HOT lanes | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published June 4, 2010 at 7:17AM | Updated June 4, 2010 at 9:56AM

Arlington Restaurateur Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement — Roberto Donna, who owned the now-defunct Bebo Trattoria restaurant in Crystal City, pled guilty yesterday to felony embezzlement, Washington City Paper’s Tim Carman reports. Donna must repay Arlington County the more than $150,000 he owes in unpaid meal taxes. Donna isn’t the only one who owes the county big bucks. According to the City Paper, Arlington Catering Company, owners of the recently-shuttered Restaurant Vero, owes $78,297 in delinquent meal taxes.

Lyon Hall’s Outdoor Patio Open for Business — You can now have a prime outdoor seat to go with your Silly Saison and Hungarian lamb sausage mussels. Lyon Hall has rolled out the folding white umbrellas and steel tables and is now helping to bring some street life to Washington Boulevard. Perfect DC Bites has more.

Biz Leaders Ask Arlington to Drop HOT Lanes Suit

By Uriah Kiser

Published June 3, 2010 at 6:41AM | Updated June 3, 2010 at 5:05PM

Twenty professionals, including Arlington Chamber of Commerce president Richard V. Doud, Jr., signed a memo urging county board chairman Jay Fisette to embrace the toll lanes project.

“The primary obstacle to advancing this innovative, multi-modal improvement is the Arlington County Board’s lawsuit that precludes the project from securing any private or public sector funding,” the letter stated.

McDonnell Pushes For HOT Lanes Despite Arlington Suit

By Uriah Kiser

Published April 29, 2010 at 7:42AM | Updated April 29, 2010 at 10:12AM

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said his administration has been working to breathe life into the plan to add High Occupancy Toll lanes to the highway after it was delayed last year, following a lawsuit from Arlington County officials, according to the Washington Examiner.

The suit, which last week won a federal judge’s approval to move forward, claims that during the waning days of the Bush administration state transportation officials were improperly granted a “categorical exclusion” allowing the toll lanes to be built without conducting required environmental impact studies.