<sh>Arlington Places First
<bt>In a national competition held by the National Association for Government Communicators, Arlington won three first-place awards, including one for the county's logo, one for its response to contamination of the drinking water and one for its community role model programs for young adults.
<sh>Food and Music Celebration Set For Crystal Drive
<bt>While patrons at the first Crystal City Rocks enjoy food and live entertainment, they will also be helping a worthy cause, as the proceeds from Crystal City restaurant food sales will raise funds for Community Residences Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides community-based services for people in Virginia and Maryland with mental illness, mental retardation, physical disabilities and the homeless, while promoting their independence.
Crystal City Rocks, to be held Sunday, June 12, is an afternoon celebration of food and music to herald the unveiling of the “new” Crystal City. Featuring donated cuisine and drinks from more than a dozen Crystal City restaurants located on Crystal Drive, the event is open to the public and free of charge. The celebration will run from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m and will feature Arlington’s beloved and widely acclaimed a cappella vocal ensemble, Da Vinci’s Notebook, beginning at 1:30 p.m., with Grammy-nominated retro-swing favorite Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performing from 3:30 p.m. until closing.
Restaurants on Crystal Drive participating will include: Caribou Coffee, Charlie Chiang’s, Cold Stone Creamery, Hamburger Hamlet, Jaleo, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, King Street Blues, Mackey’s Public House, McCormick & Schmick’s, Neramitra Thai and Oyamel Cocina Mexicana.
For more information call 703-228-1850 or 703-922-4636 or visit www.arlingtonarts.org or www.crystalcitynow.com.
<sh>Prepare for Hurricane Season
<bt>June 1 marked the beginning of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which is expected to bring a higher-than-normal number of hurricanes to the East Coast according to hurricane experts.
Even when hurricanes strike other areas of the country, they can still cause significant property damage and loss of life in our area. To help residents, Arlington has created a hurricane and storm awareness Web page with information on how to be prepared before and after severe weather strikes. Visit www.arlingtonva.us/web/storms/index.htm. Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.
Also, Arlington Alert now sends text messages within seconds to pagers, cell phones, PDAs, e-mail and BlackBerry devices. The system works even during power outages. Users can choose which alerts to receive and make changes at any time. There is no cost to sign up. To subscribe, go to www.arlingtonalert.com.
<sh>Ballston-MU Metro Station Construction
<bt>The street elevator at the Ballston-MU Metrorail station on the Orange Line is out of service for two weeks as workers widen the passageway inside the station to install a new elevator next to the existing elevator. The elevator is expected to return to service by Monday, June 13. The first phase of enhancements planned for the eastern end of the Ballston-MU Metrorail station include an additional elevator on the north side of Fairfax Drive and two new elevators and a connecting passageway on the south side of Fairfax Drive.
Customers who normally enter or exit at the Ballston-MU station street elevator and are unable to use the escalator should call 202-962-1825 in advance of their trip to enable Metro officials to have a shuttle bus waiting to take them to either the Virginia Square-GMU station or to the West Falls Church-VT/UVA station to enter the Metrorail system. Buses are stationed in the area to accommodate these customers. For more information call 202-637-7000 or visit www.metroopendoors.com.