(Updated at 6:35 p.m.) Black and Hispanic students remain more likely to be suspended from Arlington Public Schools than their peers, according to new data.
Specifically, Black students make up 11% of students yet 30% of suspensions, while Hispanic students make up 30% of the population and 45% of suspensions, per a presentation to the Arlington School Board yesterday (Tuesday).
A Wakefield High School freshman named Jorge Chavarria Rodíguez died Thursday evening, according to several sources.
The 16-year-old attended Barcroft Elementary School and Kenmore Middle School and had just started his 9th-grade year at Wakefield, per an email from Wakefield Principal Peter Balas to the school community.
One day, a new bus rapid transit line could connect East Falls Church to Alexandria and Tysons Corner.
But the planning effort for the bus line, Envision Route 7, needs more studies and outreach, according to Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, or NVTC, which is leading the planning effort.
More Arlington properties could be impacted by 100- and 500-year floods, according to new federal flood insurance rate maps.
The county estimates some 300 buildings, up from 172, now risk a 1% annual chance of being inundated by floods expected to happen once a century. Another 1,150 parcels, up from 1,054, face a 0.2% annual chance of floods that come around every half-millennia.
Gardens with abundant native species could soon have an official definition in county code: “managed natural landscape.”
This definition would protect Arlingtonians who grow the kinds of native grasses, wildflowers and shrubs that make them prone to complaints from neighbors and visits from code enforcement.
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Three Ballston Plaza.
An Arlington-based company that builds unmanned expeditionary vehicles for war is seeking to continue its growth with the acquisition of a robotics startup from Florida.
Armed with some federal funding, Arlington County plans to stem stormwater runoff with native plantings and fix leaky sewer pipes that serve thousands of people.
On Saturday, the Arlington County Board accepted a $2.25 million federal grant to be split evenly among three planned projects. These projects, expected to cost some $6 million in total, are intended to reduce runoff into streets and streams, filter pollutants from local streams, and rehabilitate sewer pipes needing serious repairs.
High school-based behavioral health services could be in place by November or December of this year, according to the county.
In the wake of a mini-rash of student deaths earlier this year that included the fatal overdose of a 14-year-old Wakefield High School student, Arlington Public Schools and the county government began devising a joint response to the twin epidemics of substance use and mental health issues.
The Arlington County Board is set to update the rules of the road to align with a new state law aimed at improving pedestrian safety.
This weekend, the Board is set to enact changes to local ordinances requiring drivers to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. These changes were advertised this summer.
Crystal Plaza Apartments (via Google Maps)[/caption]
Sixty-eight residents of an apartment building in Crystal City were told this week that they have 14 days to leave due to damage from a fire in the boiler room last month.
One resident tells ARLnow the news leaves affected tenants scrambling for last-minute housing options. He says those told to vacate include an octogenarian who has lived in her apartment for three decades and "is unsure of where to go."
"To say that this has caused turmoil and distress would be an understatement," the resident said. "Finding alternative housing, coordinating a move, and dealing with the various challenges that come with such a sudden eviction is a monumental task in itself."
On Aug. 21, a fire broke out in the boiler room of the southern wing of the Crystal Plaza Apartments at 2111 Richmond Hwy. Industrial hygienists, air quality specialists and engineers, among other specialists, assessed the impacts to every apartment, according to a letter shared with ARLnow.
They determined some apartments need new flooring, cabinetry, walls and systems to remove all residual soot and other pollutants -- work that would require tenants to vacate, the letter said. The notice gave them 14 days, the minimum required by Virginia law, to leave.
The notices were dated Sept. 14, after owner Dweck Properties learned from an industrial hygienist that these apartments would need a more comprehensive assessment and, possibly, extensive remediation work, a Dweck spokesperson tells ARLnow.
These additional assessments are contingent on apartments being vacant, the spokesperson added. They would determine the scope and cost of work as well as how long it could take.
"This notice was needed to ensure we could access units for repair if required," the spokesperson said. "We are now working with each resident on their transition -- identifying alternative apartments, understanding each of their timing needs, and assisting them in any way we can."
Before this notice, the resident says a community-wide notice went out a few days after the inspections, describing which apartments suffered the most damage and required immediate work.
"Our apartment was not included in this list," the resident said. "It is essential to emphasize that since the fire, we had received no communication or updates regarding our situation."
The Dweck spokesperson did not say whether residents also received the community-wide notice.
[caption id="attachment_303988" align="alignnone" width="904"]
Notice to vacate from Dweck Properties (courtesy photo)[/caption]
In its letter, Dweck was apologetic and offered to cover $2,000 in moving expenses per unit.
"The fire incident has had a wide-ranging impact, and we are so very sorry for the disruption it has caused," the letter said.
Since the letters went out, Dweck tells ARLnow it has taken more steps to ease these transitions. In meetings convened Monday and Tuesday, Dweck told residents it would also cover insurance deductibles up to $500 and reimburse residents for rent paid from the time of the incident to the time they move out.
"While some of this work requires units to be vacant, our inspection team is revisiting all of these 68 apartments this week to see if there is any possibility of performing remediation while the apartments are occupied -- in apartments that potentially require less work," the company spokesperson said.
Attorneys for residents contesting the new Missing Middle zoning ordinances and Arlington County squared off today (Tuesday) in court — but a decision will not be reached until at least next month.
Residents sued the county earlier this year, shortly after the Arlington County Board adopted the Missing Middle zoning ordinance changes authorizing 2-6 unit homes in areas previously zoned for single-family homes only.
An Arlington high school student who had gone missing over the weekend was reunited with his family — after his stepmom says a tow truck driver spotted him.
Brandon, a Washington-Liberty High School student, was last seen Friday morning. His mom, who lives in Arlington, notified his dad and stepmother, Phil and Tiffany Pierce, of Stafford, the next day.
