Bill’s True Value Hardware, which William “Bill” Ploskina owned and operated for 42 years, is staying open under the ownership of one of his children.
The elder Ploskina, who opened Bill’s along Lee Highway in 1979, died on Feb. 18 at 75 years old, according to his obituary. The new owner, his son Sean, lives in Virginia Beach and is a retired fire lieutenant. He tells ARLnow that he has been running the business since becoming president last year.
Broadcasting legend Larry King died on Saturday, at the age of 87. Though his status as a television celebrity is well established, less well known is where he rose to fame: here in Arlington.
King moved to Arlington from Miami shortly after his Larry King Show picked up national syndication from the Arlington-based Mutual Broadcasting System in 1978.
Expensive Bike Parking Spaces — “Metro has spent nearly $20,000 per bike parking space at three bike facilities, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has found. Metro has spent over $5.9 million on the construction of 304 bike spaces at the three facilities… located at the College Park, East Falls Church and Vienna Metro stations.” [NBC 4]
Short Waits to Vote in Arlington — “Eager to avoid waiting in line while casting an early ballot? Try to avoid peak times and you should be fine. ‘Wait times are minimal,’ said county elections chief Gretchen Reinemeyer, with the exception of early morning and occasionally at lunchtime. Other than that, voters have been experiencing waits of 10 minutes or less, and ‘most people are just walking straight in to vote,’ she said.” [InsideNova]
Parent Group Calls Out APS — From the Black Parents of Arlington: “In addition to tracking incidents of racism, APS needs to implement mandatory anti-racism and implicit bias training for all teachers and staff throughout the system on a regular basis. Moreover, APS must begin to track incidents of racial and ethnic hostility and make these findings public. The time is now. We will no longer wait. Arlington’s Black children deserve better.” [Facebook]
Pizzeria to Open Next Month in Clarendon — “A storied Connecticut pizza shop is making one of its biggest moves, opening a new location in Arlington’s Clarendon neighborhood next month. Colony Grill is gearing up to debut Oct. 13 with a 5,200-square-foot space, taking over at 2800 Clarendon Blvd. for the Gallery Clarendon art installation pop-up that shuttered in February. The restaurant offers seating for 170 guests in three different areas.” [Washington Business Journal]
Western Smoke Causing Hazy Skies — “The local National Weather Service office pointed out today in its technical discussion that the smoke is caught in the jet stream and moving overhead around 20,000 to 25,000 feet high. Smoke from the historic fires out West now covers much of the country, and it is expected to continue to be an issue in the days ahead.” [Washington Post, Twitter]
Board Approves Road Project — “Arlington County Board members on Sept. 12 approved a contract worth up to $805,000 for improvements to the intersection of 18th Street North with North Glebe Road and North Wakefield Street, aimed at providing a better walking and biking experience for children and others headed to Glebe Elementary School.” [InsideNova. Arlington County]
It’s September — With a flip of the calendar, it is now September. Including today, there are 122 days remaining until 2021. There are nine weeks until Election Day. [YouTube, Wall Street Journal]
NORAD Exercises This Week — “We will conduct air defense exercise Falcon Virgo between midnight and 5:30 a.m. (ET) Sept.1-3 in the Washington, D.C. area. The exercise includes U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft, a U.S. Army C-12, a U.S. Coast Guard MH-65D helicopter, and a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182T. Some portions of the exercise may involve flights at approximately 2,500 feet and may be visible from the ground.” [Facebook]
Colton Poythress, a 2018 Wakefield High School graduate and former varsity quarterback, died on last week at the age of 20.
Poythress led the school’s football team to its first district championship in 40 years during his senior season, according to the Wakefield Chieftain student newspaper. He was also a pitcher for the varsity baseball team and helped to end a 20-season losing streak to Marshall High School in 2017.
Arlington lost two giants of local civic life in successive days last week.
Jim Pebley died after a battle with cancer on Tuesday, June 23. The day prior, George Keating died of a sudden heart attack.
‘BLM’ on Fairlington Bridge Restored — Residents of the Fairlington area used ties to restore a Black Lives Matters message on the bridge over I-395 over the weekend. The letters “BLM” had previously been placed on the bridge’s fence but later removed by an unknown party. Also this weekend, below the BLM letters someone scrawled “Trump 2020,” but that was later covered and “Black Lives Matter” written over it in chalk. [Twitter]
ACPD Details De-Escalation Training — “In response to community questions, ACPD has created this fact sheet highlighting how we train officers to de-escalate incidents and safely resolve situations.” [Twitter]
Long-time Arlington civic activist Jim Pebley died earlier this week after a battle with cancer.
A Navy veteran, Pebley was best known recently for his close involvement in the festivities around the naming of the USS Arlington. We interviewed him about that and other community issues in 2018.
Sylvia Louise Jenkins was born in D.C. in 1936 and made a mark on the area through her faith, her volunteer work, and her family.
She lived in the District most of her life, but passed away in Arlington the Sunday before last, one of numerous assisted living facility residents in Arlington to succumb to the coronavirus.
Another Sewage Release in Four Mile Run — “Avoid contact with Four Mile Run Creek downstream of 7th St S until further notice due to a sanitary sewage release. County Water/Sewer/Streets is responding.” [Twitter]
ACFD Rolls Out New Medic Unit — “As we progress through the COVID-19 pandemic, ACFD continues to adjust our response to ensure the best service and safety for our community. Yesterday we deployed a new resource that will provide rapid on-scene assessment to identify non-critical patients with potential or confirmed #COVID related complaints.” [Facebook, NBC 4]
