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Morning Notes

Published January 13, 2015 at 9:45AM | Updated January 16, 2018 at 2:35PM

Unitarian Church Named Historic Place — The Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington has been named to the National Register of Historic Places. The church’s modernist building was designed by noted architect Charles M. Goodman. [Arlington County]

Va. Lawmakers Fight Over State Song — Virginia is one of two states currently lacking a state song. The old song was “retired” 18 years ago due to questionable lyrics that drew complaints from African Americans. State lawmakers are against trying to settle on a new state song, but so far there are no clear frontrunners. [Washington Post]

Around Town

Does Arlington Need Lighted Sand Volleyball?

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 17, 2014 at 3:45PM

At least one Arlington resident thinks that should change. Mikael Manoukian, who says he’s an Arlington native, told the County Board on Saturday that the county has 26 lighted rectangular fields, 19 lighted diamond fields and dozens of lighted basketball and tennis courts.

“There are 11 sand volleyball courts and none are lighted,” Manoukian said. He advocated putting lights on the volleyball court at Quincy Park in Virginia Square, which is currently undergoing the design process for a renovation.

News

Arlington Snow Crews to Plow Trails This Winter

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 13, 2014 at 3:45PM

The county announced today that it will start clearing 10 miles of trails at the same time as priority arterial roads. The Department of Parks and Recreation has cleared trails around the county before, but this will be the first time the highly-used trails will be plowed during and immediately after snowstorms.

The trails that will be cleared are:

News

Glencarlyn Park Could Soon Get $400K Upgrade

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 12, 2014 at 5:00PM

The southern end of Glencarlyn Park — next to the intersection of the W&OD Trail and Columbia Pike — could soon see major improvements, like a “learning loop” path for beginning cyclists and a bike repair station.

At its Saturday meeting, the Arlington County Board will vote on whether to approve a $395,930 contract for the park improvements, with a $39,593 contingency. The improvements were approved by the County Board back in 2009 as part of the Neighborhood Conservation Program for the Barcroft Civic Association, but the project has been delayed to accommodate the Columbia Pike Undergrounding and Streetscape Improvements project.

Around Town

Video Highlights Reduced Fees for Low-Income Families

By Ethan Rothstein

Published September 2, 2014 at 1:30PM

Arlington County’s Department of Parks and Recreation has released a video encouraging families to sign up children for activities, even if they are going through financial hardship.

News

Peeing Kids Caught in the Act at Penrose Park

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 27, 2014 at 2:00PM | Updated August 27, 2014 at 2:21PM

Penrose Park (Photo via Google Maps)

(Updated 2:25 p.m.) The issues with nannies, childcare workers and parents letting children urinate and defecate at Penrose Park (2200 6th Street S.) were caught on camera by FOX 5 D.C. yesterday, just minutes after the news crew arrived at the scene.

News

County Staff Recommends Fairlington Farmers Market

By Ethan Rothstein

Published August 12, 2014 at 10:00AM

The request, by farmers market organizer Field to Table, will eventually be heard by the Arlington County Board and will include a public input process. If approved, the Fairlington Farmers Market will be the ninth in the county.

“After careful consideration, the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation has determined that a farmers’ market is an appropriate use of the open space adjacent to the Fairlington Community Center,” The DPR said in a statement. “The site’s location, characteristics, context of the surrounding neighborhood, circulation and parking access appear to favorably support a farmers’ market.”

News

Board Reverses Non-Resident Surcharge Hike for Sports Programs

By Morgan Fecto

Published June 18, 2014 at 6:15PM

The Board’s FY 2015 budget called for its non-resident surcharge to increase 50 percent. That would have significantly raised annual fees for three clubs: Arlington Aerials, the Arlington Tigers and the Arlington Aquatics Club.

Vocal protests from the teams and impassioned speeches from the youth team members at Tuesday’s Board meeting led the Board to reverse course and even reject a compromise endorsed by county staff. The Board rejected their April decision by a 3-1 vote, and also rejected County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s revised recommendation to reduce the fee increase to 30 percent.

News

County Could Lower Non-Resident Sport Fees

By Ethan Rothstein

Published June 11, 2014 at 11:30AM | Updated June 11, 2014 at 11:56AM

Swim meet at the Dominion Hills pool (Flickr pool photo by Ddimick)

When the Board adopted the FY 2015 budget in April, it approved a 50 percent surcharge for participants not living in Arlington to participate in clubs like the Arlington Aerials, the Arlington Tigers and the Arlington Aquatics Club. According to the county, the surcharge resulted in annual fee increases for those clubs of between 12.9 and 30 percent.

The Board will deliberate over County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s recommendation to reduce that surcharge from 50 to 30 percent in FY 2015, with plans to increase the charge to 40 percent the following year and up to the adopted 50 percent in FY 2017.

News

Residents Petition Parks Dept. Over Softball Field Conditions

By Ethan Rothstein

Published June 6, 2014 at 1:30PM

A group of residents in North Arlington have launched a petition, aimed at county Director of Parks and Recreation Jane Rudolph, to protest the conditions of the softball field at Greenbrier Park.

Diamond #1 — which is the home field for the Yorktown High School varsity and JV softball teams and is used by the Arlington Girls Softball Association (AGSA) — has several patches of dirt in the outfield grass and the petitioners say the warning track between the grass and the outfield wall has drainage problems to the point that, after it rains, water “collects in deep pools several inches deep along the entire block wall in left field.”

Around Town

Arlington ‘Spraygrounds’ to Open This Weekend

By Ethan Rothstein

Published May 22, 2014 at 2:30PM

Spraygrounds at Drew Model School (via Arlington County Dept. of Parks and Recreation)

The facilities are located at Drew Park (3500 23rd Street S.), Virginia Highlands Park (1600 S. Hayes Street), Lyon Village Park (1800 N. Highland Street) and Hayes Park (1516 N. Lincoln Street).

The spraygrounds will be open most days between this weekend and Labor Day. You can see the schedule, which may vary on holidays, for each individual park at the county Parks and Recreation website.

Around Town

Naturalists Ask Residents to Look Out for Box Turtles

By Ethan Rothstein

Published April 8, 2014 at 12:00PM

As the weather has warmed up, Arlington’s box turtle population is coming out of hibernation and making its way onto roads and lawns. That has led county naturalists to ask for the community’s help in helping to protect the shelled reptiles.

While turtles have effective defensive mechanisms against predators, Arlington’s only native land turtle species is vulnerable to cars and lawn mowers, Long Branch Nature Center naturalist Cliff Fairweather wrote in an email to neighborhood newsletter editors.