Opinion

Town-gown relations started deteriorating in 2007, when the university implemented a restrictive on-campus alcohol policy that forced parties off-campus and into surrounding neighborhoods. Complaints about noisy, drunken students have gotten so loud that D.C. officials are seriously considering a proposal to force Georgetown — the District’s largest private employer — to downsize if they don’t house an unprecedented 100 percent of students on-campus by the fall of 2016.

The Washington Post editorial board weighed in on the proposal over the weekend, calling it “unrealistic” and “troubling,” particularly during uncertain economic times.


News

“Merrick, who is running against Democrat Barbara Favola for the 31st state Senate seat, has declined to appear at a number of joint appearances in Arlington,” McCaffrey wrote. “It’s happened so often, it must be a strategy rather than a series of coincidences.”

While skipping neighborhood-level political debates may not seem on its face like a great strategy, one wonders how much damage it could really do.


Opinion

According to the rumor mill, today’s announcement may only reveal an incremental improvement to the existing iPhone 4. Die-hard Apple fans may be disappointed, as tech blogs predict an “iPhone 4S” to be revealed, as opposed to a more thoroughly-redesigned “iPhone 5.”

Nationally, the iPhone has 27 percent of the overall smartphone market, according to the latest data from Reston-based comScore. The smartphone platform leader is actually Google, which has 42 percent of the market thanks to its Android operating system. Blackberry’s market share is falling rapidly, but it still claims about 22 percent of smartphone users.


Opinion

“I have a problem with ‘Jefferson Davis,'” Zimmerman said of the former Confederate president. “I don’t believe Jefferson Davis has a historic connection to anything in Arlington… He wasn’t from Virginia. I don’t really see why we need to honor him.”

Though last week’s vote may be a victory for the anti-Jefferson Davis crowd, it only renames a narrow, pothole-ridden backroad that connects Crystal City with a future county park. The much larger and more heavily-traveled State Route 1 will continue to be known as Jefferson Davis Highway.


Opinion

Responding to a complaint to the county health department, market officials are asking residents to voluntarily leave their dogs at home or, at the very least, “keep them out of vendor booths and away from tables that have food on them.”

The Saturday farmers market in Courthouse, meanwhile, is more explicit about its policy about dogs.


Opinion

Now, as the national economy teeters once again, there’s some question of whether the local economy can remain an island of vibrancy. With federal discretionary spending decreasing, and with the possibility of even steeper cuts down the road, Uncle Sam may not be able to provide the steady flow of cash that kept the local economy going during the last recessionary period.

The local economic indicators are a mixed bag. Unemployment in Arlington is still remarkably low, at 3.9 percent. Home sales are up in the most recent period, but home sale prices are down considerably in Arlington and in the D.C. metro area.


Opinion

The four-week, $200,000+ construction project will eliminate a bus pull-off lane, will extend permanent curbing at the intersection of Arlington Ridge and Oakcrest Road, and will include various curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements — all in the name of improving pedestrian safety.

But one change in particular has prompted vocal protests from dozens of residents: the elimination of the slip lane from southbound Arlington Ridge Road to S. Meade Street.


Opinion

‘Arlington Magazine’ will begin publishing six times a year starting in late October. The magazine “will bring the editorial and design standards of a national magazine to our community while covering the lives and lifestyles of local residents.”

In the words of the Washington Business Journal’s Missy Frederick, it “looks like WBJ and ARLnow will now have some competition breaking such tidbits as ‘Where will the new Dr. Dremo’s sign a lease?'”


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