News | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published October 25, 2017 at 9:30AM | Updated October 25, 2017 at 9:59AM

Arlington Murder Suspect Arrested — Jason Allen Johnson, wanted for the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Michael Gray at an Arlington house party in February, has been arrested. Fox 5 reports that Johnson was arrested in New York on unrelated charges. [Fox 5]

County Threatens Eminent Domain for Bus Parking Lot — Arlington County is threatening to use the power of eminent domain to acquire a property it is currently leasing for bus parking along I-395 near Shirlington. The County Board last night authorized an offer to buy the property, which is assessed at $20.5 million, but also authorized use of eminent domain to acquire the property if its purchase offer is unsuccessful. [Arlington County]

D.C. Man Gets Jail Time for Riding ATV in Arlington

By Chris Teale

Published October 24, 2017 at 4:30PM | Updated October 24, 2017 at 4:49PM

Stephon Williams, 24, pleaded “nolo contendre” to a charge of felony eluding in Arlington County Circuit Court today, meaning he accepted a conviction as though a guilty plea had been entered but did not contest the charge.

Williams received a sentence of four years, with all but 105 days suspended for three years after his release, meaning he has served his time but this sentence will be taken into account if he offends again. He will also be on supervised probation for three years.

County Board Candidates Respond to Follow-Up Questions from Recent Forum

By Chris Teale

Published October 24, 2017 at 1:30PM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:27AM

Then-County Board candidate Erik Gutshall

Earlier this month, the candidates for Arlington County Board faced a bevy of tough questions at a forum hosted by the Arlington Committee of 100.

But after the audience went home and the microphones were turned off, that wasn’t the end of the candidates’ work.

Knives Come Out Following Parking Space Dispute

By ARLnow.com

Published October 24, 2017 at 9:30AM | Updated October 24, 2017 at 10:55AM

File photo

The incident happened Saturday night in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood. Police say the victim was waiting for a parking space to open up when the suspects “pulled around him and parked in the space.”

“Following a verbal dispute, the two suspects left the area and returned, each brandishing a knife,” Arlington County Police said in a crime report. “The suspects made threats but no one was injured.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 24, 2017 at 8:30AM

Belmont TV Closing — Belmont TV, located at 4723 King Street on the Arlington-Alexandria border, is planning to close its doors at the end of the month, after about 75 years in business. [Washington Business Journal]

APS Having Trouble Hiring Bus Drivers — “The strong local economy is creating some challenges for Arlington Public Schools’ efforts to fill out its bus-driver and bus-assistant ranks. There are still ‘nine routes that don’t have permanent drivers,’ said John Chadwick, the school system’s assistant superintendent for transportation, at the Oct. 19 School Board meeting.” [InsideNova]

Board to Discuss Outdoor Seating Changes After Westover Beer Garden Troubles

By Chris Teale

Published October 23, 2017 at 4:45PM

Westover Beer Garden (photo via Facebook)

Under a plan put forward by staff, the County Board could review the seating capacity and hours of piped-in music in outdoor seats governed by a use permit, like the Westover Beer Garden, on a case-by-case basis. It would mean the Board can approve exceptions to the rules of a use permit individually.

Standards that cannot be modified under a use permit include parking requirements, the use of portable lights and furniture and tying their opening hours to the attached restaurant’s.

Police: ‘Mob’ of Young Males Chased Victim, Dragged Him into Woods

By ARLnow.com

Published October 23, 2017 at 3:45PM

File photo

Police say a male victim was walking along the 700 block of S. Carlin Springs Road, near the Fairfax County line, when more than a dozen young males “chased him before dragging him into the woods, where he was threatened at gunpoint.”

The motive for the alleged attack is unclear.

Manager Recommends Surplus Go to Affordable Housing, Other ‘Near-Term Needs’

By Chris Teale

Published October 23, 2017 at 1:30PM

County staff said $11.1 million is left over, 1.4 percent of the county’s FY 2017 General Fund budget, excluding money appropriated to Arlington Public Schools.

The county collected just over $1.022 billion in revenue from property, business, sales taxes and other sources, having projected in April it would collect just over $1.004 billion. That is 1.8 percent more than projected.

County Board Approves Pedestrian-Friendly Changes to Courthouse Intersection

By ARLnow.com

Published October 23, 2017 at 10:30AM

Arlington County will spend just over $640,000 to re-configure an intersection in Courthouse neighborhood.

The County Board unanimously approved the construction project at its meeting Saturday.

Arlington Submits Amazon Application, Reveals Few Details

By ARLnow.com

Published October 23, 2017 at 9:35AM | Updated October 23, 2017 at 12:53PM

“I can tell you that yes, our proposal was submitted, but we’re not releasing any details of specific sites or anything due to competitiveness reasons,” an Arlington Economic Development spokeswoman said in response to an inquiry from ARLnow.com.

Generally speaking, there are two Metro-accessible corridors for Amazon to choose from in Arlington: the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor and the Crystal City-Pentagon City corridor. In an informal poll asking where Amazon should build its new headquarters, readers gave a slight edge to the R-B corridor.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 23, 2017 at 8:30AM | Updated October 23, 2017 at 11:04AM

Finish line of the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon (file photo)

Two Arlington Men Finish in MCM Top 3 — Arlington residents Desta Morkama and Kieran O’Connor finished first and third, respectively, in the 42nd Marine Corps Marathon yesterday. Al Richmond, the last remaining “Groundpounder” who has run every MCM since it started, kept his streak alive with a 6:48.35 finish. The race, which begins and ends in Arlington, had its start delayed by 10 minutes due to a suspicious package investigation. [RunWashington, Washington Post, NBC Washington]

No Major Incidents at MCM — Other than the short starting delay, no major incidents were reported at this year’s Marine Corps Marathon. Within the county, Arlington law enforcement and the fire department maintained a heavy presence along the course, along with Virginia State Police and other agencies. Arlington school buses were parked at key intersections to prevent anyone from driving onto the course. [Twitter, Facebook, Twitter]

Software Company Phone2Action Up For Economic Development Grant

By Chris Teale

Published October 20, 2017 at 4:30PM

Phone2Action is a software-as-a-service company that creates software for organizations to launch campaigns on public policy. That includes helping connect advocates with lawmakers and other decision-makers. It has more than 300 clients.

The firm was originally located at 1401 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn, but chose to relocate to 1500 Wilson Blvd in the same neighborhood after outgrowing its previous office space.