The Arlington County Board on Saturday approved a 25 cent-per-hour rise in metered parking rates. The rate increase is expected to be implemented in September and bring in nearly $1 million per year in extra revenue.
(The increase won’t apply to some reduced-rate meters, currently priced between $0.50-0.75 an hour.)
On Saturday the Arlington County Board approved allocating an additional $140,000 to MTFA Architecture, which is providing administration services for the construction project.
County staff said the expenditure is necessary as “a direct result of the construction contractor’s inability to meet its contractual delivery date.”
County Board Approves ART Facility Contract — On Saturday the Arlington County Board approved a $12.4 million construction contract for a new two-story ART bus operations facility along Route 1. The total budget for the facility and a linked streetscape improvement project is $17.6 million. [Arlington County]
Yorktown Ranked No. 12 in Va. — New U.S. News & World Report “Best High Schools” rankings place Yorktown High School as No. 12 in Virginia and No. 299 nationally. Washington-Lee, the next-highest-ranked Arlington High School, is No. 20 in the state and No. 537 nationally. Wakefield High School ranked No. 36 in the state. [U.S. News and World Report]
The ART bus driver who was involved in a seven-vehicle wreck along Columbia Pike in December has been found not guilty of reckless driving.
The verdict was reached today after a trial held before Arlington County General District Court Judge Richard McCue. Agere Sileshi, 27, was found not guilty of the original charge of reckless driving, but was found guilty of “improper driving.”
The incident happened around 10:30 p.m. on the 5200 block of 8th Road S. Police say the man approached the victim and demanded money — but he apparently did not specify how much.
“The victim gave the suspect one dollar and the suspect asked for more,” according to the daily Arlington County crime report. “As the victim was opening his wallet to give the suspect more money, the suspect snatched the wallet and fled the scene.”
We’ve hit the halfway point of May and Arlington is experience its biggest real estate week of the year to this point. Happy hunting.
See our real estate section for a full listing of open houses. Here are a few highlights:
The FAA launched a public outreach campaign this week to try to stop the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the federal restricted airspace around D.C. It comes as a man was detained for flying a drone near the White House for the second time this year.
The area within a 15-mile radius of Reagan National Airport is restricted airspace, and all aircraft must get approval, even the small, remote-controlled kind.
‘Hula Girl’ to Open Shirlington Restaurant — The founder of the Hula Girl food truck, which specializes in Hawaiian style food, will be opening a new brick-and-mortar restaurant in the former Aladdin’s Eatery space in Shirlington. Mikala Brennan says Shirlington is “a very friendly place for families and dogs and everyone, and I always thought it’d be a great fit for what I do.” [Eater]
Bike to Work Day is Today — Hundreds of people stopped by the half-dozen Arlington pit stops for Bike to Work Day this morning. Among them were Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and a guy on an old-timey penny farthing.
Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan announced today that acting chief Jay Farr will ascend to the permanent job after serving in Scott’s stead since March. Farr has previously served as deputy county manager and deputy chief of police for systems management, operations and criminal Investigations, and has served in the ACPD since 1990.
“Jay has demonstrated a commitment to excellence during his more than two decades in Arlington,” Donnellan said in a press release. “He brings strong leadership skills, an outstanding professional background, and a true passion for connecting communities with law enforcement. He is the right man to lead the department into the future.”
TargetExpress Coming to Rosslyn — A new 23,000-square-foot TargetExpress store is coming to Rosslyn. Located at 1500 Wilson Blvd, the store will have an in-house Starbucks, a pharmacy, a technology and mobile phone section and will carry clothing, groceries and prepared foods. Also coming to 1500 Wilson Blvd: a District Taco restaurant and a Wells Fargo bank branch. [Washington Post, Washington Business Journal]
Little Saigon Remembered — A master’s student at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia campus recounts Clarendon’s former identity as “Little Saigon,” thanks to the immigration of Vietnamese refugees following the end of the Vietnam War. As a project, the student has created a self-guided walking tour of Clarendon in connection with the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. [Preservation Arlington]
NORAD Flyover Exercise Tonight — NORAD will conduct a flyover exercise tonight that may be noticed by Arlington residents. The exercise will take place between midnight and 2:00 a.m. [Twitter]
Bean Kinney Attorney’s Attack Detailed in Court — In court testimony in Fairfax County, attorney Leo Fisher and his wife, Susan Duncan, described the vicious home invasion attack allegedly carried out by the husband of an attorney Fisher fired at the Arlington law firm of Bean, Kinney & Korman. Fisher said the man “slit my throat” and Duncan described being stabbed repeatedly in the upper body and being nearly shot in the head. [Washington Post]
Pentagon City residents are worried about the potential for nightmare traffic and parking woes now that a large portion of the busy Costco parking lot off S. Fern Street has been blocked off for construction.
About half of the parking spaces in Costco’s surface parking lot have been fenced off over the past day or so. Kimco — which owns the Pentagon Centre big box mall and its parking lot — is beginning construction on a seven-story parking garage at the corner of 15th Street S. and Fern Street.
