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National Landing, Ballston to Get New Streetlight Banners

Published January 29, 2021 at 9:30AM

New National Landing signage (photo via Arlington County)

New signage is coming to National Landing and Ballston.

The business improvements districts that serve as boosters for the areas are planning to put hundreds of new banners on light poles. The County Board approved the use of such non-commercial signs in the public right-of-way at its meeting last weekend.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 29, 2021 at 7:30AM

Major Snow Storm Approaching — “At the low end, about 1 to 3 inches or so would fall on Sunday before precipitation changes to a light mix or even plain rain late Sunday into Monday. At the high end, at least 6 to 12 inches would accumulate, beginning Sunday and lasting into Monday night or Tuesday, perhaps mixed with sleet at times.” [Capital Weather Gang, Twitter]

Arlington GOP Eyes Comeback — “It took the election of Donald Trump in 2016 to re-energize and motivate Arlington’s dominant, but at that point somewhat moribund, Democrats. And the election result of 2020 may have had the same caffeinating impact on the Arlington County Republican Committee. ‘I’m super-pumped… by the number [of attendees] and the level of enthusiasm,’ party communications director Matthew Hurtt said at the Jan. 27 committee meeting, which attracted a crowd of about 80 to Zoom.” [InsideNova]

News

Residence Inn on Amazon’s Future HQ2 Site Is Being Torn Down

By ARLnow.com

Published January 28, 2021 at 11:30AM

The Residence Inn in Pentagon City is being demolished (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

The former Residence Inn hotel in Pentagon City is being deconstructed.

While the demolition is not as dramatic as that of the Holiday Inn implosion in Rosslyn, it will similarly make a mark on a portion of the county’s skyline.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 28, 2021 at 7:30AM | Updated January 28, 2021 at 9:52AM

Cell Service Now Available in All Metro Tunnels — “The nation’s major wireless carriers — AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon — and Metro today officially announced the final milestone, more than a decade in the making, to provide wireless service for those who use the Metrorail system… The latest activation brings the final three segments online between Dupont Circle in Downtown DC and White Flint in Maryland, the Yellow Line from L’Enfant Plaza to the Pentagon, and Silver Line in Tysons Corner.” [WMATA]

More on Amazon’s Affordable Housing Commitment — “‘The biggest housing challenge Arlington faces is preserving and building affordable housing, and Amazon is helping by creating a lot of affordable housing,’ said Matt de Ferranti, Arlington County Board chair via email. ‘Our budget is hurting as we feel the pandemic economically, but our housing prices for homes and condos and any place to live in the area is still increasing as people think we are a good long term place to live in part due to Amazon. We need the housing right now to avoid displacement.'” [GGWash]

News

BREAKING: Large Power Outage Reported in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published January 27, 2021 at 9:40PM | Updated January 28, 2021 at 12:10AM

A widespread power outage is currently affecting parts of Arlington.

More than 3,500 Dominion customers were without power in the county as of 9:30 p.m. Affected neighborhoods include Ballston, Bluemont, Buckingham, Ashton Heights and Lyon Park, according to the power company’s outage map.

News

Photos: Alpine Restaurant Being Torn Down on Lee Highway

By ARLnow.com

Published January 27, 2021 at 3:30PM | Updated January 27, 2021 at 4:20PM

Demolition has begun on the former Alpine Restaurant on Lee Highway (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

The day has arrived: the former Alpine Restaurant is currently being demolished along Lee Highway.

The long-time local restaurant at 4770 Lee Highway is being torn down to make way for The Children’s School, a three-story daycare facility for the kids of Arlington Public Schools employees. The facility will also be home to Integration Station, a program for kids with developmental or other disabilities that intermingles with The Children’s School.

Around Town

Here Are Some of the Common Items You Actually Can’t Recycle in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published January 27, 2021 at 9:45AM | Updated February 2, 2021 at 4:54PM

Arlington recycling bins (Flickr pool photo by Aaron Webb)

(Updated at 10:50 p.m.) Arlington County is trying to make its recycling service more efficient, and that means keeping items that don’t get recycled out of the stream.

In a pamphlet that’s being left for those served by the county’s waste collection contractor — mostly those in single-family homes — residents are urged to avoid putting “contaminants” in the blue recycling cart, even if they have a recycling logo.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 27, 2021 at 7:30AM

Still No Back to School Date Set — From Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Durán: “Return dates for additional student groups have not been set yet… I am committed to making these transitions as soon as it is safe enough to do so — looking not only at the health metrics, but all available information regarding health and safety, mitigation, instruction and operations — knowing that there are risks in every scenario.” [Arlington Public Schools]

N. Va. Leaders Call for Vaccine Changes — “A coalition of local governments in Northern Virginia is calling on Gov. Ralph Northam to streamline the release of COVID-19 vaccine doses and provide more transparency and equity into the process. The letter signed by 14 local government leaders was sent by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission to Northam on Sunday.” [InsideNova, Twitter]

Schools

JUST IN: Internet Outages Affecting Arlington Public Schools

By ARLnow.com

Published January 26, 2021 at 1:40PM

A widespread East Coast internet outage may cause delays for teachers and students accessing Arlington Public Schools systems during remote learning.

“Some users may be experiencing issues with their internet, or applications such as Canvas, Google Classroom or Teams,” APS spokesman Frank Bellavia tells ARLnow.

News

Here’s a Look at the Proposed Redevelopment that Would Replace Silver Diner in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Published January 26, 2021 at 11:45AM | Updated January 28, 2021 at 8:27AM

Rendering of proposed Bingham Center redevelopment in Clarendon (via Arlington County)

(Updated on 1/28/21) It’s still early in the approval process, but we’re getting a closer look at a proposed redevelopment that would replace the Silver Diner and The Lot beer garden in Clarendon.

As previously reported by the Washington Business Journal, the development would take place on a triangular parcel of land at 3200 Wilson Blvd, across from Northside Social.

News

Arlington Ranks in Top 10 for Work-Life Balance

By ARLnow.com

Published January 26, 2021 at 9:30AM

Person working on laptop (Photo by Burst on Unsplash)

Arlington is one of the top places in the country for having a positive work-life balance, according to a new set of rankings.

The website SmartAsset ranks Arlington No. 6 on its list, which quantifies “the best cities for work-life balance” in 2021. The top 3 were Madison, Wisconsin (1); Virginia Beach (2); and Minneapolis (3).

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 26, 2021 at 6:00AM

Rosslyn Redevelopment Approved — “The Arlington County Board today approved a mixed-use redevelopment that will add 740 new housing units, including on-site affordable housing, to the Rosslyn neighborhood. The Board approved developer Snell Properties’ plan to build two residential towers with ground-floor retail and office/retail flex space at 1820 and 1830 Fort Myer Drive in Rosslyn.” [Arlington County]

Inova Cancels Vaccine Appointments, Too — “COVID-19 vaccine supply shortages have forced Inova Health System to cancel first-dose appointments for people in Northern Virginia’s Group 1B starting Tuesday, a group that includes employees of Fairfax County Public Schools. The news comes as elected leaders appeal directly to the governor for more doses.” [NBC 4]