Obama to Visit W-L Today — President Obama will be making a lunchtime visit to Washington-Lee High School today. Expect heightened security in the area.
Bus Stop Improvements — The County has been making improvements to certain bus stops around Arlington. One recent stop to get a makeover — complete with a shelter and a Capital Bikeshare station — is at 15th and Hayes Streets in Pentagon City. [Arlington Transit]
The military base announced a policy change today that will open up most recreation facilities there to non-Department of Defense federal employees. Among the facilities that federal workers can now take advantage of are the Fort Myer Bowling Center and the Fort Myer Officers’ Club. The club has a swimming pool, tennis and racquetball courts and fine dining facilities.
Federal workers don’t have to be an Officers’ Club member to use the facilities, but they will have to pay a non-member fee. Official government ID is required to access the facilities. The policy change announced today also allows federal employees to join the Officers’ Club, if they wish.
Crews are also pre-treating roads with salt and brine this afternoon in preparation for the winter weather, according to the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services.
The Office of Personnel Management announced this morning that federal employees may use unscheduled leave to go home early today, if desired.
The National Weather Service has issued a freezing rain advisory, in effect until 6:00 a.m. Monday. Forecasters say periods of freezing rain will leave a trace to a tenth of an inch of ice on local roadways before tomorrow’s morning rush hour.
VDOT says it’s prepared to treat slick spots overnight.
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) is among the local congressional sponsors of a new bipartisan bill that allow federal employees to donate unused sick days to “sick leave banks.” The banks would then serves as a way to help federal employees who are suffering prolonged illnesses.
Below is the press release from Rep. Moran’s office.
If such a shutdown were to happen, Moran says he believes that furloughed federal employees would not be reimbursed for their time off due to Republican opposition to such a move. A shutdown could last several weeks and have a “severe impact” on the local economy, Moran warned.
“This is very, very, serious,” Moran said. “Federal employees need to understand that this is not 1995, when we closed down… and [employees] were fully reimbursed.”
With Arlington salt trucks gearing up to tackle this afternoon’s potentially dangerous snowfall, Arlington schools and the federal government have both announced early closings.
Arlington Public Schools will close two hours early today, the school system has announced. All evening and after school activities are canceled.
Presiding over a congressional district with one of the highest concentrations of federal workers in the country, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) has consistently been an unabashed supporter of federal employees and federal spending.
It’s little surprise then that Moran is criticizing President Obama’s decision to freeze the salaries of two million federal employees for the next two years.
