budget | ARLnow.com

Published November 10, 2011 at 1:54PM

Arlington spent $18,047 per pupil in Financial Year 2012, a 4.2 percent increase over the $17,322 per pupil spent in FY 2011. The latest spending figure is still 2.8 percent lower than the $18,569 per pupil spent in FY 2010, however.

Aside from Arlington, Alexandria was the next-highest spender in the region, with $17,618 per pupil spent in FY 2012. That compares to $16,309 per pupil in Falls Church, $14,776 in Montgomery County, $12,820 in Fairfax County, $11,014 in Loudoun County, $9,852 in Prince William County and $9,176 in Prince George’s County.

Opinion

Two Views on Artisphere

By ARLnow.com

Published October 11, 2011 at 4:04PM

Depends who you ask.

Artisphere turned one year old yesterday, but the young venue has yet to become a consistent draw or even a household name. Instead, scenes of young people having fun at an Artisphere birthday bash over the weekend contrast with the cold, hard numbers from a recent Washington Post article: attendance 70 percent below expectations, operating expenses more than 25 percent over budget. Although Arlington County taxpayers helped front Artisphere’s $6.7 million build-out cost, only 28 percent of visitors are actually from Arlington.

News

Moran Wants to Eliminate the Federal Debt Ceiling

By ARLnow.com

Published September 13, 2011 at 3:59PM

The lawmakers — Moran, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) — said the debt ceiling is “an unnecessary law increasingly used as an impediment to Congress’s ability to further economic recovery.” They will be discussing their bill, the Full Faith and Credit Act of 2011, at a press conference on Capitol Hill tomorrow morning.

In August, Moran voted against a compromise budget bill and decried the use of the debt ceiling as a lever that Republicans used to force it through Congress.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 11, 2011 at 7:55AM

Police Investigate BB Gun Bike-By Shooting — Arlington Police searched for a pair of young men on bikes last night after one of them allegedly shot a woman in the arm with a BB gun near the intersection of N. Pershing Drive and N. Thomas Street, in the Buckingham neighborhood. The suspects made a clean getaway, although one may have been briefly spotted near Ballston. The woman required medical treatment for the wound.

Pentagon Memorial Called ‘Contemplative,’ ‘Noisy’ — Visitors to the Pentagon Memorial are reportedly weirded out by the sound of low-flying planes at the Pentagon Memorial — which was built in honor of the 184 people who died when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon’s west wall on 9/11/01. The Pentagon is along the flight path of Reagan National Airport. [Associated Press]

News

Moran ‘Proud’ of Vote Against GOP Budget Plan

By ARLnow.com

Published July 20, 2011 at 8:00AM

Rep. Jim Moran says he’s proud to have been among the 190 legislators who voted against a Republican-backed plan to slash federal spending and balance the budget.

The bill passed the House of Representatives 234-190 last night, but faces long odds in the Senate and a presidential veto threat. President Obama and Democrats have called for a “balanced” national debt reduction bill that cuts spending while also raising some taxes.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 13, 2011 at 8:16AM

New Restaurant Coming to Penrose Square — Restauranteur Cathal Armstrong is reportedly planning to open a new fish-and-chips restaurant on Columbia Pike, in the new Penrose Square development. The restaurant will be the second location for Old Town Alexandria staple Eamonn’s: A Dublin Chipper. In addition to Eamonn’s, Armstrong owns Alexandria eateries The Majestic, Restaurant Eve and Virtue Feed and Grain. [Eater, Pike Wire]

Galaxy Hut Expanding to Falls Church — The owner of Clarendon’s Galaxy Hut is planning on opening a new location on W. Broad Street in Falls Church. Much like the Clarendon location, the new Galaxy Hut will be a music and entertainment venue, in addition to a bar. [Washington Post]

News

Arlington Plugs Budget Gap

By ARLnow.com

Published July 11, 2011 at 10:57AM

The board voted to use its existing, two-year-old Budget Stabilization Fund to make up the gap, caused by a $442,077 reduction in federal community block grants. The grants are used to fund local human services and education projects, to support affordable housing and homeless prevention initiatives, to improve neighborhood safety and to enhance economic opportunities for residents.

In a press release, the county cautioned that additional federal funding cuts are likely next year.

Events

Moran Invites Constituents to Examine Budget Choices

By ARLnow.com

Published July 5, 2011 at 11:42AM

Either you make steep cuts that will inevitably draw the ire of many constituents, even your supporters, or you don’t cut enough and allow your country to gradually slip into the fiscal abyss.

Cognizant of the political challenges, nonprofit deficit hawks have stepped in to try to rally public support for tough budget choices by giving voters the chance to play congressman for a day — and thus experience the challenges themselves. One such exercise is coming to Arlington next week.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 16, 2011 at 8:38AM | Updated June 16, 2011 at 10:48AM

Ducklings Rescued from Storm Drain — Hanging upside down in a storm drain, an Arlington animal control officer managed to save nine ducklings that had become trapped in a tunnel. The ducklings and their mother were reunited and brought to the nearby Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary. [Animal Watch]

ART 45 Bus Route Expanding — The ART 45 bus route is expanding. It will now run farther down Columbia Pike while at the same time adding a stop at the Courthouse Metro station en route to Rosslyn. [Arlington Transit]

News

Residents Sound Off on Arlington Arts Proposal

By Katie Pyzyk

Published June 14, 2011 at 3:59PM | Updated June 15, 2011 at 8:07AM

About two dozen people showed up at the Shirlington Library to respond to draft recommendations put forth by the Arlington Commission for the Arts and its consultants regarding the future of the county’s arts scene. A previous proposal was developed in the 1990s, and the Commission is seeking a new plan to outline the next 20 years.

Arlington Arts Commission Chair John Seal explained that the proposal assumes the county will continue its current push toward urbanization. He said additional venues, funding and availability of arts is necessary to keep up with the trend.

News

Report Recommends Increased Arts Investment in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2011 at 12:36PM

The commission and its consultants have just released a draft copy of “Arlington Arts 2030,” a report that proposes “a long-range strategy for supporting the arts over the next 20 years.”

The report recommends that the county “pro-actively and steadily move… [from] supporting the arts in a manner appropriate for a suburban community to one of building the arts to support the growing urban community that Arlington is today.” To that end, the report recommends increased investment in the arts, art facilities and the artists themselves.

Around Town

With Funding in Place, Lubber Run Meeting Planned

By ARLnow.com

Published May 10, 2011 at 11:05AM | Updated May 13, 2011 at 1:09PM

The public meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on May 16, at the ~~Lubber Run Recreation Center (300 North Park Drive)~~ Barrett Elementary School library (4401 N. Henderson Road). Among those expected to be in attendance is County Manager Barbara Donnellan. This is the second such meeting organized by the foundation.

The county is providing up to $45,000 for programming at Lubber Run this summer. Another $100,000 is going to “study capital needs toward restoration of the Lubber Run Amphitheatre.”