Good morning, Arlington. Jo here. It’s Thursday, September 2: National Blueberry Popsicle Day and Keanu Reeves’ 57th birthday.

Morning Status

• Today’s Weather: ☀️ Sunny, with a high near 77. Windy, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
• Tomorrow’s Weather: ☀️☀️ Sunny, with a high near 77 and a gentle breeze.
• Sunrise:  6:35 a.m.
• Sunset:  7:30 p.m.

What We’re Covering Today

Morning Notes

• New Rosslyn Food Hall Now Open — “Assembly, the area’s latest food hall, located above the Rosslyn Metro stop in Arlington, hopes to entice you by taking a something-for-everyone approach, including plenty of healthy-ish options. Their lineup includes Great Lake Diner; Charo’s vegetarian tacos; Asian street food stall Beng Beng; GiGi’s salads, smoothies, and grain bowls; Big Day Coffee; sandwich joint Sammy Pickles; modern-minded bodega PNTRY; and Fog Point, a 40-seat sit-down oysters and seafood restaurant with a separate entrance.” [DCist]
• Abduction Suspect Arrested in Va. Square — “The victim was inside a business when the suspect approached and attempted to engage her in conversation. The suspect then left the business, but remained seated outside. When the victim left the business, the suspect followed her into a neighboring building and onto an elevator, where he again attempted to engage her in conversation, advanced towards her, grabbed her waist and touched her buttocks. The victim attempted to step away but the suspect prevented her from exiting the elevator.” [ACPD]
• Courthouse ‘DMV Select’ Office Reopening — “‘DMV Select’ services operated by the Arlington Commissioner of Revenue’s office in conjunction with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles will reopen Sept. 7 after an 18-month COVID shutdown. The office will operate by appointment Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ellen M. Bozman Government Center, 2100 Clarendon Blvd.” [Sun Gazette]
• How Ashton Heights was Sold — “‘Build Your Love Nest in Ashton Heights, Virginia,’ read the ad in the Evening Star a century ago. ‘$500 cash will finance your home; $20 will reserve your lot.’ Exclusive sales agents at the D.C.-based (all female) Kay-Alger Co. were luring federal employees to join the automobile generation’s embrace of suburbanization, to ‘get away from the crowded city and enjoy the freedom of a most picturesque surrounding.'” [Falls Church News-Press]

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. 

Weather Poll: After a very wet and hot stretch, a week or more of nice and dry weather appears to be upon us. We’ll ask if anybody will miss the more exciting weather,

COVID-19 Update: Arlington has seen a slight dip in Covid cases over the past few days. We’ll provide an update on the latest data.

Roadway Changes Coming to Pentagon City: Transit improvements to Crystal Drive will be coming soon as part of the first phase of the Transitway Extension to Pentagon City. “Complete Streets” improvements to 12th Street S. will be wrapped into this phase.

Long Waits Plague Washington Gas Customer Service: Customer service for Washington Gas has gained notoriety in recent months for its unresponsiveness. Across online forums and social media, discontent with the utility service among people needing to stop or start their service is growing. Washington Gas says it knows service has not been optimal recently and is taking several steps to improve the customer experience.

And in case you missed it, here’s how we covered the impacts of the remnants of Hurricane Ida on Wednesday:

Lightning Strikes Above Ballston Quarter Mall: A supercell thunderstorm brought exceptionally frequent lightning and thunder to the area between 3-4 a.m. Wednesday, announcing the arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ida later that day. The county was peppered with lightning strikes, including a formidable bolt in Ballston a resident caught on video.

Schools, County Cancel Offerings Due to Flood Watch:  Arlington Public Schools cancelled all afternoon and evening activities on school grounds while the Flash Flood Watch and Tornado Watch were in effect. County-run coronavirus testing, recreation centers and activities also closed early.

Ida Exits Arlington With Power Outages in Its Wake: About 1,500 homes were without power last night due to the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Most of the outages are in neighborhoods along and north of Route 29, including Cherrydale, Maywood and Donaldson Run, and appear to be related to a transformer fire along Lorcom Lane, possibly caused by a fallen tree or large tree branch. About 150 customers lost power in the Crystal City and Aurora Highlands neighborhoods.

Reporter’s Notepad

Last Thursday, a Black county employee found “KKK” scrawled on the G3 level of the parking garage beneath the Ellen M. Bozman government building in Courthouse. ARLnow covered the incident, and the response from County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti and the local branch of the NAACP.

The NAACP wanted more — an emphatic message decrying the incident sent to county employees. So did the person who reported the markings, who asked for mandatory anti-racist training for Arlington County.

Tuesday evening, County Manager Mark Schwartz and Chief Race and Equity Officer Samia Byrd sent a joint message to county employees doing just that: addressing the incident and announcing mandatory employee training.

“While the letters were immediately removed by building owner JBG Smith, the stain of what those letters represent remains. The KKK’s hate has wreaked its havoc throughout our nation’s history, including right here in Arlington,” the letter read.

It cited articles about Klu Klux Klan activities in Arlington, one about its activity in the 1920s and one that used a particular KKK parade to describe its influence in and impact on the county.

Schwartz and Byrd affirmed that the three letters are “inconsistent with and offensive to our strong sense of community and our shared values. We reject the depraved ideology it represents. The KKK is just one example of an organization that advocates depriving the right to live and exist to Black people, Jewish people, Asian people and countless others who make up the diverse fabric of Arlington and our country.”

The county also said the first module in a required training session on racism would drop Wednesday (yesterday). The virtual course will introduce terms and concepts on race and racism.

“We encourage employees to learn more about our consistent statement of values and our work toward advancing racial equity and justice – both within the community and our organization’s workforce,” they said.

The letter said the work includes:

• recent employee dialogues on race and equity
• our Racial History Timeline
• DRE in Your Neighborhood, which provides guidance for conversations about challenging racism, privilege, bias, and equity

It also includes tools, like the Race and Ethnicity and Census Demographic dashboard.

Schwartz and Byrd said the county still doesn’t know who is behind the hateful message, but encouraged people to report any workplace conduct that concerns them to Human Resources.

The person who reported the incident also asked about accountability for any department managers who exhibit racist behavior in hiring and promotion, disciplinary action for people who make racist comments or exhibit racist behavior, and a comprehensive demographic study on the county’s hiring, pay, positions and promotions segmented by race.

I don’t yet know if the county has responded to the employee’s questions. But as a reporter, I would be interested in all of these, especially data on whether and how skin color impacts the career trajectories folks have in the county.