ARLnow.com | ARLnow

Morning Notes

Published June 23, 2020 at 7:30AM

Buses and a cyclist along Columbia Pike (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

GOP Senate Primary Today — “Three Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s Virginia primary are hoping to win a chance to defeat incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner in November’s general election. Alissa Baldwin, Daniel Gade and Thomas Speciale will be on the Republican primary ballot.” [The Center Square]

Pike Housing Proposal Delayed Amid Outcry — “Faced with criticism on multiple fronts, Arlington County Board members on June 16 essentially threw a staff proposal under the bus, delaying for three months consideration of a controversial plan on how to prioritize affordable housing in the Columbia Pike corridor… It would have increased the maximum threshold, from the current 60 percent of area median income to up to as much as 100 percent, for individuals to qualify for assistance in buying properties.” [InsideNova]

News

County Manager’s Memo Regarding Removal of Black Lives Matter Chalk Art

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2020 at 3:55PM | Updated June 22, 2020 at 4:13PM

New Black Lives Matter chalk art created in front of the home where county workers washed away a girl's earlier art

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) On Friday, Arlington County workers — dispatched after a resident complained — power washed away a girl’s Black Lives Matter chalk art from in front of her Boulevard Manor home. After an uproar, the county later apologized.

A memo from County Manager Mark Schwartz, sent to county employees on Saturday and obtained by ARLnow, shows some of the internal soul searching that followed the incident.

News

Clarendon, Va. Square Metro Stations Reopening This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2020 at 2:00PM

Metro plans to reopen the Clarendon and Virginia Square Metro stations in Arlington, starting Sunday.

The stations — along with 15 others throughout the Metrorail system — closed in late March as the pandemic caused ridership to plummet and Metro started rationing cleaning supplies. Most are set to reopen this weekend.

News

Marine Corps Marathon Still On, For Now, With Some Changes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2020 at 1:15PM

Finish line of the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon (file photo)

For the time being, the Marine Corps Marathon is still expected to be held this fall. But a companion 10K race was just nixed.

Marathon organizers say both the MCM Kids Run and the MCM10K are being removed from the lineup for marathon weekend — Oct. 24-25 — and instead turned into virtual events.

News

County Government Experiencing Phone Troubles

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2020 at 12:05PM | Updated June 22, 2020 at 12:40PM

You might have trouble trying to reach Arlington County via phone today.

The county government has been experiencing technical difficulties with its phone lines since earlier this morning.

News

It’s Official: Crystal City BID is Now National Landing BID

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2020 at 11:15AM | Updated June 22, 2020 at 11:45AM

Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard are still separate neighborhoods — but the business improvement district that serves them has a new name today.

The Crystal City Business Improvement District has been officially renamed the National Landing Business Improvement District. The BID has a new website, a new video and a new logo, which gives a visual nod to the area’s “Metrorail lines… abundant natural green spaces and parks, and the water of the Potomac River nearby.”

News

As Arlington Coronavirus Metrics Hit Fresh Lows, a Nervous Calm

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2020 at 10:15AM | Updated June 24, 2020 at 10:36AM

(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) The rates of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Arlington have hit new lows, though expanding outbreaks elsewhere in the country raise questions about how long the declines will last.

Only 28 new COVID-19 cases have been reported since Friday, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. The trailing seven-day total of new cases is now 78, the lowest mark since April 4.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 22, 2020 at 7:30AM

D.C. Now More Expensive Than Arlington — “D.C. has bumped Arlington County, Virginia, from the top of the most-expensive area jurisdictions by county for median home-selling prices — at least for the month of May. Long & Foster reports the median price of a home that sold in the District in May was $656,000, 10% more than May of last year. The median price of a home that sold in Arlington County was $646,000, up 4%.” [WTOP]

Lower Census Response Rate Than 2010 — “In 2010, 74% of Arlington households filled out their Census form and returned it by mail, which was the only option at the time. In 2020, despite being able to fill out the Census online, by phone and by mail, Arlington’s self-response rate is hovering at just over 70%.” [Arlington County]

News

County Apologizes for Removing Girl’s Black Lives Matter Chalk Art

By ARLnow.com

Published June 20, 2020 at 9:15AM

Yvaal Hampton and her daughter pose for a portrait in front of her home in Boulevard Manor (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County is apologizing for an “unfortunate situation” — ordering three Black employees to remove a girl’s Black Lives Matter chalk art from in front of her home on Juneteenth.

A neighbor complained about the chalk creations, which included quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, leading to the county response. Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services crews will remove any such markings, regardless of the message, upon receiving a complaint, the county said.

Around Town

A Statement from ARLnow Publisher Local News Now

By ARLnow.com

Published June 19, 2020 at 6:00PM

Local News Now is the company behind the site you’re reading. We aren’t usually very visible or vocal, preferring to let the reporting of our Northern Virginia local news brands — ARLnow, ALXnow, Tysons Reporter, Reston Now — speak for itself.

LNN does not endorse candidates nor publish editorials. But today we would like to make the following statement, the first of its kind in our company’s 10 year history.

News

BREAKING: Nearly 500 Coronavirus Cases, Dozens of Deaths at Arlington Long-Term Care Facilities

By ARLnow.com

Published June 19, 2020 at 3:45PM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:09AM

Nearly three-quarters of coronavirus deaths in Arlington are attributable to long-term care facilities, new data from the Virginia Dept. of Health shows.

After long resisting calls to release such data, the state health department today published a list of facilities that have current or past COVID-19 outbreaks, along with the number of cases and deaths at each facility.

News

DEVELOPING: County Workers Remove Black Lives Matter Chalk Art on Juneteenth

By ARLnow.com

Published June 19, 2020 at 12:30PM | Updated June 20, 2020 at 9:16AM

Removal of Black Lives Matter chalk art on N. Littleton Street in Boulevard Manor (photo courtesy @dcsingerdc/Twitter)

(Updated at 4 p.m.) Arlington County workers power washed away Black Lives Matter chalk art in front of a home in the Boulevard Manor neighborhood this morning.

An outraged neighbor posted on social media about the removal of the chalk art, which featured words and phrases like “There comes a time when silence is betrayal,” “Justice 4 All,” “MLK,” and “BLM.” A portion of the art was on the county-owned sidewalk and road, while the rest was in the home’s driveway.