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Feds Close, County Gov’t Remains Open

Published January 21, 2014 at 7:55AM

Non-emergency federal employees will have the day off, unless their office requires them to telework.

“Telework-Ready Employees who are scheduled to perform telework on the effective day of the announcement or who are required to perform telework on a day when Federal offices are closed must telework the entire workday or request leave, or a combination of both, in accordance with their agency’s policies and procedures, subject to any applicable collective bargaining requirements,” according to the Office of Personnel Management.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 6, 2014 at 10:15AM

Zimmerman Pushes Back Last Day — County Board member Chris Zimmerman’s last day in office will be Feb. 10, rather than late January as originally planned. As a result, the special election to replace him on the Board will likely have to be held in early April. [Sun Gazette]

Henry Elementary Wins Accolade — Arlington’s Patrick Henry Elementary School, in the Arlington Heights neighborhood, has been recognized as a Title I Distinguished School. “Henry is one of 55 schools honored for raising the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students,” Arlington Public Schools said in an email.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published December 20, 2013 at 9:10AM

Chamber Doesn’t Support ‘Kings Dominion Rule’ Change — The Arlington Chamber of Commerce is supporting two out of three items on Arlington Public Schools’ 2014 state legislative agenda. The chamber supports in-state tuition for immigrant students who are working toward legal status in the U.S., and higher state funding for Northern Virginia schools. It did not support, however, a change in the law that would allow Virginia school systems to start school before Labor Day. [Sun Gazette]

Another John Boehner Spotting at Guapo’s — Speaker of the House John Boehner was again spotted at Guapo’s restaurant in Shirlington last week, just a couple of days after a bipartisan budget deal was announced. [Shirlington Village Blog Spot]

Weather

Snow Delays Some County Services, Parking Still Enforced

By Katie Pyzyk

Published December 10, 2013 at 2:00PM | Updated December 10, 2013 at 4:04PM

Earlier — All of the weather advisories for Arlington County have been cancelled and the snow has stopped falling, but the storm’s effects still linger around the county.

There are 250 customers without power according to Dominion’s outage map. Some of those are residual from Sunday’s ice storm, which knocked out power to about 1,700 Arlington customers.

News

Morning Notes

By Katie Pyzyk

Published November 21, 2013 at 8:30AM | Updated June 29, 2018 at 3:22PM

Metro Weekend Service Adjustments — Due to work on the Metrorail system, trains on the Orange and Blue Lines will run every 24 minutes this weekend. The altered schedule begins at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, November 22, and runs through closing on Sunday, November 24. [WMATA]

Metro Sign Upgrades on the Way — By the end of the winter, Metrorail riders should notice a number of upgrades to the electronic signs announcing train arrivals. Some improvements include making the display crisper so it’s easier to read from a distance and temporarily stopping service advisories from scrolling on the screens when trains are arriving. [Washington Post]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 27, 2013 at 9:05AM

SmartTrip Card for Students — Arlington Transit is rolling out a new SmarTrip card specifically for middle and high school students. The card will entitle students to discounted, $0.75 ART bus rides. The card can be purchased for $3.00 starting on Sept. 3 at Arlington Commuter Stores. [Arlington Transit]

Nauck Profiled by Post — The Washington Post’s Real Estate section has profiled Arlington’s Nauck neighborhood, also known as Green Valley. Properties currently on the market in Nauck range from a $109,000 efficiency condo to a $1.2 million six-bedroom house. [Washington Post]

Around Town

New ART Bus Design Unveiled

By Katie Pyzyk

Published August 9, 2013 at 11:00AM

An ART bus will be more colorful for the next year, thanks to the winner of the ARTists for PAL Bus Design Contest.

County Board Chair Walter Tejada and County Manager Barbara Donnellan joined in a ceremony on Thursday for the unveiling of the winning bus wrap. They recognized Annemarie Dougherty, who will be an 8th grader at St. Agnes Catholic School in the fall, for her winning design.

News

Arlington Transportation Projects Approved For Funding

By Ethan Rothstein

Published July 25, 2013 at 11:00AM

The authority approved funding for the Columbia Pike Multimodal Improvement Project, the Crystal City Multimodal Center, four additional ART buses and improvements to the Boundary Channel Drive/I-395 interchange; a total of $18.835 million.

In addition, the NVTA approved $5 million for the design of WMATA traction power improvements on the Orange Line, and $7 million for 10 new buses on Virginia Metrobus routes.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 11, 2013 at 8:45AM

West Nile Detected at Fort McNair — West Nile Virus have been detected in mosquitoes across the river from Arlington at Fort McNair. Fort McNair is part of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall; West Nile was not found in the Fort Myer portion of the base. [U.S. Army]

Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven — Today, 7/11/13, customers can get a free small Slurpee from 7-Eleven stores from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. This year, instead of 7.11 ounces, the free Slurpees have increased in size to 12 ounces. [USA Today]

News

ART Buses Return to Service After Investigation

By Katie Pyzyk

Published July 8, 2013 at 9:35AM | Updated July 11, 2017 at 4:39PM

The county pulled all three of its electric-natural gas hybrid buses from service after one of them suffered an apparent brake failure and rolled backward down N. Barton Street, directly into a car.

A statement from ART reads: “These three buses were thoroughly tested at the Altoona Bus Testing and Research Center before delivery to ART. Braking performance of all three buses was recently retested in varying conditions – and proved excellent… The knowledge acquired from recent testing and data has been applied in a retraining program for ART operators, to insure that safety, mechanical and operational aspects meet our expectations for service quality.”

News

Arlington Projects to Receive Funding Under New Transportation Bill

By Ethan Rothstein

Published July 5, 2013 at 11:30AM

The Columbia Pike Multimodal Improvement Project, the purchase of four additional ART buses, the Crystal City Multimodal Center, and Boundary Channel Drive- I-395 interchange improvements — which include construction of two roundabouts as well as safety and aesthetic improvements — are under consideration by the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority to receive funding under the bill, HB2313.

In Fiscal Year 2014, the NVTA is expected to have $190 million to spend, and the authority is considering 32 projects across the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park. Arlington’s four projects on the list that cost a combined $18.835 million.

News

Bus Schedule Changes Begin Next Week

By Katie Pyzyk

Published June 28, 2013 at 10:00AM

Starting next week, some riders of the two major bus service providers in Arlington will notice schedule changes.

Metrobus will begin its service changes this Sunday, June 30. Different schedules will go into effect on various lines throughout the metro area, but the following are the major changes in Arlington: