News

New Year’s County Closures — Arlington County facilities will be closed on Sunday and Monday for the New Year’s holiday. Metered parking will not be enforced. [Arlington County]

More Southwest Cancellations — “As Southwest Airlines continues its struggle to get planes and crews to airports, about 2,400 flights across the United States were canceled Thursday, including seven at Dulles Airport and 64 at Reagan National Airport. The airline also canceled 192 scheduled flights at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, which serves many Virginia travelers.” [Patch]

District Taco’s Big Expansion — “District Taco has inked a trio of franchise agreements to significantly expand along the East Coast, the next step in a larger plan to broaden the reach of the Yucatán-style restaurant chain that started in 2009 from a single food cart… It’s the latest step by co-founders Osiris Hoil and Marc Wallace to turn the restaurant chain into a nationally known brand or, as Hoil put it in an August interview, to put District Taco on every American’s dining room table.” [Washington Business Journal]

Rep. Beyer Studying AI at GMU — “His phone was ringing. ‘I’ll be there,’ Beyer told a colleague wondering when he would be returning to the House floor for votes. It seemed study time would have to wait. That’s been the story of the year for Beyer (D-Va.), who has been moonlighting as a student at George Mason University in pursuit of a master’s degree in machine learning while balancing his duties as a congressman.” [Washington Post]

Travel Woes at DCA — “Hundreds of Southwest Airlines flights have been canceled at Eastern airports Tuesday as the fallout from the pre-Christmas storm continues. At Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., 89 flights were canceled in the past 24 hours as of Tuesday morning, according to the tracker site FlightAware. Dulles Airport said 30 flights were canceled in the past day.” [Patch]

Planning for No More DCA? — “Give Michael Imbesi credit for thinking to the future. Way into the future. At the Dec. 17 Arlington County Board meeting, the local resident used the public-comment period to press county leaders to start thinking about an eventual reuse of the land on which, for the past 80 years, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has occupied. Acknowledging that it is probably far down the road – but perhaps within 50 years – Imbesi said the airport may become redundant owing to what he believes will be a decrease in air travel.” [Sun Gazette]

Closed Cafe’s Investment Intrigue — “Former Rāko Coffee partners and even the co-founders are owed significant sums of money by the investors, who are based in Dubai… Murtha and Jain had a national vision for Rāko and wanted to aggressively expand the business, according to former leaders of the company who spoke with Huddle. They ousted Gerban, who co-founded the brand with her sister, from leadership and cut her out of discussions of the business expansion.” [Politico]

Copious Christmas Decor No More — “Calvin and Elinor Marcey have been decorating their home at 1610 North Abingdon Street, in Arlington, Virginia, since 1969. It’s one of those houses that people talk about and want to see every Christmas… Visitors learned things were changing from a framed letter the Marcey couple left on a table on their porch next to a train set and a red stocking. In it, Calvin Marcey explains this will be the last year for their renowned display because he needs to focus his attention on his wife’s care.” [WTOP]