News

(Updated 3:45 p.m. on 2/22/22) A typo in a recent public hearing notice has had some larger consequences for Arlington County.

The error — an incorrect date printed on posters around town — also sparked a County Board discussion yesterday (Tuesday) about finding more effective ways to communicate with residents about upcoming hearings and projects.


Around Town

Korean fast casual eatery SeoulSpice is opening a new location in Rosslyn next week and offering free food for its first customers.

The spot at 1735 N. Lynn Street, on the ground floor of the International Place building, will be SeoulSpice’s sixth location and first in Virginia. It is set to open its doors on Wednesday, Feb. 23, and will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.


Sponsored

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Just in time to celebrate America’s founding in 1776, Arlington’s Dominion Stage will conclude its 76th Season with Dead Air by Greg Jones Ellis, May 29 through June 13, at Theater On the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington, Virginia.

The inaugural winner of Dominion Stage’s Playwriting Competition, Dead Air introduces us to “Reggie,” a popular TV host whose on-air trademark is “my son the genius.” However, the son is a recluse who resents his mother’s use of him as a “Unique Selling Point” in the increasingly competitive daytime talk show world. As Reggie’s career takes off, her on-air advice to a variety of guests ironically contrasts with her failing marriage and her troubled child.

As one of Arlington’s oldest cultural institutions, Dominion Stage has decidedly made a name for itself. During the pandemic, they expanded upon that reputation by initiating its Playwriting Competition, of which Dead Air was the inaugural winner.

“A play isn’t a play until it’s fully staged, but playwrights need encouragement along the way,” says playwright Greg Jones Ellis, who was the inaugural winner. “Winning the Dominion Stage Best Play award validated my effort and supplied that encouragement.”

As the Competition was initiated during the pandemic, the winning play was treated to a live-streamed staged reading. Over the next several years, the play was further refined and tweaked. The Competition itself evolved: post-pandemic, winning plays are now given full stagings as the final show of each Dominion Stage season.

“I’m so glad I reached out to Dominion Stage after the pandemic and inquired about a full production. I think the play is in very good hands at Dominion Stage; the director is sensitively guiding each actor, all of whom are giving their roles 100%,” said Ellis. (more…)


News

A pedestrian bridge in Glencarlyn Park that washed away during a severe flash flood nearly three years ago has been replaced.

On Monday, a contractor installed a new bridge over Four Mile Run in Glencarlyn Park (301 S. Harrison Street). The installation was completed before noon, Dept. of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Susan Kalish tells ARLnow.


News

(Updated at 2:25 p.m.) The mystery on Crystal Drive is now solved. A new grocery store that’s been under construction in Crystal City is set to be an Amazon Fresh, a company spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow.

First announced in 2020 as a “specialty grocery store,” the large retail space at 1550 Crystal Drive has been somewhat-secretly transforming for more than a year into an Amazon-owned store. But the company has kept mum about its Amazon Fresh plans in Arlington until now.


News

Get your clicking fingers ready, Arlington’s often competitive summer camp registration process will be opening next week.

Arlington’s parks and rec department has made some changes to try to ensure last year’s technical problems don’t happen again. The problems stem from a crush of parents all trying to register for limited camp slots at the same time.


News

Spotted: Robot Dog in Courthouse — “Several people were standing outside one of the Colonial Place buildings today. I thought it was a fire drill at first, but they were too close to the building. Then I saw it.” [Twitter]

Yorktown High’s ‘Dull’ Scoreboard — “The scoreboard at Greenbrier field is not shattered, opaque or severely damaged, but it is dysfunctional and has been for some time. This is especially frustrating for athletes whose sports play in broad daylight, as the scoreboard’s bulbs are so dim they are nearly impossible to see. Parents of these athletes have voiced their complaints about the dull board, arguing that each of the other high schools in Arlington have modern, working scoreboards, while our school’s model has been in use since 2003.” [Yorktown Sentry]


Around Town

ARLnow’s advertisers aren’t just reaching a huge local audience, they’re helping us serve the community with award-winning local news coverage.

It has always been our focus to find the intersection of highly effective ads (for clients) and legitimately useful and interesting ads (for readers). In other words, ads that you actually want to read.


News

Arlington’s planning division is looking to change the definition of a “family” in the county’s zoning code.

Housing planners say this would stop potentially exclusionary housing practices that discriminate against larger groups of unrelated residents who live together in order to afford staying in Arlington, where home prices and property taxes are rising and there’s a shortage of affordable housing options.


News

(Updated at 3 p.m.) A half-dozen Arlington fire stations will be upgraded to accommodate more firefighters.

The renovations will give firefighters and EMTs at Fire Stations 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9 more space and amenities to use while they’re at the station.