Author: ARLnow.com

Cybersecurity Firm Acquired — “Dataminr, a New York tech firm that helps businesses and government agencies spot threats to their operations, has acquired Arlington cybersecurity company ThreatConnect Inc. for $290 million… Datminr’s local office is in the Courthouse section of Arlington and ThreatConnect’s office is nearby in Ballston. Bailey said both local offices will remain open for now, though he’s open to a potential consolidation in the future.” [WBJ]

Local Consumer Sentiment Turns Negative — “Consumers and businesses in Greater Washington are growing more pessimistic about economic conditions locally, as the region faces rising unemployment from federal cuts and the uncertain economic effects of a government shutdown. That’s according to the Metropolitan Consumer Sentiment Index, a quarterly index.” [WBJ]

Unemployment Measure Rising in Va. — “In the first two weeks since the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, about 1,250 initial claims for unemployment listed a federal employer, VEC Commissioner Mitch Melis told the Commission on Unemployment Compensation Monday.” [VPM]

Leaf Collection Coming Soon — “The fall vacuum leaf collection season starts in a few weeks… Vacuum Leaf Collection Program: Nov. 10–Dec. 19 (no collection on Nov. 27 – Thanksgiving Day).” [Arlington County]

Chatty Robber in Va. Square — “3300 block of Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 11:34 a.m. on October 19, police were dispatched to the report of a robbery by force. Upon arrival, it was determined the male suspect entered the store, engaged an employee in conversation, assaulted them, collected merchandise and exited the business without payment. No injuries were reported.” [ACPD]

ACFD Training in Ashton Heights — “You may notice fire department crews training in the 3400 block of 3rd St N this week. Training will occur daily from 0800–1700 through October 25, 2025. Please use caution in the area and allow crews space to work safely.” [ACFD/X]

Day of the Dead Events — “Dia de los Muertos—or Day of the Dead—is a Mexican holiday that falls on Nov. 1 and 2, when families and friends celebrate the lives of loved ones who have died. Unlike Halloween, the idea is not to spook, but rather embrace the spirits of the dead. Here are some spots where you can honor lives well lived.” [Arlington Magazine]

It’s Wednesday — Clouds will increase throughout the day as the temperature reaches a high near 64°F. West winds will blow at 8 to 14 mph, occasionally gusting as high as 24 mph. For Wednesday night, expect mostly clear skies with a low of 44°F and a west wind of approximately 7 mph. [NWS]

Rosslyn Office Building Sells — “Velocis sold 1530 Wilson Blvd. for $28 million, less than half its 2020 price. Douglas Development affiliates purchased the 78% leased Rosslyn office building. The 10-story building houses tenants including SAS, Blue Origin, and Cailabs.” [WBJ]

More on ‘No Kings’ Protest — ”Everyone out here is an unpaid protester who came because they love the United States of America,’ said Maria Powers of We of Action Virginia, which organized Saturday’s overpass protests. ‘They are patriots who say, ‘I love the Constitution.’ I love the fact that we have rules that reign supreme here and we don’t bow down to any dictators, to any kings.'” [Patch]

Va. State Race Recap — “The Virginia governor’s race was supposed to be the marquee contest of 2025, a historic showdown between two women who national Democrats and Republicans alike hope can rally their parties into next year’s congressional midterms. But two downballot contests keep stealing the limelight in unpredictable ways.” [Washington Post]

Drug Take-Back Day Locations — “The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) fall National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day will take place on Saturday, October 25… Arlington County offers four permanent drug take-back boxes where community members can anonymously dispose of prescription medications for free.” [ACPD]

Amazon Web Services Disruption — “The far-reaching Amazon Web Services outage that crippled some financial services, retail sales, video games, airlines and more throughout Monday is being traced to the company’s data center cluster in Northern Virginia. Popular sites and apps were struggling to recover Monday afternoon from the stubborn outage.” [WBJ, Axios]

ARLnow Affected By AWS Issue — ARLnow’s social media posts, email newsletters and event calendar approvals, among other online functions, were delayed by yesterday’s major Amazon issues. Full service was restored by Monday evening. [ARLnow/X]

La Niña Is Back — “With winter fast approaching, the recent declaration that La Niña has officially arrived may leave Washingtonians wondering what the climate pattern will mean locally. The answer may not thrill snow lovers. During La Niñas, the prevailing storm track usually runs north of Washington. That tends to pull in milder air during storms, leading to more wintry mixes or rain instead of snow.” [CWG]

It’s Tuesday — Expect sunny skies and a high of 71 degrees, accompanied by a south wind ranging from 5 to 11 mph and gusts reaching 22 mph. Tonight, there is a 40% chance of showers before 2 am; however, the mostly cloudy skies will gradually clear with a low of around 49 degrees. The west wind will be around 7 mph. [NWS]

Courthouse Hotel for Sale — “The owner of an Arlington extended-stay hotel is abandoning its plan to convert the property to residences and is now looking to sell the property instead. Five years after winning approval for the conversion, Fulton, Maryland-based Sunburst Hospitality has tapped KLNB and HREC Investment Advisors to market for sale the 187-room Arlington Court Suites Hotel at 1200 N. Courthouse Road.” [WBJ, Bisnow]

Rowdy Group in Ballston — “Police and EMS called a short time ago to Ballston Quarter for a large crowd, a fight, and one injured. The group of young people left the mall heading east on Wilson Blvd. and then south on N. Randolph with @ArlingtonVaPD watching closely.” [Dave Statter/X]

Prosecutor Still Supports Jones — “Jay made the point better than I have the last few days: the AG, arguably even more so than the governor, is the office that can effectively protect Virginia communities from the President’s authoritarian rampage. We can’t think that electing Spanberger alone will be enough.” [Parisa Dehghani-Tafti/Bluesky]

Mail Ballot Deadline — “The last day to request a mail ballot for the November 4, 2025 General Election is next week on, Fri. Oct. 24 at 5pm! All registered voters are eligible to vote by mail.” [Arlington Elections/X]

Diocese on Abortion Amendment, IVF — “Since the 2022 Dobbs ruling returned the regulation of abortion to the states, abortion proponents have been on the march. They successfully enacted extreme abortion policies through ballot initiatives approved in 14 out of 17 states, amending their state constitutions. Unless we act, Virginia is next.” [Arlington Catholic Herald, Diocese of Arlington]

Funding for Local Company — “Lightshift Energy, an Arlington-based developer of battery energy storage projects, said it has landed a new $75 million credit facility… it will use the funds to support its pipeline of energy storage projects across the East Coast, at a time when the U.S. is experiencing increased demand for energy storage.” [Potomac Tech Wire]

More EDVA News — “Fresh from indicting two of Trump’s top political targets in her first three weeks on the job, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan this week continued to push prosecutors at her Eastern District of Virginia office to move quickly to charge another politically sensitive case: a Democratic state lawmaker who has been under investigation since the Biden administration, according to three people familiar with the discussions.” [MSNBC]

Lanternflies Threatening Va. Wine — “If you needed another reason to crush those spotted lanternflies, here’s one that may hit close to home: they’re threatening your wine. The spotted insects have developed a taste for grapevines — their favorite host after the tree of heaven.” [Washington Post]

New Legal Notices — Restaurants seek on/off-premise ABC mixed-beverage license; objections due 30 days. [Public Notices, Public Notices]

It’s Monday — Expect a sunny day with highs near 65 degrees and west winds blowing at 13 to 15 mph, gusting up to 28 mph. The night remains clear with lows around 44 degrees, and the west wind slowing to 6 mph before becoming calm during the evening. [NWS]

Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. ARLnow has been in 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.