News | ARLnow.com - Part 1050

Morning Notes

Published May 7, 2015 at 8:30AM

Advanced Towing Featured on GMA — Complaints against Arlington’s Advanced Towing have gone national, again. This time, ABC’s Good Morning America ran a feature on “predatory towing,” featuring video of Advanced from local station WJLA. The video shows a car being towed from a shopping center lot on Columbia Pike after two women parked there and walked to a restaurant outside the shopping center. The tow was reportedly facilitated by a “spotter” in an unmarked car. [ABC News – WARNING: Auto-play video]

Fisette to Propose Towing Changes — Arlington County Board member Jay Fisette says he will recommend changes to the county’s Towing Advisory Board to “address complaints about the process.” The County is also going to consider requiring commercial property owners to sign off on each tow. However, Fisette says he will not propose outlawing towing “spotters.” Fisette said it’s not the government’s role to tell tow companies how aggressively they can enforce legal trespass towing. [WTOP]

Arlington Historical Society Looking for Volunteers

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 6, 2015 at 1:45PM

The AHS has put out the call for volunteers to sign up to be docents — who serve as guides and helpers — at the museum at The Hume School (1805 S. Arlington Ridge Road) and the Ball-Sellers House (5620 3rd Street S.), the oldest school building and house, respectively, in the county.

“With the right mix of volunteer docents we could not only preserve … visiting hours but also expand weekend hours and — most eagerly sought — add at least one weekday afternoon to our schedule,” AHS said in a posting on the Volunteer Arlington website. “At present many potential visitors, including school students, simply can’t explore the museum during the week, which means that whole sectors of visitors never have the opportunity to see what we have to show them. Museum certification organizations and many grant-makers also require weekday opening hours, which prohibits us from upgrading and expanding the museum.”

Ballston Tuesday Night Bicycle Rides Postponed Indefinitely

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 5, 2015 at 5:00PM | Updated May 8, 2015 at 4:39PM

Update: Tuesday Night Rides are expected to resume in June after organizer Scott McAhren admitted he submitted the special events permit less than two weeks before May 5.

(Earlier) Driver complaints have pushed Arlington County to reconsider the future of Tuesday Night Rides, the weekly mass-cycling event in Ballston Tuesday evenings during the summer, according to the ride’s organizer.

County Buys Land in Virginia Square for $30 Million

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 5, 2015 at 2:55PM

The N. Quincy Street property purchased by Arlington County (file photo)

The land was owned by Bill Buck, founder of Buck & Associates and Arlington real estate mainstay, who agreed to let the county pay for the land in stages: $1.2 million at the close of the sale, $1.8 million in 2016 and $27 million by November 20, 2017, after the county undergoes a revision to the Capital Improvements Program.

The County Board approved the purchase 5-0.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 5, 2015 at 9:15AM | Updated May 5, 2015 at 9:58AM

Arlington Ranks High for Income Mobility — According to a new study, Arlington County is a very good place to grow up in terms of income mobility for children in poor families. Arlington ranks better than 81 percent of all counties in ensuring that poor children grow up to make more income than their peers in other parts of the country. On average, poor kids from Arlington will make $2,930 more per year at age 26 than poor kids from an average U.S. county. The story is different for girls from wealthy families in Arlington, who typically will earn less than their peers in other counties. By contrast, boys from rich families are in the national top 1 percent in terms of earning more than their born-wealthy peers. [New York Times]

Yorktown Soccer Rolls Stuart — The Yorktown girls’ soccer team beat Stuart on Monday 3-1 to improve their unbeaten record to 9-0-3. The Patriots’ opponents have scored only 5 goals over the past 9 games. [Washington Post]

Man Exposes Himself to Girl Near Va. Square Metro

By ARLnow.com

Published May 4, 2015 at 10:05AM

File photo

The incident happened just before 8:00 p.m. this past Thursday. The juvenile was playing tennis in the park, on the 700 block of N. Monroe Street, when the man exposed himself.

“The suspect is described as a Hispanic male in his twenties, approximately 5’7″ and 190 lbs,” according to the Arlington County Police daily crime report. “He was wearing black athletic pants, a dark shirt and a black baseball hat.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 4, 2015 at 9:10AM

Downed Wires Close the Pike — Columbia Pike was closed in both directions between S. Greenbrier Street and S. Dinwiddie Street this morning due to a tree that brought down live wires. The road was expected to remain closed for several hours. [WTOP]

Planning Still Underway for Pike Transit — Columbia Pike residents are becoming impatient for Arlington County to complete the planning of new transit options for the corridor, following the cancellation of the streetcar project. However, a plan is not expected until 2016. County Board member John Vihstadt, who helped to scuttle the streetcar project, told a public forum last week that he wants the county to speed up its processes “but frankly I don’t know if we can.” [Washington Post]

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

Published May 1, 2015 at 5:15PM

Should you find yourself this weekend with something to say, or with some neighborhood news to report, let the comments section of this article be your replacement for our now-defunct forums.

Enjoy the weekend — and go Caps!

County: Rent in Arlington Dropped Five Percent in 2014

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 1, 2015 at 1:55PM

Last year, the average rent in Arlington was $1,834 per month, according to the Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development.

That’s a dropoff from $1,934 in 2013 and $1,999 in 2012. It’s the cheapest average apartment rent since 2011, when the price was $1,768 per month, according to county records.

Housing Homeless Vets in the Shadow of the Pentagon

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 1, 2015 at 12:15PM

For 20 years before that, Hill, who served in New Mexico, Italy and Nuremburg, Germany, was chronically homeless. He had lived on family’s couches and floors, and when he could no longer do that, he slept on the streets of D.C., in shelters in Alexandria and in 24-hour laundromats along Columbia Pike. There were nights he slept in Reagan National Airport, he said; anywhere with a roof and unlocked doors.

Last June, the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, after working with Hill for months getting his finances and documentation in order, found Hill an apartment, secured housing subsidies and provided support to make sure he sustained himself there.

Artisphere: Most Shows in Final Months Sold Out

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 30, 2015 at 5:00PM

According to Artisphere Director of Marketing and Communications Barry Halvorson, most of Artisphere’s shows this spring have sold out. But then, he said, that’s not altogether a new phenomenon for the almost-five-year-old arts center.

“Over the last three years or so, we have really been hitting our stride,” Halvorson said. “We’re on track to come ahead slightly of last year. We’ve been performing to an average of 75 percent capacity. That’s above industry average.”

ACPD to Conduct DUI Checkpoint Tomorrow

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 30, 2015 at 3:45PM | Updated April 30, 2015 at 4:31PM

File photo

ACPD will team with the Virginia State Police, Fairfax County police and the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office to conduct the checkpoint.

Wherever it is, every driver will have his or her license checked and will be asked to take sobriety tests if the officers suspect alcohol consumption.