A “suspicious vehicle” in the Pentagon parking lot near Pentagon City has prompted road closures and an investigation.
Pentagon police said on social media shortly after 11 a.m. that officers were “responding to a suspicious vehicle in the Pentagon South Parking Lot.”
The man responsible for posting over 1,500 “empathy” signs around the area is steering clear of Arlington and some other Northern Virginia locales these days.
That’s because an unknown person or entity has been taking down the handmade markers meant to encourage greater human connection and understanding. In Arlington, in Falls Church and as far out as Annandale, the signs — which started appearing in 2022 — started going missing from utility poles sometime around March.
Beyer Lauds SCOTUS Plan — “Today, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17) and Don Beyer (VA-08), the co-authors of the Supreme Court Term Limits and Regular Appointments Act, released the following statement on President Joe Biden’s plan to reform the Supreme Court, as outlined in a new op-ed in the Washington Post.” [Press Release]
Huske and Arlington History — From Arlington Public Library: “With @torri_huske’s Paris win, gold medals connect two Arlingtonians across nearly seven decades. Our Charlie Clark #CenterForLocalHistory spotlights Shelley Mann, a local swimmer who won the gold medal in the first-ever Olympic 100-meter butterfly event — the same that Huske won this week — in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.” [Instagram]
AWLA Seeking Paper Bags — From the Animal Welfare League of Arlington: “Have you been saving your paper grocery bags? Recycle them by donating them to AWLA! We are need of paper grocery bags (preferably with handles) for our Pet Pantry community distributions. Donations can be dropped off in the blue bin at the end of our parking lot.” [Twitter]
New CivFed Chair — “David Smith has been selected to serve as board chair of the Arlington County Civic Federation for the 2024-25 organization year. Smith is a former Civic Federation secretary. He succeeds Adam Henderson as board chair.” [Gazette Leader]
Revamped Garden at Local Church — “Parishioners of Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Arlington celebrated a revamped garden space July 28 with a blessing and reception… Produce grown in the garden supports the robust parish food pantry. Renovations included elevating the garden beds to increase food production.” [Arlington Catholic Herald]
Metrobus Ridership Rising — “Its sibling, the rail system, still has ground to make up, but Metrobus service is now running above pre-pandemic levels in terms of passenger counts, officials with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) recently announced. Passengers totals are now 101 percent of 2019 levels in the latest monthly data, the agency said.” [Gazette Leader]
ADU Proposal in F.C. — “A surprisingly large turnout of more than three dozen citizens at the Mary Riley Styles public library this Tuesday was introduced to the onset of a predicted six-month process to bring the City of Falls Church up to speed with neighboring jurisdictions on making the addition of ‘accessory dwellings’ on existing single family home lots easier and more apt to happen.” [Falls Church News-Press]
It’s Tuesday — Expect showers and thunderstorms starting from 2pm, with otherwise mostly cloudy skies and a high temperature near 88°F accompanied by a south wind at 8 to 11 mph. The chance of precipitation is 50%. On Tuesday night, showers and thunderstorms are mostly likely before 2am, as temperatures drop to a low around 74°F. The south wind will continue at around 8 mph, and the chance of precipitation remains at 50%. [NWS]
A rideshare driver may be charged after pepper spraying an allegedly unruly passenger.
The incident happened around 11:15 p.m. last night (Sunday) on Crystal Drive in Crystal City.
Shot Fired in Ballston Apartment — “600 block of N. Glebe Road. At approximately 2:18 p.m. on July 25, police were dispatched to the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, it was determined the suspect was allegedly cleaning his firearm inside a residence when the weapon discharged, causing damage to the interior of the home. Responding officers located the suspect on scene. No injuries or other property damage were reported and a firearm was recovered.” [ACPD]
Flyover Planned Today — From AlertDC: “The U.S. Military will conduct a flyover in the NCR, at the Arlington National Cemetery, on Monday, July 29, 2024 at 12:30 PM.”
More on Huske’s Gold — “Forgive Torri Huske for poking her head out of the water and looking a little stunned when she spotted the scoreboard on the opposite side of Paris La Défense Arena on Sunday night. It was a lot to take in. Just three years after she missed the podium by a hair, Huske’s name was atop all the others, making her the surprise Olympic champion in the women’s 100-meter butterfly.” [Washington Post, NBC 4, ARLnow]
More on Arlington CIP — “The Arlington County Board voted Tuesday, July 23, 2024, to adopt a $5.2 billion FY25-FY34 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). The plan was informed by more than 3,100 community members who weighed in on their top priorities.” [Arlington County]
Youth Baseball Team Wins Tourney — “As far as the usual preceding tournaments, the Arlington Babe Ruth Storm Black 10-under All-Stars did not play in a no longer existing district tournament and finished second in the state with a 5-1 record. Still, the baseball team was well prepared and good enough to move on and win the recent Southeast Region Babe Ruth Tournament in Alexandria to earn a berth into the World Series.” [Gazette Leader]
Aqueduct to Use Chemical for Algae — “Three weeks after the lifting of a boil water advisory for all of D.C. and most of Arlington, Virginia, the Washington Aqueduct can now add a new chemical to its water treatment process to prevent future problems when algae in the Potomac River threatens the main water source for much of the region.” [WTOP]
It’s Monday — Expect sunny conditions with a high of 92 degrees and southwest winds between 6 to 10 mph, followed by a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly after 5pm. For Monday night, the forecast continues with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms amidst mostly cloudy skies, a low around 73 degrees, and a south wind around 9 mph. [NWS]
Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. The ARLnow team loves the convenience of our Industrious office — we get to focus on work rather than worrying about brewing our own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked. Industrious has several Metro-accessible coworking locations in Arlington.
Yorktown High School grad Torri Huske is an Olympic champion in Paris.
The Arlingtonian edged fellow American Gretchen Walsh by 0.04 seconds to finish at 55.59 seconds and win gold in her signature 100-meter butterfly event. Three years ago, in Tokyo, Huske narrowly missed the podium in the same event by 0.01 seconds.
A months-long protest encampment in front of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s house has been removed.
The round-the-clock, pro-Palestinian protest started in January of this year along the 400 block of N. Chain Bridge Road in Arlington. It featured protesters holding signs, waving flags and — occasionally — dumping fake blood on the street in front of a motorcade.
Virginia’s three-day tax holiday begins next Friday, Aug. 2, marking a weekend of discounted shopping for back-to-school season and hurricane preparedness supplies, among other goods.
Starting Friday and ending on Sunday, Aug. 4, eligible items will be sold across the state without sales tax.
The main theme of ARLnow’s promotion of our email newsletter is that it allows you to get all of the headlines, without intermediation by algorithms.
Large online platforms like social networks and search engines are great, but they will generally only surface a fraction of the local stories you might be interested in reading, unless you actively seek them out. And many of us have settled into being more passive scrollers than active seekers when it comes to news.
Pushback on APS Phone Proposal — “Efforts by Arlington school leaders to put in place for the start of the school year a temporary, district-wide policy on student phone use brought criticism before it even had been formally unveiled. School Board members on July 18 heard criticism of the nascent proposal from representatives of both the County Council of PTAs (CCPTA) and Special Education Parent-Teacher Association of Arlington.” [Gazette Leader]
Best Egg Sandwiches in Arlington — According to Washington Post food critic Tim Carman, some of the best egg sandwiches in the D.C. area can be found in Arlington at Taco Bamba, Ruthie’s All-Day, Colada Shop, and Hog Haven Farm stands at local farmers markets. [Washington Post]
Uncertainty About Quincy Site — “The county manager said he planned to do everything he could to avoid using the Quincy Street site for the bus fleet over the long haul. But, he added, ‘I’m not going to make a promise to that. I’m not saying [a future electric bus parking lot is] going to be on Quincy, but it has to be somewhere.'” [Gazette Leader]
Beyer Expected at Union Picket — “Representative Don Beyer, who represents Arlington County in the U.S. House, has pledged support for the workers of the Hyatt Regency Crystal City. Congressman Beyer is expected to speak in support of the Hyatt workers ahead of the picket this Saturday, July 27.” [Press Release]
New Amazon Fresh Now Open — “Amazon Fresh opened in the Potomac Yard Shopping Center today at 3801 Richmond Highway — four years since the former Shoppers Food Warehouse closed.” [ALXnow]
More Speed Cameras in Fairfax — “Get ready for more speed cameras in Fairfax County school zones. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors gave its support this week for the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) to move ahead with the installation of 50 additional speed cameras in school zones following the success of its speed camera pilot program.” [FFXnow]
Silver Line Anniversary — “On this day 10 years ago, Metrorail arrived in Tysons and Reston, connecting two growing communities in Fairfax County to D.C. by train for the first time… While ridership remains below even 2014 levels, usage of the Silver Line Phase 1 stations has steadily increased since 2022, reaching an average of 7,405 weekday riders so far this year, as of July 17.” [FFXnow]
It’s Friday — Expect mostly sunny skies today with a high close to 85 degrees and a northeast breeze around 7 mph. Overnight, the sky will remain mostly clear, as the temperature drops to around 67 degrees. [NWS]
Flickr pool photo by Brian Gannon
The Arlington County Board has re-approved the Pentagon City Sector Plan, restoring a document that a state court declared void for procedural reasons earlier this year.
The Board’s unanimous vote on Tuesday reaffirmed the county’s original February 2022 decision to plan for substantial Pentagon City development in coming years, particularly at the RiverHouse apartment complex. Developer JBG Smith proposes to build over 1,500 new units on the expansive property, across from the Westpost shopping center and home to three apartment towers.
A Woodbridge man is facing multiple charges after an alleged home break-in and series of attempted vehicle break-ins.
The unusual incident started Wednesday morning just before 10 a.m., in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood.
