June 2018 Newsletter

[View the printed-format newsletter here]

All Aurora Highlands / Pentagon City residents are encouraged to come to our monthly meetings to meet neighbors, discuss topics of interest, and share information. MEETING – Wednesday, June 13 at 7 p.m. Aurora Hills Community Center 735 18th St. S. Children Welcome: We Will Have a Sitter

Aurora Highlands Civic Association Newsletter – June 2018

Meeting Agenda

Oakridge Parents: Before You Leave for Summer Vacation, Come Hear What the New Walk Zones Mean for Oakridge Students.

• Outline of APS staff presentation on boundaries provided to School Board on June 7
• Review of the walk zone study results for Oakridge Elementary
• What boundary decision could mean for AHCA (and ARCA) community
• Feedback from parent meetings with board members

We will have a sitter, so feel free to bring your kids.

Community Dates and Updates

Upcoming Primaries, June 12. The next election will be primaries, this Tuesday, for offices on the November 6, 2018, ballot. Arlington voters can vote in either a Republican primary to select the nominee for U.S. Senate or a Democratic primary to select the nominee for County Board. Republican Senate nominees trying to unseat incumbent Tim Kaine are Corey Stewart, Nick J. Freitas, and E. W. Jackson. Democratic nominees for County Board are Matthew D. “Matt” de Ferranti and Chanda Choun. The winner will be part of a race that includes incumbent John Vihstadt (I), independent candidate Heitham Ghariani, and a Republican candidate if the GOP fields one.

Hume School/I-395 Exit Volunteer Day, Saturday, June 16. Join in the effort to clean up the grounds at Hume School and the I-395 exit onto S. Arlington Ridge Road. Both beautification projects began in 2004–2005 and have received volunteer and financial support from Arlington Ridge Civic Association and neighbors, Arlington County Parks Dept., local Mormon congregations, and the Crystal City Rotary Club. There will be breakfast snacks in the Museum/Hume School, and chili dog lunch after.

Intergenerational Ice Cream Social, Friday, June 29. The Aurora Hills Senior Center Advisory Committee is sponsoring an intergenerational ice cream social with one of our local Mom’s groups on June 29 from 10:30 to noon at the Community Center. 55+ Members are welcome – there is no charge. If you are not yet a 55+ member, you can be our guest for this event and check out what’s going on at the Senior Center. In either case, if you would like to come, please sign up at the Center. Channel your inner child and spoil your lunch by having ice cream with some of our local kids!

Friends of Aurora Highlands Parks has been awarded the Bill Thomas Outstanding Park Service Volunteer Award by Arlington County. This is a significant recognition of their efforts to balance our parks to better meet community needs. FoAHP has been instrumental in trying to improve community outreach and transparency by the County and making sure parks meet community needs. In addition to FoAHP’s efforts on Nelly Custis and Virginia Highlands Park, the organization is working on getting a walkable public dog park near Pentagon City and publishing important data about our park system for the County’s update to its long-range Public Spaces Master Plan. Visit friendsofahparks.org for more info or to sign up for their newsletter.

Arlington Free Clinic is Beneficiary of Aurora Hills Women’s Club Generosity. The Aurora Hills Women’s Club has just donated $7,500 to the Arlington Free Clinic, which provides medical services to needy people in Arlington. The club holds several fundraisers each year to raise money for local charities, and over the past decade it has donated more than $125,000. Its main beneficiary is the Hume School on Arlington Ridge Road, home of the Arlington Historical Society.

Restaurant Row Update. Freddie Lutz, of the eponymous Freddie’s Beach Bar, and two of his partners, are taking over Cafe Italia. They hope to restore it to its former glory days, when Freddie was maître d’, Adolfo Urrutia was busboy, and Bertillio Arrutio was chef. Look for its opening under a new name – probably Freddie’s Italian Café – this summer. Also opening about the same time, in the space occupied by the former Cantina Mexicana and Bistro 7101, will be Los Tios. This will be the sister restaurant to the popular Mexican restaurant of the same name in Del Ray.

Freddie Lutz at Cafe Italia mid-‘80s

Pentagon Centre Construction. The building at the corner of S. Hayes and 12^thSt. is nearing completion. It will house 440 rental units (unfortunately, another project with no opportunities to buy). The ground floor will house a small retail space, probably with three businesses, but the developer, Kimco, is still in talks to nail that down. Completion is expected in mid-2019.

Aircraft Noise Update. Arlington and Montgomery Counties have committed funding to jointly engage a technical consultant to study the noise impacts on the community. The goal is to quantify the noise impacts, to determine what specifically is driving the increase in these impacts in recent years, and to identify and evaluate reasonable actions that could reduce and mitigate them.  The Counties hope that this study will result in concrete recommendations to achieve the County’s and the region’s goal of reducing aircraft noise where possible and to equitably share it where necessary. These findings and recommendations will then be sent to the FAA through the DCA Community Working Group for their consideration and action. For info and to sign up for email updates, visit https://departments.arlingtonva.us/cmo/airport-noise/.

Please sign up with the Aurora Highlands group at Nextdoor.com to stay informed about happenings in the hood, including AHCA-related issues, and to share events and other items with your neighbors.  AHCA will also post information on the 4D-A listserve, https://groups.yahoo.com/4D-A

Aurora Highlands Civic Association       P.O. Box 25201       Arlington, VA 22202

Please join online with Paypal www.aurorahighlands.org

If you are interested in advertising, please email treasurer@aurorahighlands.org

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