A small fire in a light fixture at the Metro Center station is having major repercussions for Metro commuters this morning.
We’re hearing on Twitter that it’s taking 40 minutes just to travel a couple of stops on the Orange Line. Delays have also been reported on the Blue Line.
For the past two days, the SmarTrip sensors have been out of order at the Rosslyn Metro station, creating a chaotic scene during rush hour, according to TBD.
Now we’re hearing that Metro is having even more problems, this time system-wide.
A kid involved in the theft of watches from a store in the Pentagon City Mall went to great lengths to try to avoid getting caught by police.
According to this week’s crime report, the juvenile fled to the Pentagon City Metro station and then ran through a Metro tunnel with police in hot pursuit. He was eventually arrested at the Pentagon Metro station.
But while setting the record may sound like a positive development for the beleaguered Metro system, those who actually took Metrorail before and after the rally told tales of overcrowded trains and stations.
It was so bad after the rally that some local residents decided to return to Arlington on foot rather than brave the “zoo” at the Metro stations near the mall.
The good news is that Metro will be opening at 5:00 a.m., two hours earlier than usual, to accommodate marathon runners and spectators (the race starts at 8:15 a.m.). Metro will be running additional Blue Line trains for much of the day, but the agency says riders should expect the system to be especially busy.
“Customers can expect crowded conditions, especially after the race as people will have to wait in long lines to get back into the rail stations,” Metro said in a statement.
Feds say Farooque Ahmed thought he was assisting members of al-Qaeda by providing sketches, photos and videos of the Pentagon City, Courthouse, Arlington Cemetery and Crystal City stations. According to prosecutors, he also observed and detailed security procedures in the stations for his handlers, who he believed to be affiliated with the terror organization.
Ahmed collected the information “with the intent to plan and assist in planning multiple bombings to cause mass casualties at Metrorail stations,” the indictment reads.
Northrop Could Be Leaving Arlington — The name “Northrop Grumman” may not grace the Rosslyn skyline for much longer. Capital Business reports that landlord Monday Properties has begun to market the primo office space currently occupied by Northrop, after receiving a tip that the company would be consolidating the office into its new Falls Church corporate campus by next summer. More from the Washington Post.
Metro Hero Interviewed on CNN, CBS Early Show — We have to apologize to Virginia Square Metro Hero Dimas Pinzon. He has apparently been hounded by reporters since we posted surveillance video of him walking over two electrified rails to come to the aid of an injured man who had fallen on the track. Pinzon was just interviewed by his hometown newspaper, the Virginian-Pilot, and in the past couple of days he has appeared on the CBS and CNN morning shows. Oh, and an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show is possibly in the works. More from HamptonRoads.com.
Dimas Pinzon was dubbed (by us) the Virginia Square Metro Hero after he jumped to the track and stepped over two electrified rails to come to the aid of a man who had fallen in the path of an incoming Metro train.
What Mr. Pinzon did was certainly well-intentioned and brave. But was his act of heroism also incredibly ill-advised?
Views at Clarendon Could Be Model for Other Churches — Could more cash-strapped urban churches follow the Views at Clarendon model, selling land rights and allowing mixed-use development on church grounds? One of the architects of the affordable housing project says he’s getting calls from interested parishes around the country. A neighbor’s lawsuit challenging the project is currently on appeal. More from the Washington Examiner.
Marine Rape Trial Goes to Jury — The jury in the rape and abduction trial of 21-year-old Henderson Hall Marine Jorge “George” Torrez will resume deliberations at 9:00 this morning. Torrez faces 17 charges stemming from two separate attacks in Arlington in February. More from ABC7.
Outside Pardus’ home on South Kenmore Street in Nauck tonight, a steady stream of reporters and television news crews stopped by to interview neighbors about the man who just hours earlier was the biggest story on the national news.
Pardus had allegedly shot a doctor in the abdomen at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after becoming “emotionally distressed” about the prognosis for his ailing, elderly mother. Then, as police surrounded the hospital room he had holed up in, Pardus fatally shot his mother, then himself.
Elevators are out in the Rosslyn, Courthouse, Ballston, Pentagon, and Crystal City stations.
One person became trapped in the Courthouse elevator this morning after it experienced some sort of mechanical problem. Paramedics were dispatched to the scene after it was reported that the individual inside was having trouble breathing, but he or she refused treatment upon being freed from the elevator.
“Between 2000 and 2009, the all-Democrat county board increased spending at a rate nearly three times inflation,” Kelly said in this opening remarks at Tuesday night’s Civic Federation debate. “Mr. Zimmerman recently called that ‘cautious and careful fiscal management… only inside the Beltway would we call that cautious and careful fiscal management.'”
Kelly proposes to scrap the $150 million Columbia Pike trolley system, championed by Zimmerman. If elected, Kelly said he would push for the release of all county spending information online and support a 10 percent pay cut for board members to help pay for it.
