A $650 million Falls Church development project is approaching some key milestones as 400 units of housing are slated to welcome their first tenants in coming months.
Phase One of the West Falls Development Project, which seeks to redevelop 10 acres of land at the former site of George Mason High School, is nearing completion, Mary Beth Avedesian, Senior Vice President of Development at Hoffman & Associates, shared at a public event Monday night.
Discarded marijuana joints in local parks are raising some concerns about the safety of Arlingtonians’ furry friends.
“In some of Arlington’s parks we need to be more vigilant to protect our dogs from accidental marijuana ingestion,” Ann Marie Douglass wrote in an article for the Arlington Neighborhood News Exchange, which distributes resident-written content to civic association newsletters across the county.
Reminder: POTUS Visit for 9/11 — “Ceremonies in remembrance of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks will be taking place in Arlington… President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are also scheduled to visit the Pentagon.” [ARLnow]
APS Hiring More Substitutes — “Improvements in pay, cleaning up the database and starting recruitment/outreach efforts earlier seem to be paying off as Arlington Public Schools seeks to have enough available substitute teachers on hand throughout the 2024-25 school year. Superintendent Francisco Durán on Sept. 5 told School Board members initial trends were ‘promising’ – with the school system able to fill 80 percent to 90 percent of the need in schools in the first weeks of the academic year.” [Gazette Leader]
School Board Candidates Talk Spending — “Does the Arlington school system need, and can county taxpayers afford, an ongoing capital-spending blizzard when the projected growth of the student body is expected to slow to a trickle in coming years? That was among a brief set of questions posed to the four aspirants for two open Arlington School Board seats during a Sept. 3 forum.” [Gazette Leader]
Brandishing Incident in Clarendon — “The female victim was standing at the intersection of Washington Boulevard at N. Hudson Street when the suspect vehicle pulled up and the occupants engaged her in conversation during which the driver referenced having a firearm. The victim then ran to Clarendon Boulevard at Washington Boulevard and was standing with the male victim when the driver pulled alongside them and brandished a firearm before driving away. During the course of the investigation, officers identified the driver and obtained warrants.” [APCD]
Can Creations at Pentagon City Mall — From the Arlington Food Assistance Center: “You don’t want to miss the larger-than-life #CANstruction creations located @fashionctrpc this week! Built by @aianorthernvirginia architectural firms, teams used only canned and non-perishable food items to bring their designs to life – all of which are donated to AFAC to help feed our neighbors in need. Catch the exhibit before it ends on September 14!” [Instagram]
W-L Wins Another — “The Washington-Liberty Generals (2-0) routed the host Annandale Atoms, 46-3, Sept. 6 for its second blowout of the season. Leading W-L was running back Brayden Black rushing for 75 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Matt Abramson completing 16 passes for 202 yards and two scores.” [Gazette Leader]
Virginia Presidential Poll — “Vice President Kamala Harris leads former president Donald Trump among likely Virginia voters by eight percentage points, powered by an 18-point advantage among women and by a sense of unity among Democrats, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll… Harris draws support from 50 percent of likely Virginia voters compared to 42 percent choosing the former president and 2 percent supporting third-party candidates.” [Washington Post]
It’s Wednesday — Expect sunshine and a high of 84 during the day, with light winds becoming east at 5 mph in the afternoon. Wednesday night will be mostly clear, with temperatures dropping to a low of 62. [NWS]
Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman
Arlington County police are investigating a pair of gun crimes that happened along Columbia Pike on Monday.
The first happened in front of the Arlington Drafthouse around 3:45 a.m., when a fight in the middle of Columbia Pike was followed by several shots. No one was reported to be struck by the gunfire.
The risk of a strike at Boeing appears to be growing, as factory workers complain about a contract offer that their union negotiated with the giant aircraft manufacturer.
The president of the union local that represents 33,000 Boeing workers predicted that they will vote against a deal that includes 25% raises over four years and a promise that the company’s next new airplane will be built by union members in Washington state.
Ceremonies in remembrance of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks will be taking place in Arlington tomorrow.
A wreath-laying ceremony hosted by the county will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Bozman Government Center in Courthouse.
Police are searching for a suspect after a man was reportedly slashed in the face in Ballston.
The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, when a physical altercation between three men began outside the Hilton hotel at 950 N. Stafford Street, according to scanner traffic.
Fancy Gun Seized at Airport — “A Georgia woman was cited by police after Transportation Security Administration officers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport intercepted a teal-colored gun with black floral designs on it among the woman’s carry-on items. The 9mm firearm was loaded with three gun magazines, totaling 30 bullets packed next to the gun.” [Press Release]
TSA Display at DCA — “Sandals. A baseball hat. An adorable stuffed panda. They all sat on a table in Ronald Reagan National Airport, and they all hid potentially deadly explosives. They weren’t the real thing but mock-ups of the kind of items the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has discovered over the years.” [WTOP]
USS Arlington at Weekend 5K — “Officers and crew of the USS Arlington visited Arlington and on Sept. 7 participated in the 2024 Arlington Police, Fire & Sheriff 9/11 Memorial 5K Run, where the ship’s contingent finished first in the ‘military teams’ category. The ship’s commander, U.S. Navy Capt. Ian Scaliantine, addressed the crowd and spoke of the honor it was for the USS Arlington sailors to participate in the race.” [Gazette Leader]
Another Win for Yorktown — “The Yorktown Patriots won the night of Sept. 6 to improve to 2-0 but head coach Bruce Hanson was not happy with how his football team played in the non-district high-school game. Too many mistakes and uneven play was how Hanson described the 28-13 home win over Jackson-Reed.” [Gazette Leader]
Good Signs for Local Economy — “Greater Washington’s economy is showing glimmers of improvement across several key data points. Apartments are filling up, visitors are going out and a record number of residents are employed. Those are the latest findings from CBRE’s REVIVE Regional Vibrancy Index.” [Washington Business Journal]
It’s Tuesday — Expect sunshine and a high temperature close to 85 degrees, complemented by a northwest wind at around 7 mph. Tuesday night will be mostly clear with a low temperature near 59 degrees; the northeast wind at approximately 5 mph will become calm during the evening. [NWS]
Arlington has fallen from No. 1 to No. 2 in a ranking of the most educated “cities” in the country.
The new ranking from Forbes Advisor spotlights Arlington’s status as having the nation’s highest percentage of residents aged 25 and older with bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees — 78% and 43%, respectively. That’s a hair above last year’s percentages of 76% and 42%.
New Development Proposal in Courthouse — “The Meridian Group has proposed to redevelop an aging office it owns in Arlington’s Courthouse neighborhood with a 16-story residential-over-retail building. Meridian applied Thursday for a rezoning and major site plan amendment for 2500 Wilson Blvd., four blocks west of the Court House Metro station. The 1.4-acre site is currently home to a five-story office built in 1986, which Meridian’s application describes as ‘obsolete.'” [Washington Business Journal]
Arlington Companies Make Fortune List — “Two firms headquartered in Arlington have seen their rankings go up in the newly released 2024 ‘Global 500’ list of the world’s largest companies. Boeing and Raytheon were among seven Virginia firms making the annual ranking by Fortune.” [Gazette Leader]
Local GOP Calls Out Letter — From the Arlington GOP: “An Arlington Republican — and fairly new resident — displayed a Trump sign on her lawn. An anonymous neighbor sent her this creepy message in the mail.” [Twitter]
Wakefield Wins — “Wakefield Varsity Football just won their first game in 2 years, 39-12. What a team effort. Thanks, Warriors.” [Twitter]
It’s Monday — Expect sunny skies and a high of around 78 degrees, accompanied by a southwest wind at 5 to 7 mph. Monday night will be clear, with the temperature dropping to around 56 degrees and the southwest wind maintaining a speed of approximately 6 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.
Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar
Better Sports Club to host annual monthly evening event
The guest speaker at the Better Sports Club of Arlington’s Sept. 11 dinner meeting will be Torey Ortmayer, the head coach of Yorktown High School’s swimming and diving team during the winter and the Tuckahoe Tigers of the Northern Virginia Swimming League in the summer.
A trio of men wearing ski masks, at least two of whom were armed, robbed a man of his jewelry yesterday near Crystal City, police say.
The incident happened around 12:45 p.m. Thursday on the 2400 block of Richmond Highway.
