Here is the unedited response from Stephanie Clifford:
I have lived in Virginia’s 49th District for nearly a decade and am a proud member of this community. I am a mother, small business owner, and a proud Democrat. I am running for the House of Delegates because I care deeply about our community, and I want to ensure that our shared community values continue to be heard in Richmond.
Responding to a complaint to the county health department, market officials are asking residents to voluntarily leave their dogs at home or, at the very least, “keep them out of vendor booths and away from tables that have food on them.”
The Saturday farmers market in Courthouse, meanwhile, is more explicit about its policy about dogs.
Now, as the national economy teeters once again, there’s some question of whether the local economy can remain an island of vibrancy. With federal discretionary spending decreasing, and with the possibility of even steeper cuts down the road, Uncle Sam may not be able to provide the steady flow of cash that kept the local economy going during the last recessionary period.
The local economic indicators are a mixed bag. Unemployment in Arlington is still remarkably low, at 3.9 percent. Home sales are up in the most recent period, but home sale prices are down considerably in Arlington and in the D.C. metro area.
The second month to be named after a Roman emperor (the other is July), there’s a lot to like about August.
It’s sort of like summer’s grand finale — when folks begin packing in the remaining warm weather fun on their ‘To Do’ list before the arrival of shorter days and cooler nights.
The four-week, $200,000+ construction project will eliminate a bus pull-off lane, will extend permanent curbing at the intersection of Arlington Ridge and Oakcrest Road, and will include various curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements — all in the name of improving pedestrian safety.
But one change in particular has prompted vocal protests from dozens of residents: the elimination of the slip lane from southbound Arlington Ridge Road to S. Meade Street.
‘Arlington Magazine’ will begin publishing six times a year starting in late October. The magazine “will bring the editorial and design standards of a national magazine to our community while covering the lives and lifestyles of local residents.”
In the words of the Washington Business Journal’s Missy Frederick, it “looks like WBJ and ARLnow will now have some competition breaking such tidbits as ‘Where will the new Dr. Dremo’s sign a lease?'”
By the end of the week, at least 10 new eateries will have opened in Clarendon since February.
Pinkberry will open its doors on Friday, joining other new food destinations including Burapa Thai, Circa, South Block Smoothie & Burrito, Rabbit, Pete’s Apizza, Larry’s Homemade Ice Cream, BGR: The Burger Joint, Cava and Mad Rose Tavern.
In an editorial, the Washington Post suggests that now would be the “wrong time” to start building a proposed streetcar line along Columbia Pike.
After all, the Post opines, the federal funds that the county hopes to receive for the $140-million-plus project may become difficult to obtain now that the federal government is on the verge of approving spending cuts. Arlington’s leaders, the Post editorial board says, would be better off spending the county’s share of the 4.7-mile streetcar line’s big price tag “elsewhere” — perhaps on additional capacity for the burgeoning Arlington Public School system.
Needless to say, it’s hot out there.
With temperatures expected to reach the upper 90s today and the lower 100s Friday, some people have got to be getting sick of summer and nostalgic for cooler weather.
It seems that every time we run a story on a new retailer coming to Arlington, someone chimes in in the comments, saying that they’d much rather have a Wegman’s.
The project, set to begin construction later this year or early next year, is intended to improve the currently under-utilized space by creating “an active, multi-use plaza to accommodate the farmers’ markets, music events, vendors and other community activities, while enhancing pedestrian access to Metrorail and transit.”
The improvements include new pedestrian paving, street and plaza lighting, “seating walls,” movable tables and chairs, covered bike parking, modular newspaper racks and a Clarendon Boulevard curb extension.
According to the Sun Gazette, however, county leaders are now deciding whether including the owner’s name in the county’s public real estate assessment database presents privacy concerns.
Over the weekend, the County Board responded to a resident’s complaint about its online property records system by asking county staff to “look into options for redacting the names of property owners” from the search results, according to the paper.
