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

‘Buckingham Pollinator’ sought as name for new Ballston-area park

By Scott McCaffrey
Plans for Buckingham Pollinator Park (Arlington County)

Members of the Park and Recreation Commission on Tuedsay (Oct. 22) voted unanimously to recommend that the Arlington County Board bestow the name “Buckingham Pollinator Park” on a new park.

The park is to be constructed as part of redevelopment of the Harris Teeter site in the Ballston area.

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Schools

School Board candidates: APS leaving some groups of students behind

By Scott McCaffrey
School Board candidates and NAACP moderator (via Arlington NAACP)

Is Arlington Public Schools a two-tiered education system, with some groups receiving needed resources while others are left behind?

That was the view, to varying degrees, of the four candidates vying for two open School Board seats.

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News

County plans to deploy more weekend problem-solving staff across Clarendon

By Scott McCaffrey
A St. Patrick's Day bar crawl in Clarendon in 2014 (photo via Groupon)

More county staff will be deployed on weekends to keep the nightlife scene in Clarendon lively for patrons while more proactively addressing concerns of those who live nearby.

Upcoming efforts likely will include having code-enforcement and fire-marshal personnel on hand to immediately respond to issues that arise, officials say.

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News

County Board aspirants each want significant governance changes enacted

By Scott McCaffrey
School Board candidates and forum moderator (via Arlington NAACP)

Those hoping to be Arlington’s next County Board member each want to see the body updated to meet the needs of the 21st century.

And that could include expanding the number of Board members, carving the county into election districts or adding an elected chief executive with strong powers.

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News

New zoning rules for Arlington addiction-recovery homes win County Board approval

By Scott McCaffrey
An existing recovery residence in Arlington (via Google Maps)

Arlington County Board members on Saturday (Oct. 19) voted 4-1 to amend zoning rules allowing more people to occupy addiction-recovery residences in the community.

The new rules allow up to eight people by-right for recovery residences located in single-family neighborhoods. A local-government use permit will be required in other zoning areas or if more than eight occupants are sought.

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News

County Board members staying mum until written Missing Middle ruling arrives

By Scott McCaffrey
Scene from after the County Board's Missing Middle housing vote in 2023 (staff photo)

Arlington’s elected leadership is not saying much about the future of the county’s Missing Middle policy — at least not from the dais.

Pressed to make some comment on what will happen with the residential zoning change — known alternately as Expanded Housing Options (EHO) — County Board members on Saturday (Oct. 19) opted to stay mum.

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Schools

APS’s chronic absenteeism dips year over year, but remains well above ultimate goal

By Scott McCaffrey
An APS school bus (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

New figures show efforts to reduce absenteeism in Arlington public schools may be bearing fruit.

When Arlington School Board members approved the system’s fiscal 2025 budget in the spring, they set a goal of ultimately reducing chronic absenteeism from the then-current level of 13.5% to less than 8%. In recently updated data, there was a bit of progress on that front.

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News

County leaders say community activism helped to save native trees along GW Parkway

By Scott McCaffrey
Construction and lane closures along the GW Parkway (via National Park Service)

Arlington leaders believe people-power helped sway National Park Service officials to re-evaluate plans for clearing more trees and vegetation adjacent to the George Washington Memorial Parkway in the county.

The acting superintendent of the GW Parkway announced on Friday (Oct. 18) that a “full review” would be conducted before anything else happens in the verdant buffer area between the roadway and the Potomac River below it.

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News

County zoning tweak will help Fairlington residents with home-renovation projects

By Scott McCaffrey
Condos in the Fairlington neighborhood (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Arlington County Board has tidied up a section of the county’s zoning ordinance that caused the Fairlington neighborhood fits.

County Board members on Saturday (Oct. 19) approved zoning amendments removing bureaucratic hurdles that had been placed on interior renovations and expansions of older townhouse and condominium properties.

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News

Farmers market for Green Valley wins County Board authorization

By Scott McCaffrey
Produce at a farmers market (file photo)

Arlington County Board members today (Saturday) green-lighted the operation of a weekly farmers market in the Green Valley community that will start next year.

The action, voted on as part of the board’s consent agenda of non-controversial items, will allow a local non-profit to host up to 19 vendors Fridays from 4-7 p.m. from April to Thanksgiving each year.

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News

Requests for Halloween street closures proving a challenge for Falls Church

By Scott McCaffrey
City Council agenda-setting meeting (City of Falls Church)

Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields and his staff currently are attempting to juggle requests from various organizations to close streets for Halloween-themed events.

At least six have come in, double the typical number of street closings allowed on any given day, city officials say.

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Around Town

Arlington House salutes Marquis de Lafayette, 200 years after his triumphant visit

By Scott McCaffrey
Historian/author Elizabeth Reese discusses the Marquis de Lafayette (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Casually work the name Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier into a conversation, and you’re likely to get blank stares from all but the most intense history buffs.

But substitute his better-known aristocratic title — the Marquis de Lafayette — and many will know of whom you speak, even if they might not know the intricacies of his long, complex and decidedly eventful life.

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