After heartbreak in a race last weekend, Arlington swimming phenom Torri Huske will be coming home with some Olympic hardware after all.
Huske was part of the U.S. women’s 4×100 medley relay team that won silver in a race that was televised nationally Saturday night.
Beyer Lauds Vaccine Mandate for Feds — “Requiring vaccinations for the full federal workforce is the right thing to do for the health of the workforce and the nation they serve. Including all civilian federal employees and contractors in this mandate is huge, it will mean this covers a very large number of workers. This policy rightly prioritizes federal workers’ health.” [Press Release]
No Mask Mandate in Va. So Far — “Virginia recommends that even vaccinated individuals wear masks indoors in certain circumstances, but with different locations experiencing different levels of COVID-19 transmission, the state has stopped short of issuing a mandate.” [Tysons Reporter]
Yorktown High School grad Torri Huske appeared poised for victory in the 100-meter butterfly last night in Tokyo, but ended up just off the Olympic podium by a tiny fraction of a second.
The 18-year-old was out in front by a head down the stretch, but ended up finishing at 55.73 seconds, 0.01 seconds away from the bronze medal and just 0.14 seconds after the gold medal time.
The swim and dive teams at the Dominion Hills Pool are ditching the “Warriors” team name and moving away from Native American motifs.
The Dominion Hills Area Recreation Association Board of Directors started soliciting suggestions from swimmers, divers, coaches and families on Friday, according to an email to team families, shared with ARLnow.
Another Rosslyn Redevelopment Planned — “Rosslyn’s aging Xerox Building could soon be replaced with a massive new apartment complex, as the neighborhood’s older properties continue to steadily redevelop. The investment advisory firm TIAA, which owns the building, and its real estate arm, Nuveen, filed plans in Arlington County last month calling for the full overhaul of the property at 1616 Fort Myer Drive. In its place, the companies hope to build a 691-unit apartment building reaching up to 30 stories tall.” [Washington Business Journal]
Arlington History Museum Reopens — “Having reopened its museum to the public on the nation’s 245th birthday, leaders of the Arlington Historical Society are now looking ahead to completing a top-to-bottom renovation and reimagining of the facility in time for the nation’s 250th… The museum is located in the 19th-century Hume School, located on Arlington Ridge Road. It came into the society’s possession 60 years ago, and is showing its age.” [Sun Gazette]
The long-planned and long-debated Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center is set to open this summer, perhaps as early as July.
The $60 million facility, construction of which was approved in 2017, is located north of Crystal City and south of the 14th Street Bridge, offering monumental views across the Potomac. It features a 50-meter competition pool with diving towers, a whirlpool, a family pool with a splash pad, a water slide, water volleyball and basketball areas, and a lazy river — in addition to an 8,000-square-foot fitness center and rooms for for classes, parties and events.
Arlington’s own Torri Huske has set a new American swimming record and secured a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team in Tokyo this summer.
The 18-year-old phenom, who’s graduating from Yorktown High School and is set to attend Stanford University, posted a time of 55.66 seconds in the 100-meter women’s butterfly at last night’s Olympic trials. It was the second night in a row in which Huske set an American record in the event on national television — she did so in the semifinals on Sunday night as well, with a time of 55.78 seconds.
Yorktown Grad Sets Record at Olympic Trials — “18-Year-Old Arlington Aquatic Club swimmer Torri Huske just exploded in the first heat of women’s 100 fly semifinals, breaking the American Record. After showing off her speed this morning, splitting under World Record pace on the first 50, Huske blasted a 55.78 to touch first tonight. The swim marks a personal best by nearly a full second, and makes Huske just the 2nd American of all-time to break 56 seconds in the event.” [SwimSwam, Twitter, Twitter]
Amazon Adopts Hybrid Office Schedule — “We’ve adjusted our guidance on our plans for returning to the office and added more clarity. Going forward, we’ve decided to offer Amazonians a mix of working between the office and home… Our new baseline will be three days a week in the office (with the specific days being determined by your leadership team), leaving you flexibility to work remotely up to two days a week.” [Amazon]
Early Morning Fracas in Va. Square — “At approximately 1:09 a.m. on February 24, police were dispatched to the report of a fight in progress. Upon arrival, it was determined that the suspect entered a business and allegedly began selecting merchandise. The victim refused the suspect service citing restrictions on the sales of alcohol during the overnight hours. The suspect and victim became engaged in a verbal dispute that escalated to a physical altercation, during which the victim was able to recover the merchandise. The suspect re-entered the business… at which point a witness intervened.” [ACPD]
Developers Selected for GMU Expansion — “George Mason University has picked a team of developers to manage the construction of the Amazon-induced expansion of its Arlington campus… The university hopes to finalize a development agreement with Edgemoor and Harrison Street by December and start construction by spring 2022. It plans to open the building by summer 2025. The Arlington campus, is located on Fairfax Drive just west of Clarendon.” [Washington Business Journal]
The Macedonia Baptist Church in Green Valley is asking for a three-year extension on its plan to build a new community swimming pool.
The church at 3412 22nd Street S. owns a property across the street that currently includes a two-story preschool and an out-of-commission swimming pool and bath house. The aquatic facilities “were constructed in the 1960s, to serve a Y.M.C.A; however, the pool has been out of use since the late 2000s,” a county staff report notes.
Local Unemployment Update — “Over 1 million first-time claims for unemployment benefits have now been filed by Virginians this year, 97% of them since pandemic-related business shutdowns began in mid-March, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday.” Arlington, meanwhile, reported 576 initial unemployment claims last week and 6,148 continuing claims. [InsideNova]
Google Satellite Images Updated — Google has updated its satellite imagery in maps. One can now see the line at Arlington’s drive-through COVID testing site and an empty Arlington National Cemetery parking lot, among other pandemic-specific sights. (Hat tip to Eric Dobson for spotting this.)
