News | ARLnow.com - Part 1088

Construction Begins on Ft. Myer Heights Apartment Tower

Published November 5, 2014 at 5:30PM

Rendering of the Union on Queen apartments (image courtesy The Bozzuto Group)

Construction on 193 new apartments — including 78 affordable units — in the Fort Myer Heights neighborhood has begun, and county officials and developers celebrated today with a groundbreaking.

The project, called Union on Queen, will raze three buildings to erect a 12-story tower, which will contain 181 apartments. The two buildings that make up the Pierce Queen Apartments, built in 1942 on the 1600 block of 16th Street N., will be gutted, but preserved and renovated. They will be converted into 12 affordable units.

Vihstadt Victory Could Signal Sea Change in Arlington Politics

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 5, 2014 at 3:05PM | Updated November 5, 2014 at 3:27PM

“The streetcar is dead,” local political blogger and strategist Ben Tribbett told ARLnow.com last night at the Democrats’ election party in Crystal City. “The voters spoke so overwhelmingly tonight. There’s absolutely no way that [County Board members] Mary [Hynes] and Walter [Tejada] can win re-election if they’re running as pro-streetcar candidates next year. The voters have spoken on this now. It’s over.”

The growing chorus that the majority of the County Board — Chair Jay Fisette, as well as Hynes and Tejada — are out of touch with the voters was bolstered by Vihstadt’s margin of victory. The Republican-endorsed independent won 55.76 percent of the vote to Democrat Alan Howze’s 43.8 percent — less than his margin of victory in the April special election but still a big surprise to many who follow Arlington politics, who haven’t seen a non-Democrat win a County Board general election since 1983.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 5, 2014 at 11:20AM

New Incubator to Launch in Crystal City — Eastern Foundry, a new incubator serving small businesses that contract with the federal government, is launching next month in Crystal City. Eastern Foundry joins two other recent startup-oriented additions to Crystal City: TechShop and the Crystal Tech Fund. [Washington Business Journal]

Rosslyn Planning Meeting — The county will share “preliminary Concept Plan Alternatives” as part of its Western Rosslyn Area Planning Study at a public workshop on Saturday. The study is, among other things, considering redevelopment possibilities for the Wilson School and Fire Station No. 10 property on Wilson Blvd. [Arlington County]

Report: Mother Died Trying to Rescue Daughter from Fire

By ARLnow.com

Published November 5, 2014 at 10:15AM | Updated November 5, 2014 at 10:36AM

We’re learning more about the two Arlington residents who died in a house fire in the Columbia Forest neighborhood early Tuesday morning.

BREAKING: Vihstadt Wins Historic Victory

By ARLnow.com

Published November 4, 2014 at 7:45PM | Updated November 5, 2014 at 10:39AM

John Vihstadt and Libby Garvey, the two anti-streetcar Board members, embrace as Vihstadt wins re-election in 2014 (file photo)

(Updated at 2:00 a.m.) Incumbent County Board candidate John Vihstadt, running as an independent, has won a historic victory in Tuesday’s general election.

With all 53 precincts reporting, Vihstadt has captured 56 percent of the vote to 44 percent for Democratic challenger Alan Howze. Vihstadt’s margin of victory is just shy of 7,500 votes, with 62,663 total votes cast in the race.

Howze, Vihstadt Make Final Election Day Push at Polls

By ARLnow.com

Published November 4, 2014 at 3:55PM

(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) The two candidates for Arlington County Board both say they’re feeling optimistic about their chances in today’s general election, but they also admitted that it’s anyone’s guess who will emerge victorious in the race.

Incumbent John Vihstadt, who’s running as an independent, said his campaign has “the message, the momentum and the means to win,” but said he’s “concerned” about the number of Democratic voters who came out specifically to vote on the congressional races, and are voting a straight party line by default.

Voting Turnout Strong Early on Election Day

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 4, 2014 at 11:15AM

Many polling places across Arlington had lines out the door as voters streamed in to decide Senate, House of Representatives, County Board and School Board races today.

At Arlington Traditional School (855 N. Edison Street), campaign workers stationed outside the school said lines were surprisingly long considering there is no presidential election this year. Wes Pippert has voted at the school for 20 years, and he said turnout was unusually strong.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 4, 2014 at 10:00AM

Election Day in Arlington — Voting started at 6:00 a.m. this morning and will continue through 7:00 p.m. There are 52 voting precincts in Arlington. Virginia voters must provide a photo ID when they go to the polls. [Arlington County]

State Honors for Pike Affordable Housing — Arlington County has won two state awards for its plan to preserve affordable housing along Columbia Pike. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe lauded the county’s affordable housing and transit plan for the Pike. “Arlington’s Columbia Pike Planning Initiative provides a vision for transforming the Pike by improving transit, preserving affordable housing and creating great public spaces,” McAuliffe said in a press release. “At the heart of this plan is a modern streetcar that will spur high-quality development along this vital corridor and generate new tax revenues for Arlington, Fairfax and the Commonwealth.” [Arlington County]

UPDATED: Two Dead in Early Morning Fire

By ARLnow.com

Published November 4, 2014 at 8:35AM | Updated November 4, 2014 at 2:14PM

(Updated at 9:00 a.m.) Two people have been killed in an early morning house fire in the Columbia Forest neighborhood.

Police Department Live Tweets Halloween Bar Crawl

By ARLnow.com

Published November 3, 2014 at 4:55PM

Photo via @ArlingtonVaPD

(Updated at 5:05 p.m.) The Arlington County Police Department live-tweeted Saturday’s Halloween-themed bar crawl in Clarendon, providing Twitter followers with frequent updates, safety tips and photos.

The bar crawl, billed as “The Rise of the Day Drinkers,” ran from 2:00 to 9:00 p.m. It was the first bar crawl approved for a permit under the county’s new bar crawl regulations, which are intended to curb drunken criminal activity by providing a larger police presence, at the expense of crawl organizers.

Arlington Will No Longer Ask Job Applicants About Criminal Record

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 3, 2014 at 3:30PM

Arlington jail cell in 2010

The county announced today it would be “banning the box” on job applications that asked prospective employees about their criminal records. A current application for an open position on the county’s website doesn’t include a criminal record question.

“Taking this step reinforces our commitment to fair hiring practices,” said Marcy Foster, the county’s Department of Human Resources director, in a press release. “And ‘banning the box’ will help ensure that happens.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 3, 2014 at 10:00AM | Updated November 3, 2014 at 10:22AM

W-L Defeats Wakefield — The Washington-Lee Generals football squad defeated the resurgent Wakefield Warriors 27-20 in an all-Arlington battle Halloween night. Both teams now have a 6-3 overall record. [InsideNova]

Elizabeth Weihe Dies — Civic leader Elizabeth Blaylock Weihe, the first female chairman of the Arlington County Planning Commission in the early 1960s, died over the weekend at the age of 99. Weihe was instrumental in helping to integrate Arlington County schools in the 1950s and in supporting the planning and financing of the Metro system in Arlington in the 1960s.