(Updated at 3:15 p.m.) Arlington Public Library is experimenting with a new, faster check-out system for popular books in a bid to reduce wait times.

Starting this week, patrons will be able to snag some of the system’s most sought-after books from a “Grab and Go” display near their library’s main circulation desk. These displays will host extra copies of popular books at each library, which patrons can check out with no holds.


Our report of Pizza Roma’s possible demise last week was a bit exaggerated.

The pizzeria, located across the street from the Ballston Metro station at 4219 N. Fairfax Drive, was indeed closed during lunchtime hours. At the time, there was no indication at the restaurant, over the phone or online that its hours had changed.


For some diners, Ballston ends at Glebe Road, and a handful of restaurant owners at the western end of the neighborhood are feeling left out.

As numerous businesses have sprung up in the central part of Ballston, the western edge has suffered a series of high-profile closures.


Update on 8/19/19 — Multiple sources tell ARLnow that Pizza Roma is, in fact, still open, but only in the evening. It stopped serving customers at lunchtime without notice.

Earlier: Pizza Roma, an Italian food bistro across from the Ballston Metro station, appears to have closed.


Arlington Public Library could create more pop-up libraries after receiving warm reviews and lots of visits at its Ballston experiment last month.

Officials said a total of 2,700 people stopped by the space inside the Ballston Quarter mall (4238 Wilson Blvd) while the pop-up was open over the course of the month, with some visiting more than once.


(Updated 10 a.m.) The Little Beet, a veggie-focused eatery, is scheduled to open in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

Diners can find The Little Beet underneath the escalators on the food court level, next to the Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. A listing on the mall’s website said the eatery is expected to open on Sunday, Sept. 15.


Christian community based in a North Arlington neighborhood is the focus of a new Netflix docuseries called The Family, which alleges that the group is a shadowy right-wing cabal with an immense sphere of influence.

The series premiered on Netflix last Friday (Aug. 9) and has sparked discussion across the internet. The Family alleges that the group called The Fellowship, whose most public role is organizing the National Prayer Breakfast, plays a nebulous role in swaying public policy and government leadership for religious purposes.


Once upon a time, there was a community in Arlington called Marceytown. In that quiet village of Marceytown, at the outbreak of the Civil War, someone allegedly buried some treasure.

There is little in Arlington today that marks the vast swaths of land owned by the Marcey family — collectively called Marceytown — except Marcey Road and Marcey Park in North Arlington. But the Marcey family was one of the early settlers in the area, tilling the land near the Potomac River towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th.


(Updated at 8/16/19) Wine and cheese store and restaurant Cheesetique is opening a new location in the Village at Shirlington.

State and county permits show the local shop is planning to open at 4024 Campbell Avenue, in the former Luna Grill and Diner space, just down the road from its existing Shirlington location.


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