Author: ARLnow.com

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.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: A Compromise on Changing The Name of Washington-Lee High School

By ARLnow.com

Activists called for Lee’s name to be removed from W-L at the Arlington School Board meeting on August 17, in the wake of this past weekend’s events in Charlottesville.

Board members announced they would study the names of all current and future schools in the county and decide if any should be changed.

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News

Local Candidates United With County Board in Call to Rename Jefferson Davis, Lee Highways

By ARLnow.com
Then-County Board candidate Erik Gutshall

Arlington County Board candidate Erik Gutshall and incumbent House of Delegates candidates Mark Levine, Patrick Hope, Richard “Rip” Sullivan and Alfonso Lopez praised the County Board’s stand. In a statement, an excerpt of which is below, all five applauded what they described as “a powerful statement from the Arlington County Board rejecting racism and bigotry.”

The county will need to first obtain the legal authority to rename both stretches of state highway within its borders, an uphill battle in the GOP-controlled General Assembly. But the incumbents pledged to try to do so, so the county can choose “who in our history we want to honor and celebrate.”

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Metro Delays Due to Disabled Train — A 7000-series Metro train reportedly lost power between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom, just before 9 a.m., leading to delays on the Orange, Blue and Silver lines. [Twitter, Twitter]

Confederate Monument at Arlington Nat’l — On the western edge of Arlington National Cemetery there is a monument to Confederate war dead. Writes the Post: “A soaring testament to Southern pride, placed in Arlington nearly 50 years after the Civil War ended, the monument features a frieze depicting Rebels shouldering rifles, a black slave following his master and an enslaved woman… cradling a Confederate officer’s infant.” [Washington Post]

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News

Arlington Is Seeking the Authority to Rename Lee Highway and Jefferson Davis Highway

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 5:35 p.m.) Arlington is thinking about renaming two state highways named after Confederate leaders, but needs authorization from the state legislature to do so, according to a statement released by the Arlington County Board late Thursday afternoon.

In the statement, County Board Chair Jay Fisette says the county is “united against racism and bigotry” in the wake of the events in Charlottesville this past weekend.

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Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Time to Remove the ‘Lee’ from Washington-Lee High School

By ARLnow.com

Activists are also expected to call for Lee’s name to be removed from W-L at tonight’s Arlington School Board meeting, in the wake of this past weekend’s events in Charlottesville, sources tell ARLnow.com.

When I was a student at Washington-Lee, I clearly remember being taught in history class that Robert E. Lee “did not fight for slavery; he fought for Virginia.” I didn’t make much of it until I left Virginia for college. Many of my classmates thought it was strange that I went to a school named after the leader of the Confederate Army and that there was a highway that ran through my hometown honoring Jefferson Davis. These were racist slave-owners who rebelled against the American government and Abraham Lincoln, they told me. I shrugged and didn’t make it much of it.

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News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Crows over Fairlington at sunset in 2017 (staff photo)

Commonwealth Joe Gets $2.5 Million — Local nitro cold brew coffee purveyor and Pentagon City cafe operator Commonwealth Joe has landed a $2.5 million round of funding. The Arlington-based firm says it plans to use the investment to expand its cold brew business, which includes distributing kegs of the sweet, smooth chilled coffee to offices. [Washington Business Journal]

Local Holocaust Survivor Reunited — An Arlington man was reunited with a Dutch couple that hid him and his sister, who are both Jewish, from the Nazis in 1945. The reunion took place at the U.S. Holocaust Museum and happened thanks to a high school project undertaken by the couple’s grandson. [NBC Washington]

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Traffic

TRAFFIC ALERT: Military Road Closed Due to Downed Tree

By ARLnow.com
Area of road closure on 8/17/17 (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) Military Road is closed between 30th and 31st Streets N. due to a reported downed tree and power lines.

It appears that a large tree fell on lines and and across the road. Crews from Arlington County, Dominion and a tree contractor are on the scene.

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News

UPDATED: SWAT Team Responds to 911 Call Reporting Hostage Situation, Finds Nothing

By ARLnow.com
Police incident in Fort Myer Heights (photo courtesy Arron Dawson)

(Updated at 10:45 a.m.) Numerous Arlington County Police officers, SWAT team members and the county bomb squad were on the scene of an incident in the Radnor/Fort Myer Heights neighborhood Thursday morning.

Police were spread across several blocks, in the area of several apartment buildings and the Quarterdeck restaurant. Several roads were closed in the area.

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Around Town

Podcast: Indivisible Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Founded in February of this year, Indivisible Arlington describes itself as being part of a “grassroots movement… to resist the Trump agenda by pressuring Republican members of Congress to vote against that agenda and discouraging Democrats from going along with it.”

On this week’s 26 Square Miles podcast, we talked with two of its members, Gayle Fleming and Clara Bridges. Among the topics covered: the organization and its activities, the events in Charlottesville this past weekend, the words and actions of President Trump, the need to resist violence amid growing divisions in the country, and where the movement goes from here.

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