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.

Feature

Ballston Company Releases Video Conference Guide for Social Distancing

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. Monday Properties is proudly featuring a rare leasing opportunity at 1101 Wilson Blvd: 5 contiguous floors with exceptional views, building signage opportunity and brand new amenities. Enjoy all the perks of easy access and ample parking; a variety of food trucks at your front door; and enviable walkable amenities. Join YEXT and other leading tech companies at this vibrant location.

Ballston-based web development startup OpenWater Software has put together a guide for other businesses to replace physical meetings and conferences with virtual ones.

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News

Arlington Grapples with Community Transmission of Coronavirus

By Vernon Miles
Arlington County Health Director Dr. Reuben Varghese in March 2020 (via Arlington County)

Like other nearby localities, Arlington has entered the community transmission phase of coronavirus outbreak.

As of noon Monday, the number of known coronavirus cases in Arlington again increased — to 34 cases from 26 cases on Sunday and 17 on Friday, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health. Some of those are suspected cases of community transmission, which cannot be traced back to travel abroad or contact with a person known to be infected.

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News

New Temporary Path Takes W&OD Trail Users Off Streets Near Lee Highway

By Vernon Miles
Progress on the W&OD Trail bridge in March 2020 (photo via VDOT)

A portion of the W&OD Trail is being put back onto a temporary pavement trail and off sidestreets as VDOT continues work on a new trail bridge.

The new detour will take trail users, who previously had to travel on nearby streets, on a 200-foot temporary pavement path adjacent to the new bridge under construction.

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Around Town

Coronavirus Permanently Closes Champps at Pentagon Row

By Vernon Miles
Champps now closed in Pentagon Row (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated on 2/23/20) The sports bar and restaurant Champps in Pentagon Row has permanently closed.

Coronavirus wasn’t the sole cause of the bar and restaurant’s demise — a staff member at the now-closed restaurant said they’d been struggling for months — but he said that it had been the final nail in the coffin.

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News

Local Catering Company Faces Possible Closure Due to Coronavirus

By Vernon Miles

Updated 3/23 — Owner Rich Vizard thanked the Arlington community for recent support, noted the sanitary precautions they are following, and thanked the County Treasurer for tax relief options passed after publication of the story.

Allspice Catering wants to thank the community for its support during these unprecedented times. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we respond to questions and orders. We want to stress that we are staying vigilant during this time and continue to follow all the ServSafe Guidelines to prevent the Coronavirus in a food establishment. We are committed to taking all precautions to protect our customers and our staff including being mindful of proper habits to follow outside of the workplace to protect ourselves and each other. I’d also like to thank Treasurer Carla de la Pava for taking quick decisive action on local tax relief options for restaurants and hotels. Be safe and take care of each other.

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News

Officials Say Testing Held Back by Limited Supply

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 10:25 p.m.) In a small press conference, local officials explained that the second day of drive-in coronavirus testing went well but efforts are hamstrung by a lack of coronavirus tests.

“We’ve been able to process 63 patients,” said Melody Dickerson, Virginia Hospital Center’s Chief Nursing Officer. “We are training more laboratory staff to help with the process. The limiting resource is the testing supplies. That is a finite resource and we continue to monitor that closely.”

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Around Town

New French Pastry Shop Coming to Rosslyn’s Colonial Village Shopping Center

By Vernon Miles
Eclarions in Rosslyn (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) A new French pastry shop is coming to Rosslyn this spring or summer, pandemic allowing.

In an era before social distancing and talk of quarantines, signs went up in the former Bean Good Coffee Pub space (1737 Wilson Blvd.) at the Colonial Village Shopping Center for Eclairons, a new cafe and bakery.

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Around Town

Arlington Restaurants Offer Free Meals to Families in Need

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 5 p.m.) While Arlington teachers put together grocery gift cards for low-income families and nonprofits band together to address the economic impacts of the coronavirus, several local restaurateurs and the nonprofit Real Food for Kids are working to provide meals to families hit by the pandemic.

Chef David Guas, the owner of Bayou Bakery (1515 N. Courthouse Road) in Courthouse, has partnered with Real Food for Kids — a nonprofit that aims to promote healthy diets for children — to provide free, plant-based meals for Arlington children and their families.

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News

Arlington Nonprofits Collaborate to Combat Coronavirus Impacts

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 4:25 p.m.) As Arlingtonians scramble to stock up on emergency supplies to weather the coronavirus pandemic, some local nonprofits that are helping those most in need are starting to see the strain on the county’s most vulnerable populations.

“We’re still trying to get used to the new reality,” said Andrew Schneider, executive director of Arlington Thrive, a nonprofit that provides emergency funding to people in crisis. “We’re trying to figure out how dire the situation is for Arlingtonians, not just [in terms of] health but also economic [situations].”

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News

Arlington Teachers Make National Headlines for Helping Low Income Students

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 4:20 p.m.) While Arlington Public Schools works to get meals to students who aren’t in school, a group of teachers have gone the extra mile and are working to get grocery gift cards to families on the free and reduced lunch list.

A GoFundMe campaign for Arlington students in need is approaching $170,000 raised, with an $830,000 goal. The hope is to provide a $100 grocery gift card into the hands of every APS student that qualifies for free or reduced lunch.

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News

AFAC Braces for Increased Need Akin to Government Shutdown

By Vernon Miles
A family at an AFAC food distribution center (via AFAC)

As the coronavirus outbreak results in closed businesses and lost jobs, the Arlington Food Assistance Center is preparing for a decrease in donations and an increase in demand.

“We’re just going to try to operate as normally,” said Jeremiah Huston, communications manager for AFAC. “We serve 2,100 or 2,200 families every week and we’re going to continue to do that as an essential need in the community.”

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Feature

Rosslyn Startup Helps Entrepreneurs Through New Business Pitfalls

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. Monday Properties is proudly featuring a rare leasing opportunity at 1101 Wilson Blvd: 5 contiguous floors with exceptional views, building signage opportunity and brand new amenities. Enjoy all the perks of easy access and ample parking; a variety of food trucks at your front door; and enviable walkable amenities. Join YEXT and other leading tech companies at this vibrant location.

There are a lot of ways not to launch a startup. Unstuck Labs, a small company in Rosslyn, aims to help entrepreneurs avoid the early pitfalls of a new company with a course aimed to walk small companies through the process.

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