Waking up one morning earlier this month, a Bluemont resident found himself down a backpack and a pair of shoes.
The items were airing out on a porch on 6th Street N., having been sprayed with bug spray, and were nowhere to be found come daybreak, the victim told ARLnow. Surveillance footage captured a suspect approaching and walking off with the items after midnight.
Seat Belt Enforcement Campaign — ” This Thanksgiving holiday, the Arlington County Police Department is teaming up with [NHTSA] on the high-visibility Click It or Ticket seat belt awareness campaign. From November 23 to December 1, the law enforcement community will be working together to reduce the number of fatalities that occur when vehicle passengers fail to buckle up.” [ACPD]
Thanksgiving Travel Tips — “Almost 80 million people nationwide are expected to travel for Thanksgiving, per a AAA forecast — a record that shatters last year’s traveler record. Plan ahead so your (turkey) feathers don’t get all ruffled while in the security line at DCA or on I-95.” [Axios]
DCA Expects 2025 Passenger Growth — Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officials are projecting 13.2 million passenger “enplanements” at Reagan National next year, a record total and nearly 11% above pre-pandemic counts. “We have very, very upbeat airline forecasts,” Jack Potter, president/CEO of the authority, said Wednesday as the authority adopted a $829 million budget to cover operations at National and Dulles in 2025. –Scott McCaffrey
Marymount Gears Up for 75th — “Marymount University is preparing to kick off its 75th anniversary celebrations that will begin in January 2025 and last throughout the year. Since it was founded as Virginia’s first Catholic college… in 1950, Marymount has transformed from a two-year college for women into a nationally ranked, comprehensive university.” [Marymount University]
Strike Averted at Local Hotels — “Hotel workers at four Northern Virginia Hilton hotels voted overwhelmingly last week to ratify a new four-year contract with historic wage gains of over 19 percent… [The agreement] became official during last week’s ratification votes at each of the four hotels: Hilton National Landing, Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, Doubletree Crystal City, and Embassy Suites Crystal City.” [Press Release]
New CEO for AWLA — “The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Lauren Lipsey as its new President & CEO. Lauren will officially begin her new role on November 22, 2024, succeeding Sam Wolbert, who will be moving from the area and stepping down on December 15, 2024.” [Press Release]
AFAC’s Meng Honored — For his service as CEO of the Arlington Food Assistance Center over the past 17 years, Charlie Meng on Wednesday was presented with the Inter-Service Club Council of Arlington’s 2024 Community Leader Award. Beyond leading the AFAC staff, “Charlie gives back so much to the community,” said Jeff Englander, who presented the award. –Scott McCaffrey
Gov. Takes on Kids & Phones — “Governor Glenn Youngkin today issued Executive Order 43, Empowering and Supporting Parents to Protect Their Children from Addictive Social Media & Establishment of the Reclaiming Childhood Task Force, to tackle a critical aspect of Virginia’s youth mental health crisis, the unrestricted use of cell phones and addictive social media platforms.” [Press Release]
It’s Friday — Scattered snow showers will transition to rain and snow showers between 11am and noon, followed by likely rain showers after noon. Expect increasing clouds, a high of 44, and a west wind at 10-15 mph with gusts up to 24 mph. Precipitation chance stands at 70% with negligible snow accumulation. For Friday night, anticipate scattered showers before 10pm, and then a gradual shift to partly cloudy skies with a low of 38. West wind will persist around 14 mph with gusts up to 24 mph, while the precipitation chance decreases to 40%. [NWS]
Employees of the Arlington County government may soon feel an additional set of eyes watching over any employment moonlighting they might be doing.
County Manager Mark Schwartz on Tuesday (Nov. 19) told County Board members he was considering beefing up oversight of rules related to outside jobs (or self-employment) among those in the county workforce.
Though proposals for gondola-style transit projects have yet to take off in Arlington, they aren’t completely dead.
No plans for “gondola or gondola-like studies” are currently in the works here, Transportation Principal Planner Dan Malouff told ARLnow.
A local man is facing various charges after a violent alleged incident in the Rosslyn area Wednesday afternoon.
It happened around 1 p.m., outside of an apartment building on the 1600 block of 18th Street N. That’s also near the Rosslyn Highlands playground.
Redevelopment projects in Falls Church continue to roll along without any major setbacks or warning signs.
“Development interest in the city remains steady,” Paul Stoddard, Falls Church’s director of planning, told ARLnow. He said city officials were dealing with “the usual volume of calls exploring ideas for possible future applications.”
An unusually determined suspect is accused of stealing about $3,000 worth of wine from a Falls Church store, after several hours of preparation.
The overnight intruder is believed to have smashed a window at Dominion Wine and Beer in Falls Church last week before cutting a hole in a wine cabinet and climbing through it to access the store, owner Arash Tafakor told ARLnow.
The increasing cost of vehicles was a key driver in Arlington’s tax-delinquency rate showing a rare year-over-year uptick in new data.
“Many people do not contemplate the annual tax consequences” of vehicle ownership, county Treasurer Carla de la Pava said in a Tuesday briefing to the Arlington County Board.
After years of working to expand access to food aid, Arlington County’s food assistance infrastructure is being stretched to its limits as rising living costs drive up demand.
Food insecurity is nothing new to Arlington, and neither are private and public initiatives to combat it. In recent years, the county has hired a food insecurity coordinator and ramped up efforts to connect residents with existing resources.
No Timeline for HQ2 Phase 2 — “Last year, Amazon.com Inc. said it would break ground on PenPlace, the Helix-anchored second phase of HQ2 in Crystal City, in 2024. That’s clearly not going to happen, and the tea leaves don’t suggest any movement on the near horizon… with the year almost out, the official word now is that the tech and e-commerce giant is in no rush.” [WBJ]
County Extends RCV Feedback — “The Arlington County Board has extended its Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) community feedback period to November 30th. ‘It has been a long and tiring election season,’ said Board Chair Libby Garvey. ‘We’d like to provide just a bit more breathing room to make sure that voters who want to weigh in, but may have been focused elsewhere, have the chance to do so.'” [Arlington County]
‘Perfect Day in Arlington, Virginia’ — “Amy Walter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, has lived in Arlington’s Clarendon neighborhood for 30 years — ‘which is kind of crazy!’ she says. Though her work often sends her to Capitol Hill, her days off are usually spent away from politics. Here’s how she likes to fill the hours.” [Southbound]
‘Must-Try’ Thanksgiving Sandwich — “Earl’s Sandwiches’ turkey cranberry sandwich arrived warm and had the thickest, chunkiest turkey. There was no stuffing, but the sliced bread had nuts in it, offering flavor and texture. This also was the only sandwich that came with lettuce.” [WTOP]
Court Overturns RGGI Withdraw — “Virginia can’t withdraw from a multistate initiative designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions unless the Legislature agrees to it, a judge has ruled, dealing a blow to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to exit the compact. The ruling, issued Monday by retired Judge C. Randall Lowe in Floyd County, said Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board exceeded its authority when it voted last year to exit the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.” [Associated Press]
It’s Thursday — Expect clouds to increase with a high temperature of around 51 degrees, accompanied by a west wind blowing at 8 to 11 mph and gusts reaching up to 23 mph. As Thursday night rolls in, the skies will be partly cloudy with a low temperature of 36 degrees, and the west wind persists around 10 mph, gusting as high as 28 mph. [NWS]
Arlington County’s firefighter union has taken a vote of no confidence against Fire Chief David Povlitz.
The vote passed by wide margins today (Wednesday), with about 81% of voting members calling for the chief to resign, IAFF Local 2800 announced. About 71% of the union participated.
A study of potential rent-stabilization efforts to address rising apartment costs could be in Arlington County’s future.
Katie Wenger, vice chair of the Arlington Housing Commission, last Saturday (Nov. 16) asked County Board members to direct staff to look at the pros and cons of such a policy — one that is related to, but distinct from, full-blown rent control.
