Author: ARLnow.com

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.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Will 2022 be a better year?

By ARLnow.com
Sunrise over D.C., as seen from Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

By most accounts, 2020 was a tough year. Despite hopes for better, 2021 certainly had its rough moments, too.

The pandemic is still here and, at least in terms of new cases from the latest variant, remains well underway. The stock market it up for the year, but the last half of 2021 hasn’t been kind to many investors amid inflation and stretched supply chains. And the country still appears to be inexorably divided politically, as was put on full display this past January.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Arlington Cinema Drafthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

First County Board Meeting of 2022 — “Arlington County Board members will hold their annual organizational meeting on Monday, Jan. 3 at 6 p.m… At the meeting, board members will elect a chair for the coming year (almost assuredly Katie Cristol) and will lay out their own personal priorities for the coming year. A number of procedural votes will be held, but the real business of governance will not take place until the board’s formal January meeting later in the month.” [Sun Gazette]

Bridge Project Near Fairlington Complete — “The rehabilitation of the King Street (Route 7) bridge over I-395 and pedestrian improvements along a half-mile of King Street are complete, Virginia Department of Transportation officials said on Dec. 22, improving pedestrian mobility and safety, giving drivers a smoother ride and extending the overall life of the bridge. The $13 million project was financed with federal and state funding.” [Sun Gazette]

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Opinion

Merry Christmas from ARLnow

By ARLnow.com
Holiday lights in a Crystal City area high rise (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

It’s the afternoon before Christmas Eve and all throughout Arlington, things are getting quieter.

Whether you’re celebrating the holiday here, out of town or not at all (except perhaps the traditional Chinese takeout and movie evening), we hope you have a great holiday weekend. Also, we hope you booked your pie reservation early.

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Around Town

We’re deleting most mugshots from our archives

By ARLnow.com

For years, ARLnow used to do what most local news outlets would do when there was a crime story to report: include the suspect’s name and (often) a mugshot.

Times change, however, and we now generally avoid use of mugshots except when there’s a greater news value in running them. And we no longer name criminal suspects, with the exception of public figures, those involved in major criminal cases, and situations in which the suspect’s identity is a key component of the story.

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News

JUST IN: New Covid case records for Arlington, but serious illness remains at pre-wave levels

By ARLnow.com
Covid cases in Arlington as of 12/23/21 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)

There’s good news and bad news on the Covid front in Arlington.

The bad news is that the graph of new Covid cases continues going up and to the right. Arlington set fresh single-day and seven-day case records today, with 359 new cases reported today and a seven-day moving average of 258 cases per day, well exceeding the previous records — set yesterday.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Koch Groups Moving to Ballston — “A group of nonprofits founded and supported in part by billionaire Charles Koch are moving to a combined 185K SF in the Ballston Exchange office complex owned by Jamestown, sources confirmed to Bisnow. Stand Together, Americans for Prosperity and the Charles Koch Institute, in addition to affiliated organizations, plan to occupy the space in 2023, a source familiar with the deal said.” [Bisnow]

Football and History in Halls Hill — “They were there — about a hundred mostly Black residents and former residents, gathered together on this sunny, crisp Thanksgiving morning — for the neighborhood’s annual Turkey Bowl… For more than fifty years, so-called ‘Old Heads’ in maroon jerseys and ‘Young Heads’ in yellow have squared off in this Halls Hill tradition — ‘since before Martin Luther King’s birthday was a holiday,’ says one longtime resident, Paul Terry, who has been living in Halls Hill since 1968. ‘It’s always fun.'” [DCist]

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News

UPDATED: Crash in Clarendon critically injures pedestrian near Whole Foods

By ARLnow.com
A crash along Clarendon Blvd in December that seriously injured a pedestrian (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 2:15 p.m.) A woman suffered potentially life-threatening injuries after a crash in front of the Clarendon Whole Foods on Wednesday.

Initial reports suggest that the woman was walking in the area when the crash occurred on Clarendon Blvd and the force of the collision sent two vehicles careening onto the sidewalk, knocking down a light pole.

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News

UPDATED: Police investigating after two people found dead in apartment

By ARLnow.com
Death investigation at an apartment building near Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 10:45 a.m.) Arlington County police are investigating after two people were found dead in an apartment near Ballston on Wednesday.

The investigation is taking place at the Clarendon Court Apartments complex, located on the 3800 block of 6th Street N. in the Ashton Heights neighborhood, about two blocks from the Gold’s Gym. Detectives could be seen using a ladder to take photos of the apartment, which is on the second floor of a two-story garden-style building.

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Around Town

This year, give the gift of gondola fashion

By ARLnow.com

In something of a holiday tradition, ARLnow has a new gondola-related shirt for all fans of high fashion and aerial lift transportation.

If you thought last year’s Gondola Now! shirt was a bit understated, and if you know that the truth is out there in the search for the perfect cross-Potomac transit system, then this is the shirt for you.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Which are you more worried about?

By ARLnow.com
Arlingtonians in line for Covid testing in Courthouse, where the line wrapped around the block (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

On Tuesday Arlington’s seven-day moving average of Covid cases set another record.

Just shy of 200 people are testing positive for the virus in Arlington each day, on average, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. Lines for local Covid testing sites stretch around multiple blocks. And yet, people are (mostly) still traveling for the holidays, dining at restaurants and generally living their lives.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
The departures lanes at Reagan National Airport (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

More Huge Covid Testing Lines — “This is the current situation at VA Highlands Park #COVID19 testing center! How do they expect people to preemptively get tested if that means standing in the bitter cold for hours?” [Twitter]

Libraries Run Out of At-Home Tests — “And Arlington libraries are out of tests, less than an hour after doors opened. No more tests until at least after Jan. 1.” [Twitter]

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