Guns were involved in two notable incidents from this week’s Arlington County crime report.
Last Wednesday, an argument in the Pentagon City mall food court turned dangerous when a man brandished a handgun at three teenagers. Police say the suspect was accompanying a pregnant woman at the time.
But if you don’t mind the long odds and want to audition anyway, a casting call is being held at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall next weekend. Fill out this application and bring it along with a driver’s license or identification card between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 9.
In addition to seeking Top Model contestants, WDCW-TV (DC 50) is also looking for a models for a Macy’s Fashion show that evening and for a “Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Expo” in September. Even if you don’t get picked, there will be prizes, giveaways and — of course — free psychic readings and massages.
Henri Bendel, an upscale women’s specialty store, is coming to the Pentagon City mall.
The NYC-based retailer currently operates 11 stores nationwide, including its flagship Manhattan store on Fifth Avenue. Founded in 1895, Henri Bendel sells fashion accessories, cosmetics, fragrances, gifts and gourmet foods. It stopped selling clothing in 2009.
Waterfall on I-395 — NBC4 captured video early Thursday morning of a burst pipe underneath the 34th Street Bridge. The rupture sent a torrent of water onto I-395 for more than an hour. The old pipe that created the “waterfall” was reportedly patched up by 2:30 a.m. Utility crews are planning to make permanent repairs. [NBC Washington]
Burger Cook-Off For a Good Cause — The newly-minted Harry’s Smokehouse in Pentagon City mall will be holding a fundraiser for D.C. Central Kitchen on Sunday. From 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., “three teams of DCCK chefs-in-training will battle to create the city’s tastiest mini-burgers.” In addition to the burgers, attendees will be able to sample ribs, brisket and other BBQ items from Harry’s. [Eventbrite]
Panel Recommends Building New Schools — An Arlington Public Schools advisory council has come out with a report that recommends new construction to help ease the looming school capacity crisis. The panel recommends building one or two new elementary schools and adding capacity at two existing middle schools. In addition to the construction, they suggest adding as many as 40 classroom trailers. Questions linger as to whether the county has enough debt capacity to follow the building recommendations. [Sun Gazette]
Adopt-a-Cat Month at AWLA — The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (2650 South Arlington Mill Drive) has declared June to be Adopt-a-Cat Month. With the shelter — and other shelters like it — inundated with homeless felines, AWLA is trying to find homes for its “Desperate Housecats” — cats that have been at the shelter more than four months. The adoption of such cats is free through the end of the month. [Animal Welfare League of Arlington]
Civil War ‘History Mobile’ Coming to Arlington — A tractor trailer turned mobile history museum will be visiting Arlington several times this summer, as part of commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The History Mobile’s exhibits “look at the war through the eyes of civilians, slaves and soldiers.” [Sun Gazette]
ART Contractor Wins Safety Award — The contractor that operates Arlington Transit (ART) buses won a top safety award on Sunday. The company, Forsythe Transportation, helped reduce safety complaints on ART by 58 percent in one year, according to a county press release. [Arlington County]
Harry’s Tap Room at Pentagon City Mall (1100 S. Hayes Street) is being transformed into “Harry’s Smokehouse-Burgers & BBQ.” The newly-branded restaurant will get a menu makeover that will include in-house hickory-smoked spare ribs, pork butt, pork sausage, whole chickens, salmon and beef brisket, as well as “the area’s very best buttermilk fried chicken.”
Diners will get to choose from six different types of meat for their burger: Whitewood Farm corn fed beef, Grayson Farms grass fed beef, Whitewood Farms beef short rib burger, all natural bison burger, all natural turkey burger, and a vegetarian buckwheat chipotle burger.
The Apple stores in Clarendon and Pentagon City are certainly no exception. Customers in Pentagon City started lining up as early as 5:00 a.m. this morning to get their hands on the coveted tablet. By the time the store opened at 9:00 a.m., the only iPads left were the 64 gigabyte version with Verizon connectivity — the most expensive model at $829.
Arlington’s Apple stores get iPad shipments every weekday, according to employees, meaning that the early morning scene at the store today gets repeated daily. Before the store opens, employees will hand out claim tickets for those in line, entitling them to no more than two specific models in stock.
Just after 5:30 p.m., a call came in for two men chasing a woman down South Hayes Street. Later, the person being chased was described in police dispatches as a six-foot tall man dressed as a woman.
The man had allegedly stolen an item from a store in the Pentagon City mall, and the two men were identified as store employees.
Congressman Dated Pentagon City Mall Employee — Disgraced former Congressman Christopher Lee (R-NY) had “a relationship” with a young woman who “worked at an upscale Pentagon City department store,” according to the New York Post. GOP leadership reportedly ordered Lee to “curtail his randy DC antics” after word got out he was dating the “young salesclerk.” There is a Macy’s and a Nordstrom department store at Pentagon City mall. [New York Post]
Post Editorial Slams Arlington, Again — Three days after declaring that Arlington Public Schools should investigate the explosive claims of a former middle school teacher, the Washington Post’s editorial board is on Arlington’s case again. The Post says Arlington won “a battle over HOT lanes but may lose a war.” By effectively killing the I-395 HOT lanes project and blocking the widening of I-66, Arlington’s “NIMBYism” is “frustrating the county’s populous and fast-growing neighbors” while “undercut[ting] its own economic interests.” [Washington Post]
Arlington’s malls, bars and restaurants could have been mistaken for the set of the Jerry Springer Show over the past week, with five separate cases of violence or attempted violence.
ASSAULT AND BATTERY-ARREST 12/16/10, 1000 block of S. Hayes Street. On December 16 at 3:30 am, a male employee of a department store assaulted a female employee. Brian Austin, 18, of Washington D.C., was charged with Assault and Battery. He was held on a $2,500 bond.
Contrary to popular belief, the Friday after Thanksgiving is not the busiest shopping day of the year. Americans actually buy more in the days leading up to Christmas.
But Black Friday is one of the biggest “traffic” days of the year at shopping centers, as consumers, unburdened by work or the need to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner, head out to the mall just for the sake of getting out and doing something. And of course there are those doorbuster specials, too.
