controversy | ARLnow.com

Immigration Demonstrators Walk Out, Make Headlines

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.

News

Road Work in Progress on Arlington Ridge

By ARLnow.com

Published August 24, 2011 at 9:46AM

The lane has now been demolished by construction contractors, who are in the process of building a wider sidewalk, additional green space and circular driveways for two houses. Daytime traffic on Arlington Ridge Road has been reduced to one lane near the construction zone, with flaggers directing cars on either side. The sidewalk along the east side of Arlington Ridge Road near the construction has been closed.

In addition to the work in progress — eliminating the Meade Street slip lane and making the intersection a purely 90 degree turn — the $200,000 county project has already turned the bus pull-off lane south of 23rd Street into an expanded sidewalk and has squared up the intersection of Arlington Ridge and Oakcrest Road by extending the permanent curbing to where a temporary curb had been installed.

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Mudslinging Continues as Favola Accused of ‘Racism’

By ARLnow.com

Published August 15, 2011 at 11:53AM | Updated August 15, 2011 at 2:16PM

In the latest round of mudslinging, Barbara Favola is being accused of making “racist comments” regarding the electability of her Democratic primary opponent, Jaime Areizaga-Soto — a charge she is calling “flat out untrue.”

Local Democratic blogger and Areizaga-Soto supporter Lowell Feld says he received a call from Favola last week in which Favola — thinking she was talking to a potential voter and not a vocal online critic — implied that Areizaga-Soto was unelectable because few Latinos live in the 31st District. Favola reportedly also noted that many of the donations to the Areizaga-Soto campaign have come from the candidate’s friends and family in Puerto Rico.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 10, 2011 at 8:15AM | Updated August 10, 2011 at 10:26AM

More Residents Upset With Road Work — Arlington Ridge residents aren’t the only ones who have qualms about Arlington County’s traffic calming efforts. In the Chain Bridge Forest neighborhood, residents “wanted $16,000 worth of speed humps… What they got was $200,000 worth of concrete dividers and narrowed lanes that they said increased the risk of drivers being rear-ended while turning into the neighborhood.” [Washington Examiner]

Chicken Boosters Look to 2012 — Supporters of hen-raising in Arlington are hoping for action from the county government in 2012. They hope to convince homeowners (and the County Board) that keeping outdoor chicken coops won’t cause noise and odor problems, since hens are quieter than roosters and since regular coop cleaning can abate the smell. [Sun Gazette]

News

Heated Senate Battle Escalates

By Katie Pyzyk

Published July 25, 2011 at 12:51PM | Updated July 25, 2011 at 3:22PM

Today the Favola campaign launched a website attacking Areizaga-Soto, claiming he had involvement with oil companies. The site also states that one of Areizaga-Soto’s “main clients”, Petrobras, was responsible for 11 oil spills.

Areizaga-Soto’s campaign manager has responded to the allegations on the website by stating, “It is a sign of desperation that the Favola campaign has decided to attack Jaime using an exaggerated six degrees of separation attack. While Jaime serves our country in uniform, Favola is partnering with Ken Cuccinelli’s allies to fund her Senate campaign, breaking the Arlington County Code of Ethics and giving herself a 60% pay-raise while doing it.”

News

Favola Campaign Defends ‘Clerical Error’ in Poll

By ARLnow.com

Published July 14, 2011 at 9:47AM

Barbara Favola’s state Senate campaign is defending a telephone poll that erroneously identified Democratic primary opponent Jaime Areizaga-Soto as a Republican.

The poll, conducted on behalf of the Favola campaign, asked residents negative questions about both candidates. In a statement, the Favola campaign said calling Areizaga a Republican was a “clerical error.”

News

Areizaga-Soto Campaign Criticizes Negative Phone Poll

By ARLnow.com

Published July 13, 2011 at 1:42PM | Updated July 13, 2011 at 4:49PM

Update at 4:45 p.m. — The Washington Post reports that Favola has ordered her pollster to stop calling Areizaga-Soto a “Republican” during the poll.

The Jaime Areizaga-Soto state Senate campaign, criticized last week for its negative campaign mailers, is now fighting back against a telephone poll apparently conducted on behalf of opponent Barbara Favola’s campaign.

News

Areizaga-Soto Criticized for Negative Mailers in Primary Race

By ARLnow.com

Published July 8, 2011 at 10:32AM | Updated July 8, 2011 at 7:17PM

The latest mailer shows Favola between Gov. Bob McDonnell and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli with the headline “These politicians have a lot in common” — a reference to the fact that all three have accepted donations from local real estate developer, philanthropist and Republican political donor Preston Caruthers. (Favolva accepted a $5,000 donation from Caruthers.)

“I’m disappointed that my friend Jaime Areizaga-Soto has been persuaded that victory in the primary can be achieved through slick negative campaign mailings,” Del. Bob Brink said in a statement said in a statement last night.

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Bluemont Residents to Debate Development Plans

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2011 at 4:17PM

The plan, which we reported on in April, envisions a “Bluemont Village Center,” featuring new mixed-use developments along a stretch of Wilson Boulevard (west of Ballston) currently flanked by single-story shops, restaurants and an older Safeway supermarket. The plan was generated by the Bluemont Civic Association, with the volunteer help of a Virginia Tech graduate student, as part of its Neighborhood Conservation plan process.

The plan is only intended to guide future development along Wilson Boulevard, but its renderings of imagined 4 to 5 story buildings has elicited a strong response from residents who object to the potential increase in density.

News

DEVELOPING — Diocese Sues Arlington Over Bishop O’Connell Lights

By ARLnow.com

Published June 3, 2011 at 8:26PM

The suit was filed in response to the County Board’s denial of a request by Bishop O’Connell high school to add lights to its athletic fields.

The Diocese issued the following statement tonight about its legal action.

News

PETA Weighs in on Arlington Dog Park Debate

By ARLnow.com

Published May 26, 2011 at 12:44PM

The animal rights group has written a letter to Arlington Parks Division Chief Caroline Temmermand with a “friendly suggestion” — to ban unsterilized dogs from the county’s dog parks.

“Dogs who haven’t been ‘fixed’ are nearly three times as likely to bite as are dogs who have been sterilized,” a PETA rep told ARLnow.com. Plus, the rep said, dogs that haven’t been spayed or neutered “can contribute to the animal overpopulation crisis.”