Rosslyn’s Dark Star Park is growing and recently swallowed a nearby slip lane.

The park is notable for the somewhat strange concrete orbs and poles, designed to cast perfectly aligned shadows every August 1. The expansion of the park was planned as part of the Core of Rosslyn study, a project aimed at making Rosslyn’s street network more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly.


The Arlington County Fire Department will be kicking off a donation drive for the Animal Welfare League of Arlington this week.

Called “Operation FirePaws,” the annual event aims to gather donated pet supplies at fire stations for use by AWLA. This year, both the fire department and the shelter will be sharing safety tips with donors who drop off goodies, per a county press release.


An Arlington teenager has been selected to be featured in a video about Down syndrome, which will be shown in New York City’s Times Square.

Suzanne Garwood says her 14-year-old daughter Sloane was among the 500 chosen to be featured in the video by the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), out of 3,000 people who submitted photos nationwide.


(Updated at 5 p.m.) For some, dating across the river is apparently a bridge too far.

It’s a familiar refrain for some Arlingtonians: boy meets D.C. girl, girl learns he lives across the river, girl ghosts. In the words of one man, the river is less a body of water and more a “Great Potomac Divide.” But after I joked about the phenomenon last week, hundreds shared stories on social media of how they’ve been left adrift — or shamelessly drop dates themselves.


The former Atrium Cafe (901 N. Nelson Street), adjacent to the Virginia Square Metro station entrance, is being converted into a new Asian eatery called Pike Kitchen.

The Pike Kitchen in Rockville, Md. is a food hall-type venue with a variety of cuisine options, like bibimbap and bubble tea. From the signs outside the Virginia Square location, the new Arlington eatery seems to share a similar concept.


ARLnow.com has set a new 30-day readership record.

From June 25-July 24, more than 400,000 unique users visited the local news site, viewing 1.41 million pages, according to Google Analytics. The average unique user, as measured by Google Analytics, read 3.5 pages during the month, though those returning 15 or more times throughout the month accounted for more than half of ARLnow’s pageviews.


District Doughnut is promoting its new location in Quarter Market — the Ballston Quarter mall’s new food hall — in the most popular way possible: free donuts.

The confectionary establishment is planning the donut party for tomorrow (Thursday) around 2 p.m. on the second level of the mall, across from Scout and Molly’s. The event is scheduled to last as long as there are still donuts to give out.


Update at 12:20 p.m. — The gym is opening this Saturday, July 27, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., according to its owner.

Earlier: Potential patrons of an upcoming gym in Courthouse may have to wait a few more days before they can give the facility a test run.


Last month, when Jeannie Osborn dropped off her new dress at her usual Arlington dry cleaner, she never thought it could be the last time she would see the garment

Osborn now lives in D.C. but still drives to Arlington to do her dry cleaning at the same spot for years: Family Dry Cleaners on 5021 Columbia Pike. The business offers nearly unbeatable prices — normally charging $2.29 per piece of clothing — which Osborn said made up for inconvenience of having to pay upfront in cash.


Arlington Public Library is extending the hours for its makerspace after staff say hundreds attended its grand opening.

The makerspace, located at Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street) first opened in April, but staff celebrated the opening this past Saturday (July 20), with tours and workshops of the space, dubbeds The Shop. Over 500 people came out for the event, according to Maker Librarian Katelyn Attanasio.


A Sense of Place Cafe is considering catering to the happy hour crowd by serving wine and beer in the evenings.

Earlier this month, the independent coffee shop at 4807 1st Street N. in the Arlington Forest Shopping Center submitted an application to Virginia ABC to serve wine and beer on premises.


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