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.
Arlington’s newest Pet of the Week is duo Daisy and Henry, 4-year-old Shar-Pei pups who love schmoozing with their Clarendon neighbors.
Here’s what Daisy and Henry had to say about their life in Arlington:
Update at 11:05 p.m. — A Flood Warning has now been issued for Arlington.
1057 PM EST WED NOV 11 2020
It’s Veterans Day — Today is Veterans Day, and as a result of the holiday government offices are closed and metered parking is not being enforced. Per the county, Arlington is currently home to about 13,000 veterans. [Arlington County]
Trump Scheduled for Cemetery Visit –“To mark Veterans Day… President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will visit Arlington National Cemetery. The President will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown [Soldier],” according to CBS News producer Sara Cook. [Twitter, Washington Examiner]
(Updated at 11:15 p.m.) A multi-vehicle crash has temporarily blocked all lanes of the GW Parkway in Arlington.
The crash happened near the scenic overlooks on the parkway. Initial reports suggest that one of the vehicles involved crashed into a tree in the median, and that firefighters had to extricate an occupant of the vehicle who was trapped inside.
A major project to add 70 acres to Arlington National Cemetery while reconfiguring the eastern end of Columbia Pike is inching forward.
The cemetery’s southern expansion project will add about 60,000 burial sites, across 37 acres of new burial plots and an above-ground columbarium, allowing the cemetery to continue military burials through the 2050s. It will also bring the Air Force Memorial within the cemetery grounds, and add a parking garage across Columbia Pike.
Despite record-setting levels of early and mail-in voting, the final 2020 general election turnout in Arlington slightly underperformed that of 2016.
Last week’s election set a local record in terms of votes cast, but a rise in population and voter registration meant that the final turnout figure was a few points below the 82% turnout from 2016.
Coyotes have been known to roam around Arlington, but sightings of the bashful wild canines are relatively rare.
Nonetheless, a coyote is causing a stir in the Fairlington area after being spotted multiple times around the neighborhood, according to posts on a local Facebook group.
No, That Wasn’t ‘The Bachelor’ in Ballston — “Today, the world paused to consider what would have been the biggest news story of the past 72 hours: Wait — was the Bachelor filming in freaking Ballston? Well, that was at least the question posed by a whistleblower this afternoon, who tweeted out a photograph of a couple dining outdoors surrounded by a camera crew.” [Washingtonian, Twitter]
Pranksters Dialing Rosslyn-Based Trump Hotline — “Trump campaign staffers have been huddled on a noisy floor in the campaign’s Arlington, Virginia, headquarters fielding hundreds of calls a day on a hotline the campaign set up as they try to find instances of voter fraud, multiple sources told ABC News. But the hotline has… been bombarded with prank calls from people laughing or mocking them over Biden’s win before hanging up.” [ABC News, Washington Post]
Arlington County firefighters and other authorities are investigating a possible hazmat situation on the water at Theodore Roosevelt Island.
A kayaker spotted an oil sheen on the shoreline and called the fire department, we’re told. Arriving firefighters confirmed the sheen, though it initially appears limited in scale.
A motorcycle-riding burglar, dressed in all black, smashed the glass front door of the Virginia ABC store in Ballston early this morning.
The burglary happened around 3:30 a.m. Monday, on the 800 block of N. Quincy Street. Arlington County police say the man “stole items of value” from the liquor store before fleeing on a motorcycle.
(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) After a brief pause in its upward trajectory, the seven-day average of new coronavirus cases in Arlington is continuing to surge.
In what might be called a third wave of the virus — after the initial explosion of cases in the spring and a more modest summer wave that peaked in August — the seven-day infection average in the county crossed the 40 cases-per-day mark today.
A Virginia State Police trooper was seriously injured after a driver plowed into the back of her cruiser on I-66 in Arlington.
The crash happened around 11:30 p.m. Friday, on eastbound I-66 near East Falls Church and the Sycamore Street exit, in a work zone.
