By Sheila Fleischhacker
It’s unthinkable any child goes hungry or experiences “summertime anxiety,” which is associated with summer’s unstructured nature and is marked by the lack of predictability in what each day is going to look like or, for some children, whether there will be enough to eat.
Reading through the remarks of Chairman Christian Dorsey from last week’s “State of the County” address to the Arlington Chamber, I was not surprised to find that the Chairman pronounced our status as “excellent.” But what is his report card so far?
Once again, the Chairman predictably talked about our bond rating and the customer satisfaction survey. He also talked about a desire for county officials to collaborate with the community. He took credit for ongoing improvements in public safety, economic incentive deals, and the county’s yet to be launched efforts to streamline the permitting processes. For keeping the trains running on time, Dorsey gets a C. This grade would have been a B if the Board had not claimed financial hardship before passing a 6.2% spending increase and a potentially massive pay raise.
Today is the summer solstice — pools are open, schools are out, the Fourth of July is around the corner — but the planned 22,000 square foot beer garden outside Clarendon is still shuttered.
“The Lot,” owned by local restaurant scene veteran Mike Bramson, was originally supposed to open in the summer of 2017. Then that got pushed back to the summer of 2018. Then spring of 2019. After some additional construction, Bramson told Eater he was anticipating an opening earlier this month.
(Updated 17/04/18) Arlington County officials are calling for action on health disparities among residents in two new reports released this week.
Caps Player Abandons Car on Glebe Road — “Monday was media day for the Capitals, their first practice of the postseason. [Lars] Eller was on his way to MedStar Capitals Iceplex when suddenly, his car broke down… in the middle of Glebe Road.” [NBC Sports Washington]
Task Force Ices Snow Proposal — “Thirteen of the 14 voting members of the task force ‘do not believe the county has made the case that snow operations on [the large government parcel at Old Dominion Drive and 26th Street North] must be expanded, especially given the small number of annual major storms.'” [InsideNova]
Arlington’s representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates say they tackled a host of important issues, from criminal justice reform to LGBT parental rights to public health, during this year’s legislative session.
The county is represented in the state House by four elected officials — Democrats Mark Levine, Patrick Hope, Richard “Rip” Sullivan, and Alfonso H. Lopez — all of whom are up for re-election this year.
By Sheila Fleischhacker
“I don’t have any friends.”
By ERISA violation attorney J. Price McNamara of the Law Offices of J. Price McNamara
A lawsuit filed in North Carolina is asking the court to find Atrium Health in violation of federal rules governing retirement and health benefits. The lawsuit, which was filed by five former employees of Atrium, alleges that Atrium has been avoiding its responsibilities to its employees regarding pension funding and has been using its partial ownership of a health insurance company to force its employees to pay more for care, both of which are violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA.
By Del. Patrick Hope
Starting Jan. 1, up to 400,000 low-income Virginians will be eligible for the Medicaid program.
Arlington Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in Arlington County. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out the event submission form.
Also, be sure to check out our event calendar.
Civic Federation Holds Candidate Forum — The unofficial kickoff to the local fall campaign season took place on Tuesday: the Arlington County Civic Federation candidate forum. Contenders for County Board, School Board and Congress squared off in front of a standing-room-only audience at Virginia Hospital Center’s auditorium. [InsideNova, InsideNova, Blue Virginia]
Drug Take-Back Boxes Deemed a Success — “In June, Arlington County installed three permanent drug take-back boxes to address a crucial public safety and public health crisis facing communities across the country – prescription drug abuse. In the first three months of the program, the public safely disposed of 407 pounds of unused, unwanted or expired prescription medications. Due to the success of the program, the police department is exploring expanding the program.” [Arlington County]
Arlington’s First West Nile Case of 2018 — “The Arlington County Public Health Division has received its first reported case of West Nile Virus in an Arlington resident for 2018. This case serves as a reminder that West Nile Virus is present in our community and the region.” [Arlington County]
Dirt Bike, ATV Riders Swarm Local Streets — A large group of ATV and dirt bike riders rode through the streets D.C. and Arlington last night. The unruly group rumbled through Rosslyn and stopped at the Exxon station on N. Rhodes Street to refuel. No arrests were made in Arlington, NBC 4 reported. [Twitter, NBC Washington, WTOP]
