Arlington County is launching an awards program that aims to publicly recognize locals who stepped up to the plate to help their neighbors through the COVID-19.
Nominations for the “Community COVID-19 Hero Awards” are currently open online or in-person at any library.
Arlington County is inviting the public to provide feedback on the planned development for the vacant Wendy’s lot at 2025 Clarendon Blvd.
Greystar Real Estate Partners is proposing to turn the 0.57-acre lot about a block from the Courthouse Metro station into a 16-story apartment building, with up to 231 residential units and 4,000 square feet of retail.
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…)
Meet the latest Adoptable Pet of the Week, Bella. Her friends at Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation compare her to the sleek, black Batmobile — and she has a “purr motor” to match.
Here’s what else Belly’s friends had to say about her:
This year’s Very Godly VBS, inspired by The Titan’s Curse, invites children into the world of Camp Half-Blood to explore faith, courage, belonging, and community through storytelling, music, crafts, games, science, and reflection in a fun and welcoming environment for all.
Location: The Falls Church
The virtual learning staffing shortfall is not the only issue facing Arlington Public Schools. APS is also starting the school year without its Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer.
Dr. Arron Gregory, who was appointed to the then-newly-created position in December 2019, is currently on “approved leave,” APS spokesman Frank Bellavia confirmed to ARLnow. He has been on leave since at least last week, as the new school year got underway.
Join us for a delightful Sunday afternoon at the BlackRock Center for the Arts as Cruise Planners Beth & Rod present a special travel-inspired matinee featuring the beloved film Under the Tuscan Sun.
Date & Time: Sunday, May 31 | 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Developer and construction company Skanska announced it will be breaking ground on a nine-story office building in the Virginia Square area this fall.
The site, at 3901 N. Fairfax Drive, is an undeveloped parcel near Quincy Park currently operating as a temporary parking lot. Skanska intends to build an office building with ground-floor retail and a public plaza.
(Updated at 10:15 a.m.) Work is nearly complete to convert a dilapidated former restaurant space near Clarendon to a “next gen” Dunkin’ store, while a nearby location has closed.
Signs — including “now hiring” — are up at the renovated storefront at 3300 Wilson Blvd, which will feature a drive-thru window for those who want their coffee and donuts on the go. The space was once a Dunkin’ Donuts, before it closed and was succeeded Peruvian chicken restaurant Pio Pio, Indian-Pakistani-Bangladeshi restaurant Naan Kabob, and, briefly, Red Hook Lobster Pound.
Firefighters Recount 9/11 Horror — “Arlington County firefighter Matthew Herrera was racing to a call for an apartment fire in Rosslyn, Virginia, 20 years ago, when his crew was rerouted. Their new destination: the Pentagon, for a report of a plane down in the area. It was Sept. 11, 2001. Herrera, now a captain, struggled to get through piles of debris inside the building, right where the plane had hit, to fight the blaze. ‘The first time I fell, I got up real quick and I remember (thinking), ‘I hope I’m not stepping on somebody.’ And I knew that I probably was,’ Herrera told WTOP.” [WTOP]
More Recollections of Sept. 11 — “What they encountered was catastrophic, unprecedented and unforgettable. ‘There was just one piece of the plane I could see,’ recalls Scott, who today holds the rank of Captain II with Arlington Fire/EMS. ‘It was the letter C, from American Airlines.’ Along with countless other responders, Scott spent hours working to suppress the fire raging on the Pentagon’s west side.” [Arlington Magazine, WJLA, NBC 4]
Good morning, Arlington. Dana here. It’s Wednesday, September 8: National Ampersand Day and Pink’s 42nd birthday.
Morning Notes
(Updated 9:25 a.m. on 9/8/21) The new virtual learning program in Arlington Public Schools, available to anyone uncomfortable with going to school in-person, has gotten off to a rocky start due to severe teacher shortages.
During the first week of school, 340 of the more than 700 students enrolled in the program were assigned subs rather than permanent teachers, and many did not receive class schedules. Instead, many virtual students saw their classes canceled or they were shuffled into multi-grade classes and “virtual waiting rooms” without teachers or monitors.
Running now through May 23rd, at Gunston Arts Center, Ghost Limb is a timely and haunting examination of authoritarianism set during Argentina’s Dirty War that draws poetic inspiration from the Persephone and Demeter myth. When Consuelo’s son is “disappeared” by the military, she discovers a psychic link between her injured arm and her tortured child-and races to find him before it’s too late.
90 minutes with no intermission
