News

Man Breaks Into Clarendon Business — “At approximately 2:30 a.m. on November 24, police were dispatched to the report of a burglary in progress. Upon arrival, it was determined the male suspect allegedly gained entry into a closed business… No items were reported stolen. [The suspect], 27, of Arlington, VA was arrested and charged with Unlawful Entry and Public Intoxication.” [ACPD]

Investment for Local Startup — “EarthOptics, an Arlington soil monitoring startup fresh off its merger with a lab-analysis firm, has landed a $24 million investment to scale its tech and expand nationally… It brings EarthOptics’ total outside investment to $79.1 million since its founding in 2018, according to Crunchbase.” [WBJ]

Thanksgiving Closures in Arlington — “Arlington County Government offices and services are operating on modified schedules for the Thanksgiving holiday, Thursday, Nov. 28 and Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. Recycling/Trash/Organics Curbside Routes – No collection on Thanksgiving Day. Thursday routes run on Friday, Nov. 29; Friday routes run on Saturday, Nov. 30.” [Arlington County]

Closures and Events in F.C. — “In observance of Thanksgiving… City services and programs will operate on a modified schedule; A variety of events kick off the holiday season.” [City of Falls Church]

Another Official Leaving City — “Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields announced this week that long-time City Planning Director Jim Snyder will be retiring this coming January… The ‘brain drain’ among three leaders at City Hall who played instrumental roles in the last decade’s extraordinary developments in the City has left some at City Hall concerned, the News-Press has learned.” [FCNP]

It’s Tuesday — Expect rain mainly before 7am, followed by mostly cloudy skies until mid-morning. The skies will then gradually clear, and the temperature will reach a high near 61°F. West winds will blow at 9 to 14 mph, gusting up to 25 mph. There’s a 60% chance of precipitation, and any new rainfall will likely be less than a tenth of an inch. Tuesday night will be mostly clear with a low temperature around 36°F, accompanied by a northwest wind at 5 to 7 mph. [NWS]

Busy Night for ACPD in Clarendon — From Dave Statter: “A bunch of fights with arrests. This was 1:45 a.m. EMS was called & at least one taken away by police from a scuffle on the sidewalk in the area of Clarendon Ballroom & Spider Kelly’s… At 3:00 police found a ‘man down’ at Clarendon & Garfield. And at 3:15 police went into the residential neighborhood to track down people involved in a fight at Big Tony’s Pizza. Just your typical night in Clarendon.” [Twitter]

Updated County Data Published — From Adam Theo: “Arlington VA has its Profile 2024 out now w/ some really cool facts and updates going on in our county… Some good numbers for transportation and transit use, but number of people boarding @wmata.com
from Arlington stations is still way down from pre-pandemic & number of single occupancy drivers is still too high for our transit-oriented community.” [Bluesky]

Metro to Enforce Bus Fares — “A major fare enforcement campaign is about to ramp up on Metrobus. WMATA has been getting tough on fare evasion on the rails for some time now, but the transit agency says it’s now turning its attention to its buses. More than 70% of bus riders aren’t paying the fares right now, Metro officials say.” [NBC 4]

Tejada Departs Airports Authority Board — Former County Board member Walter Tejada was among two Virginia representatives of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority whose terms expired Nov. 23. Tejada had been appointed to fill a vacancy on the authority by then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2016 was reappointed to a full six-year term then-Gov. Ralph Northam in 2018. He had served on the County Board from 2003-15. –Scott McCaffrey

Holiday Events Around Town — “The 2024 holiday season has arrived with a flurry of activities, from a Chinese lantern festival and snapshots with Santa to winter pop-up bars and local makers’ markets.) Here’s what’s on tap Nov. 25-Dec. 1.” [Arlington Magazine]

Nearby: NOVA Campus Development? — “Alexandria wants to see new development on a big portion of the Northern Virginia Community College campus in the city. The campus occupies 54 acres between Beauregard Street and the city’s northern border with Fairfax County. But roughly the southeastern half of its property, 22 acres called the lower campus, ‘remains relatively isolated and disconnected from adjoining neighborhoods.'” [WBJ]

It’s Monday — Expect sunny skies and a high near 59, with calm winds turning south at around 6 mph later in the afternoon. As for Monday night, there’s a 50% chance of showers after 1am, accompanied by mostly cloudy conditions and a low of around 49. South winds will persist at 5 to 8 mph. [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.

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]