Having saved the Cherrydale Library from closing, advocates now want the county government to address the building’s accessibility issues.
Making upgrades to reach Americans with Disabilities Act standards “will allow the library to better serve the neighborhood and the county, and strengthen its long-term viability,” said Michael Gessel, president of Citizens for Cherrydale Library, at a public hearing on the proposed FY27-36 capital improvement plan.
With a promised community library for Crystal City on the sidelines for now, one library advocate has floated an alternate proposal.
Speaking at the July 7 public hearing on the county’s new 10-year, $4.3 billion capital improvement plan, Crystal City resident Michael Skros urged county leaders to focus instead on upgrading the nearby Aurora Hills branch library.
Arlington Firm Drills Into Md. — Arlington-based Dandelion Energy is scouting a Rockville site for a field office as new state incentives fuel demand for its residential geothermal systems in Virginia and Maryland. “We have enough scale now that we’re staffing permanent field leadership here, and transitioning to all permanent local crews,” CEO Dan Yates said. On Tuesday, Maryland awarded the company $1.3 million to bring systems to 129 homes. [WBJ]
Legal Weed on the Way — Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) last week signed legislation creating Virginia’s recreational cannabis marketplace, with retail sales set to begin July 1, 2027. “For years, Virginians have crossed into D.C. and Maryland to buy legal marijuana. That changes next July, reshuffling where customers, tax dollars and businesses flow across the region.” [Axios]
DOGE Ends, Hiring Resumes — July 4 marked the end of the Department of Government Efficiency, and many federal agencies are now hiring again after more than 260,000 workers left, with effects felt acutely across the D.C. region. The government posted over 104,000 jobs in the first five months of this year, up from 68,900 in the prior five months. “In a lot of places, the administration is just trying to keep the lights on with this rehiring,” said NOTUS reporter Natalie Alms. [WAMU]
Potomac Fish Kill — Thousands of dead and dying fish turned up along a several-mile stretch of the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Md., upstream from the sewage pipe rupture that sent millions of gallons of raw waste into the river in January. The Maryland Department of the Environment says the die-off is not connected to that rupture and found no evidence of pollution, pointing instead to water temperatures in the mid-90s. The event began Friday and had subsided by Sunday. [Fox 5]
It’s Wednesday — Look for a mostly cloudy day with a high near 83 and isolated rain showers possible before 2 p.m. Winds will be light out of the southeast around 5 mph. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible overnight after 2 a.m., with a low around 71. [NWS]
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Today (Wednesday) is the last day to submit feedback on a proposed revamp of a stretch of S. Four Mile Run Drive.
The concept design, which county staff have been working on since fall 2023, concerns a length of the road between S. George Mason Drive and S. Walter Reed Drive. It would reduce the width of painted medians and make vehicle lanes narrower in many places, in addition to adding parking lanes.
Arlington police are investigating a series of attacks with a BB gun or pellet gun in recent days.
Two of the incidents damaged windows, and another sent a victim to the hospital for “serious, non-life threatening injuries,” according to preliminary incident reports from the Arlington County Police Department.
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Sixty summers ago, “A Pocketful of Preposterous Poems” debuted at Lubber Run Park with performances running July 29-31, 1966.
Despite pending legal challenges at the state and local level, Arlington prosecutors still consider Virginia’s new assault weapons ban the law of the land.
“Yes, we plan to prosecute cases under the assault weapons ban if they are brought to us by the police,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti told ARLnow, taking a position that tracks with the view of Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones.
A hotel in Courthouse has been sold for conversion into multifamily units, the latest in a series of adaptive reuse projects around the county.
Arlington Court Suites, a Clarion Collection hotel, will be closing at 1200 N. Courthouse Road following a $35 million sale to GoodHomes Communities, the real estate brokerage firm KLNB announced yesterday (Monday). The conversion project, which will turn 187 hotel rooms into 180 multifamily units, was approved by the Arlington County Board back in October 2020.
The Arlington County Democratic Committee is planning to conduct straw polls as part of its Saturday, July 11 summer picnic.
One of them will be for the 2028 presidential race. Although party chair Paul Ruiz acknowledged it was “way too early” to be focusing that, he said adding the straw poll will be a worthwhile addition to the summer gathering.
Arlington leaders are laying the groundwork for a 2027 referendum asking voters to increase the local sales tax from 6% to 7%.
“Arlington is very seriously considering it,” County Board member Maureen Coffey said at the July 2 meeting of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) board of directors.
Ballston Firm Acquired — McLean-based CrossCountry Consulting has acquired Dupont Circle Solutions, a Salesforce-focused consulting firm headquartered at 4075 Wilson Blvd in Ballston. Terms were not disclosed. Founded in 2015, the firm has around 60 employees, and its co-founders will lead an expanded Salesforce practice for the combined company. [WBJ]
Gun in Boy’s Backpack — An 8-year-old was found sitting alone at Reagan National Airport in March after his mother was arrested on larceny, credit card theft and assault charges elsewhere in the airport, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit. The boy was later found with a loaded handgun in his backpack in Alexandria. His mother has an August court date for charges of assault and battery and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. [ALXnow]
N. Va. Data Centers Past & Present — “From AOL’s arrival in Ashburn to today’s AI-driven boom, Virginia became the backbone of the internet economy. Now lawmakers are debating how to manage the industry’s soaring energy demands and economic influence.” [Virginia Mercury]
It’s Tuesday — Expect a partly sunny day with a high near 86 and a chance of showers and thunderstorms, becoming likely by late afternoon. Rain chances climb to 80% overnight, with a low around 71. Winds stay light out of the northeast around 5 mph. [NWS]
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House Republicans are compelling Arlington’s top prosecutor to testify next week in a pair of ongoing disputes over politically charged topics.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is requiring Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti to appear for a deposition on Thursday, July 16. This caps months of written clashes between the two officials — first over Dehghani-Tafti’s handling of a criminal case involving a political activist, and later over her policies restricting contact with immigration enforcement.
