weird | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published December 7, 2021 at 7:30AM

Crew boats in the Potomac River at twilight near Rosslyn (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Homes Coming to Large N. Arlington Property — “The Febrey-Lothrop estate in the county’s Dominion Hills neighborhood, located at 6407 Wilson Blvd. not far from the Fairfax County line, will soon see work begin on nine two-story homes, according to county permit records. The permit applications were filed last month by the property’s new owner: KLTOLL AIV LLC, a company controlled by New York-based Kennedy Lewis Investment Management…. Elise Cleva, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development, noted in an email the plans aren’t set in stone and ‘could change at any point if the owners decide not to construct all nine or if any issues prevent them from constructing the intended number of houses.'” [Washington Business Journal]

Demolition of 19th Century Home — “The circa-1889 Fellows-McGrath House in East Falls Church was being demolished [Monday], making way for a new home or homes. Photo courtesy of Charlie Clark.” [Twitter]

News

Lonely Utility Pole Protruding Into Columbia Pike to Come Down Soon

By Matt Blitz

Published September 28, 2021 at 9:15AM

The lonely utility pole at Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street in Sept. (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

A lonely utility pole protruding into the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street is expected to come down by the end of the year, a county official tells ARLnow.

Last fall, a permanent traffic signal was installed at the intersection of S. Frederick Street and Columbia Pike near Arlington Mill. The work was part of the Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvements project to make the thoroughfare more friendly to all users.

Around Town

Why Is There a Chair on Top of This Rosslyn Tree?

By ARLnow.com

Published August 20, 2021 at 2:45PM

Chair in tree in Rosslyn's Hillside Park (photo courtesy John Thomas)

Four years ago, we asked why a stick of deodorant was on top of a Clarendon bus stop.

Today, a new mystery: why is there a cheap plastic chair resting in a treetop in a Rosslyn park? A reader sent us the photos above, showing the chair lodged in some tree branches well above a pedestrian pathway.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 18, 2021 at 7:30AM | Updated August 18, 2021 at 8:33AM

Arlington’s Biggest House Numbers? — “In the early days of the pandemic, I went on a quixotic quest to walk every one of the 1,114 blocks in my Arlington, Virginia, ZIP code, cataloging the styles of the address numbers on every house along the way… I have kept an eye on the house numbers in Arlington ever since, and imagine my joy this spring when suddenly, on a street I biked down every week, a new set of enormous house numbers appeared.” [Slate, Twitter]

Stepped Up DUI Patrols Begin Today — “This Labor Day, the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) is participating in the national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over impaired driving awareness campaign, which runs from August 18th through September 6th, 2021. This campaign aims to drastically reduce drunk driving on our nation’s roadways through a two-pronged approach of education and enforcement.” [ACPD]

Around Town

Four Years Ago Today: One of the Weirdest Stories in Arlington History

By ARLnow.com

Published August 3, 2021 at 10:30AM

Four years ago today, one of the strangest stories in Arlington history played out.

It was a slow Thursday in August when an ARLnow editor was on the phone while walking around Clarendon, where our offices were located at the time. Along Wilson Blvd, next to the Metro station, an odd sight caught his attention: a van with rhythmic blinking lights at the top of the windshield.

News

Residents Abuzz Over Mysterious Bug Bites Possibly Tied to Cicadas

By Jo DeVoe

Published July 28, 2021 at 3:55PM | Updated July 28, 2021 at 4:22PM

Suspected oak mite bite (courtesy photo)

Arlington residents say they are being plagued by mysterious bug bites featuring unusual red splotches that are itchier than those left by typical summer suckers.

A Facebook group, “Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Through COVID-19,” has helped community members with similar bites find each other, share information and try to get to the bottom of the mystery. There’s been similar chatter on local email listservs.

News

NEW: Authorities Investigating Reports of Dead and Sick Birds Around Arlington, Region

By ARLnow.com

Published May 26, 2021 at 11:00AM | Updated May 26, 2021 at 2:02PM

Bird in the tree (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Birds are dying in large numbers across Arlington and much of the D.C. area, prompting an investigation.

Dead birds have become an eerily common sight along local roads and sidewalks, and a common discussion thread in local Nextdoor groups. The wave of bird deaths this month — which seemingly corresponded with the emergence of Brood X cicadas — has also caught the attention of local and state authorities.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 24, 2020 at 6:00AM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:26AM

Air Force Memorial (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Amazon Buys Hotel Next to HQ2 Site — “Amazon.com Inc. has purchased the Residence Inn by Marriott in Pentagon City with plans to demolish it and expand its second headquarters, the company tells the Washington Business Journal. Acorn Development LLC, an Amazon subsidiary, paid $148.5 million for the building and its 1.5-acre site at 550 Army Navy Drive.” [Washington Business Journal]

Trail Roundabout Now In Use — A new roundabout along the Custis Trail is now in use, improving safety at a formerly hazardous T-intersection in Bon Air Park. [Twitter]

Traffic

Prius Takes a Dip at Carpool Construction Site

By ARLnow.com

Published January 17, 2020 at 2:15PM

Police responded to an unusual accident in Ballston Friday afternoon.

A Toyota Prius appears to have been driven into a construction zone at the intersection of Fairfax Drive and N. Quincy Street and partially fallen into excavated portion of roadway — possibly an uncovered utility vault — in a scene that looks somewhat like Arlington’s version of the infamous Pittsburgh sinkhole bus.

Around Town

Clarendon Sports Bar Offers to Refund All Checks If Nats Go Back-to-Back

By ARLnow.com

Published November 4, 2019 at 3:00PM

Bracket Room in Clarendon (photo via Facebook)

The restaurant business has notoriously thin profit margins. Which makes a new promotion from Clarendon sports bar Bracket Room (1210 N. Garfield Street) seem extra risky.

The restaurant, which opened in 2013 and is co-owned by Chris Bukowski of Bachelor fame, says it will refund the checks of every guest for the entire year if the Washington Nationals go back-to-back and win another World Series in 2020.

Around Town

Spoiler Alert: We Now Know What’s in the Ballston Time Capsule

By Vernon Miles

Published September 20, 2019 at 10:45AM

Newspaper clipping from the Northern Virginia Sun in 1988 (photo courtesy Melinda Schaedig)

If you want to remain in the dark about the contents of the mysterious Ballston time capsule, which is set to be opened next year, read no further.

Melinda Schaedig, who was a third grader at Taylor Elementary School in 1988 when the capsule was buried, approached ARLnow with details from when the capsule was put into the ground.

Around Town

Mysterious Time Capsule in Ballston To Be Opened Next Year

By Kalina Newman

Published September 19, 2019 at 10:30AM | Updated September 20, 2019 at 11:13AM

A time capsule in Ballston that has been largely forgotten to time is set to be opened at some point next year, and no one seems to know what’s inside.

An inconspicuous plaque on the side of the Fairgate office building (1005 N. Glebe Road) announces the time capsule.