Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. The ARLnow staff byline is used for the Morning Notes and reporting done by an editor or other member of our full-time staff.
The sun and clouds on a hot day (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Arlington County and most of the D.C. area is under an Excessive Heat Warning today.
Heat index values of up to 110 are expected today, making time spent outdoors potentially hazardous, especially for those working, exercising or who are medically vulnerable.
The outage affected a far northern section of Arlington — along parts of N. Glebe Road, Military Road and Chesterbrook Road — plus a portion of McLean. It followed reports of an arcing power line on the 3600 block of Miliary Road, which prompted a fire department response.
Rosslyn buildings, including Central Place and 1812 N. Moore Street, as seen from ‘The View of D.C.’ observation deck (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Pickleball Unlikely for Park — “Hell hath no fury like pickleball fanatics scorned. But at present, odds appear to be running against inclusion of pickleball courts in the soon-to-be-redeveloped Gateway Park in Rosslyn. Only one of three proposed design options includes sport courts, and at least right now, public sentiment apparently isn’t coalescing behind their being included.” [Gazette Leader]
Flyover Planned Today — From AlertDC: “The US Military will conduct a flyover in the NCR over Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, August 2nd, 2024, at 10:01 AM.”
Torri’s YHS Cheering Section — “In Paris, swimmer Torri Huske was surrounded by family, friends and classmates from Yorktown High School, enveloped in tear-filled hugs as she won her first Olympic gold medal in the women’s 100-meter butterfly. Back in Northern Virginia, people who knew Huske — and even those who didn’t — were watching the competition with bated breath as the two-time Olympian won by 0.04 seconds.” [Washington Post]
Latest on Local’s Racing Dreams — “WTOP’s Matt Kaufax zips down to the Driver’s Club at Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia… At Dominion, Matt met 15-year-old Hudson Schwartz, the youngest driver in the USF2000 Championship, a racing series that’s just a couple of divisions away from IndyCar, North America’s highest class of open-wheel car racing.” [WTOP]
Oral History of Rt. 29 Renaming — “Efforts behind the renaming of Arlington’s 5.2-mile swath of U.S. Route 29 have been commemorated for posterity. Using a county-government mini-grant, the Langston Boulevard Alliance worked with researcher Bennett King, a graduate student at Goucher College, on an oral-history project focused on the name change from Lee Highway to Langston Boulevard.” [Gazette Leader]
Retirement for Police K-9 — “Happy retirement, K9 Arlo! K9 Arlo began his career with ACPD in November 2018 after attending a basic K-9 school hosted by the @LoudounSheriff. As a Patrol/Narcotic K9, Arlo faithfully served the Arlington community by helping locate dangerous drugs and criminal suspects.” [Twitter]
Leadership Change for AWLA — “The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) has announced that Sam Wolbert, President & CEO, will be stepping down from the role effective December 15, 2024. After seven years of dedicated service, Mr. Wolbert will be moving away from Arlington… AWLA will now conduct a nationwide search for a successor to lead the organization into a new era.” [Press Release]
New Cameras Issuing Warnings — From ACPD: “The newly installed red-light safety cameras in four intersections will begin to issue warnings from August 1-31 to raise public awareness and encourage compliance before issuing tickets for violations beginning on September 1.” [Twitter]
Watch Parties for Local Olympian — “Two watch parties have been organized in the city to witness the fastest man on the planet, Alexandria native Noah Lyles, race in the 100 meter and 200 meter finals in the Paris Olympics… The watch party for the 100m final will begin at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 4 at Pork Barrel BBQ (2312 Mount Vernon Avenue) in Del Ray.” [ALXnow]
It’s Friday — Expect showers and thunderstorms mainly after 5pm, with otherwise mostly sunny and hot conditions, a high near 97, and heat index values up to 106. There is a 60% chance of precipitation. Friday night, showers and thunderstorms will continue, likely before 5am, followed by a slight chance of showers. The night will be mostly cloudy with a low around 75, and a 60% chance of precipitation. [NWS]
Expect showers and thunderstorms mainly after 5pm, with mostly sunny and hot conditions, a high near 97, and heat index values up to 106. Winds will be calm, shifting to south around 6 mph in the afternoon, with a 60% chance of precipitation. Rainfall amounts will range between a tenth and a quarter of an inch, with higher amounts in thunderstorms. Friday night, showers and thunderstorms will continue, likely before 5am, followed by a slight chance of showers. The night will be mostly cloudy with a low around 75, southeastern winds of 6 mph becoming south after midnight, and a 60% chance of precipitation. Expect rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“It is our choices that define us, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling
Power outage in Ballston and Virginia Square as of 6:30 a.m. (courtesy Megan J.)
For at least the fourth time since late June, Dominion customers in Ballston and Virginia Square area are without power.
The outage started around 2 a.m. this morning, residents tell ARLnow, and an outage map shows it affecting roughly the same area as previous outages on June 24, July 15 and July 23.
The view from an office in Clarendon (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
More Construction for Crystal City — “JBG Smith Properties continues to say it anticipates getting nearly 10 million square feet of new development, mostly in National Landing… ‘shovel-ready’ by 2025. Matt Kelly, the Bethesda-based developer’s CEO, said in his July 30 second quarter letter to shareholders the company ‘expect[s]’ to get 18 assets ready to go for new development by the end of next year.” [Washington Business Journal]
Clarendon Barnes & Noble Robbery — “A witness notified a store employee that two suspects were stealing merchandise. A second employee located the suspects in the store who then began to yell at the employee before one suspect attempted to strike the employee. The employee then left the area to call police during which the suspects collected merchandise and exited the business without payment.” [ACPD]
APS Phone Policy Emerging — “Under the draft proposal, which will be aired at the Aug. 5 meeting of the School Board’s policy subcommittee: Elementary- and middle-school students would be required to have personal devices put away for the duration of the school day. High-school students would be required to have the devices out of reach during instructional periods but could access them at other times.” [Gazette Leader]
Grant for New Rosslyn Eatery — “A nonprofit supporting women-owned food businesses has handed out $5,000 grants to 10 food startups from the D.C. and Baltimore region, including makers of French macarons, beignets, Mexican-style popsicles, dumplings and more… Kam and 46, a Hawaii and Filipino food pop-up, recently opened shop in Rosslyn food hall Upside on Moore.” [Washington Business Journal]
Skepticism Over ‘Fittest’ Status — “I absolutely refuse to believe Arlington and D.C. are the top two healthiest cities in America. I lived in Arlington for around four years and I’ve lived in D.C. for nearly six. I’ve never seen any area of the country with unhealthier habits than the Washington, D.C. metro area. D.C. has the highest percentage of heavy drinkers in the entire country, according to data from the CDC. While the CDC doesn’t specify Arlington’s binge-drinking rates, I’m sure it’s nearly as bad.” [Outkick]
Trump Proposal’s Local Impact — From state Sen. Scott Surovell: “Has anyone noticed that Trump’s platform promises to move 100,000 [federal] workers out of the DMV (so does Project 2025)?” [Twitter, WAMU, WUSA 9]
GOP Questions Climate Spending — From the Arlington GOP, in response to Arlington naming a new top climate official to steer the county toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050: “Your tax dollars at ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶ waste.” [Twitter]
Kaine Co-Sponsors Child Care Bill — “Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) are unveiling two bipartisan bills Wednesday aimed at making child care more affordable through beefed up tax credits and grants for child care providers.” [Axios]
Local Man Convicted in Federal Case — “A 34-year-old [Arlington] man was convicted Wednesday of illegally accessing the private medical data of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2019 but acquitted of posting the information to an online message board where conspiracists falsely claimed Democratic politicians were covering up her death.” [Washington Post, Dept. of Justice]
It’s Thursday — Showers and thunderstorms are possible after 5pm, with a mostly sunny and hot day reaching a high of 97°F and heat index values up to 104°F. Winds will be light and variable, turning west around 5 mph in the afternoon. On Thursday night, expect a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly before 8pm, mostly cloudy conditions, a low around 77°F, and a 30% chance of precipitation. [NWS]
Showers and thunderstorms are possible after 5pm, with a mostly sunny and hot day reaching a high of 97°F and heat index values up to 104°F. Winds will be light and variable, turning west around 5 mph in the afternoon, and a 30% chance of precipitation. On Thursday night, expect a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly before 8pm, mostly cloudy conditions, a low around 77°F, light south wind, and a 30% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Life is short, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it. Fear is awful, face it. Memories are sweet, cherish it.” – Unknown
The sun shines down above a tree on a hot summer day with a heat advisory (staff photo by James Jarvis)
Another stretch of dangerously hot weather is on tap.
The National Weather Service just issued a Heat Advisory for Arlington and surrounding jurisdictions including D.C., Alexandria, Fairfax County and Falls Church.
Arlington swimmer Torri Huske leads the field near the end of the 100m freestyle final on July 31, 2024 (via NBC/Twitter)
Three days after winning gold in Paris, Arlington’s Torri Huske has her third Olympic medal of the 2024 games.
Huske captured silver in the women’s 100m freestyle this afternoon. She led the field near the end but was edged out at the wall by Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjoestroem by 0.07 seconds.
