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

Bring back in-school police SROs? One candidate says yes, for others it’s a no-go

By Scott McCaffrey
School Board candidate Zuraya Tapia-Hadley speaks to voters (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

Would Arlington students and staff be safer if the county school system returned to having resource officers from the county police department in its halls?

The final tally among the four contenders for two open School Board seats: One yes, three no.

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News

Local Democrats hit road, lend volunteer muscle in two key battleground states

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington Democrats prepare to canvass in Bucks County, Pa. (courtesy Arlington County Democratic Committee)

Cue Willie Nelson, as Arlington Democrats will be on the road again for the final weekends of campaign season.

The Arlington County Democratic Committee is dispatching volunteers to both North Carolina and Pennsylvania, two battleground states that remain tossups in the presidential race.

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Schools

Despite favorable odds, supporters of county school bond work to win over voters

By Scott McCaffrey
Cardinal Elementary School when it was under construction in 2021 (file photo)

Gerald Ford was in the White House the last time Arlington voters rejected a school bond in a local referendum.

But the two local residents tasked with making sure such ancient history doesn’t repeat itself are taking no chances as they make the case for passage of the 2024 school bond.

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News

Political parties reach home stretch in meet-greet-and-convince efforts

By Scott McCaffrey
Voting sign (staff photo)

Arlington’s two main political parties are putting the finishing touches on their greet-the-voters strategies.

Democrats plan to staff all 54 county precincts from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, and have had volunteers at early-voting locations since balloting began on Sept. 20.

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Schools

School Board candidate’s face on campaign signs turns heads in Arlington

By Scott McCaffrey
A 2024 Paul Weiss campaign sign in a median on S. Walter Reed Drive in Arlington (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

With campaign-signs-in-medians season in full bloom across Arlington, one 2024 candidate for local office is standing out from the crowd. And doing so face-first.

Paul Weiss, a former public-school educator who is running as an independent for School Board, is the lone candidate for local office in Arlington this year whose face graces his campaign signs.

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News

Mystery over planned memorial that never made it to JFK’s gravesite is (partially) solved

By Scott McCaffrey
Design of sculpture intended for John F. Kennedy gravesite at Arlington National Cemeter (courtesy Oak Spring Garden Foundation)

The mystery over what happened to a large memorial wreath designated for placement at President John F. Kennedy’s grave has been solved.

But why it never was put in place at Arlington National Cemetery? That question continues to bedevil researchers.

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Schools

School Board candidates mostly on board with ‘away-for-the-day’ phone-use restrictions

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington Parents for Education School Board debate

Three of four candidates for two open Arlington School Board seats have come out forcefully in favor of an “away-for-the-day” policy for student phone use, with exceptions available in narrow instances.

“School should be phone-free,” Paul Weiss, a retired county educator, said at a Thursday (Oct. 10) candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington Parents for Education (APE) advocacy organizations.

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News

Arlington offices open, Falls Church’s closed for upcoming holiday

By Scott McCaffrey
Arlington County government headquarters in Courthouse (file photo)

Arlington County government offices will be open but those in Falls Church, along with the state and federal governments, will be closed this Monday, Oct. 14.

The federal and state governments observe the day as Columbus Day. The state government also marks it as Yorktown Victory Day.

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News

Falls Church pumps brakes on changing how it funds trash, recycling collection

By Scott McCaffrey
Bagged brush and organics in the green bin, ahead of collection day (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Falls Church City Council members and staff on Oct. 7 mulled a number of possibilities that could change the way city residents pay for trash collection and recycling.

But with the exception of solid support for expanding the composting part of the program, there seemed enough disagreement on bigger issues for City Council members to push consideration to a later date.

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News

New county auditor off at a sprint to tackle backlog of issues

By Scott McCaffrey
County Auditor Wayne Scott (via Arlington County)

The Arlington County government’s new auditor already has something of a full plate.

Wayne Scott was appointed to the post just over two months ago, spending his first month gathering information, meeting with top county staff and coordinating a nine-month work schedule (Oct. 1 to June 30).

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