For at least the fourth time since late June, Dominion customers in Ballston and Virginia Square area are without power.
The outage started around 2 a.m. this morning, residents tell ARLnow, and an outage map shows it affecting roughly the same area as previous outages on June 24, July 15 and July 23.
More Construction for Crystal City — “JBG Smith Properties continues to say it anticipates getting nearly 10 million square feet of new development, mostly in National Landing… ‘shovel-ready’ by 2025. Matt Kelly, the Bethesda-based developer’s CEO, said in his July 30 second quarter letter to shareholders the company ‘expect[s]’ to get 18 assets ready to go for new development by the end of next year.” [Washington Business Journal]
Clarendon Barnes & Noble Robbery — “A witness notified a store employee that two suspects were stealing merchandise. A second employee located the suspects in the store who then began to yell at the employee before one suspect attempted to strike the employee. The employee then left the area to call police during which the suspects collected merchandise and exited the business without payment.” [ACPD]
APS Phone Policy Emerging — “Under the draft proposal, which will be aired at the Aug. 5 meeting of the School Board’s policy subcommittee: Elementary- and middle-school students would be required to have personal devices put away for the duration of the school day. High-school students would be required to have the devices out of reach during instructional periods but could access them at other times.” [Gazette Leader]
Grant for New Rosslyn Eatery — “A nonprofit supporting women-owned food businesses has handed out $5,000 grants to 10 food startups from the D.C. and Baltimore region, including makers of French macarons, beignets, Mexican-style popsicles, dumplings and more… Kam and 46, a Hawaii and Filipino food pop-up, recently opened shop in Rosslyn food hall Upside on Moore.” [Washington Business Journal]
Skepticism Over ‘Fittest’ Status — “I absolutely refuse to believe Arlington and D.C. are the top two healthiest cities in America. I lived in Arlington for around four years and I’ve lived in D.C. for nearly six. I’ve never seen any area of the country with unhealthier habits than the Washington, D.C. metro area. D.C. has the highest percentage of heavy drinkers in the entire country, according to data from the CDC. While the CDC doesn’t specify Arlington’s binge-drinking rates, I’m sure it’s nearly as bad.” [Outkick]
Trump Proposal’s Local Impact — From state Sen. Scott Surovell: “Has anyone noticed that Trump’s platform promises to move 100,000 [federal] workers out of the DMV (so does Project 2025)?” [Twitter, WAMU, WUSA 9]
GOP Questions Climate Spending — From the Arlington GOP, in response to Arlington naming a new top climate official to steer the county toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050: “Your tax dollars at ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶ waste.” [Twitter]
Kaine Co-Sponsors Child Care Bill — “Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) are unveiling two bipartisan bills Wednesday aimed at making child care more affordable through beefed up tax credits and grants for child care providers.” [Axios]
Local Man Convicted in Federal Case — “A 34-year-old [Arlington] man was convicted Wednesday of illegally accessing the private medical data of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2019 but acquitted of posting the information to an online message board where conspiracists falsely claimed Democratic politicians were covering up her death.” [Washington Post, Dept. of Justice]
It’s Thursday — Showers and thunderstorms are possible after 5pm, with a mostly sunny and hot day reaching a high of 97°F and heat index values up to 104°F. Winds will be light and variable, turning west around 5 mph in the afternoon. On Thursday night, expect a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly before 8pm, mostly cloudy conditions, a low around 77°F, and a 30% chance of precipitation. [NWS]
Most of Arlington County is now under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.
The warning is in effect through 6:15 p.m., after strong storms starting popping up during the evening commute.
Three days after winning gold in Paris, Arlington’s Torri Huske has her third Olympic medal of the 2024 games.
Huske captured silver in the women’s 100m freestyle this afternoon. She led the field near the end but was edged out at the wall by Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjoestroem by 0.07 seconds.
Arlington has a new top climate official to steer the county toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 — a goal that some activists fear the county is not on track to meet.
Jennifer Fioretti, previously deputy director of the Dept. of Parks and Recreation, has been named Assistant County Manager for Climate Policy, the county announced in a press release. She will oversee the development of policies that engage both county government and the broader community in achieving Arlington’s environmental goals.
Torri Huske’s Local Impact — “Kathy Koczyk, who said she helped teach Huske the butterfly when she was a child, said Huske’s Olympic success isn’t a surprise. Even as a kid, she was a quick learner and great listener, Koczyk said. ‘What it proves to me, which is what I love, is it’s the technique,’ Koczyk said. ‘Because you don’t have to have brawn and heights in the water if you have the right technique. You can beat even big people.'” [WTOP]
Boeing Hires New CEO –Boeing hired Robert ‘Kelly’ Ortberg as its next chief executive, picking an aerospace veteran to steer the jet maker through its manufacturing turbulence and a regulatory storm. Ortberg ran one of Boeing’s big suppliers, Rockwell Collins, until 2018 when it merged with another aerospace manufacturer and eventually ended up part of RTX.” [Wall Street Journal]
Local Student Drafts Bill — “A high school student from Arlington was one of the 15 students from around the DMV who participated in the Students Opposing Slavery International Summit from June 23-28… Each of the 15 students drafted bills designed to promote the fight for freedom. The bills were presented on the final day of the summit. Vivian Monaco of from Arlington presented a bill to expand and enforce protections for migrants in the U.S. on temporary H-2A visas and doing agricultural work.” [Patch]
Sweltering Conditions Return — “High heat is back. It’s the start of a several days in a row of temperatures in the mid-90s or higher locally. Add humidity and it’s feeling more like 100 or higher in the afternoon.” [Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Wednesday — Expect mostly sunny skies and a high temperature around 95 degrees, accompanied by a west breeze from 5 to 7 mph today. Tonight, there’s a small possibility of sporadic showers and thunderstorms before 2 am, followed by partial cloudiness with the temperature dropping to about 76 degrees. The wind will shift to the southwest at 3 to 6 mph, and there’s a 20% likelihood of precipitation. [NWS]
Arlington has a new top communications official.
Erika Moore, the former communications manager for Arlington’s Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development, is the new Assistant County Manager for Communications and Public Engagement, the county announced in a press release earlier this month.
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.
