owner Yasser Mohamed dissolved the business and dismissed its operator. After Le Sandwich closed, Mohamed planned to open Spice to showcase his wife’s “amazing cooking.”

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Events

Philharmonic Partners with Pets for Concert

By Morgan Fecto

The inaugural event will be held at Lubber Run Amphitheater this Sunday, June 29, starting at 6:00 p.m.

Attendees can bring their dogs and a picnic meal, or buy boxed dinners from La Cote d’Or onsite. The AWLA will also hold a raffle for a birdhouse replica of the Lincoln-era White House. The philharmonic will play “marches and animal-related classics” from pieces by Aaron Copland, John Philip Sousa and Johann Sebastian Bach, according to an AWLA press release.

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News

Board Reverses Non-Resident Surcharge Hike for Sports Programs

By Morgan Fecto

The Board’s FY 2015 budget called for its non-resident surcharge to increase 50 percent. That would have significantly raised annual fees for three clubs: Arlington Aerials, the Arlington Tigers and the Arlington Aquatics Club.

Vocal protests from the teams and impassioned speeches from the youth team members at Tuesday’s Board meeting led the Board to reverse course and even reject a compromise endorsed by county staff. The Board rejected their April decision by a 3-1 vote, and also rejected County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s revised recommendation to reduce the fee increase to 30 percent.

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Around Town

Photos: Rock Spring Garden Club’s ‘Gardens of the Year’

By Morgan Fecto
The koi pond in Jennings' garden.

The three winners out of 16 entries to Rock Spring Garden Club’s  2014″Garden of the Year” were announced last week. The winners, pictured above, mix natural beauty with sustainability in their backyard gardens.

“We are so thrilled to win!” first place gardener Mary Jennings told ARLnow.com. “I love that the garden gets some exposure and might encourage others to think of big ways to transform our Arlington outdoor living spaces to be enjoyable and conservation-minded.”

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Around Town

Barber Shop in Lee-Harrison Shopping Center Closes

By Morgan Fecto

“It was literally there one day and gone the next,” Mary Barrett, who works next door as a marketing representative for MBH Settlement Group, told ARLnow.com.

Customers on the barber shop’s Facebook and Yelp pages lamented the loss of the business. Some Yelp reviewers wrote that free bottles of water, race car chairs, lollipops and balloon animals kept them and their children coming back.

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Around Town

IRS Scam Threatens Immigrants With Deportation

By Morgan Fecto

“So many people already got in trouble,” Shamim Naseer, who received one of these calls, told ARLnow.com. “One of my friends said he paid them $6,000.”

Naseer said that at least four people she knows, including her son, got a call from someone claiming to be an IRS agent. One of her friends, Naseer said, got a call six months ago. The caller in each case told them to add money to gift cards within 10 to 20 minutes or else they would “get in trouble.”

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