<sh>Neighborhood Day Approaching
<bt>Come out and celebrate Arlington’s 10th annual Neighborhood Day on Saturday, May 13.
This year’s theme is "Many neighbors, one community," and includes community barbecues, park cleanups, yard sales, walks and open houses.
The festivities conclude with the Neighborhood Day Parade at 2 p.m. along Wilson Boulevard. The Animal Welfare League is hosting a Walk for the Animals at Bluemont Park at 9:30 a.m.
To see how your community is celebrating Neighborhood Day, visit www.co.arlington.va.us/nd2006.
<sh>Arlington High Schools make Newsweek Top 100
<bt>For the third time in a row, Arlington Public Schools’ H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, Yorktown and Washington-Lee High Schools have made Newsweek’s "100 Top High Schools in America." The Arlington high schools ranked 13th, 47th and 52nd respectively, and Wakefield High School ranked 33rd, placing all four Arlington high schools in the top 1.25 percent of high schools in the nation.
Newsweek’s ranking was determined using The Washington Post Challenge Index, which rates each school by dividing the total number of Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) tests given in May 2005 by the total number of seniors graduating in June 2005.
This year the list included all high schools that ranked 1.000 or higher, placing them in the top 5 percent in the nation. A score of 1.000 means the school had as many AP and/or IB tests taken as graduating seniors. H-B Woodlawn had a score of 5.575, Yorktown scored 3.926, Washington-Lee scored 3.845, and Wakefield scored 2.030.
<sh>Child Pornography Sentence
<bt>An Arlington man was sentenced to five years in prison for receipt of child pornography.
Erick Gastan Franklin, 42, arranged to purchase two videos containing child pornography in the fall of 2004 from an undercover U.S. Postal Inspector.
On October 26, 2004, after Franklin received the illegal videos, federal agents searched Franklin’s residence and seized 1,100 printed images of child pornography, and a personal computer and CD-Rom disks that contained more than 50,000 digital still images and movie files of child pornography. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reviewed the images and recognized 60 children identified by law enforcement in child molestation cases investigated in the United States and in several foreign countries.
In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg stated: "Young children are being molested and exploited to produce the shocking images sought by people like Erick Franklin. We will continue to work closely with our Federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to punish those who sexually exploit our children."
<sh>Community Bike Ride
<bt>The 2006 Community Bike Ride will be held on May 27, providing residents with the opportunity to cycle through both the county’s network of trails and on its streets.
This year’s event offers two routes: a 17-mile county tour and a 9-mile family-ride.
The cost of the Ride is $15 per person for those who register before May 24 and $20 for registration on the day of the event. Children 13 and under are free. For more information visit www.bikearlington.com.
The ride starts and finishes on S. 28th Street in Shirlington, with the county tour beginning at 8 a.m. and the family tour at 8:30 a.m.
Awards will be presented for best decorated bike and bike helmet, and the day will also feature live bluegrass music.
<sh>Student Wins Merit Scholarship
<bt>Arlington student Sarah E. Penney has earned a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship to use at the college or university of her choice.
Penney attends the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. She is one of 8,200 Merit Scholars across the country, representing less than 1 percent of the nation's seniors. More than 1.3 million students competed from over 21,000 U.S. high schools when they were juniors by taking the 2004 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.