News | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published February 9, 2018 at 8:30AM | Updated February 9, 2018 at 8:47AM

Democratic County Board Field at Two — Military veteran Chanda Choun was the only candidate for County Board to announce his candidacy at the Arlington County Democratic Committee last night. Choun joins fellow Democrat Matt de Ferranti in the race to challenge incumbent John Vihstadt. A primary will be held June 12, ahead of the general election contest against Vihstadt in November. [InsideNova]

Affordable Housing Stats for FY 2017 — “Arlington County added or preserved 556 affordable housing units for low- and moderate-income households during its 2017 fiscal year, bringing the Countywide total to more than 7,700 units.” [Arlington County]

Four Mile Run Valley Draft Framework Available for Public Comment

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Published February 8, 2018 at 4:45PM

The draft framework for the proposed Four Mile Run Valley area is now open for public comment.

The county is setting out to reshape the Four Mile Run Valley area — centered around the Shirlington and Nauck neighborhoods — while balancing the commercial, residential, historic, environmental and industrial needs of the community. This is the latest step in a process which began June 2016.

Pentagon City Pedestrian Tunnel To Open This Spring After Years of Delay

By Anna Merod

Published February 8, 2018 at 2:15PM

The emergency lights are on at the Pentagon City Metro station’s underground pedestrian tunnel, but nobody’s there.

The third entrance to the Metro station is still closed despite an Arlington County staff report scheduling a March 2017 opening. The tunnel is now supposed to open sometime this spring, wrote Catherine Matthews, communications specialist for the county’s Dept. of Environmental Services, to ARLnow.com via email.

Columbia Pike ‘Premium Bus’ Service to Streamline Routes

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Published February 8, 2018 at 1:45PM | Updated February 8, 2018 at 2:24PM

Rendering of new bus stop on Columbia Pike (2018 file photo)

(Updated at 2:05 p.m.) Arlington County’s plan for a Columbia Pike corridor “premium bus service network” will start this summer, with more frequent, condensed bus service, improved bus transit stations, and off-vehicle fare collection points in the works.

A Columbia Pike service evaluation briefing from WMATA to the Arlington County Transit Advisory Committee on January 16 laid out the major bus service plan: streamlining eleven 16-line routes down to six main routes, with further streamlining implemented in multiple phases.

Crime Report: Concrete Thrown Through Window

By ARLnow.com

Published February 8, 2018 at 10:45AM | Updated February 28, 2020 at 10:17AM

File photo

The incident happened around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, near the intersection of 9th Street and S. Buchanan Street. Someone was home at the time and called police.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 8, 2018 at 9:45AM | Updated February 8, 2018 at 10:14AM

Porter Drama Centers Around Arlington — The resignation of White House aide Rob Porter, which has been a national headline this week, has a number of Arlington connections. Porter reportedly has an apartment here, which he shared with a girlfriend before starting to date White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, and the protective order Porter’s second wife filed against him was to keep him away from her Arlington residence. [Daily Mail, New York Times]

Arlington Kid’s Star Continues to Rise — Nine-year-old Iain Armitage stars as the title character in the CBS comedy Young Sheldon and also was featured HBO’s Golden Globe-winning Big Little Lies. That’s in addition to film roles Armitage, an Arlington native whose family owns a house in Ashton Heights, is getting as he continues to build his Hollywood career. Just 3.5 years ago, Armitage was best known for his viral reviews of Signature Theatre shows. [Toronto Star]

Meanwhile in D.C.

By Christina Sturdivant-Sani

Published February 8, 2018 at 9:00AM

Photo by Leeann Cafferata

The education of Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, DCPS enrollment dips, and other news of the day over in the District.

Beyer: Trump Parade Idea Is ‘Vanity Project… Reminiscent of Authoritarians’

By ARLnow.com

Published February 7, 2018 at 4:25PM

Congressman Don Beyer (D-Va.) is raining pointed criticism on President Donald Trump’s parade.

Calling the president’s idea of a grand military parade in the nation’s capital “terrible” and “an embarrassing misuse of our military leaders’ time,” Beyer says he is also concerned about the impact of tanks and large military vehicles on local roads.

Independent Auditor Seeks Suggestions of Things to Audit

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Published February 7, 2018 at 2:45PM | Updated February 7, 2018 at 4:26PM

Arlington County government offices/headquarters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd

(Updated at 2:50 p.m.) Arlington County’s independent auditor is soliciting suggestions for potential government audits from residents.

Chris Horton, who has been in the job since Nov. 2016 after his predecessor, Jessica Tucker, decamped for California, wants residents to chime in with ideas for transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness measures that should be undertaken. The goal is to uncover suggested audit topics for his 2018 work plan that result in “a broad community impact, a significant financial impact or both.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 7, 2018 at 10:45AM

Murder of Crows Pooping All Over Shirlington — A large contingent of crows have taken up residence in Shirlington, and locals are getting fed up with cars and sidewalks being covered in bird doo-doo. [WTOP, NBC Washington]

Design Contest for 2019 ‘I Voted’ Sticker — “In an effort to gin up voter enthusiasm during what is expected to be a slow 2019, Arlington election officials… plan to hold a competition to design a logo for next year’s election.” [InsideNova]