Tony Uccellini looks forward to continuing the team’s strong tradition
The big challenge of taking over as the girls head softball coach of the highly successful Bishop O’Connell Knights high-school team is certainly recognized by, but doesn’t scare, Tony Uccellini.
Despite a recent investigation unearthing broad failures in a decade-long D.C. program to eliminate traffic deaths, Arlington is holding fast to its Vision Zero goals.
Both Arlington and D.C. have set goals of eradicating all vehicle crashes resulting in fatalities and severe injuries. D.C. adopted its Vision Zero Action Plan in 2014 with the aim of achieving this by 2024, and Arlington adopted its own action plan in 2021 with a 2030 goalpost.
For the third time in a week, firefighters are investigating the smell of gas at Yorktown High School.
The school was evacuated around 10:30 a.m. this morning due to the gas odor and has dismissed early, Arlington Public Schools confirmed to ARLnow.
Police officers in tactical gear, armored vehicles, and — reportedly — a drone descended on Arlington’s Green Valley neighborhood early Wednesday.
The operation, as described to ARLnow by one local resident, happened around 5:30 a.m. and also involved at least one K-9 unit.
POTUS and Veep Plan 9/11 Visit — From the White House: “On Wednesday, September 11, the President and the Vice President will travel to Ground Zero in New York, New York, the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia to honor and remember the victims of the September 11th terror attacks. Additional details to follow.”
Fight in Ballston — “A verbal dispute between two groups of individuals inside an establishment escalated into a physical altercation. A male victim and female victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries and the male was transported to an area hospital. Responding officers observed individuals entering a car, approached it and attempted to detain the occupants as part of the ongoing investigation. The occupants were non-compliant and the suspect vehicle fled the scene.” [ACPD]
County Board Candidates Debate — “Three of four contenders for the open Arlington County Board seat believe the growth rate of property owners’ tax burdens is too high. The fourth – and the race’s almost guaranteed winner – appears to disagree. The impact of the double-whammy of higher home assessments and a higher tax rate in 2024 didn’t seem to faze Democratic nominee J.D. Spain Sr. during the Arlington County Civic Federation’s Sept. 3 candidate forum.” [Gazette Leader]
Wrong-Way Driver in Rosslyn — “More broad daylight wrong-way driving on Wilson Blvd near one of the usual trouble spots.” [Twitter]
International Award for AED — “Arlington Economic Development (AED) has been honored with the Gold Award in the 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Awards from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). This award, presented in the Entrepreneurial and Small Business Development Excellence category for communities with populations between 200,000 and 500,000, acknowledges the outstanding impact of the Arlington Innovation Fund (AIF).” [Arlington County]
CivFed to Examine Parks Expansion — “The Arlington County Civic Federation is moving forward with plans to be more involved in parks and parkland issues in the county. The body has reconstituted its Parks Committee, which will meet on Sept. 18 via Zoom. The initial effort will seek ways to assist in finding increased green space and forested areas in the 26-square-mile urban county.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s National Preparedness Month — “As part of the 2024 National Preparedness Month (NPM), Arlington County is calling on all residents to take action and be ready for emergencies. This year’s campaign theme is ‘Start a Conversation.’ The message emphasizes an important first step and encourages the community to have the discussion, ask questions, make decisions, and build a preparedness plan.” [Arlington County]
It’s Thursday — Expect partly sunny skies with a high of around 79 degrees, accompanied by a northeast breeze of about 7 mph. As night falls, the skies will turn mostly cloudy and the temperature will drop to approximately 62 degrees. [NWS]
Both Arlington Democrats and the Arlington GOP plan to have a presence at the Hispanic Heritage Community Festival this weekend.
Members of the Trump campaign, which has been pushing for voter turnout in Northern Virginia, also reportedly plan to attend.
A driver crashed into the front of a Ballston bar early this morning (Wednesday), shattering two of its storefront windows, a manager said.
CarPool at 900 N. Glebe Road was partially blocked off with police tape this morning, and employees were seen assessing the damage.
Median 2BR Rent Tops $3K — “Apartment rents in Arlington continue to rise, with the median monthly price for two-bedroom units now more than $3,000 a month, according to new data. Rents in Arlington increased 0.8 percent month-over-month in August, compared to a 0.1-percent decline nationally. Rents in Arlington now stand 4.7 percent higher than a year before — the seventh largest percentage increase among the 100 large urban areas tracked by Apartment List.” [Gazette Leader]
Flyovers Planned Today — From Arlington Alert: “A United States military aircraft flyover is scheduled for Wednesday, September 4, at 11:45 AM at @ArlingtonNatl… A second United States military aircraft flyover is scheduled for this afternoon, September 4, at 1:20 PM at @ArlingtonNatl. While there will be an increase in air traffic noise, there is no cause for alarm.” [Twitter, Twitter]
Clement on Commission Change — “In an e-mail to supporters, Audrey Clement took issue with revisions that explicitly prohibit those thousands working for the county government from going to the Human Rights Commission for redress of employment concerns. That prohibition, long implicit, was made explicit in changes to the ordinances approved during an unusual August special meeting of the County Board.” [Gazette Leader]
ARLnow Publishing AP Articles — ARLnow is among the local news organizations participating in the following: “The Associated Press and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation… announced they will work together to ensure AP’s election content and services are accessible to local newsrooms in battleground states ahead of the U.S. presidential election.” [Associated Press]
List of Local Races — “It tracks that a region crowned the fittest and healthiest would host a bevy of cardio-crushing races. Carb-load, hydrate, stretch and take to the streets to feel the wind in your bib at these upcoming runners’ events.” [Arlington Magazine]
W-L Notches Blowout Win — “The Washington-Liberty Generals rolled up 421 total yards in their 49-13 opening-season victory over the visiting Edison Eagles on Aug. 30. The Generals also defeated Edison by a similar 45-13 score in last season’s opener. The first-week victory was the third in a row for Washington-Liberty.” [Gazette Leader]
Fall Foliage Forecast — “Using historical weather reports, tree species info, and user data, travel brand SmokyMountains.com put together 2024 foliage prediction maps of the U.S. In much of D.C., Virginia, and Maryland, leaves are predicted to change color by early October. Peak is predicted around Oct. 23, and past peak by Nov. 6.” [Axios]
Cooler September on Tap — “September has started off in style, with sunny highs in the 70s to near 80 degrees and crisp lows in the 50s. Near-normal to cooler-than-normal weather is likely for most of next week as well. Based on the weather pattern and computer model forecasts, we project a slightly cooler-than-normal September overall, with the average temperature about 1 to 2 degrees lower than the norm of 72.4 degrees.” [Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Wednesday — Expect a partly sunny day with temperatures reaching up to 77°F, accompanied by an east wind blowing at 5 to 9 mph. As for Wednesday night, the weather will be partly cloudy, with the temperature dropping to around 58°F. [NWS]
Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar
Arlington County police just announced an arrest in the Monday afternoon shooting in the Arlington View neighborhood.
Police say two groups of people were engaged in a dispute when “suspects from each group brandished and discharged firearms.” No injuries were reported.
After a few months of construction, three intersections of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in Falls Church have new all-way stops.
These stops are now in place at the intersections of Little Falls Street, N. Oak Street and N. Spring Street. They were added in a collaboration with NOVA Parks to increase safety, according to an email announcement from the city.
BY OLIVIA DIAZ and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worries of being uprooted from their jobs have returned for Laura Dodson and other federal workers, who have long been the economic backbone of the nation’s capital and its suburbs.
Video: Police Response at Mall — Video posted on social media shows heavily armed police officers in the Pentagon City mall after a smash-and-grab robbery that some 911 callers initially mistook for an active shooter incident. [Twitter]
Another Pentagon City Incident — From Dave Statter: “[Arlington police] officers believe a person in the blue car had just escaped from security at Target two blocks back on Army-Navy Drive. One of many shoplifters who frequent the store. The goods were left behind but not before the suspect apparently claimed he had a gun. The driver took off when officers approached. With no verified weapon or robbery the pursuit was ended as the car sped into DC.” [Twitter]
Trump Response to Cemetery Controversy — “Donald Trump’s campaign issued a statement Sunday from the Gold Star military families who invited him to Arlington National Cemetery as they defended the Republican presidential nominee and insisted that Vice President Kamala Harris is the candidate politicizing fallen U.S. service members.” [Associated Press]
Road Closures for Upcoming 5K — “The 22nd Annual Arlington Police, Fire, Sheriff, & ECC 9/11 Memorial 5k race will take place on the evening of Saturday, September 7, 2024. The Arlington County Police Department will close the following roadways around the Pentagon and in Crystal City to accommodate the event.” [ACPD]
New CEO for Arlington Company — “Matt Hulett, the former president of language learning mainstay Rosetta Stone Inc., has been tapped as the new CEO of Arlington online education firm StraighterLine Inc. Hulett replaces Heather Combs as StraighterLine’s chief exec. Combs left StraighterLine in January, according to her LinkedIn profile, and is today the CEO of Ripple, a crew optimization platform for the maritime industry.” [Washington Business Journal]
High School Football Kicks Off — “It took an extra day – because storms postponed their opening game – but the Yorktown Patriots began the 2024 varsity football season Aug. 30 with a lopsided victory. Yorktown won comfortably on the road, defeating the Woodson Cavaliers, 44-27, in a non-district contest in Fairfax.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Tuesday — Expect sunshine and a high near 75, accompanied by a gentle 6-8 mph northeast wind. As nighttime falls on Tuesday, watch for increasing clouds and a low around 56. [NWS]
