County officials now have real-world data on how Arlington Transit’s electric buses operate in winter’s chill.
Frigid temperatures in late January created unique challenges for the county’s fleet, draining batteries more quickly than normal and sometimes requiring a midday recharge, said Ryan Jones, a transportation planner who briefed the county’s Transit Advisory Committee on March 10.
Big Gusts Last Night — An intense line of storms Monday evening produced a 68 mph wind gust at Reagan National Airport — the strongest recorded there since 2019, according to the Capital Weather Gang. Temperatures dropped more than 20 degrees in under 30 minutes. Several trees came down in Potomac, Md. and a power pole was reported down in Alexandria. [CWG/X, WWG/X]
Monday Trash Runs Today — Arlington suspended curbside collection Monday due to the severe weather. Uncompleted Monday routes will run with regular Tuesday routes today. [Arlington DES/X]
Attempted Purse Snatching — A woman was entering a residential building in the 1800 block of Columbia Pike around 3 a.m. Saturday when two women approached and attempted to steal her purse, according to police. The victim ran away after a brief struggle and no injuries were reported. [ACPD]
Hurtt Keeps GOP Chair — Matthew Hurtt was the only candidate to seek the Arlington County Republican Committee chair’s post before the recent filing deadline, and will continue serving in that capacity through early 2028, party officials said Monday. Committee members will gather Monday, March 23 to plan strategy for upcoming elections. — Scott McCaffrey
Tysons Casino Bill Advances — The Virginia Senate voted 22-16 Friday to accept a revised casino bill that would allow a temporary facility near a Silver Line Metro station in Tysons without a voter referendum. Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington) opposed the measure. All gaming revenue from the temporary facility would go to Fairfax County Public Schools. [FFXnow]
Kennedy Center to Close — The Kennedy Center’s board voted Monday to shut down operations for two years following this summer’s July 4 celebrations. The board also replaced Trump ally Richard Grenell with Matt Floca as CEO and executive director. [Associated Press]
Gas Prices Surging — The average price of regular gas in Virginia is $3.52 per gallon and rising amid the conflict with Iran, with the 26.9% national increase over the past month the largest since Hurricane Katrina, according to CNN. [Washingtonian]
D.C. Sheds 22K Fed Jobs — D.C. lost over 22,000 federal jobs in 2025 as a result of DOGE-driven workforce cuts, carrying $3.66 billion in annual pay, according to new OPM data. The city’s budget had anticipated the losses, projecting 40,000 fewer federal jobs by 2029. [WTOP]
It’s Tuesday — Mostly sunny skies today with increasing cloudiness, a high near 40 and west winds of 12–15 mph, gusting to 26 mph. Colder tonight with skies clearing and a low around 27. [NWS]
Want more local news from around the region? Check out our newest sister site, WSHnow.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) today introduced legislation that would create a tiered surtax on income above $1 million and use the revenue to eliminate federal income taxes for Americans earning less than the median cost of living.
The Working Americans’ Tax Cut Act, introduced with companion legislation by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), would apply an additional 5% tax on individual income above $1 million, an additional 10% tax above $2 million and an additional 12% tax above $5 million. Higher thresholds apply to married couples. The surtax would cover both wages and investment income.
Program cuts and staff furloughs could become a reality in Arlington if tax revenue continues to fall below expectations over the next two months.
County Manager Mark Schwartz said at a March 11 forum that there’s a possibility “we will have to shut down some of our services” and temporarily send staff home. Any cutbacks likely wouldn’t hit until the last two months of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Arlington County Board elections will continue to use ranked-choice voting through at least 2027.
County Board members unanimously opted for a two-year extension of the pilot program that has been in place since 2024 — coming up short of advocates’ requests to make the switch permanent for all future general elections.
Plans to cover only a portion of a quarter-mile pedestrian bridge between Crystal City and Reagan National Airport are raising concerns among some local residents.
Officials from Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services have proposed to cover the CC2DCA multimodal connection on the western portion as it passes above rail lines, then on the eastern portion as it approaches the airport. For aesthetic reasons, however, the current plan is to leave the bridge open to the sky as it passes over GW Parkway.
The storms haven’t even arrived yet but there’s already a power outage in Arlington.
About 1,000 Dominion customers are without power in the Ballston area due to an “equipment problem,” according to the power company’s website.
The Virginia General Assembly passed every bill in Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s “Affordable Virginia Agenda” before adjourning its 2026 session over the weekend — though lawmakers left Richmond without a budget deal.
The 16-bill package, which Spanberger and Democratic legislative leaders announced in December, targets the cost of housing, healthcare and energy. Arlington Dels. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D) and Patrick Hope (D) each carried legislation in the package.
The Arlington County Board has voted to restrict, but not eliminate, the placement of campaign signs and other signage on county medians.
In a 4-1 vote, a majority of Board members said the compromise is a reasonable middle ground that will reduce clutter without severely impacting candidates’ ability to get their messages out.
Arlington Transit (ART) bus service is riding a post-Covid bump up in customer satisfaction.
A survey of 2,000 riders conducted on buses late last year found a 92% overall satisfaction rate, according to data presented March 10 to the county’s Transit Advisory Committee.
Another ABC Store Theft — Police are investigating another theft from the Virginia ABC store on N. Quincy Street, with a man stealing alcohol and heading toward the Ballston Metro station, according to The DMV Live. [The DMV Live/X]
Dandelion Inks Geothermal Deal — Arlington-based Dandelion Energy has partnered with Toronto’s Diverso Energy to finance geothermal systems for homebuilders, shifting the roughly $30,000 upfront installation cost to a monthly lease of $10 to $40. “The biggest home volume is in the Southeast, Southwest and Texas,” CEO Dan Yates said. “This gives us an opening to try in those regions.” [WBJ]
Potomac Pipe Back Online — The ruptured Potomac Interceptor sewer line is back in operation after emergency repairs, DC Water said Saturday. The pipe leaked 250 million gallons of raw sewage into the river after rupturing Jan. 19, and additional remediation work could take months. [Associated Press]
Southwest Ditching Dulles — Southwest Airlines will end service at Dulles International Airport on June 4 as part of an ongoing operational overhaul. The airline currently flies from Dulles to Phoenix and Denver and says it will continue “robust” service at BWI/Marshall Airport and Reagan National. [WBJ]
New Legal Notice — Administrative plan available; public hearing May 1, 2026, 6–7:30pm. [Public Notices]
New Legal Notice — Applicant seeks wine/beer on/off-premises license; objections due in 30 days. [Public Notices]
Severe Weather Threat — “DMV gang – here’s what you need to know for MONDAY’s severe weather threat: – ROUND 1 might include a couple supercells w/tornado threat from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – ROUND 2 is a squall line with widespread straight-line winds (60-75 mph) and a maybe couple embedded spin-up tornadoes.” [Matthew Cappucci/X]
It’s Monday — Showers and strong thunderstorms are likely today, starking mid-morning, with a high near 73 and south winds of 13–18 mph gusting to 38 mph. Temperatures crash tonight, dropping to around 30 after storms end around 2 a.m. [NWS]
Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. ARLnow has been in an Industrious office for years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing your own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked. Industrious has several Metro-accessible coworking locations in Arlington.
Flickr pool photo by Alan Kotok
Four airports serving Washington, Baltimore and Richmond halted all flights tonight (Friday) for over an hour because of a strong chemical smell that was impeding air traffic controllers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The ground stop affected Reagan National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport and Richmond International Airport, FAA Secretary Sean Duffy said. The declaration caused flight delays to soar to roughly two hours across some of the busiest airports in the country.
