Weird Virginia: Sequestration Hits Summer Camp in Reston, a Fruit-Stealing Squirrel in Del Ray, Serial Groping in Springfield and Beer on Wheels Coming to Clarendon
Plus a world-record holder for long legs in Falls Church, suspects steal a table from Dunkin' Donuts in Fairfax City and thieves make off with a washer and dryer in Manassas Park. Yep, weirdness abounds once again this week in the commonwealth.
Editor's Note: Patch has 31 sites in Virginia and D.C., and not a day goes by that something weird isn't happening in at least one of them. Here's a look back at some weird goings on over the past week.
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Why are you so tired this week? We lost an hour last weekend to Daylight Saving Time. But weirdness never sleeps in Virginia, so let's start off with news from Reston and some weird ideas about how to run a government.
We've heard of sequestration shutting down White House tours and never mind grown-ups being put on furlough. How about kids? Kids losing their summer camps? Parents who enrolled their children in Reston Association's Science Camp for the summer were notified Wednesday that the camp has fallen victim to sequestration.
Families who registered for the popular RA camp, held for 17 years at Reston's United States Geoological Survey, were notified that due to budget cuts, the visitor's center at USGS has closed and therefore programs cannot be held there. "This closure has resulted in the cancellation of many of USGS’ public offerings," said the letter from RA Camp Director Barb Beaver. "A few days ago, Reston Association received notice that USGS will no longer host Science Camp at its facility."
There's another kind of madness stalking the streets of Northern Virginia that isn't amusing in the least: a man who can't stop groping women. Police have been after this serial groper since September. One of his latest victims was putting luggage in the trunk of her car Tuesday night when all of a sudden... the groper struck again. More than 200 Springfield area residents who are sick and tired of the groper showed up at a police-led town hall Thursday night to see how they can help put an end to the groping madness. After the meeting, on Friday, police reported yet another incident that took place just hours before the meeting. Did we mention the number of likely attacks? Twenty-three.
In the Washington area, we break records for having the worst traffic, and we're right up there when it comes to the number of federal workers per square mile, but here's a record you may not of known about: In the city of Falls Church, resident Svetlana Pankratova has, since at least 2003, earned the distinction of having the longest legs in the world, coming in at 4 feet, 4 inches long.
The Guinness organization, which publishes the Guiness Book of World Records, certified her as a world record-holder and shot this official video measuring the longest legs in the world.
Heading south to Manassas Park, we noticed this week there's a new crime trend: Thieves stealing... washers and dryers. Times are tough down in Manassas Park — instead of going to the nearest Laundromat or heading to Sears, vandals decided to go out and steal a washer-dryer set. From a home under construction. The General Electric washer and dryer were worth about $750, according to Manassas Park police reports. It seems to be a trend. Another washer and dryer were stolen March 4 from nearby Manassas.
Speaking of sticky fingers, there's a squirrel over in Del Ray who recently not only broke into a home, he then proceeded to raid the kitchen, making off with some unidentified fruit.
Here's how it went down: An Alexandria Animal Control officer was approached by a person on the street who was concerned about a squirrel loose inside an apartment in the 2400 block of Mount Vernon Avenue. The resident was on her way to purchase a trap from a store when she noticed an Animal Control van parked on the street. The officer then delivered a humane trap to the apartment and set it to capture the squirrel.
The next day, the tenants reported that the squirrel was still loose and that it had eaten the fruit in the kitchen, though it had been unseen in some time.
Do squirrels like beer? We're not sure. But we do know that most humans do and this idea sounds like a winner to us: Arlington's latest pub will be on wheels. Owners of the Arlington Trolley Pub, as it will be called, are hoping to debut their mobile pedal-powered pub in April, provided that they secure all the necessary permits in time.
“The market is really good there and a perfect sort of place for what we do,” said co-owner and managing partner of the Trolley Pub company, Kai Kaapro. The trolley is a 14-seater powered by the passengers, with help from an electric motor. The conductor steers and brakes the trolley. Onboard, it’s bring your own beer and wine. No hard alcohol or glass is allowed.
This next story kind of sounds like it may have involved alcohol... with a side of sprinkles? City of Fairfax Police said six men conspired in the wee hours of the morning to steal a table from the Dunkin' Donuts on Fairfax Boulevard last week. At 3:04 a.m. Wednesday, an employee of the store reported six men, who were in the store, picked up a table and carried it outside. They then placed it into a vehicle and fled the area.
It wouldn't be another edition of Weird Virginia without a local update on the Harlem Shake. Apparently, there's no end in sight. This week we travel to Herndon, where Time Out Wings and Grill's customers, Herndon High School's cheerleaders, people in their living rooms, even the employees at Herndon's Candlewood Suites are jumping on the Harlem Shake bandwagon and sharing the silly results.
Weird Virginia Rewind:
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Sally Spangler
12:07 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Thank you for the above - I needed a laugh and you provided it!!! LOL, LOL, LOL
Mary Beatty
12:26 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
"Families who registered for the popular RA camp, held for 17 years at Reston's United States Geoological Survey, were notified that due to budget cuts, the visitor's center at USGS has closed and therefore programs cannot be held there. "
Is anyone else getting tired of the Obama administration shutting down low-cost popular items just to make a political point? The Dept of Interior has a $10 BILLION budget, of which USGS is only $1.1 MILLION. The Visitor Center is the only view the public has of USGS. Without it, the public will not recognize the need for them and USGS will lose what little support they have. Plus, between product sales and program fees, the Visitor Center could easily be self-sufficient. Yet this would all go against the message that budget cuts must hurt the children. Yuk. Fortunately, a local civic group is stepping up to run the camp without Federal Government support. That's what we do in America!
Tammi Petrine
5:03 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
USGS shut down their map sale service BEFORE sequestration in a continuing move to shave their budget. (The Obama administration has already pared down the budgets of the agencies, not that non-supporters would like to know or admit.) In addition, USGS is an extremely well-run, vital agency. The Reston residents I know who work there have been some of the brightest, most humble public servants on the planet.
No doubt politics are being played at the expense of us all but to suggest that Obama is enjoying or playing alone is myopic at best and disingenuous. The majority of people understand that the "game" is being controlled by Republicans in the House who have the worst public rating since ratings began. (I feel sorry for moderate Republicans who have had their once able party conscripted by extremists and bullies.)
Smart people will find their way around the rocks thrown up to stifle progress just as the Science Camp apparently has.
pamela evans
3:54 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
The "obama administration" doesn't cut programs, the agencies do. Each agency has a budget, and their staff decides what to do with the money- not the "administration."
Kathy Keith
4:44 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Pamela,
Here is a civics lesson for you: The "agencies" are part of the executive branch.. OMB interprets the appropriations and what the administration wants to do. Who nominates the head of OMB and the cabinet secretaries? Did someone directly from the White House tell the survey to cut the camps? NO. But who is the top of the chain of command? Not the Congress. Not the Supreme Court. It s the Executive Branch: the "Obama Administaion"--it is the President! Remember where the buck stops--at least it did for Harry Truman. For President Obama--not so much.
conservativegal
5:39 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
We all need to accept the fact that until the federal budget and deficit are controlled and manageable, things will be cut. We also need to stop with "but not my program". As all families know, we shouldn't spend more than we have. The government needs to do the same. A tax increase was done at the beginning of this year from the "fiscal cliff" deal. Now the democrats need to agree to spending cuts.
pamela evans
9:45 pm on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Kathy I've worked for the fed govt for over 18 yrs- so I don't need a skewed civics lesson, thanks. It's really scary to think that people vote with backwards information like that. So I guess the administration is telling some agencies to furlough employees, and telling others to cut travel and educational programs- oh yes, that makes perfect sense.
Mike Berkemeier
10:18 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013
Thanks Pam for setting the record straight...naive opinions from folks like Kathy really scare me as well.
Brad L
10:56 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013
Sequestration is a 2% budget cut, nothing more. Dictator 0bama and his cronies are just trying to make it as painful as possible. What great "leadership".
0bama should perhaps cut out one or two golfing trips instead.
Stephen St. John
10:01 am on Monday, March 18, 2013
I vote for Sequestration Part II. I haven't seen many gov't agencies talk about looking for or cutting waste yet. Just the usual knee jerk reactions and whining. It's like a parent cutting back on their child's allowance. They will cry foul at first, but later on prioritize there spending. We need to give it some time for them to come around and make better decisions.