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

Arlington County can’t regulate local ICE operations, legal staff say

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

Arlington officials have no authority to regulate how state or federal agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, conduct local operations, legal staff say.

This includes whether or not ICE officers wear masks while detaining people.

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News

Referendum on Falls Church trash bills is unlikely but possible, officials say

By Scott McCaffrey
A recycling bin in Ballston (file photo)

Falls Church is considering changes to trash and recycling services, but city leaders say a voter referendum is unlikely.

The changes could decrease the financial burden on some property owners while increasing fees for single-family homeowners.

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News

Metro funding could emerge as divisive issue in Arlington County Board race

By Scott McCaffrey
The entrance to the Pentagon City Metro station (staff photo by Jared Serre)

The cost of funding Metro service may be one of the issues taking center stage in this year’s race for Arlington County Board.

The five candidates on the Nov. 4 ballot have a variety of competing views on how much, if any, additional local funding should be provided for regional transit service.

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Schools

Unpaid debt for school meals leaves APS $250K short at fiscal year’s end

By Scott McCaffrey
Lunch preparation (by Obi/Unsplash)

Arlington Public Schools ended the 2024-25 school year with nearly a quarter-million dollars in uncollected debt for student meals.

School Board members authorized the transfer of $248,523 in funding to cover the shortfall on Thursday. Of that total, about 80% was from students who have graduated, while the remainder was from students classified as inactive, according to a staff report.

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Schools

Freeze on federal education funds cast doubt on $1.5M at APS

By Scott McCaffrey
Superintendent Francisco Durán (screenshot via Arlington Public Schools)

A freeze on federal education dollars cast $1.5 million in Arlington Public Schools funding into doubt.

This was the amount of funding at APS that the U.S. Department of Education withheld for weeks as part of a review to ensure that spending aligned with the White House’s priorities.

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News

Arlington’s unpaid planning commissioners might someday collect a paycheck

By Scott McCaffrey
Planning Commission chair Tenley Peterson speaks with County Board members (screenshot via Arlington County)

Members of the Arlington Planning Commission, who currently work without financial compensation, could eventually start getting paid.

Although posts on the commission are unpaid by longstanding tradition, given the time and effort the job requires, that might change someday.

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News

Falls Church leaders consider merging or eliminating some advisory panels

By Scott McCaffrey
Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi and Vice Mayor Debora Schantz-Hiscott (screenshot via City of Falls Church)

The next Falls Church City Council will be the one to decide whether some City advisory panels need to be merged or disbanded.

“This would be a big effort. Even getting rid of one is going to have all kinds of psychological weight associated with it,” City Manager Wyatt Shields acknowledged when the proposal to consider changes to advisory boards and commissions came up at meeting last week.

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News

County Board approves lower speed limits and names interim county attorney

By Scott McCaffrey
25 mph speed limit (via Joshua Hoehne/Unsplash)

The Arlington County Board approved five lower speed limits and delivered salutes to an outgoing county attorney and organizations promoting disability awareness this week.

This is in addition to actions related to new development and office-building conversions. Barring something unexpected, the July 22 meeting represents the last public gathering for the Board until mid-September.

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News

Karantonis: Critics of county’s public-comment rules should offer alternatives

By Scott McCaffrey
Sam Laveson speaks during the July 19, 2025, County Board public comment (screenshot via Arlington County)

If you don’t like the way the County Board conducts public-comment sessions, come up with an alternative proposal.

That was the message from Board Chair Takis Karantonis on July 19, as the governing body again received criticism for limiting speakers at public-comment sessions to one per topic.

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News

Auditor plans to dive into Arlington flood mitigation efforts

By Scott McCaffrey
Flooding along 14th Street N. near Westover in July 2019 (courtesy of Nicole Bender)

Arlington County’s auditor will spend part of the coming year evaluating whether local flood resilience plans and expenditures are achieving the desired effect.

A look at the Department of Environmental Services’ efforts to safeguard against flooding has been included in auditor Wayne Scott’s fiscal year 2026 work plan. County Board members adopted the plan at their Tuesday meeting.

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News

County Board approves 1,246 units of new housing in Rosslyn, Ballston and Shirlington

By Scott McCaffrey
Renderings of the proposed One Rosslyn project at 1901 and 1911 Fort Myer Drive (via Arlington County)

The Arlington County Board has approved three major development projects in Rosslyn, Ballston and Shirlington with nearly 1,250 units of housing.

Before heading into summer break on Tuesday, Board members unanimously approved zoning changes to permit the Penzance’s One Rosslyn and Ballston One redevelopment projects along with new apartments and townhouse units on the Shirlington House site.

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