Nope, the headline is not talking about a team-building session in the strip-club industry. Rather, it’s college-commencement time.
This morning brings the first of a number of ceremonies for graduates at Marymount University. Sunday gives us Northern Virginia Community College and the Northern Virginia campus of Virginia Tech. Next week brings George Mason University. And there are others, to boot.
We’ll be taking notes and bringing you coverage; after all, somebody in the local press corps[e] needs to be out and about chronicling things. And then, in not too many weeks, it’ll be on to high-school-graduation time as the calendar moves on. As Credence Clearwater Revival put it: “Big wheel keep on turnin’; Proud Mary keeps on burnin’; Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ on the river …”
BOEING TO ARLINGTON: ‘ALL IS FORGIVEN’: The news last week that Boeing plans to relocate its corporate headquarters from Chicago to its building in Crystal City is certainly good news for Arlington officials. But some newbies might not know the back story, and how Arlington years back almost blew it with Boeing.
The aerospace giant a little more than a decade ago was going through the planning process to put its D.C.-area headquarters in Crystal City, only to run into extreme officiousness (nay, one might say arrogance) from the Arlington Planning Commission. Things got so bad that the deal came this close (imagine my thumb and forefinger touching) to being called off.
Finally, then-County Manager Barbara Donnellan and County Board members stepped in to smooth things over and get’er done. Then Donnellan worked to wrangle the Planning Commission under control. But bad blood about the incident among Boeing leaders persisted for years (trust me on this one).
All now appears forgiven, however.
- Scott McCaffrey