The Arlington County Fire Department’s water rescue team did not respond to last week’s fatal midair collision, against the wishes of local firefighters, ARLnow has learned.
While first responders from throughout the D.C. area descended on the site of the devastating collision that killed 67 people on Jan. 29, ACFD personnel trained to respond to water emergencies did not receive permission to act. That is according to internal materials that this news site obtained through an anonymous source.
A state bill that would loosen restrictions on liquor sales is picking up support from members of Arlington’s restaurant scene.
Restaurants with mixed beverage licenses in Virginia are mandated to make at least 45% of sales from food and no more than 55% of sales from liquor-based mixed beverages. Senate Bill 1163 would lower the food sale requirement to 30%, allowing higher revenue percentages from liquor — something multiple restaurant owners told ARLnow they would welcome.
The results of an audit on Arlington Independent Media are out, revealing substantial gaps and errors in how the nonprofit handled some $2 million in county-provided funds.
The audit report appears to have been uploaded by Arlington County yesterday, the day after ARLnow reported on delays in its release. It suggests that AIM failed to provide adequate documentation for over $1 million in expenditures, including payments to dozens of third-party contractors.
The former Marriott Crystal City at Reagan National Airport is emerging from renovations as the National Landing Hotel Crystal City.
The hotel, part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio, “is slated to complete its transformative renovation and rebranding in May 2025.”
Here’s a little secret: dollar for dollar, promoted events on ARLnow are probably the best advertising value we offer.
Promoted events are highlighted in our event calendar, promoted on our homepage and also appear in our email newsletter starting about two weeks prior to the event.
Arlington Democrats now have two candidates vying for an open School Board seat.
Monique “Moe” Bryant and June Prakash formally kicked off campaigns Wednesday night (Feb. 5) at the monthly Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.
Tribute Event for Crash Victims — “Figure skating champions and legends will glide across Capital One Arena ice next month as headliners of an exhibition to raise funds to support families of the victims of a midair collision near Reagan National Airport that killed 67, officials announced Wednesday. The March 2 tribute, titled “Legacy on Ice,” will be co-hosted by 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano.” [Washington Post]
Group Wants Trump to Investigate APS — “America First Legal (AFL) sent a formal complaint to the U.S. Department of Education to investigate five Northern Virginia school districts for Title IX violations against female students. AFL argues that Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools have bathroom and locker room policies that violate Title IX and President Donald Trump’s Executive Order.” [WJLA]
Armed Standoff in Arna Valley — “ACPD has taken a suspect into custody in the 2600 block of 27th Road S. following an earlier report of a person with a firearm. No injuries were reported. Police remain in the area investigating the incident.” [ACPD/X]
Sen. Warner Sounds Alarm — “Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence… wrote to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about the risks to our national security of allowing unvetted DOGE staff and representatives to access classified and sensitive government materials.” [Press Release]
Gov’t Leases in Question — “The General Services Administration and Department of Government Efficiency are reaching out to all agencies with ‘non-firm term leases’ in an initial step toward chopping the feds’ massive leased portfolio, a major D.C. law firm told its clients Tuesday.” [WBJ]
Federal Layoffs Likely — “The Trump administration is planning widespread layoffs among the federal workforce soon, leaving employees who don’t accept its deferred resignation offer at risk of losing their jobs.” [CNN]
Va. Bracing for Gov’t Downsizing — “House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) on Tuesday evening announced the formation of an Emergency Committee on the Impacts of Federal Workforce and Funding Reductions, a bipartisan panel tasked with assessing the economic fallout and crafting solutions to protect the commonwealth.” [Virginia Mercury/FFXnow]
Rosslyn-Based Politico Targeted — “The executive branch will stop spending money on Politico subscriptions after paying millions of dollars to the news outlet last year, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing Wednesday.” [Axios]
It’s Thursday — Expect rain mainly before 1pm, with a high temperature near 49°F. Light southeast winds will shift to southwest at 5-10 mph in the morning, and may gust up to 20 mph. There’s a 90% chance of precipitation, with new amounts between a tenth to a quarter of an inch possible. For Thursday night, it’ll be mostly cloudy with a low around 40°F. Southwest winds at 6-8 mph will become northwest after midnight. [NWS]
The Arlington Electoral Board believes three, rather than four, early-voting locations should be fine for June’s primary election.
Board members voted 3-0 Tuesday (Feb. 4) to ask County Board members to consider removing Long Bridge Aquatics & Fitness Center from the list of early-voting sites for the primary.
Local residents are being asked to join millions around the globe taking part in the 2025 Great Backyard Bird Count.
Held from Friday, Feb. 14 through Monday, Feb. 17, the observations that result will help scientists better understand global bird migrations, noted the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, which is working to coordinate state events.
Deer culling efforts are unlikely to get off the ground in Falls Church any time soon, city leaders indicated this week.
“There’s no evidence that there’s an overpopulation of deer,” the city’s animal-control officer, James Overholt, told City Council members during a Monday night work session.
All Victims Found at Crash Site — “Crews are expected to remove the cockpit of the American Airlines jet from the Potomac River as they continue recovery efforts from last week’s fatal mid-air collision… Authorities recovered all 67 victims and have identified the remains of 66 of the people killed in the collision.” [NBC 4]
NTSB Provides Update — “The air traffic control tower display at DCA is fed by the Potomac TRACON. The TRACON fuses information from multiple radar sensors and ADS-B data, providing the best quality flight track data to air traffic control. This data showed the Black Hawk was at 300 feet on the air traffic control display at the time of the collision. This data is rounded to the nearest 100 feet.” [NTSB]
Police Chief Discusses Response — “Arlington County Police Chief Charles Penn spoke to 7News at noon about the department’s response to the recent midair plane crash near Reagan National Airport. He also talked about the latest crime trends and community initiatives.” [WJLA]
Black History Month Events — “This February (and all year long) there are countless ways to celebrate Black history and culture in Northern Virginia. Visit a historic site or museum, participate in a community conversation, take the kids on an educational scavenger hunt, watch a traditional ‘broom-jumping’ marriage ceremony and learn about the local Ethiopian community.” [Arlington Magazine]
Big Raise for Local Startup — “GenLogs, a rapidly growing Arlington freight logistics startup, has raised $14.6 million from investors as it looks to deploy more of its truck-tracking cameras across North America and expand into federal contracting work.” [WBJ]
Union Kitchen Settles Suit — “The owner of Union Kitchen, a chain of locally owned grocery stores in the District and Virginia, has agreed to pay its workers more than $133,000 for illegally withholding tips paid by customers, settling a lawsuit filed nearly two years ago that alleged Union Kitchen stopped accepting tips after workers pointed out the discrepancy on their paychecks.” [Washington Post]
Robbery in Rosslyn — “The male suspect entered the business, collected merchandise and bagged the items at the self-checkout before attempting to exit the store without payment. An employee confronted the suspect during which he shoved the employee and made threatening statements towards them. The suspect then exited the store and fled the scene on foot. No injuries were reported.” [ACPD]
Another Tysons Casino Milestone — “Legislation that would give Fairfax County the authority to ask voters to allow a casino is heading to the Virginia House of Delegates. After a passionate debate that split Fairfax County’s typically unified delegation, the contentious bill… passed the state Senate today (Tuesday) by a 24-16 vote.” [FFXnow]
It’s Wednesday — Brief periods of snow and sleet are possible throughout the day. The high temperature will be around 37°F, with a 30% chance of daytime precipitation. Tonight, expect sleet before 1am, transitioning to freezing rain and sleet until 4am, then either rain or freezing rain afterwards. The low will be near 32°F with a southeast wind at 6 mph. The chance of precipitation is 100%, with potential ice accumulation under 0.1 inches and sleet accumulation under 0.5 inches. [NWS]
An impending deadline for Arlington Independent Media’s broadcasting license is reinvigorating the nonprofit’s requests for county help.
AIM — which has been attempting to reboot after laying off its entire staff last March amid significant debt and a pending county audit — has until March 21 to resume broadcasting at WERA 96.7.
