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.

Schools

School Board seeks permission to hold standardized tests in languages other than English

By Scott McCaffrey
School Board members Kathleen Clark, Mary Kadera, Bethany Zecher Sutton, Miranda Turner and Zuraya Tapia-Hadley (via Arlington Public Schools)

The Arlington School Board is once again seeking state authorization to administer standardized tests in languages other than English.

The School Board’s 2026 General Assembly legislative package, which went to a vote yesterday (Thursday), carries over the Board’s request from the 2025 legislative session.

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News

Options for vacant Lee Community Center include demolishing, expanding or renovating

By Scott McCaffrey
Civic association president Jean Henceroth (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Three options have emerged as county leaders attempt to determine the future of the newly unoccupied Lee Community Center.

The county could upgrade the building, expand the facility or demolish it and construct something entirely new.

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News

Bluemont tennis courts to receive $6.5M upgrade, despite pickleball enthusiast’s critiques

By Scott McCaffrey
Tennis in Bluemont Park under cloudy summer skies (Flickr pool photo by Dennis Dimick)

The tennis courts at Bluemont Park are getting a multimillion-dollar overhaul aimed at creating a regional showplace for the sport.

County Board members unanimously approved a $6.5 million construction contract on Tuesday for a project that began the planning phase in 2018 but was halted during the pandemic era before being restarted. While advocates spoke to the need for improvements to the crumbling facilities, the vote also earned flak from a local pickleball enthusiast.

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Schools

APS apologizes after staff error puts employee information at risk

By Scott McCaffrey
The Arlington Public Schools Syphax Education Center (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington school leaders say an internal error led to “sensitive employee information” being posted on the school system’s procurement network.

“The files included the names, addresses, Social Security numbers and birthdays of employees and retirees under 65 years old who are currently enrolled in the APS medical healthcare plan,” Brian Stockton, the school system’s chief of staff, wrote in an email to personnel.

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News

Candidates discuss high costs of child care and preschool in Falls Church

By Scott McCaffrey
Marybeth Connelly speaks as other candidates look on at the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce candidate forum (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

A recent forum quizzed Falls Church City Council candidates on what local governments can do to blunt ever-increasing costs of child care and preschool services in Northern Virginia.

It was, one incumbent noted, the first time the issue had been raised during a candidate forum in her memory.

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News

Study of possible governance changes in Arlington will get underway soon

By Scott McCaffrey
County Board Chair Takis Karantonis at a meeting earlier this year (screenshot via Arlington County)

County Board members have taken the first steps in considering changes to the community’s 93-year-old governance structure.

The action marks “the beginning of a long discussion, a very long path,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday).

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News

Six new sets of ‘stumbling stones’ memorializing the enslaved coming to Arlington

By Scott McCaffrey
Unveiling of stumbling stones in Arlington View neighborhood on Oct. 18, 2025 (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

The effort to memorialize people enslaved in Arlington is receiving an additional push over the coming month before it takes a winter break.

Six “stumbling stone” ceremonies have been planned through mid-November at locations across the county. They began Saturday in the Arlington View neighborhood with the unveiling of three new bronze markers embedded into the sidewalk.

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News

Historic status for Arlington Mill apartments rejected after neighbors, owner voice opposition

By Scott McCaffrey
Haven Columbia Pike apartments (via Arlington County)

A proposal to designate an Arlington Mill garden-apartment complex as a local historic district will not move forward following opposition from the property owner and neighborhood civic association.

Members of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB) voted Oct. 15 not to embark on a staff study of the historical significance of the 1940s-era Haven Columbia Pike apartments. The vote concluded a three-year gestation period after the proposal was submitted by local activist Bernie Berne.

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News

Arlington is back to square one in creating taxpayer-funded tourism district

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington Economic Development director Ryan Touhill (screenshot via Arlington County)

Arlington Economic Development is pursuing new options to market the county as a travel destination after the county attorney’s office halted its original plans.

At issue is whether Arlington County could use a 2021 state law to set up a tourism improvement district, or TID, to fund promotional efforts on behalf of the county’s hospitality industry. The county currently pursues such efforts in-house through the Arlington Convention and Visitors Service.

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News

North Arlington home with paranormal reputation could become historic district

By Scott McCaffrey
Happinest at 4120 41st Street N. (staff photo)

A home that could be Arlington’s next local historic district comes with ghost stories attached.

“It has had, over the years, a reputation of having paranormal activity,” said Pierre Yves Cossard, who has owned “Happinest” since 1980.

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Schools

Falls Church School Board incumbent challenges ‘pledge’ to keep fundraising local

By Scott McCaffrey
Falls Church School Board candidates (courtesy Citizens for a Better City)

A Falls Church civic group’s effort to ensure that local elections maintain a local focus was subject to some debate at a recent candidate forum.

All but one candidate for both City Council and School Board have signed onto a commitment to campaign in a positive manner and refrain from taking large donations from people and groups outside the community. Incumbent School Board member Lori Silverman, however, pushed back on some aspects of the “pledge” at a recent candidate forum.

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News

County Board orders more study of towing fees before considering changes

By Scott McCaffrey
A-1 Towing is among firms authorized to conduct trespass tows in Arlington (file staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Arlington County Board has requested more study on possible increases to towing rates before making a decision.

Board members unanimously rejected a staff and advisory-panel recommendation to hold a November public hearing and potentially increase maximum towing rates from the current $155 ($135 plus $20 surcharge) to as much as $210.

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