An Arlington County police officer received a little holiday cheer from a secret gift giver yesterday.
One of the department’s officers found a gift card and note of gratitude left anonymously on the windshield of an ACPD cruiser.
Christmas
For those who are served by Arlington County’s curbside trash pickup, Christmas tree collection will run from Jan. 2-13, 2017.
“Residents are reminded to place the tree on the curb no later than 6 a.m. on your regular trash collection day and to remove all decorations, nails, stands and plastic bags,” the county notes on its website. “The trees are later ground into wood mulch for garden use.”
Man Found Dead in Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse — A middle-aged man was found dead in the bathroom at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Crystal City Monday afternoon. The restaurant was closed and the man was found by a cleaning crew. Arlington County police say the death is not considered suspicious. [WTOP, Fox 5]
Same-Sex Marriage Rate Falls — So far in 2016, only 1.9 percent of the more than 3,600 marriage licenses issued by the Arlington Circuit Court were issued to same-sex couples. That compares to 5.3 percent from June to December 2015, after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationally. The first same-sex marriage in Arlington took place in Oct. 2014. [InsideNova]
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The team behind ARLnow.com wishes you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy Hanukkah this weekend.
Barring major breaking news, we will be taking a brief holiday hiatus until Tuesday morning. In the meantime, you’re welcome to discuss the holiday or any other topic of local interest in the comments.
County government offices, courts, libraries and facilities will be closed on Sunday, Dec. 25 and Monday, Dec. 26 for Christmas, and on Sunday, Jan. 1 and Monday, Jan. 2 for New Year’s.
Parking meters will not be enforced during that time, though trash and recycling collection will proceed as normal.
Sun Gazette Moving HQ to Falls Church — The Sun Gazette newspaper is moving its headquarters from McLean to the city of Falls Church. The paper, which has an Arlington edition and a McLean/Great Falls/Vienna/Oakton edition, has previously, under its current editor, had its headquarters in Dunn Loring, Alexandria and Springfield. [InsideNova]
Review of Synetic’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ — Crystal City-based physical theater company Synetic is performing its unique take on “Sleeping Beauty” through Jan. 8. It has received a laudatory review from Broadway World. “Every mimed motion, from a butterfly alighting on a hand to that fated spinning wheel wound, is flawlessly executed and transports audiences to a place beyond imagination,” the publication wrote. [Broadway World]
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Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah to all of our listeners!
We close out 2016 with a special holiday podcast, featuring Rev. Sarah Harrison-McQueen of Central United Methodist Church in Ballston, Dr. Leonard L. Hamlin Sr. of Macedonia Baptist Church in Nauck, Rabbi Lia Bass of Congregation Etz Hayim along Route 50, and an exclusive interview with Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.
Looking for a last-minute holiday gift idea for a special Arlingtonian in your life? We’ve got just the list for you.
Below are the top dozen Arlington-related gifts to be found on Amazon.com.
Icy Saturday Morning — Several crashes were reported around Arlington Saturday as freezing rain turned roads and sidewalks into sheets of ice. The slippery conditions lasted for most of the morning, before a warm-up started melting the ice around lunchtime. [Storify]
Wreaths Laid at ANC — Despite the icy weather, tens of thousands of volunteers helped to lay 245,000 wreaths on grave sites at Arlington National Cemetery Saturday morning. Arlington County Police assisted with crowd control for the annual Christmastime event. [WTOP, The Blaze, Twitter]
The regional SoberRide program is offering free taxi rides this holiday season, starting tonight (Friday).
More from a press release:
Traffic congestion at DCA is expected to be at its worst from 7-9 a.m. and 2-6 p.m. The peak holiday travel period is expected to last through Wednesday, Jan. 4.
From a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority press release:
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Clarendon Ballroom Battles Alt-Right Blitz — After beating up on Arlington’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation earlier this month, the alt-right faction seeking to hold inauguration rallies and parties in Arlington has focused its attention on the Clarendon Ballroom. The Ballroom, one alt-right leader alleges, turned away their planned “DeploraBall” due to political pressure. The Ballroom, however, says the organizers never actually signed a contract. Since then, the Ballroom has been receiving “hundreds of slanderous, dangerous, vulgar and threatening posts and tweets,” along with threatening phone calls. [NBC Washington, Washington Post]
Library Director’s Christmas Playlist — Arlington Public Library Director Diane Kresh has released her annual “mix tape of seasonal favorites” on the library blog. This year’s list is a Spotify playlist that starts with Diana Krall’s rendition of “Let It Snow” and concludes, on a unique-to-2016 note, with “World Spins Madly On” by The Weepies. [Arlington Public Library]