Good morning, Arlington. Jo here. It’s Tuesday, September 28: National Strawberry Cream Pie Day and actress Naomi Watts’ 53rd birthday.

Morning Status

• Today’s Weather:  A slight chance of showers, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 84.
• Tomorrow’s Weather: ☀️ Sunny, with a high near 72.
• Sunrise:  6:57 a.m.
• Sunset:  6:51 p.m.

What We’re Covering Today

Morning Notes

• Arlington Has High Kid Vax Rate — “Virginia schools have about 420,000 children between the ages of 12 and 15, and about 63 percent of them have received at least one shot, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) said during a news conference Monday. But vaccinations are not evenly spread: Alexandria has the highest vaccination rate for children in the state, at 98.5 percent, followed by 92 percent in Arlington.” [Washington Post]
• Film Crew at DCA Today — “No parking except film crew” signs near Long Bridge Park are in place for some sort of a documentary that’s being filmed at National Airport, Arlington’s film office coordinator tells ARLnow. [Twitter]
• Man Throws Drink at Honking Driver — “At approximately 8:41 p.m. on September 25, police were dispatched to the report of an assault just occurred. A lookout was broadcast and officers located the suspect in the 3500 block of Columbia Pike. The investigation determined that the victim was driving in the area when the male suspect, who was on foot, blocked his passage. The victim honked his horn to alert the suspect and as he was driving past, the suspect threw a beverage through the window, striking the victim in the head. The victim declined medical treatment and sustained minor injuries.” [ACPD]
• County Reluctant to Loosen Lifeguard Rules — “It was a problem felt across Northern Virginia all summer – a lack of available lifeguards to keep watch over community pools. But should local governments provide exemptions for some pools to help alleviate a similar crisis next year? [Arlington] seems very hesitant.” [Sun Gazette]
• Marymount Grad Wins Design Competition — “Tran Truong is a talent to be reckoned with in the design world. For the second consecutive year, the 26-year-old Marymount University student (now alumna) in May took top honors in a national competition hosted by the visual merchandising company WindowsWear. This year’s challenge: Design a store concept for the 40th anniversary of fashion label Michael Kors with an eye toward sustainability and social change.” [Arlington Magazine]

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

There’s a Utility Pole in the Middle of S. Frederick Street: A lonely utility pole protruding out into the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street is expected to come down by the end of the year, a county official tells ARLnow. Comcast, Dominion Energy, and Verizon all have overhead wires on the utility pole, complicating its removal.

COVID-19 Booster Shot Update: Today (Tuesday) Arlington County Public Health will begin offering vaccine booster shots to individuals who are at highest risk for the COVID-19, by appointment only. The boosters will increase protection for those in high-risk occupational and institutional settings, residents 65 years and older and those 18-64 with underlying health conditions. The county began offering third shots to certain immunocompromised individuals last month.

Ballston to Host Salsa Event: A local DJ and salsa dance instructor are coming to Ballston Quarter to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month this Wednesday. The event features sangria, food tastings and salsa lessons. All will be free for most office workers in Ballston, while registration is $20 for other participants, organizers say. COPA Kitchen & Bar and Bartaco will supply the eats.

APS No Longer Best Public School System in Virginia: For the second year in a row, Arlington Public Schools has ranked the second-best public school system in Virginia. That’s down from the first-place spot APS enjoyed in the 2019 and 2020 lists from ranking site Niche. This year, the company ranked APS the best place to teach and the second safest school district in Virginia.

Xerox Redevelopment Under County Review: Plans to redevelop the Xerox building in Rosslyn into an apartment building are being reviewed by county staff. If accepted, the plans will go through the Site Plan Review process. Staff anticipate the project could seek County Board approval by July 2022.

Reporter’s Notepad

Yesterday (Monday), we published a story about obscene, and stubbornly water-resistant, graffiti splashed throughout Rocky Run Park. Between that, and reports of vandalism and a fight among teens, neighbors tell ARLnow they’re unnerved.

Last evening, after the article published, we learned from the Arlington County Police Department that officers don’t have much to go on in order to make arrests, but they are stepping up their presence around the park.

“Since July 1, ACPD has received three reports of vandalism/graffiti at the park,” police spokeswoman Ashley Savage told us Monday evening. “There are no suspect descriptions and no arrests have been made. Officers are conducting extra checks in the area.”

Police and Arlington park rangers typically increase their patrols in the area of a park around the time when people might be out vandalizing objects, we’re told. Last night, we saw via Twitter that one police officer’s stop at Rocky Run Monday resulted in impromptu soccer game with a group of kids.

“Establishing positive relationships and rapport with our youth is an essential part of our community policing initiatives,” ACPD said in the tweet.

Community policing and youth outreach have been a focus since School Resource Officers were removed from school grounds and rebranded as a “Youth Outreach Unit.”

That kind of engagement could partially get at what neighbors are asking of the county. The Clarendon Courthouse Civic Association said in a statement that the county and ACPD ought to conduct an awareness campaign in addition to patrolling the park.

We’ll be interested to see if these problems abate with greater monitoring and community engagement.

Keep sending us tips like this one: sometimes, when we look into it, it becomes a story. In other instances, the information gleaned might not be enough to justify a story at the time, but it could be the jumping off point for a larger story down the road.

Or, it could be something we just put out on Twitter.

On Monday, for example, we were tagged in a tweet about parking on Long Bridge Drive being reserved for a film crew for Tuesday (today).

I looked into this, and found out a documentary will be filmed at Reagan National Airport. Arlington’s involvement was limited to parking, and the rest was done through the airport, we’re told. We decided that’s not enough for a story, but it did merit a response with what we knew on Twitter.