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Morning Notes

Published May 11, 2020 at 7:30AM

Small Biz Grant Application Now Open — “The Arlington Small Business Emergency GRANT (Giving Resiliency Assets Near Term) Program, designed to provide immediate financial assistance to Arlington’s small businesses and nonprofits impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, is now open for applications.” [Arlington County]

Why Your Pizza Is Not Going Ham — The national meat shortage has led Domino’s Pizza to cut down on the availability of some toppings, including in Arlington. “Due to the current uncertainty in the market for meats, we are limiting the amount of ham we are delivering to our stores,” the company told one local resident. [@craigcolgan/Twitter]

News

DEVELOPING: Police Investigating Suspicious Death Near Ballston

By ARLnow.com

Published May 9, 2020 at 3:45PM | Updated May 12, 2020 at 10:22AM

Update on 5/12/20 — In an update, Arlington County Police say a man has been charged in connection to this incident, which is still considered a “suspicious death.” From ACPD:

This incident remains classified as a suspicious death. Detectives continue to investigate the events that preceded the death and are working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine cause.

News

Portion of N. Arlington Without Power

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 8:40PM

The arrival of cold temperatures was preceded by a line of rain showers packing gusty winds that knocked out power to part of Arlington.

Portions of residential North Arlington along Lee Highway — including the Cherrydale, Waverly Hills and Donaldson Run neighborhoods — are without power as of 8:30 p.m. In all, Dominion is reporting 1,641 customers in the dark.

Opinion

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 6:00PM

Another week of business as abnormal has come and gone, as Arlington continues to adjust to life during a pandemic and prepare for a gradual reopening of the state.

Not helping matters is the generally wet and cool weather, which has been keeping people inside when the outdoors and sunshine might be what we need most right now — other than a vaccine, obviously. More May-like temperatures appear to be a week away.

News

County to Detail How Much It Spends with Each Vendor

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 2:40PM

Arlington County is working to publicly release data on payments to vendors, according to an email exchange between county officials and a local resident.

The new initiative came to light after a local resident filed a Freedom of Information Act Request to obtain a list of county expenditures, sorted by vendor, for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Some other localities publicly list such information, in the interest of transparency and showing which companies were being paid by the local government.

Schools

APS Considering Early End to School Year

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 11:30AM

Arlington Public Schools is considering ending the school year a week early.

The proposal was announced at the School Board meeting Thursday night, in which APS also announced its new superintendent.

News

JUST IN: Zip Code Data Shows Elevated Case Level Along Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 10:30AM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:09AM

The highest relative proportion of coronavirus cases in Arlington is along the Columbia Pike corridor, new data shows.

As of Friday morning, there were 1,281 known COVID-19 cases in Arlington, with 227 hospitalizations and 57 deaths. That’s an increase of 277 cases, 58 hospitalizations and 15 deaths compared to one week prior, and continues a slowing of new cases over the past few days.

News

DEVELOPING: Chain Bridge Closes for River Search and Rescue Operation

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 8:45AM | Updated May 8, 2020 at 11:54AM

Rescue operation near Chain Bridge in March 2020

(Updated at 11:55 a.m.) Chain Bridge was temporarily closed Friday morning due to a search and rescue operation.

Firefighters from D.C. and Arlington, along with U.S. Park Police, were searching for a fisherman who reportedly fell into the Potomac River and did not resurface.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 7:30AM

Unease About Va. Reopening — “Local leaders and business owners in Northern Virginia were uncertain about Gov. Ralph Northam’s announcement that parts of the state could begin reopening as soon as May 15. ‘Our first reaction was whoa wait a minute, talk to us,’ said Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey. David Guas, the owner of Bayou Bakery in Arlington County, said the state’s guidance on reopening business is becoming unreliable.” [NBC 4]

Republican Candidate Running for County Board — “The Arlington County Republican Committee, which in recent years has found it challenging to field candidates, announced May 7 that retired attorney Bob Cambridge had won the GOP nod for the special-election ballot. ‘Bob will bring a robust discussion of important local issues to this race – focusing on fiscal accountability, government transparency and planning for the future,’ GOP chairman Andrew Loposser said.” [InsideNova]

Schools

Nationwide Search Finds New APS Superintendent in Fairfax County

By ARLnow.com

Published May 7, 2020 at 11:20PM

At its meeting Thursday night, the School Board announced that it has hired Dr. Francisco Durán for the school system’s top job, following a national search. Durán comes from Fairfax County Public Schools, where he has served as Chief Academic and Equity Officer since 2015.

The announcement of Durán’s appointment follows a letter to families from interim superintendent Cintia Johnson on Monday, in which she said she decided not to apply for the permanent position.

News

Some Arlington Inmates Freed Amid Continued Coronavirus Concerns

By ARLnow.com

Published May 7, 2020 at 3:45PM

Jail entrance at the Arlington County Detention Facility (file photo)

At least six inmates in the Arlington County jail have been released ahead of schedule, following the announcement that a sheriff’s deputy tested positive for coronavirus.

The releases came after the public defender’s office filed motions with Arlington Circuit Court to reconsider the sentences of around 20 inmates, a day after the April 23 announcement. Public Defender Brad Haywood says he also petitioned Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam for clemency for 63 local inmates, though that request is still pending.

News

Hope Calls for State to Release More Outbreak Data

By ARLnow.com

Published May 7, 2020 at 12:15PM

Del. Patrick Hope, who represents parts of Arlington in the Virginia House of Delegates, is pushing the state to be more transparent about coronavirus outbreaks.

Hope, an attorney who works in the medical field, went on a tweetstorm last night, calling out the Virginia Dept. of Health for keeping the location of individual outbreaks — particularly hard-hit long-term care facilities — confidential, while also failing to scale up testing in vulnerable communal settings.