• The Burrito Gallery will be closed from Thursday until Sunday, but not because they won’t have turkey and cranberry sauce burritos. The owners are actually refinishing the dining room floors.
• Gas prices, up or down, won’t stand in the way of holiday travel. AAA estimates that 37.3 million Americans nationwide will take a trip 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving. That’s only a 0.8 percent increase over last year. Two million people are projected to drive in Florida, while 304,000 are predicted to travel by plane. AAA holiday travel projections are based on a national survey of 1,300 American adults by the Travel Industry Association.
• The Chamber’s quarterly business awards went to Prism Lighting Services, SSA/Cooper LLC and Walter Lorenz Services, Inc.
• More on AAA. Budweiser and AAA are encouraging safe holiday driving by offering “Tow To Go.” The program provides a ride home and tow, free of charge, to individuals who may have had too much to drink. AAA says the program has kept almost 5,000 potential drunk drivers off the road over the past six years. The program runs through different events and holidays throughout the year, including this Thanksgiving through New Year’s. Drivers can call 1-800-AAA-HELP and a tow truck will be dispatched to take both the driver and vehicle home.
• For years, the City has had an information kiosk inside Regency Square. No more. The kiosk was closed Oct. 1 for budgetary reasons and because the kiosk has no value to the City, it has been given to the management of the Arlington mall.
• A bill appropriating $15,000 from the City’s Art in Public Places reserves for maintenance and repair is working its way through Council. According to the legislation, most of the money will go to repair lights that are burning out in the “Talking Continents” display down by the Arena.
• After eliminating the Bookmobile, the City is bringing it back for fiscal year 2006 at a cost of $200,000. The cash will come from the settlement between the City and Comcast. You’ll remember a few years ago when Comcast took over the local cable services that the City received thousands of complaints about everything from poor reception and billing to ridiculous amounts of time spent on hold waiting to talk to a Comcast customer service rep.
• This year’s inaugural Dr Pepper ACC Championship is now likely to feature Virginia Tech against Florida State. The day before the game, there will be another first: a showcasing of 12 ACC legends. Someone from all 12 ACC schools will be honored at the event hosted by the Hyatt at 6 p.m. An interesting side note to this is that three of the schools are quite new to the league. Miami and Virginia Tech joined last year and Boston College is playing its first ACC league schedule.
• According to Library Director Barbara Gubbin, about 13,000 people visited the new Main Library on opening day.