News

Earmark Could Save Planetarium — Rep. Jim Moran says he’s going to try to dig up $400,000 in federal funds to help renovate and save Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium. But even if he’s successful, Moran’s press secretary says the money would not be available until late next year — past the fundraising deadline the school board set for the non-profit Friends of the Planetarium group. More from the Sun Gazette.

Golf Farce Premieres at Signature Theater — Now playing at Shirlington’s Signature Theater: A Fox on the Fairway. The show, which is making its world premiere at Signature, is a “screwball comedy” and “a tribute… to the great English farces of the 1930s and 1940s.” Starring Jeff McCarthy, Holly Twyford and Andrew Long, A Fox on the Fairway is “about love, life, and man’s eternal love affair with… golf.” See a video promo here.


News

Internal Moran Poll Suggests Comfortable Lead  — An poll commissioned by Rep. Jim Moran’s campaign suggests the ten-term congressman holds a 58-31 lead among likely voters. That compares to the 13-point spread cited in a poll commissioned by Republican challenger Patrick Murray’s campaign. “I’ve never lost, and I’m not going to lose to somebody who moved here a year and a half ago,” Moran told the Washington Post.

Yorktown HS Football Rolls — The Yorktown High School Patriots defense pitched another shutout Friday night, allowing the team to capture first place in the Virginia AAA National District. Yorktown’s record improves to 6-1. More from the Washington Post.


News

The figures were revealed in a financial disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission this morning. Today is the deadline for quarterly financial filings from congressional candidates.

Murray has held fundraisers with a number of boldfaced GOP names recently. He has also been designated as “On the Radar” by the National Republican Congressional Committee.


News

Westover Market Appeals Zoning Decision — In spite of efforts by the county’s zoning enforcement office to limit its occupancy and its entertainment options, Westover Market’s Beer Garden is still a place where neighbors can gather to watch football and baseball games on a crisp fall day. The market has bought itself some time by appealing the zoning decision. In the meantime, the market’s mom and pop owners are trying to round up the $25,000-50,000 that will be needed to install new, code-compliant bathrooms. More from TBD.

Conservative Writer Says Murray Has a Chance — Conservative writer Jim Geraghty is impressed that incumbent congressman Jim Moran is “only” up 13 percent against challenger Patrick Murray. Blogging for the National Review Online, Geraghty said that in light of the numbers from the internal Murray poll, he’s picking the retired Army colonel as his “special crazy insane upset pick” in the upcoming mid-term elections. More from NRO.


News

Will Capital Bikeshare Experience Distribution Problems? — Due to the one-way flow of commuters, bike share programs tend to experience some degree of distribution problems. At any given time, some stations will be full of bikes, making it impossible to return one, while other stations will be empty, making it impossible to rent one. Such a situation forces bike share officials to manually move bikes from place to place, adding costs to the system. More from TheCityFix blog.

Moran Throws Racy Fundraiser — Rep. Jim Moran is pitching a night at the theater for big donors — but they have to leave the kids at home. For $2,400, donors get two tickets to the anti-Vietnam War musical “Hair” at the Kennedy Center, along with an invite to a pre-show dinner reception. But the offer comes with a warning: “Please note: this performance contains strong language, mature content and brief nudity.” More from Politico.


News

Enter last month’s guilty plea by former lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, founder of the now-defunct PMA Group. Magliocchetti pleaded guilty to illegally reimbursing family members and PMA employees for making political contributions.

PMA and its employees funneled at least $150,000 into Moran’s campaign coffers from 1998-2008, according to data compiled by political blogger Ben Tribbett. While the donations were taking place, millions of dollars in defense contracts were awarded to PMA’s clients by Moran and two other Defense Appropriations subcommittee members.


Around Town

Rain, At Last — After a long dry spell, we’ll get periods rain all day and potentially strong thunderstorms tonight. More from the Capital Weather Gang.

Local Lobbyist Pleads Guilty to Illegal Campaign Contributions — Lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti pleaded guilty Friday to making $386,250 in illegal campaign contributions to members of Congress. Magliocchetti founded the Arlington-based firm The PMA Group, which folded in 2009, several months after being raided by the FBI. One of PMA’s major beneficiaries was Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who received nearly $1 million from the firm over ten years. More from the Washington Times.


News

Former presidential candidate Sen. John McCain headlined a private fundraiser in Alexandria on Monday.

Next week, on Tuesday night, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) will attend a private fundraiser. Two days later, former Arlington School Board Chairman Dave Foster will be the special guest at a Murray reception at a house in Arlington.


News

Library Sets Summer Reading Record — A record 5,305 Arlington students read 24,782 books over the summer as part of the Arlington Public Library’s “Summer of Reading.” More from the Library Blog.

Moran to Hold “Women’s Issues Conference” — Newscaster Maureen Bunyan will join Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) at a conference on women’s issues next Saturday. The conference will feature workshops like “How Health Insurance Reform Will Affect You” and “Car Care 101.” It’s being held at Kenmore Middle School (200 S. Carlin Springs Rd) from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sept. 25. Details here.


News

The Alexandria Times reported earlier this week that Moran left for Afghanistan on Sunday. The trip was organized for members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense but was not announced publicly.

The group has at least one additional, undisclosed stop to make before returning to the U.S. by Monday.


News

The five-mile-long Crystal City/Potomac Yard transit way is expected to run from Pentagon City to Alexandria’s Braddock Road Station, with most of the stops concentrated in Crystal City and Potomac Yard.

The project will create a dedicated bus route with stops throughout Crystal City. Eventually, a street car line may be installed in the transit way.


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