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.

Around Town

New summer camp database by Arlington parent helps navigate options in D.C. area

By Scott McCaffrey
Toasting marshmallows (via Josh Campbell/Unsplash)

Mid-winter is a good time for Arlington families to start thinking about summer camps, and a new guide aims to ease the decision-making process this year.

CampARL.com launched last fall, and founder Anne Lyons Knapp has been tweaking it as parents begin thinking about camp opportunities during spring break, teacher workdays and the summer season.

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Plans for 296-unit residential building on Langston Blvd advance toward Planning Commission

By Scott McCaffrey
Development proposal for 3130 Langston Blvd (via Arlington County)

A proposal to redevelop a Walgreens on Langston Blvd as a 12-story residential building is moving toward consideration by the Planning Commission and County Board.

County Board members authorized the advertisement of future public hearings on plans for 3130 Langston Blvd at a meeting last night (Tuesday).

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Photographer uses 19th-century techniques to chronicle county’s 21st-century essential workers

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington Fire Co. 106 in tintype by Mac Cosgrove-Davies (courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington)

A photography style associated primarily with the Civil War is receiving a contemporary update from Arlington’s Mac Cosgrove-Davies.

For “Essential Arlington” — now on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington — Cosgrove-Davies uses the wet-plate collodion technique to create tintype images of those workers whose efforts keep the community running smoothly.

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How changing priorities scuttled Arlington’s ambitious 1961 bridge and highway plan

By Scott McCaffrey
David Pearson discusses Arlington’s 1961 General Land Use Plan and proposed roadways (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Arlington would be a very different place today if all the road plans of the county’s first General Land Use Plan (GLUP) — enacted in 1961 — had been constructed.

A massive arterial named Bluemont Drive would have cut east to southwest across the county. S. Four Mile Run Drive would have been much larger than its current configuration. A freeway in the Donaldson Run area would have connected to the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

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Arlington officials say dialogue with Palestine activists is improving

By Scott McCaffrey
A pro-Palestinian protest targeted a North Arlington home in August 2025 (courtesy of Palestine Youth Movement DMV)

Arlington leaders say they are trying to lower the temperature in their sometimes-heated relationship with pro-Palestinian activists who appear at monthly County Board meetings.

In recent months, activists have held private meetings with individual Board members, which Board Chair Matt de Ferranti and County Board member Julius “J.D.” Spain, Sr. said have been constructive.

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Reagan National’s noisiest planes are far less common than a decade ago

By Scott McCaffrey
An airplane takes off from Reagan National Airport (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Reagan National Airport has seen a significant decline in the loudest aircraft types over the past decade, but some advocates say it’s not enough to mitigate the impacts of increased flight operations.

Stage 3 commercial aircraft — the noisiest in current fleets — have declined from 21% of all operations in 2015 to 2% in 2025 at Reagan National, while Stage 4 and Stage 5 aircraft have increased from 79% to 98% of the total, according to Michael Jeck, the noise office manager at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).

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County Board members advise calling 911 if residents see ICE in Arlington

By Scott McCaffrey
ICE agents on N. Piedmont Street in Ashton Heights (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

If Arlington residents see immigration enforcement operating in the county, some local elected officials are advising them to call 911.

County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti and Board member Takis Karantonis encouraged calling the emergency number. De Ferranti noted at a meeting on Saturday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “have no legal requirement to tell us when they come into our community.”

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County Board unanimously backs Inn of Rosslyn apartment conversion despite staff concerns

By Scott McCaffrey
Renderings of the apartment building proposed for the Inn of Rosslyn

County Board members voted unanimously on Saturday (Jan. 24) to approve redevelopment of the vacant Inn of Rosslyn motel site for new apartments.

“We are facing a housing crisis. This crisis is today,” Board member Takis Karantonis said in support of the proposal by Monument Realty to construct an eight-story building totaling 141 units, including 13 committed-affordable units.

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Reagan National saw 5% fewer passengers after federal layoffs, midair crash in 2025

By Scott McCaffrey
Reagan National Airport (staff photo by James Jarvis)

A year with multiple challenges led to a 5% passenger-traffic decline at Reagan National Airport in 2025.

Federal job cuts, the seven-week government shutdown, wintry weather and the aftermath of the fatal midair crash over the Potomac River all affected total passenger levels for the year, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) President Jack Potter said.

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Death of unhoused woman in Arlington sparks conversation on intervention options

By Scott McCaffrey
Carol Sauer at a bus shelter she frequently called home (courtesy Sauer family)

The recent death of a woman who spent much of the last two decades on Arlington’s streets is driving conversation on intervention options in Virginia.

Carol Ann Sauer — remembered as a friend and a “fixture to locals” who helped her at times, especially during bad weather — died from complications related to pneumonia and sepsis at VHC Health shortly before midnight on Dec. 31. She was 66.

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Number of people unemployed in Arlington surges 51% year-over-year

By Scott McCaffrey
A town hall for federal workers and contractors at Central Library in February (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

The number of Arlington residents counted as unemployed spiked 51% year-over-year in newly released state jobs data.

A total of 5,370 Arlingtonians were recorded as seeking jobs in November, according to figures reported Wednesday (Jan. 21) by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement. That’s up from 3,561 in November 2024.

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Government-change proponents face uphill battle educating residents about the issue

By Scott McCaffrey
County Board members JD Spain, Sr., and Susan Cunningham (screenshot via Arlington County)

Before Arlington moves to change its form of government, it needs to educate more residents on what the current structure is and why reforms might be needed, one County Board member believes.

“Walk down a street in Ballston, Columbia Pike, anywhere — most folks will look at you like a deer in the headlights” when governance is brought up, Julius “J.D.” Spain, Sr., said at the Jan. 13 Arlington County Civic Federation meeting.

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