There are at least four dog-related blogs with an Arlington connection at the moment, including two that have sprung up in the past couple of months. They include the NOVADog Magazine blog, Two Dog Tales, Animal Eyes Arlington and the new A-Town Dog Blog.
The A-Town Dog Blog, which launched earlier this summer, is solely devoted to photos of dogs in Arlington. Why start a site about dogs in Arlington?
Power Returns for Most — Only 10 Dominion customers in North Arlington are still without power after Sunday’s powerful storm. Crews worked overnight to restore power to hard-hit neighborhoods. As of 11:00 last night, there were nearly 220 homes without power, compared to 1360 customers early yesterday morning.
$800,000 to Gussy Up Sewage Plant — Arlington’s Water Pollution Control Plant is set to receive $700,000 to $800,000 worth of landscaping and other visual improvements, if a contract is approved by the County Board this weekend. [Sun Gazette]
In February, a U.S. District Court Judge dismissed a lawsuit against Arlington County filed by Wag More Dogs (2606 S. Oxford Street). With the assistance of the the Institute for Justice, a Ballston-based libertarian public interest law firm, Wag More Dogs owner Kim Houghton had claimed that the county’s crackdown on the store’s colorful wall mural, which faced the Shirlington dog park, was unconstitutional.
Today, Houghton and the Institute for Justice announced that they have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to take the case — which revolves around the method by which Arlington County decides what is ‘art’ and what is an impermissible commercial sign.
The dog-centric fundraiser will be held this Saturday, May 14th, at Bluemont Park (329 N. Manchester Street). The actual “walk” will start at 9:30 a.m. — participants will have a choice of a three-mile loop walk or a one mile stroll. There will also be entertainment, sponsor booths and demonstrations of doggie feats.
Organizers expect about 500 walkers and 300 dogs to participate this year. Last year’s event raised more than $100,000 for the AWLA and its work with homeless animals.
Police say 18-year-old Joseph DiFilippo struck a woman and her dog with his pickup truck while they were walking northbound on N. Quincy Street. The woman, 29 28, remains in critical condition. The dog, a golden retriever, died at the scene.
DiFilippo has charged with reckless driving, failure to maintain proper control of a vehicle, driving without a license and violation of a learner’s permit. Police say the charges may be amended if the victim’s condition worsens. DiFilippo remained on the scene after the accident and cooperated with investigators, police say.
Update at 9:15 p.m. on 4/27/11 — The victim has succumbed to her injuries.
Update at 2:15 p.m. on 4/12/11 — The driver has been charged with reckless driving.
Kim Houghton, the owner of Wag More Dogs (2606 S. Oxford Street), sued Arlington County after zoning officials declared her store’s mural of dogs, bones and paw prints — which faces the Shirlington dog park — to be a form of commercial speech and in violation of the county’s sign ordinance. U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema dismissed the lawsuit today “with prejudice.”
Undeterred, Houghton vowed to keep fighting.
County Attorney Stephen MacIsaac says the county has a number of arguments to counter the lawsuit’s claims. The suit argues that regulators are infringing on a small business owner’s free speech by deeming a large mural painted on the side of her building a commercial sign and not artwork.
“I think it should be fairly apparent under the sign ordinance that this is a sign,” MacIsaac said. The mural is “clearly an effort to promote this woman’s business… to depict it as public art, I think, is a bit of a stretch.”
Wag More Dogs owner Kim Houghton says she commissioned the $4,000 mural, which depicts dogs, bones and paw prints, to beautify the dog park, which her business abuts. But the county zoning office didn’t see the mural as art, it saw it as a 60 foot by 16 foot commercial sign — well beyond the 60 square feet of signage the store is allowed under the county sign ordinance. Had the mural depicted flowers or anything not dog-related, said county regulators, it would be permitted.
Shortly after that, Houghton linked up with the Institute for Justice, a Ballston-based libertarian public interest law firm. This morning Houghton and her attorneys filed a lawsuit and asked for a preliminary injunction that would allow the mural to be displayed while the lawsuit makes its way through the courts.
That is, unless the park bond fails in November.
All but $350,000 of the park’s funding relies on voters passing a $5.975 million park bond next month. If the bond fails, a new, piecemeal construction plan will likely need to be conceived.
From noon to 6:00 on Saturday, thousands of beer drinkers will jam Campbell Avenue in Shirlington Village for the 10th annual Mid-Atlantic Oktoberfest. Wear your best lederhosen and bring extra cash for bratwurst. Oh, and bring a non-drinking friend who can help you get home safely AND provide a few extra sample tickets to your group (for $25, each attendee gets 10 tickets good for one 4 oz. beer sample each).
Dog lovers skipping the Oktoberfest may want to check out Dogtober Day and Barker’s Bash, a dog show and festival full of fun and games. It’s taking place at Lacey Woods Park (1200 N. George Mason Dr.) from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Painted on the side of a cinder block warehouse and facing the popular Shirlington dog park, a large mural of happy dogs, bones and paw prints seems like a nice addition. And it would be fine with county regulators — if it wasn’t for the fact that a dog-related business commissioned it. But since the mural belongs to a small doggy daycare it’s considered advertising under county zoning code — and may eventually have to be painted over. For now, a blue tarp covers the $4,000 mural.
Thus is the paradox of county regulations intended to protect Arlington from commercial eyesores but permit public artwork — even if the “advertisement” is actually beautifying a monolithic wall in a run-down neighborhood, it is considered a violation. Yet if the doggie daycare were to paint airplanes or fire trucks or elephants on the side of the wall — which is in plain sight of a steady procession of defecating dogs — it would be perfectly fine.
