Good morning, Arlington. Dana here. It’s Wednesday, August 25: National Park Service Founders Day and Tim Burton’s 63rd birthday.

Morning Status

• Today’s Weather: Sunny, with a high of 94. Heat index values as high as 101.
• Tomorrow’s Weather: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 102.
• Sunrise: 6:29 a.m.
• Sunset: 7:42 p.m.

What We’re Covering Today

Morning Notes

• Kitten Rescued from Van — ” Caroline Elpers, a deputy animal control officer with Arlington County, responded to a call from a woman on Aug. 15. The woman said she was walking her dog and she’d heard the mewing of a cat coming from the inside of a van parked on the street. ‘Initially, the call stated that the cat was in the van,’ Elpers said, who arrived on the scene around 10 a.m. ‘Once I got there, it was apparent that the cat was underneath the van, running under and into the engine.'” [Patch]
• Pandemic Doesn’t Stop Tax Collection — “Over the past year, staff of the Arlington treasurer’s office has been tasked with collecting $997 million in taxes due on real estate and personal property (both vehicles and business property). To date, more than $995 million of it is in hand. Treasurer Carla de la Pava on Aug. 16 confirmed to the Sun Gazette that the county’s tax-delinquency rate for the past year stood at 0.18 percent, a near-record.” [Sun Gazette]
• New Faregates Coming to Local Metro Stations — “Work is also underway to replace the faregates at 13 additional stations, with new faregates being phased in as they are completed and ready for service. Eastern Market and Forest Glen are expected to be completed within the next week. That will be followed by the completion of Friendship Heights, Crystal City, Capitol South, the north entrance of Union Station, Arlington Cemetery, National Airport, and Addison Road in the coming weeks.” [WMATA]
• New Pro-People Coalition Launches — “The National Landing Business Improvement District (BID) partnered with local stakeholders today to launch the ‘People Before Cars’ Coalition to unite area organizations around shared priorities to create a safer and more accessible transportation network in National Landing.” [Press Release]
• N. Va. Gov’ts Welcome Afghan Refugees — “The Northern Virginia Regional Commission… issued a statement regarding regional refugee resettlement on Tuesday. ‘Citizens of Northern Virginia are following with great concern and compassion the evacuation of Afghan refugees by the brave men and women of our Armed Forces and civilian agencies,’ the statement read. ‘We welcome our new neighbors and wish them much success as they transition to a new life here in the region and across the United States.'” [Prince William Times, Twitter]
• N. Va. School System Goes Virtual Only — “Rappahannock County Public Schools on Monday announced that the schools will switch to virtual learning for the remainder of the week while officials work to create a new system to mitigate spread of COVID-19 as the virus has created a flurry of cases within the schools since the academic year began… Officials said a high number of flu cases reported in the schools was also taken into account when deciding the closure.” [InsideNova]

The following are preview of stories we’re planning to cover later today. Note that some stories may be pushed back, depending on the day’s news. 

Tech Issue Stymies Some Parking Permits: A woman recently moved into a newly-constructed home on N. Ivy Street, near Clarendon. Her neighbors on either side qualify for the Residential Permit Parking program, but her home, which is not recognized in the RPP system, does not. Apparently she’s not the only one. The county is facing a technical problem that prevents staff from adding newly-created addresses to its address database, thus making it impossible to get a parking permit.

New French Bistro in Clarendon: Billed as an “inclusive French New-American Bistro,” Maison Cheryl opened recently in Clarendon. The chef-driven restaurant is located in the former Heritage Brewing space.

Parent Group Wants to End Dem School Board Caucus: Arlington Parents for Education, an advocacy group that got its start during the pandemic when it called for a full return to school, has a new target. Yesterday, it called on the Arlington County Democratic Committee to stop holding School Board caucuses to determine who the Democrat-endorsed School Board candidate would be. The group says it discourages broad participation and makes School Board members beholden to political party insiders rather than their constituents.

And in case you missed it, here’s a story we published on the site Tuesday that we didn’t plan for: 

Silver Alert: Virginia State Police issued a statewide Silver Alert for a missing Arlington man Tuesday morning. The 92-year-old man has health issues and was last seen in the Cherrydale neighborhood Monday afternoon.