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Morning Notes

Published July 28, 2016 at 9:30AM

Minor Charges for Man Who Ran from Cops — The man who ran from police Tuesday in Ballston did so, apparently, to avoid being charged with driving on a suspended license and improper registration. He’s now also facing eluding and failure to I.D. charges. The passenger in the car did not flee and is being charged with identity theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. [Arlington County]

I-395 HOT Lanes ‘Pretty Close to a Done Deal’ — A plan to convert the I-395 HOV lanes to High Occupancy Toll lanes appears to be proceeding. Thanks to promises to use toll revenue to enhance carpooling and express bus service, Arlington officials have been generally supportive of the plan so far. That, after the county sued to block a previous I-395 HOT lane plan. [Washington Post]

News

Arlington Named No. 1 ‘Digital County’

By ARLnow.com

Published July 21, 2016 at 11:20AM

That’s according to the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties, which gave Arlington high marks for its tech related to “open government, transparency, citizen engagement, security and operations.”

This is the first time Arlington has achieved the honor.

News

Uber and Lyft Are Killing Arlington’s Taxi Business

By ARLnow.com

Published July 13, 2016 at 2:30PM | Updated July 14, 2016 at 10:54AM

Taxis queued up at Reagan National Airport (file photo from 2014)

In 2012 and again in 2014, a number of local firms were vying for new allocations of taxicab certificates from Arlington County. Both established companies and fledgling startups presented their case to county staff and to the County Board, arguing that Arlington needed to add to its taxi fleet.

That is a scene that may never repeat itself again.

News

Arlington Names First Poet Laureate

By ARLnow.com

Published June 27, 2016 at 10:10AM

Katherine E. Young, who has lived in Arlington for three decades, is an award-winning poet and literary translator. She will serve at our local Poet Laureate for two years, receiving an annual honorarium of $1,500.

In a press release sent at 3 p.m. Friday, the county said a ceremony will be held for Young at a County Board meeting next month.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 23, 2016 at 9:05AM

Beyer Participates in House Sit-In — Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) was among the Democratic members of the House of Representatives participating in a sit-in for gun control. Beyer gave a speech on the House floor at 4:15 this morning. [C-SPAN, Twitter]

Arlington’s 11-Year-Old Police Chief — Carlin Springs Elementary student Nathnael Abraham, 11, served as Arlington’s Police Chief-for-the-Day on Tuesday. As chief Nathnael was especially concerned about bank robberies. “I think the most important crime problem would be robberies — bank robberies, because they’re taking money that belongs to other people, and that’s not OK,” he told NBC4’s Pat Collins. [NBC Washington]

News

Fmr. State Lawmaker Had Trouble Navigating Arlington’s Bureaucracy When Opening Donut Shop

By ARLnow.com

Published June 21, 2016 at 5:00PM | Updated June 21, 2016 at 5:44PM

(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) Arlington has more to do to make the county friendlier to small businesses, particularly those with brick-and-mortar storefronts.

That was one of the messages sent by Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey during her State of the County talk this morning.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 21, 2016 at 10:30AM | Updated June 21, 2016 at 11:13AM

Historic Designation May Not Stop Westover Redevelopment — It’s probably too late to start the process of designating a soon-to-be-redeveloped garden apartment complex in Westover as a local historic district, county officials said in response to residents who want to stop the development. By state law the county can’t stop a by-right development, so the only option for preserving the garden apartments would be for the county to buy the property, said County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac. [InsideNova]

Zara Now Open in Pentagon City Mall — The fashion retailer Zara is now open in the expanded portion of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall. [Patch]

Around Town

County PSA: Text 911 If You Can’t Call

By ARLnow.com

Published June 20, 2016 at 1:30PM

Arlington County is out with a new video Public Service Announcement, reminding residents that they can now text 911 if they can’t call.

News

Arlington County’s New Auditor Is Leaving the Job

By ARLnow.com

Published June 15, 2016 at 1:45PM

Jessica Tucker, the county’s first independent auditor to report directly to the County Board, is resigning as of July 8 and taking a new job in California.

Tucker’s tenure at the county started on Jan. 25, and seemed to be going well. She announced that she was seeking audit suggestions from residents last month.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 2, 2016 at 9:30AM

Groundbreaking for Hotel Project — Developer B.F. Saul broke ground yesterday on a new hotel project. A 10-story Homewood Suites hotel will be replacing the former Colony House Furniture store at 1700 Lee Highway near Rosslyn. Demolition of the store is now proceeding, five years after it closed its doors. [Washington Business Journal]

Kojo Controversy Defused — Arlington County Board candidate Erik Gutshall wasn’t happy with the choice of political operative Ben Tribbett as a call-in guest for a Kojo Nnamdi Show segment on the County Board race — and the candidate made his feelings known via Twitter. Tribbett had done some paid polling work for incumbent Libby Garvey earlier this year, Gutshall pointed out. In the end, Gutshall himself joined the segment as a call-in guest, along with Tribbett and ARLnow.com editor Scott Brodbeck. [Storify]

News

Proposed Capital Improvement Plan Includes Millions for Metro, Maintenance, Parks and Rec

By ARLnow.com

Published May 20, 2016 at 12:15PM

County Manager Mark Schwartz presented his proposed FY 2017-26 Capital Improvement Plan earlier this week. The County Board will now hold a series of work sessions and public hearings before final adoption of the plan and the November slate of bond referenda by the Board on July 19.

The CIP includes $177 million of proposed bond referenda for November, for the following projects:

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 18, 2016 at 10:30AM

Post Investigates Chinese Rice Customs — In a follow-up to the saga of the diners who received insults on their bill at Peter Chang’s restaurant in the Lee-Harrison shopping center, the Washington Post has taken a closer look at the rice-serving customs of restaurants in China. Could it be, the Post asks, that the servers were driven to frustration due to erroneous “mansplaining” about rice? [Washington Post]

County Considering Fraud Hotline for the Public — Arlington County staff is considering a proposal to expand the county’s new waste, fraud and abuse hotline, making it open to the public. The hotline is currently set up for county employees. [InsideNova]