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.
Marijuana recovered by Fairfax County Police (photo via FCPD/Flickr)
Six Arlington vape stores were raided by local, state and federal law enforcement last week as part of a regional investigation.
The Arlington County Police Department, with the assistance of Virginia State Police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, executed search warrants at six tobacco shops on March 18, ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage told ARLnow.
Gravesite of U.S. Army Cpl. Ernest "Jud" Wilson in Section 43 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, March 24, 2026. A baseball player and manager in the Negro Leagues, "Jud" Wilson played for the Baltimore Black Sox, the Homestead Grays and the Philadelphia Stars between 1922 and 1945. Known for his powerful hitting style, Wilson finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .351, the fifth highest in Negro League history. Wilson was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. He served as a corporal in the U.S. Army during World War I. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery)
The Washington Nationals placed official MLB baseballs on six graves at Arlington National Cemetery this week, honoring servicemembers with ties to the game.
The tradition, now in its third year, recognizes individuals buried at the cemetery who played, led or shaped the game of baseball.
Early spring tree blossoms in a local backyard (staff photo)
Arlington’s Fudd Lights Up Tourney — Arlington native Azzi Fudd tied her career high with 34 points and hit 8 three-pointers as top-seeded UConn routed Syracuse 98-45 in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament. The undefeated Huskies (36-0) face North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Friday. [ESPN, Yahoo Sports]
Grenade Report at Eden Center — Falls Church police and bomb units from ACPD and ACFD responded to Eden Center Wednesday afternoon after a report of a grenade in the parking lot. The scene was cleared and businesses and roads reopened by 3 p.m. [Fox 5]
Bullet Found in Home — A woman in the 800 block of S. Greenbrier Street heard a loud noise Monday afternoon and found damage to her ceiling and a bullet on the floor, according to police. No injuries were reported and the investigation is ongoing. [ACPD]
DCA: Get There Early — Reagan National is urging spring break travelers to arrive early and check live TSA wait times at flyreagan.com. TSA staffing gaps from the DHS shutdown have made conditions unpredictable at area airports, with lanes suddenly closing and triggering major backups. [Reagan Airport/X, Axios]
Custis Trail Repaving Ahead — Sections of the Custis Trail will be repaved starting March 30, with work running through mid-April. The project covers the stretch from N. Oak Street to Langston Blvd, including through Hayes Park and Lyon Village. [Arlington Infrastructure/Bluesky]
N. Va. 40 Under 40 Announced — The Leadership Center of Arlington and Leadership Fairfax have named 40 honorees for 2026, including leaders from Arlington County government, ACFD, VHC Health, the Rosslyn BID and more. A virtual celebration is set for April 14 with an in-person reception at Caboose Commons in Fairfax. [Leadership Center]
Spanberger Rejoins ERIC — Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has started the process of reentering the Electronic Registration Information Center, the voter roll data-sharing program that Virginia left under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). Virginia was a founding member of ERIC under Gov. Bob McDonnell (R). [Virginia Scope]
Redistricting Reshapes Spanberger — The fight over Virginia’s congressional redistricting referendum has overshadowed Gov. Spanberger’s affordability agenda, according to the Washington Post, and recast her moderate image just two months into her term. [Washington Post]
Peak Bloom Approaches — “Despite a sunny afternoon and patches of blue sky, the cherry blossoms remain at Stage 5: Puffy White. Peak Bloom can’t be far away.” [NPS/X]
Blossoms Blooming Locally — Cherry blossoms bloom throughout Arlington, too — not just at the Tidal Basin. Here’s where to find them.
New Legal Notice — A 117.1-foot antenna collocation is proposed; comments on potential impact to historic properties are due in 30 days. [Public Notices]
It’s Thursday — Expect mostly sunny skies with a high near 75 degrees and southwest winds at 9–13 mph, gusting up to 25. Clouds increase overnight with a 50% chance of light rain and a low around 57. [NWS]
There’s more local news to explore. Check out WSHnow, with stories from around the region.
Expect mostly sunny weather with temperatures reaching a high of around 75°F. Winds will be from the southwest at 10 to 13 mph, with gusts up to 23 mph. Thursday night will bring increasing clouds and a low of about 57°F, along with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a more significant chance after 2 a.m., with a 50% chance of precipitation. Southwest winds will continue at 10 to 13 mph, with gusts reaching up to 22 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.” – Nikola Tesla
Thanks for reading! If you have something to say about an issue of local note not covered today, feel free to post it as a letter to the editor on our new forum.
Tree blossoms outside of Washington-Liberty High School (staff photo)
Juvenile Assaulted Near Rosslyn — A juvenile was assaulted Sunday afternoon near 16th Street at N. Quinn Street by another juvenile known to him, according to police. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries and declined medics at the scene. The suspect fled on foot. [ACPD]
Space Flight Boosts Edtech Firm — Aisha Bowe’s flight to space last April aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard boosted her Arlington company Lingo after federal DEI crackdowns chilled demand for its coding kits. Arlington and Fairfax county schools began purchasing the kits for extracurricular programs, and Lingo has sold more than 10,000 nationally. [WBJ]
Wakefield Grad Up for TV Award — Wakefield High School alumnus Christian Yosef’s short film “Trife,” about a father and son experiencing homelessness, has been nominated for the Television Academy’s 45th College Television Awards. Yosef wrote and directed the film while earning his MFA at USC. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in North Hollywood on Friday. [Arlington Magazine]
Washingtonian’s Arlington Guide — Washingtonian published a neighborhood guide to Arlington featuring new restaurants, shops and things to do, including Oasis the Listening Bar in Clarendon, the Pinball Basement in Rosslyn and the Wandering Shelf mobile bookshop. [Washingtonian]
New Kayak Launch on Four Mile Run — “Congrats to the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation and the City of Alexandria on the new kayak launch just across from Arlington’s Water Pollution Treatment Plant. More multi for multimodal.” [Arlington DES/X]
Housing Fair Next Month — Arlington’s annual Housing Fair is set for Saturday, April 25 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Walter Reed Community Center. The free event connects residents with mortgage lenders, real estate agents and housing resources. No RSVP required. [Arlington County]
ICE at DCA, IAD — ICE officers arrived at Reagan National Airport earlier this week, and were also at Dulles International Airport early yesterday to assist with security checkpoints, as TSA workers remain unpaid during the government shutdown. A senior ICE official said officers will check IDs and assist with crowd control but are not trained to operate X-ray screening machines. [Andrew Leyden/X, Fox 5, NBC 4]
Falls Church City Manager to Retire — Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields on Tuesday announced plans to retire. He has served in the post since 2007 and was assistant city manager before that in a local-government career spanning 23 years. Shields’s expected retirement date is Sept. 4. City Council members in coming days plan to detail plans for the search for a replacement. [Falls Church News-Press]
Vape Crackdown on Governor’s Desk — Attorney General Jay Jones (D) is backing the Vape Enforcement Act, two bills that would restrict vape shops to selling only FDA-authorized or FDA-pending products. “If they continue to break the law, they are going to lose their license,” Jones said. The bills are on the governor’s desk. [WJLA]
Offshore Wind Hits Milestone — Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is now sending power to the grid after its first commercial turbine was switched on Monday. The project, the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S., is about 70% complete and will produce 2.6 gigawatts when finished. [Virginia Mercury]
March Rainfall Below Average — D.C. has received 1.79 inches of precipitation this month, a bit below average, while Dulles is at 2.61 inches, about three-quarters of an inch above average, according to the Capital Weather Gang. Interstate 95 has been roughly the dividing line between wetter conditions to the west and drier to the east. [CWG/X]
It’s Wednesday — Expect partly sunny skies today with a high near 60 degrees and south winds at 3–9 mph. Tonight turns mostly cloudy with a low around 49 and south winds around 8 mph. [NWS]
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Expect partly sunny skies with temperatures reaching a high of about 59°F and a south wind blowing at 6 to 9 mph. Wednesday night will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 49°F and a continued south wind at 7 to 9 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Thanks for reading! If you have something to say about an issue of local note not covered today, feel free to post it as a letter to the editor on our new forum.
An early spring sunset, as seen through the trees of a large residential property in North Arlington (staff photo)
No ICE at Area Airports — No ICE officers were visible at Dulles, Reagan National or BWI on Monday as the Trump administration deployed immigration agents to 13 other U.S. airports to supplement TSA during the partial government shutdown. DHS said it would not confirm officer locations “for operational security reasons.” [WTOP, Jake Sherman/X]
New O’Connell Leader Named — Bishop Michael Burbidge has appointed Jonathan Brand as the next head of school at Bishop O’Connell High School, effective July 1. Brand, most recently head of school at Grymes Memorial School in Orange, Va., replaces Bill Crittenberger, who is retiring. [Arlington Diocese]
Reminder: Parkway Resurfacing — Resurfacing work on the GW Parkway between Spout Run and Alexandria is set to begin this week. [ARLnow]
Arlington County Survey — More than 1,200 Arlingtonians have taken the 2026 Resident Satisfaction Survey so far, and the county is encouraging more to weigh in before the March 31 deadline. [Arlington County/X]
Clarendon Author’s Debut — Clarendon resident Rebecca Morrison’s debut YA novel, “The Blue Dress,” releases today from Macmillan Publishers. The loosely autobiographical book tells the story of a 12-year-old Iranian immigrant navigating racism and disordered eating. [Arlington Magazine]
Arlington in 1930 — The “Our Man in Arlington” column looks back at the news stories Arlingtonians were reading about in March 1930, including a County Board rezoning controversy and referendums that led to the adoption of the county manager form of government. [FCNP]
Peak Bloom This Week — “This weekend’s warm weather pushed the Yoshino cherry trees to Stage Five: Puffy White. The blossoms are coming out, we’re just waiting on them to open. We expect Peak Bloom this week!” [National Mall NPS/X]
It’s Tuesday — Expect a cooler day with sunny skies and a high near 52, well below yesterday’s 65. North wind at 2–7 mph. Overnight lows drop to around 37 under partly cloudy skies. [NWS]
Want more local news from around the region? Check out our newest sister site, WSHnow.
It will be sunny with temperatures reaching a high of 51°F. Winds from the north will blow at 5 to 7 mph but will calm by the afternoon. Tuesday night will be partly cloudy, with temperatures dropping to about 38°F. Winds will be calm initially, then shift to the south at around 5 mph after midnight. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods
Thanks for reading! If you have something to say about an issue of local note not covered today, feel free to post it as a letter to the editor on our new forum.
Flags at the Arlington County Courthouse flying in the high winds (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Strong wind gusts are expected late Monday afternoon and evening in Arlington and the D.C. area.
That’s according to a Special Weather Statement just issued by the National Weather Service. The gusts come as a cold front is set to drop temperatures to near freezing overnight.
House fire in the Country Club Hills neighborhood on March 23, 2026 (via ACFD/X)
A family safely got out after the attic of their home in the Country Club Hills neighborhood caught fire this morning.
Firefighters were first dispatched to the house on the 4600 block of 35th Street N. around 9:15 a.m. to investigate a burning light fixture and a haze on the second floor, according to scanner traffic. Arriving units reported smoke coming from the roof and asked for the call to be upgraded and additional resources to be dispatched.
