Fire Department Exercise Tomorrow — “On Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, the Arlington County Fire Department (ACFD) will host a joint training exercise in the 2800 block of South Taylor St… One of the key components of this exercise will be a mobility drill involving the landing of two helicopters in the area of the Arlington County Fire Training Academy.” [ACFD]

Secretary of State Protest Arrest — “At approximately 8:05 a.m. on January 28, an officer in the 400 block of Chain Bridge Road conducted a traffic stop after observing the suspect travel in the area three times while continuously activating her vehicle’s horn.” [Twitter]


A new program diverting teens from the criminal justice system has seen 27 referrals for a variety of criminal offenses, largely related to theft, assault and drug and alcohol violations.

Shoplifting and physical disagreements with peers are exactly the kinds of crimes Devanshi Patel expects to see go through the program, run by the nonprofit she leads called the Center for Youth and Family Advocacy (CYFA).


(Updated at 11 a.m.) The McDonald’s on N. Glebe Road in the Buckingham neighborhood is on track to get a second drive-thru lane.

The fast food restaurant at 40 N. Glebe Road plans to add another queuing lane leading up to the existing drive-thru window, increasing how many customers can place orders at the same time. The change is expected to bring shorter lines, cutting down on the amount of cars that back up onto the road, according to a county report.


The Arlington County Police Department has ramped up efforts to curb public intoxication and other illegal behavior near a Green Valley elementary school.

Despite these efforts, however, some of that behavior persists, according to some community members and ARLnow’s observations.


Murder Case Has Arlington Connection — “A Prince George’s County, Maryland, man learned Wednesday he’ll serve nearly 50 years behind bars for murdering a transgender woman… Police arrested Price after he ran onto the tracks inside a Metrorail tunnel in Arlington, Virginia, the day after Ashton’s body was found inside her Suitland apartment. The gun that police said was used in the killing was also found inside the tunnel, which was near the Pentagon City station.” [WTOP]

Quincy Site Considered for Electric Buses — “Speaking at a Jan. 20 hearing on the parcel’s continued use for storing more than two dozen transit buses over the next year, Schwartz dropped a bombshell. The county government’s new operations facility in South Arlington will not be able to house all ART buses if the system converts to an electric fleet, he said. ‘We will have to be looking at other places in the county,’ Schwartz said. ‘This site [on North Quincy Street] could be a potential location.'” [Gazette Leader]


Michelle Logan and her partner Jenna Burnett celebrated their moving in together and the end of Pride month last July by displaying a rainbow flag in front of their house.

But two months later, while looking out the window of their Penrose home one morning, the couple noticed the flag had vanished. All that remained was a mangled flag pole.


Six juvenile suspects are facing charges after an alleged mini crime spree in the Pentagon City area Saturday evening.

The first incident happened around 5:30 p.m., near the Whole Foods store on 12th Street S., when a group of teen boys approached a woman and “demanded her property.” She ran away and nothing was taken, according to police.


Arlington’s Board of Zoning Appeals has rejected a neighbor’s attempt to stop two proposed Expanded Housing Option developments in the Alcova Heights neighborhood.

An affiliate of local homebuilder Classic Cottages proposes building two side-by-side six-plexes at 4015 and 4019 7th Street S., bordering Alcova Heights Park and a couple of blocks north of Columbia Pike.


Several measures designed to combat Arlington’s persistently high office vacancy rate are slated for discussion next month.

On the table are expanded opportunities for shared and offsite parking, as well as more lenient parking requirements for fitness centers. Officials are also set to consider whether to allow large media screens for outdoor entertainment in some business districts.


Del. Adele McClure is quickly making her mark in the Democrat-controlled Virginia legislature, just weeks after taking office.

The 2nd District representative’s first legislative success of her tenure came last week when the House of Delegates narrowly approved her bill to broaden the state’s minimum wage protections to include farm and temporary foreign workers.


Significant APS Grade Policy Update — “Arlington Public Schools in Virginia is updating its grading policy, defining the criteria used to determine whether a student is eligible to retake or revise a major assignment, such as a test, project or essay. Starting Jan. 30, middle and high school students who score below an 80% “must be afforded the opportunity to retake or revise a summative assessment after remediation,” Superintendent Francisco Duran said in a letter to families.” [WTOP]

NYT Profiles Local Affordable Development — “Emma Budway, a 26-year- old autistic woman who is mostly nonverbal, had been living with her parents in Arlington, Va. She longed for her own place, but because she earned little income, she could not afford to move out. So when the opportunity came to move into a two-bedroom apartment in December 2019, she jumped at the chance. Now Ms. Budway lives at Gilliam Place, an affordable housing complex built on property that Arlington Presbyterian Church owns. ‘My world has gotten so much larger,’ she said.” [New York Times]


Update at 10:25 a.m. — Several hundred residents, mostly in the Tara-Leeway Heights and Westover neighborhoods, are still without power Monday morning. Dominion reports that power is still out for 530 customers, despite repair work overnight. The estimated restoration time is between 2-5 p.m.

Earlier: On a cold, damp night — and in the midst of the NFC Championship game — more than 3,000 Arlington homes and businesses are in the dark.


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