Arlington will again be alive with the sound of thousands of pedaling cyclists, as the Armed Forces Cycling Classic returns in June.
Previously known as the Air Force Association Cycling Classic, the event will celebrate its 20th anniversary when it takes place on June 10 and 11.
The national political climate and art are colliding this year at Artomatic.
The free six-week art extravaganza debuts tonight in Crystal City. Among the politically-inspired pieces: a large paper mache President Trump with a Russian flag lapel pin and a Gollum-like Vladimir Putin on his shoulder.
Rosslyn CAFE — Community, Arts, Food and Entertainment — is being produced by the Rosslyn BID. The free events are part of the business improvement district’s goal to create community events that take advantage of “unknown or unused spaces in the neighborhood.”
Next month’s series, known as April Arts & Beats, will take place on Fridays and feature a happy hour with new local artists each week, complimentary small plates and cocktails, wine and beer available for purchase.
A decade ago, the picture for Crystal City looked bleak.
Despite its proximity to D.C. and National Airport, Crystal City was not seen as a particularly desirable place to live, work or go out. It was most commonly associated with blocky office buildings and an underground shopping center that was a useful passageway in bad weather but a somewhat sad place to be on a nice day. On top of all that, its aging office buildings would soon start emptying due to DoD offices moving out as part of BRAC.
The Rosslyn Holiday Market Festival is a two-day festival this year, to be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10 and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11 at Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway).
“Like Rosslyn, the holiday market has evolved over the years with a focus on creating experiences where people can spend time and have fun with their co-workers, neighbors and community,” Rosslyn BID President Mary-Claire Burick said in an e-mail.
Mary-Claire Burick, a Douglas Park resident, has been named to the top post that the BID. She will lead the BID during the pivotal “Realize Rosslyn” urban planning process, which will help to shape a long-term vision for the community.
Burick, 46, most recently ran a management consulting company. Before that, she spent 20 years managing operations at Rosslyn-based Allbritton Communications, which owns WJLA-TV (ABC 7), NewsChannel 8 and Politico.
The inaugural “Pups and Pilsners” outdoor beer festival will be held on Sept. 23. The Crystal City Business Improvement District and Washington Wine Academy is stocking the event, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 1405 Crystal Drive, with a beer garden of 10 craft brews and food from Crystal City restaurants.
Entry to the “dog-friendly festival” is free — and bringing Fido is optional. The beer garden will cost you, though. Tickets will be available at washingtonwineacademy.org.
Citing “challenges” posed by the 100 or so food trucks and carts licensed in Arlington, the BID says the county should work to create a “level playing field” between mobile vendors and restaurants. Among the BID’s recommendations are regulating the “location and schedule of food trucks, trash, parking and access to restroom facilities.”
We reported exclusively last week that the BID was in the process of formulating a set of recommended county regulations for food trucks, at least in part to protect brick-and-mortar restaurants against the onslaught of competition from food trucks, which don’t make the same kind of long-term investments in a neighborhood as restaurant owners.
Training Day — U.S. Navy Lt. Christine Flood, an Arlington native, trains Afghan National Army medics on basic nursing skills, infectious disease control and hospital trauma procedures at the Kandahar Regional Medical Hospital on June 5. [U.S. Army]
House Fire in Leeway-Overlee — A fire broke out in the back of a house on the 5500 block of 24th Street N. on Sunday afternoon, possibly due to a lightning strike. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze before it spread to other parts of the structure.
The board approved a supplemental commercial property tax in Ballston to pay for the formation of a Ballston Business Improvement District. It did so with the encouragement of many large property owners — like JBG, Shooshan Company and Ballston Common Mall owner Forest City — but over the objections of a few, like the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Nature Conservancy.
“A Business Improvement District for Ballston is the best vehicle for building on Ballston’s already considerable assets and positioning it for the future,” Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette said in a statement. “With the success of our BIDs in Crystal City and Rosslyn, we know that this new BID will contribute greatly to the future success of Ballston.”
This weekend a group of large local property owners will ask the county board to advertise a public hearing on the creation of a Ballston Business Improvement District.
The Ballston BID would be responsible for marketing Ballston to potential businesses, residents and visitors. It is necessary, property owners say, to keep Ballston competitive with other fast-growing commercial office markets in the District and in Northern Virginia. (Such as Tyson’s Corner, which is a few years away from becoming Metro-accessible.)
It works like this: Using only solar power (even in the shade), the receptacles compact trash so efficiently that each holds about 5 times as much refuse as a normal garbage can. That means it can save 4 out of every 5 collection trips, for an 80 percent fuel savings.
And not only does the Big Belly compactor save fuel, it also saves money at a time when the county is cutting back on the frequency of trash collection along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor due to budget constraints. Plus, the devices can potentially save money on pest control by keeping rodents out of the trash.
