Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) is a freshman member of Congress who's running in his first reelection campaign. Since taking over for long-time congressman Jim Moran, Beyer has been focused on a number of issues of importance to voters in the Eighth District of Virginia, which includes Arlington. We asked Beyer about some of those issues, like the rehabilitation of the Memorial Bridge and aircraft noise from Reagan National Airport, as well as this year's election and, of course, the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump.
At a time when Donald Trump is at the top of the Republican Party's ticket, GOP congressional hopeful Charles Hernick is, well, not anything like Donald Trump. He's an economic conservative who doesn't have much to say about social issues. He thinks he can do a better job in office than Rep. Don Beyer (D), but doesn't think he should be jailed. In fact, Hernick acknowledges that Beyer is basically free of skeletons in his closet, which makes running against him even more of an uphill battle than he would otherwise face in the deep blue Eighth District of Virginia. We talked with Hernick about the issues, about Trump and about Hernick's own one-time intra-party foe, the ever-entertaining Mike Webb.
This week's episode is a wide-ranging chat with Ethan Rothstein, the former editor of ARLnow.com. Ethan, who's now the East Coast Editor for Bisnow, talks with Scott about what it was like to report for ARLnow. They also discuss the future of Arlington's economy, how everyone seems to hate Advanced Towing, the story behind the million dollar bus stop, the Arlington streetcar saga and the current state of the news business. This is a long episode but is a must-listen for any local news nerds who want to know what happens behind the scenes at ARLnow and what journalists really think about some big local issues.
Local developer Kevin Shooshan talks about the ups and downs of being a developer, the projects he's currently working on, the next generation of young leaders in Arlington, the county's slow permitting process, and whether the local office market will ever fully recover amid high vacancy rates (hint: it probably won't).
Best known as "Champ" from Anchorman, David Koechner is a TV and film actor, writer and producer, and a traveling standup comedian. David will be performing at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse this weekend (Sept. 22-24, 2016), so he stopped by our studio in Clarendon for a quick chat Thursday morning. We talked about his roles in Anchorman, Waiting, Thank You for Smoking and The Office, and also discussed whether he plans to see any sights in Arlington during his visit.
Robert Peck is the co-founder and CEO of Commonwealth Joe, a local coffee roaster that sells its coffee to cafes and offices, and also operates a cafe of its own: Java Shack in Courthouse. Commonwealth Joe is opening a brand new flagship cafe in Pentagon City, so we asked Peck about the company, its growth, and its competition with Arlington's ubiquitous Starbucks locations.
We talk with Arlington County Board member Katie Cristol about issues the board will tackle this fall, like the location of Fire Station No. 10 and affordable housing in Westover. We also discuss the failed "Blue Ribbon Panel" effort, child care affordability, options for making housing affordable for young professionals and transit along Columbia Pike.