Author: Vernon Miles

Vernon Miles is the ALXnow cofounder and editor. He's covered Alexandria since 2014 and has been with Local News Now since 2018. When he's not reporting, he can usually be found playing video games or Dungeons and Dragons with friends.

Events

Columbia Pike Summer Movie Festival Converts to Drive-In Experience

By Vernon Miles
Columbia Pike summer movie series (via Columbia Pike Partnership)

After months of uncertainty, the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization announced that the group’s annual summer movie series would be converted into a new drive-in theater format.

“On Saturday nights throughout July and August, CPRO will be showing blockbuster hits on the big screen at the Arlington Career Center parking lot (816 S. Walter Reed Drive),” the organization said in a press release.

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News

Darna Lounge Owner Pushes Through Slow Recovery from COVID-19

By Vernon Miles
Ahmad Ayyad post-COVID 19 (photo courtesy Ahmad Ayyad)

There was a moment when Ahmad Ayyad, owner of Darna Lounge at Virginia Square, was sure COVID-19 was going to kill him.

“When I went to [Sibley Memorial Hospital in D.C.] and they intubated me and I woke up in Baltimore at [Johns Hopkins Hospital],” Ayyad said. “I had this tube and all these things connected to me. I texted my best friend ‘I think I’m going to die.'”

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News

Body Worn Camera Program To Be Implemented in January

By Vernon Miles

After public outcry and demands from activists, Arlington County is moving forward with long-delayed plans to equip the Arlington County Police Department and other county law enforcement with body-worn cameras.

County Manager Mark Schwartz is scheduled to present the plans to implement the program at a meeting on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) tonight (Tuesday).

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News

County Board Candidates Discuss Equity, Budget Priorities and COVID-19 Recovery

By Vernon Miles

Three candidates running to replace the late Erik Gutshall on the County Board met over Zoom for a debate hosted by the Arlington Committee of 100.

The special election candidates — Takis Karantonis (D), Bob Cambridge (R) and Susan Cunningham (I) — all called for a focus on equity and discussed ways to navigate a tighter county budget.

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News

Activists Take Demands for Police Reform to the County Board

By Vernon Miles

Arlington citizens and community activists flooded Saturday’s online County Board meeting with calls to reform the Arlington County Police Department.

At the start of the public hearing on June 13, County Board Chair Libby Garvey emphasized that the Board’s rules state there could only be one speaker on any given topic or stance, but that’s not now the public comment portion panned out as dozens of speakers rallied to argue against policies activists said were still deeply rooted in the County’s history of segregation.

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Feature

Digital Footage Service Video Jaguar Thrives During Pandemic

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. Monday Properties remains firmly committed to the health, safety and well-being of its employees, tenants and community. This week, Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1000 and 1100 Wilson (The Rosslyn Towers).

Video Jaguar may be based out of Arlington, but CEO Tim Sumer said having an almost entirely digital service has helped it thrive while many other businesses struggle during the pandemic.

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Around Town

‘The Renegade’ Hopes to Kickstart Live Music Comeback in Clarendon

By Vernon Miles

Mister Days replacement The Renegade (3100 Clarendon Blvd) didn’t have a lot of time to establish itself in the Clarendon nightlife scene before it was shut down by the pandemic, but the restaurant is making a comeback tour with live music.

With Phase 2 of Northern Virginia’s reopening starting today, The Renegade is opening to in-person audiences.

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Around Town

New Poll Finds Widespread Support for To-Go Drinks Post-Pandemic

By Vernon Miles

The cat’s out of the bag for to-go drinks with Virginians — and Arlingtonians in particular — expressing widespread support for keeping the practice around after the pandemic is over.

In a joint poll with the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association and the National Restaurant Association found that 78 percent of Virginians support making permanent current, temporary practices that allow restaurant customers to purchase alcoholic beverages with their takeout and delivery food orders.

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Around Town

Hair Cuttery Courthouse Snipped From Official Listings

By Vernon Miles
Hair Cuttery in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 3:30 p.m.) It seems Hair Cuttery has trimmed Courthouse from its list of locations and barbershop/salon is now closed.

The location at 2020 Wilson Blvd is now empty, with a sign in the windows saying the space is available to lease. The site is also no longer listed on the company’s index of locations.

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News

Arlington Pre-K Educators Talk Struggles in Diversity and Coronavirus Recovery

By Vernon Miles
Portia Moore and Lauren Harris, lifelong friends and owners of pre-schools in Arlington (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Lauren Harris and Portia Moore were best friends growing up and both ended up launching preschool programs in Arlington. Their experiences highlight some of the differences between North and South Arlington and the county’s deep economic divisions.

Harris is the CEO and Executive Director of Little Ambassadors’ Academy, which has three locations in Arlington along Lee Highway. Moore owns STEM Preschool, which has locations in Fairlington and Capitol Hill in D.C.

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Around Town

ARLnow Wins Journalism Award for Amazon HQ2 Coverage

By Vernon Miles

Months of wall-to-wall coverage of Amazon’s plans to come to Crystal City and Pentagon City were recognized last night by the D.C. Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Airey, Vernon Miles, Kalina Newman, Alex Koma were all named winners of the 2019 Dateline Award for online business reporting, citing ARLnow’s “hyperlocal coverage of Amazon.”

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News

Arlington NAACP Joins Calls to Equip Police With Body-Worn Cameras

By Vernon Miles

The Arlington branch of the NAACP has thrown its voice into the push for body-worn cameras to be implemented in the Arlington County Police Department.

A Change.org petition calling for Arlington County leadership to prioritize body-worn cameras sits at 2,409 of its 2,500 goal at the time of writing.

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