Author: ARLnow.com

One Last Light Display — “Scott Long, who has an aggressive cancer, was determined to make his house shine one more time for his [South Arlington] neighborhood.” [Washington Post]

House Fire in Hall’s Hill — “Just before 4:00 p.m. today, units responded to a house fire in the 2200 block of N. Emerson Street. The first-arriving unit found smoke and fire coming from a rear deck that had extended into the home. Firefighters made an aggressive attack and were able to quickly bring the fire under control. There were no injuries to occupants or firefighters. Fire Marshals will be investigating the cause.” [ACFD/X]

Car Fire on I-395 — “The moment when your car clearly tells you it’s time to abandon ship. Earlier this afternoon on I-395S, south of the Arlington Ridge Rd. overpass.” [Dave Statter/X]

Pawn Shop ‘Day in the Life’ — “As a longtime fan of shows like the History Channel’s Pawn Stars and (no judgement, please) truTV’s Hardcore Pawn, I was dying to get behind the scenes. I finally scratched that itch last spring by working a shift at Royal Pawn on 23rd Street in Crystal City.” [Arlington Magazine]

N. Va. Train History — “The Alexandria and Washington Railroad was chartered in 1854 to connect Alexandria to the southern end of Long Bridge and from the B&O Station at New Jersey Avenue and C Street NW to the northern edge of Long Bridge. However, when it was completed in 1857, the Virginia Legislature refused to allow tracks to be laid across the bridge due to concerns about the bridge’s strength.” [GGW]

It’s Tuesday — Expect rain primarily before 9am, followed by cloudy skies that will gradually clear up to become mostly sunny. The high will be around 53 degrees, with southwest winds ranging from 7 to 10 mph and gusts reaching up to 20 mph. The chance of precipitation stands at 30%. As for Tuesday night, it will be mostly clear with a low temperature of approximately 39 degrees and a west wind blowing at 6 to 9 mph. [NWS]

Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar

New APS Labor Agreement –“The Arlington School Board today certified a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Arlington Public Schools (APS) and the Arlington School Administrators (ASA)… The APS–ASA successor agreement signed today is the most comprehensive administrative collective bargaining agreement in the Commonwealth.” [Press Release]

County Tops LGBTQ Rating — “Arlington County earned a perfect score – 100 out of 100 – on the Human Rights Campaign’s 14th annual Municipal Equality Index (MEI). The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there. Arlington again received a score of 100 – plus an additional 16 bonus points – on the MEI Scorecard.” [Arlington County]

Video: Pentagon City Crash — “The changes @ArlingtonDES made with the Army Navy Drive Complete Street Project seem to have greatly reduced the number of crashes at this intersection (once the lights were better aligned). This is the first one I’ve seen in a while.” [Dave Statter/X]

Trees Cut Along Route 50 — “Looks like someone took a machete to all of the young recently-planted sapling trees along Arlington Blvd between N Courthouse Rd and 10th St N. There are now yard signs warning people that damaging the trees is a class 3 misdemeanor.” [Adam Theo/Bluesky]

New Chick-fil-A at DCA — “Christmas came early and Chick-fil-A is back and better than ever!!!!!!! The newly expanded restaurant reopened today, bringing back fan favorites, just in time for your holiday travels. National Hall, near the D Gates.” [Reagan Airport/X]

Spanberger’s Latest Plans — “Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) began rolling out specifics Thursday of how she plans to deliver a more affordable Virginia, offering proposed legislation in areas of health care, housing and energy that she said uphold the promises that got her elected last month.” [Washington Post]

Latest on Legion Bridge — “The Trump administration appears to be growing impatient with a perceived lack of progress by Maryland to replace the American Legion Memorial Bridge. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week (Dec. 9) that the Federal Highway Administration will seek feedback and proposals on ways to accelerate the delivery of a new bridge in the hopes of relieving congestion on the Capital Beltway.” [FFXnow]

Trump’s Name Now on Kennedy Center — “The Kennedy Center installed President Donald Trump’s name on its exterior Friday morning, a dramatic change to a building established by law as a “living memorial” to a slain president.” [Washington Post]

It’s Monday — The skies will gradually become cloudy, reaching a high temperature of around 44 degrees, accompanied by a light southwestern wind. Monday night, there is a 40% chance of rain and snow occurring from 1 am to 4 am, followed by a possibility of rain after 4 am. With an expected low of 35 degrees, the light south wind will intensify to 5-10 mph later in the evening. [NWS]

Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. ARLnow has been decking the halls at an Industrious office for years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing your own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked. Industrious has several Metro-accessible coworking locations in Arlington to keep your season merry and bright.

Photo courtesy Tom Mockler/X

Youngkin Touts Strong Va. Economy — “At a time when legislative budget analysts warn of a looming downturn, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) had a contrary message Wednesday for the incoming administration of Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D): The state’s economy is “rip-roaring.” Don’t mess it up. “Let’s hold the next administration accountable for keeping it going. That is what I am most worried about,” Youngkin told reporters Wednesday morning.” [Washington Post, FFXnow]

East Potomac Golf Changes? — “Behind the scenes, administration officials have discussed a far more ambitious makeover for East Potomac. They have floated potential names such as “Washington National Golf Course” and talked about whether the site could someday host the Ryder Cup. To make such a venue possible, officials and outside advisers have discussed expanding the course’s footprint toward the water, potentially eliminating portions of Ohio Drive SW.” [Washington Post]

Cold Weather Set to Return — “Late December may turn colder — and possibly wintry — again. Even as parts of the central U.S. warm up around Christmas (with a bit of that mild air occasionally nudging east), there’s little evidence of a sustained warm stretch for our region. Instead, signals are growing that chillier, more unsettled weather could return late next week and beyond.” [CWG/X]

It’s Friday — Expect rain and potentially a thunderstorm in the morning, followed by a slight chance of rain until 2pm. Temperatures will drop to around 38 by 5 pm with breezy south winds between 15 and 23 mph, shifting west and gusting up to 47 mph. Friday night will be mostly clear and breezy, with lows around 27, west winds between 17 and 22 mph decreasing to 6 to 11 mph after midnight, and gusts up to 46 mph. [NWS]