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

ART recorded improved ridership, on-time performance during FY25

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington Transit bus (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Arlington Transit (ART) in fiscal 2025 returned to service levels last seen immediately preceding the pandemic, according to county officials.

About 2.62 million passengers rode the local service between July 2024 and June 2025, on par with the period between July 2019 and June 2020.

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News

Arlington apartment rents dip slightly, but remain among the nation’s highest

By Scott McCaffrey
Valen apartment building at 2050 S. Bell Street (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

The median rental cost for an Arlington apartment is down 0.9% year-over-year, according to new data, paralleling a slight nationwide decrease.

The county’s apartments remain among the most expensive in major urban areas outside California.

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News

Housing panel seeks more local autonomy to tackle affordability in Arlington

By Scott McCaffrey
An affordable housing building in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington’s Housing Commission is seeking more local leeway in addressing affordable housing and new formulas for determining the number of affordable units in new projects.

Commission Chair Kellen MacBeth included these recommendations in a letter to the County Board following a review of policies by the Affordable Housing Ordinance working group established earlier this year. County leaders are currently developing legislative priorities for the 2026 General Assembly session.

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News

Falls Church officials seek to overhaul design of city website

By Scott McCaffrey
Falls Church government-operations committee meeting (screenshot via Falls Church)

Falls Church city leaders are working to update a government website that they acknowledge has fallen behind the times.

Poor functionality on mobile devices, broken links and outdated information and contacts currently plague the website, according to Joshua Surprenant, who joined the communications staff in April and has been tasked with dissecting the site’s strengths and weaknesses.

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News

In the 1920s, Organized Women Voters became a force in Arlington’s political scene

By Scott McCaffrey
Organized Women Voters of Arlington 1954 (via Charlie Clark Center for Local History)

This reporting was supported by the ARLnow Press Club. Get upgraded email newsletters while supporting in-depth local journalism.

The League of Women Voters of Arlington was established by a coalition of 17 founding members in January 1944, and for more than 80 years has been a force in the county’s civic life.

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Schools

APS probably won’t sell buildings even if enrollment drops continue, official says

By Scott McCaffrey
2025 construction work at the Grace Hopper Center, located next to the current Arlington Career Center (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Even given the possibility of declining enrollment at Arlington Public Schools over the next decade, school leaders say they’re disinclined to dispose of any facilities.

Jeffrey Chambers, the school system’s director of design and construction, said the school system learned from a decision to do that several decades ago.

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Schools

W-L celebrates its 100th birthday, bringing together alumni of all ages

By Scott McCaffrey
Alumnae and community members look over yearbooks at W-L centennial (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

A community celebration marking the centennial of Washington-Liberty High School brought students past, present and future to the school on Saturday.

In attendance were alumni who attended W-L as long ago as the early 1950s. Those who came said they retained fond memories.

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News

Pace of development dominates first Falls Church City Council candidate forum

By Scott McCaffrey
City Council candidate Arthur Agin and Council member Laura Downs at 2025 forum (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Candidates for Falls Church City Council seem to agree it’s time to pause and take stock of a recent spurt of new construction before moving forward on bigger projects.

The city’s skyline has changed dramatically over the past decade with the arrival of several new mixed-use projects. Contenders participating in a Sept. 25 forum said growth has brought both positives and negatives.

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News

‘Ambassador’ program for Arlington seniors needs more visibility, advocates say

By Scott McCaffrey
A senior couple (photo via Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash)

An effort connecting local seniors to programs and support services has enough volunteers, but needs to improve its outreach, the county’s Commission on Aging has been told.

The Community Ambassador Program represents a partnership between the county’s Area Agency on Aging, Marymount University’s Center for Optimal Aging and the nonprofit Arlington Neighborhood Village. But even for those active in advocacy for seniors, its visibility seems low.

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News

Parks commission could seek up to $1M per year to fight invasive species

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington students clear out invasive plants (via Arlington County)

An government advisory panel may ask Arlington officials to increase funding to tackle invasive plants in county parks by up to 10 times current spending levels.

“We’re in crisis. The longer we wait, the less easy it’s going to be,” Park and Recreation Commission chair Jill Barker said at the body’s Sept. 23 meeting.

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News

Precinct operations leader receives lifetime-achievement honor from Arlington Dems

By Scott McCaffrey
Carol Fontein (foreground) and community leaders react to a speaker (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

For her years-long effort leading precinct operations, Carol Fontein on has been inducted into the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s “Distinguished Democrat” ranks.

“All these lovely people are here because of you,” former party chair Kip Malinosky told Fontein during the celebration, held at the home of Treasurer Carla de la Pava.

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News

Falls Church may try again to entice e-scooter firms

By Scott McCaffrey
Lime dockless scooters on the street in Ballston (file photo)

Falls Church officials may take another shot at bringing shared-mobility devices — known to many as e-scooters — into the community next year.

The city’s Environmental Sustainability Council has been briefed on staff plans to bring the proposal to City Council members.

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