VIRGINIA BRIEFING
VIRGINIA BRIEFING
Thursday, September 7, 2006; Page B05
ARLINGTON MILITARY GRANT
Aid to Help Address Loss of 17,000 Jobs
The Department of Defense has awarded Arlington County an $876,084 grant to help ease the loss of about 17,000 defense and military jobs in the county in coming years, the office of Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) announced yesterday.
Save & Share |
Saving options
Arlington will use the grant in the county's efforts to modernize Crystal City, a 1960s-era urban canyon of office buildings and high-rise condominiums that will lose the bulk of workers, said Terry Holzheimer, Arlington's director of economic development.
The county will spend the money on planning and transportation consultants and a temporary staff member to coordinate the transition. Last year's recommendations from the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission called for defense-related offices to vacate about 4 million square feet of office space in Northern Virginia, most of it in Arlington. The county will lose the workers by 2011, and many are headed to Fort Belvoir.
-- Annie Gowen
RANDOLPH-MACON WOMAN'S COLLEGE
Proposal to Admit Male Students Draws Fire
Hundreds of students protested yesterday at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, and a group of alumnae delivered a letter to the board of trustees seeking a delay in its consideration of a proposal to allow men to attend the liberal arts college in Lynchburg.
The trustees are expected to vote Saturday on measures to shore up the college financially. Last month, the board said it had completed a strategic plan that recommends admitting male students and placing a new emphasis on global honors studies. Yesterday, a college spokeswoman said Randolph-Macon was proud of the student protesters for standing up for their principles. But, she said, the school has been struggling with enrollment since the 1980s.
The alumnae letter suggested that the changes face legal hurdles that trustees have not considered. In a statement e-mailed to The Washington Post, interim college President Ginger Worden wrote that the board has acted with integrity: "It would appear that the purpose of this letter . . . is designed to make the board fearful of personal liability. Such bullying and intimidation cannot change the facts with which the board is grappling."
-- Susan Kinzie
FAIRFAX COUNTY
Wachovia Bank in Tysons Corner Is Held Up
A man wielding a handgun robbed a Tysons Corner bank yesterday, escaping with an undisclosed amount of cash, Fairfax County police said.
The holdup occurred about noon at the Wachovia Bank branch at 8117 Leesburg Pike. Police said the man approached a teller, brandished a gun and demanded cash. He fled on foot, and no one was injured. The robber was described as white, 30 to 35 years old, about 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing about 190 pounds. He had a goatee and wore a light gray sweat shirt and orange or yellow baseball cap. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Solvers at 866-411-8477.
-- Tom Jackman
