Author: Scott McCaffrey

A Northern Virginia native, Scott McCaffrey has four decades of reporting, editing and newsroom experience in the local area plus Florida, South Carolina and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He spent 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. For Local News Now, he covers government and civic issues in Arlington, Fairfax County and Falls Church.

News

Ranked-choice advocates see opportunity in potential elections scrambles after redistricting

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington voter casts a ballot in the 2024 general election (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Backers of ranked-choice voting (RCV) believe this fall’s congressional races may bolster their case for changing the format of statewide elections.

If Virginia voters approve the congressional redistricting constitutional amendment on April 21, crowded ballots in many parts of the state could lead to future representatives being selected by an unusually small sliver of the overall electorate.

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News

Day trips for Arlington seniors could more than double in price

By Scott McCaffrey
Seniors traveling (via Centre for Ageing Better/Unsplash)

Those taking day trips through Arlington’s 55+ travel program could see significantly higher costs kick in later this year.

The Department of Parks and Recreation has proposed increasing fees for the excursions to pay for higher transportation costs.

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News

VHC Health development plan faces pushback at environmental meeting

By Scott McCaffrey
Bird's-eye view of VHC behavioral-health facility as submitted to county officials (via Earl Swensson Associates and Arlington County)

A proposal for a new behavioral health center on S. Carlin Springs Road is facing pushback on environmental impacts and effects on the surrounding neighborhood.

Misgivings about the 146-bed, 131,000-square-foot development proposal from VHC Health and Lifepoint Health made their way into discussions at the March 26 meeting of the county’s Forestry & Natural Resources Commission.

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News

Arlington leader took on Virginia’s mid-century political machine and paid the price

By Scott McCaffrey
News coverage day after 1946 election, with County Board results in center column (Arlington Daily via Virginia Chronicle)

This reporting was supported by the ARLnow Press Club. Join to support in-depth local journalism — and get an exclusive early morning email with a preview of that day’s planned news coverage.

By the time of his death in late 1995 at age 96, Edmund Campbell had been lionized as a civic leader and statesman whose legacy extended well beyond Arlington into state and national affairs.

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Schools

APS leaders defend highest per-student spending in N. Va. as budget talks heat up

By Scott McCaffrey
Superintendent Francisco Durán at budget work session (screenshot via Arlington County)

Arlington Public Schools’ region high per-student spending came under scrutiny as County Board and School Board members last month sat down for budget discussions.

“We’re spending significant money,” County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the March 12 discussion between the two elected bodies.

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News

Newly incorporated Potomac Yard civic association seeks full representation

By Scott McCaffrey
The Eclipse condo building at 3600 S. Glebe Road in the Potomac Yard area (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The president of the newly formed Potomac Yard Arlington Civic Association says the organization is ready to make its mark in one of the county’s fastest-growing corridors.

The association was incorporated last fall and has applied for membership in the Arlington County Civic Federation, President Dorian Adeyemi told ARLnow.

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News

Facing declining revenues, Arlington’s BIDs could seek boundary changes

By Scott McCaffrey
County BID leaders Mary-Claire Burick, Danette Nguyen and Tracy Sayegh Gabriel at October 2025 forum (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

With property assessments and resulting tax revenue stagnant, changes could be coming to Arlington’s trio of business improvement districts, better known as BIDs.

It remains to be seen what, if anything, might shift. Danette Nguyen, CEO of the Ballston BID, told County Board members that her organization is not currently interested in any changes to the tax-revenue status quo.

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News

Arlington flea market launches 40-year anniversary season this weekend

By Scott McCaffrey
Vendors at the Arlington Civitan Open Air Flea Market (courtesy Arlington Civitans)

The Arlington Civitan Open Air Flea Market is launching its 40th anniversary season on Saturday, with high hopes of drawing more than 10,000 shoppers during 2026.

“The opening event is consistently the busiest of the year, with early-bird shoppers lining up in the dark and many high-demand items selling within the first hour,” said officials with the Arlington Civitan Club.

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News

Arlington apartment rents tick upward, but remain down year over year

By Scott McCaffrey
The Grace and Reva apartment buildings in Crystal City (courtesy Jason Gooljar)

The median rent remains down year over year in Arlington, though the local market is showing price upticks as winter transitions to spring.

The county’s median apartment rent of $2,585 in March was up 1.4% month over month, contributing to a cumulative 2.4% from the start of the year, Apartment List said in its monthly report, released earlier this week. Nevertheless, the median rental rate remains down 1.7% from a year before.

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News

Falls Church leaders seek smooth transition to next city manager

By Scott McCaffrey
Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields (screenshot via City of Falls Church)

Falls Church City Council members are hoping to have a new city manager ready to go just when their current one retires in just over five months.

Council members at a March 25 government-operations committee meeting outlined general plans and a hoped-for timetable in finding a successor to Wyatt Shields.

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News

County audit seeks better oversight of developers’ community benefits promises

By Scott McCaffrey
County Auditor Wayne Scott (via Arlington County)

A newly released audit calls for stricter controls to ensure that developers provide the community benefits that they promise county leaders.

The report, detailed at a March 23 meeting of the county’s Audit Committee, found a lack of “formal policies and procedures” within the county government to track benefits proposed by developers in exchange for zoning changes.

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News

For the average price of a U.S. home, Arlington buyers get just 755 square feet

By Scott McCaffrey
Real estate for sale sign (photo illustration by ARLnow)

For the average price of a home in the United States — $400,000 — the typical homebuyer in Arlington is only able to get a 755-square-foot property, a new analysis found.

The county ranks 16th from the bottom in a new PropertyShark survey of 100 large urban areas, which examines how many square feet homeowners can purchase for the sales price of the average U.S. home.

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