Around Town

Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church (2700 19th Street S.) runs a food pantry that, once a week, provides a full bag of groceries. With Catholic churches in the Arlington Diocese no longer meeting on Sundays, Father Timothy Hickey sent a letter on Sunday to the congregation saying the situation with the food pantry has become increasingly dire.

“The number of families we serve has increased each of the past several weeks, and we anticipate that will only continue to grow,” Hickey said. “At the same time, with in-person masses suspended, our donations (both monetarily and food items) have considerably decreased. Combine those two factors and it is not difficult to appreciate the challenge we are facing.”


Feature

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(Updated at 1:55 p.m.) For a while, things at Wireless Rxx (2340 Columbia Pike) were going okay. Owner James Sampson said there was a rush on getting smartphones and other devices fixed the first week of March, and he was able to pay his employees and get them a small bonus.


News

On Friday, Arlington Central Library was transformed into a storage space for donated goods, serving as a symbol for the county’s efforts to improvise solutions in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The idea of today’s one-day donation drive was to “to collect unused, unopened containers of essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, and certain food to assist essential employees, nonprofits and community organizations with coronavirus (COVID-19) response operations.”


Around Town

With running retailer Pacers shutting down its brick-and-mortar stores due to the coronavirus pandemic, the regional chain has shifted its focus to newly-launched virtual fittings.

Like many other video conferences being scheduled for those working from home, virtual fittings are being conducted via Zoom. The customer books an appointment online then joins a one-on-one call with someone from Pacers, who walks them through the sizing and gives the customer some shoe recommendations based on their needs.


Traffic

(Updated at 12:25 p.m.) Five arterial streets in Arlington are being considered as candidates for a Complete Streets overhaul.

The county’s Complete Streets program adds safety features to roadways that improve the experience of road users other than drivers, including pedestrians and cyclists. The changes are usually made in conjunction with repaving projects.


News

The Arlington Community Foundation has provided more than $300,000 in emergency support this week, as the coronavirus crisis deepens.

The distribution of funds comes after the nonprofit refocused its Prompt Response Fund to support other local nonprofit organizations that can provide emergency food supplies to those in need, healthcare for the uninsured or underinsured, and support for hourly workers who have been laid off or furloughed.


Feature

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The international coronavirus pandemic has put a brick on the gas pedal for one Ballston startup called GoTab, which was facilitating social distancing before it went mainstream.


News

The upshot of most Arlingtonians being confined to their homes is that Arlington is seeing fairly high rates of responses to the 2020 census.

County Manager Mark Schwartz said at Tuesday’s County Board meeting that the Arlington is already seeing higher rates of people turning in census forms than at this time in the 2010 census. The rate currently sits at 27.4%.


Around Town

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Farmers markets in Arlington closed briefly by the coronavirus outbreak will be allowed to re-open this weekend, but with a catch: vendors can only offer food that’s been pre-ordered before the market.

The new rules are meant to bring local farmers markets in compliance with guidance from the state government. A similar policy was enacted for markets in Alexandria.


Events

The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO) has announced an official lineup of its summer movie series, but whether the event actually happens remains to be seen.

Every year, CPRO hosts a series of outdoor movies where attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets and camp out under the stars to watch a film. Now in its 10th year, the series is scheduled to kick off June 5 with movies shown Fridays at the Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwiddie Street) and Saturdays at Penrose Square (2503 9th Road S.).


Schools

Arlington Public Schools, now in its second week of students staying home due to the coronavirus pandemic, is working to determine what the rest of the school year will look like.

Monday’s announcement by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam means that APS will be closed for the remainder of the academic year, with educational activities continuing to be held online.


News

(Updated 1:30 p.m.) Fledgling media production company WBITN is moving into a Rosslyn condo building basement after approval at an Arlington County Board meeting on Saturday.

The approval allows WBITN — which stands for We Build It New — to move into a 4,172 square foot audio-visual studio on the lower level of the River Place South complex (1011 Arlington Blvd). The arrangement includes 15 parking spaces.


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