controversy | ARLnow.com

Condo Owners, Homeless Advocates Face Off Over Shelter Plan

Published December 8, 2011 at 3:25PM

Residents of the Woodbury Heights building (1301 N. Courthouse Road) have been distributing flyers (pictured), emailing officials and calling media outlets with a litany of concerns over the plan. Chief among them: worries about safety, property values and neighborhood “charm.”

“I work long hours, which often means I am in this area when it is dark,” said one female resident, in a letter to County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman. “I would feel considerably less safe with the shelter’s entrance so close to what is in essence the front door of my home.”

News

Artisphere Critics React to New Business Plan

By ARLnow.com

Published December 2, 2011 at 3:25PM

Photo from the Here Cafe + Bar opening at Artisphere

Arlington County Board members on Tuesday expressed cautious optimism about the plan, which would cut Artisphere’s hours, close its restaurant, and generate more revenue via private event rentals. Critics we spoke to, by and large, agreed that the new business plan was an improvement over the flawed, original business plan. But they also questioned whether the County Board should have even bought in to the original business plan in the first place.

“In retrospect, it’s unfortunate the Board didn’t have the foresight presented in the task force’s business plan,” wrote Tim Wise, president of the Arlington County Taxpayers Association. “That said, it’s not clear the new business plan will fix what needs fixing. What is clear, however, is that government should restrict itself to core government functions such as police enforcement, and stay out of places where it doesn’t belong, e.g., the arts.”

News

DEVELOPING — Major Changes Proposed for Artisphere

By ARLnow.com

Published November 29, 2011 at 6:00AM | Updated November 30, 2011 at 7:51AM

A revised business plan, which will be presented to the County Board this afternoon, will suggest slashing Artisphere’s hours, shuttering its restaurant and retail store, and generating more revenue via corporate event rentals.

Even if the plan is implemented, however, the task force expects Artisphere to burn through more than $2.3 million in taxpayer funds in financial year 2012 and another $1.6 million in financial year 2013. If the new plan is shelved, Artisphere will require nearly $2.7 million in taxpayer support in FY 2012, the task force said. The one-year-old venue’s original business plan projected only $739,975 in county taxpayer support in FY 2012.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 7, 2011 at 8:34AM

Mailer Blasts GOP State Senate Candidate — A mysterious last-minute political mailer has been sent to voters in the 32nd state Senate District. The mailer attacks GOP state Senate candidate Patrick Forrest for being “openly homosexual,” supporting “illegal immigration reform” and for supposedly working for President Obama’s transition team. Forrest’s opponent, incumbent state Sen. Janet Howell, spoke out against the mailers, calling them “disgusting and despicable.” The mailing’s return address comes back to a parking lot, and the organization it purports to come from does not exist. [Blue Virginia]

Arlington Man Charged With Murder — A 27-year-old Arlington man has been charged with second degree murder in Hawaii. Christopher Deedy, a special agent with the State Department, allegedly shot a man during a late-night argument at a McDonald’s in Waikiki. [KHON 2]

News

Candidate Defends Remarks About Gays and God

By ARLnow.com

Published October 20, 2011 at 11:55AM | Updated October 20, 2011 at 12:19PM

During his closing remarks at the group’s candidates forum in Ballston, McGhee started opining about the relationship between gays, lesbians and God.

“Each and every one of you is a uniquely valuable human being created for a purpose,” McGhee told the group, according to an audio recording and transcript on the Not Larry Sabato blog. “Some of you are beyond frustrated with God right now. Some of you refuse to believe in him altogether. You’ve asked the question or perhaps given up asking a long time ago ‘Why? Why would God make me who I am and then tell me that’s wrong?'”

News

Board Stays Up Late to Approve New Boeing HQ

By ARLnow.com

Published October 19, 2011 at 6:36PM

After a lengthy back-and-forth discussion, the Board voted unanimously to approve the project, which won high marks for its economic benefits to the county but which was strongly opposed by the county’s own citizen-led transportation and planning commissions.

Opponents of the Boeing plan argued that allowing six-story, single-tenant office buildings on the 4.7 acre property — located between Crystal City and the county’s new Long Bridge Park — ran counter to Arlington’s original “smart growth” goal for a mixed-use office, residential and retail development there.

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

Acrimony Among Neighbors, County Staff During Traffic Calming Fight

By ARLnow.com

Published September 14, 2011 at 9:45AM | Updated September 15, 2011 at 1:27AM

The changes, designed to slow down drivers on a wide, downhill portion of River Street, can hardly be described as “drastic.” But the two-plus year neighbor vs. neighbor vs. county battle that preceded it can be.

Emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by opponents of the traffic calming measures reveal that the fight got so nasty, the acrimony even spread to county staff.

News

Police Respond to Dispute at Kitty O’Shea’s

By ARLnow.com

Published August 31, 2011 at 4:58PM

There was more bad blood over the shuttering of Courthouse-area Irish pub Kitty O’Shea’s (2403 Wilson Blvd) this afternoon.

The pub closed over the weekend, the culmination of a long legal battle between owner Danny McFadden and landlord Ray Schupp over McFadden’s lease. Today, just after 3:00 p.m., police were called to Kitty O’Shea’s for a dispute.

News

Residents of Building Near Construction Collapse Scramble to Find New Homes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 31, 2011 at 1:29PM

What started on Aug. 7 as a construction site mishap — the failed retaining wall, the muddy landslide, the threat that the apartment building might collapse — has gone from bad to worse for the Swansen residents, who say they were being told as late as Aug. 23 that they would be able to move back in to their Rosslyn-area apartment building.

That all changed on Aug. 26, residents say, with an email from landlord Mark Swansen.

News

Immigration Demonstrators Walk Out, Make Headlines

By ARLnow.com

Published August 26, 2011 at 3:43PM

The forum was organized as a listening session by a volunteer task force charged with recommending changes to Secure Communities, which Arlington tried and failed to opt out of last year.

After a raucous hour of impassioned speeches, about 150 pro-immigrant demonstrators marched and chanted their way out of the building, declaring the forum an “absolute sham” and demanding that the task force resign. The walkout — and many of the speeches and chants that preceded it — was choreographed by the group CASA de Maryland, which has been speaking out against Secure Communities since its inception.

Around Town

Kitty O’Shea’s Closing Following Legal Battle

By ARLnow.com

Published August 25, 2011 at 2:17PM | Updated August 25, 2011 at 2:44PM

“Saturday, August 27, is our last day of operation,” the note says. “Feel free to express your displeasure with Schupp Companies – Park Street Development.”

Kitty O’Shea’s owner Danny McFadden has been engaged in a costly legal battle with his landlord, the Schupp Companies, over what McFadden says is an attempt to evict him so the property can be redeveloped. McFadden claims that he still has four more years on his lease, while landlord Ray Schupp says the lease ended in 2010.