Arlington County Courthouse (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
A local restorative justice organization is approaching its fifth anniversary with a continued emphasis on expanding options for victims of crime and abuse in Arlington.
Restorative Arlington, a nonprofit that supports victims seeking justice and accountability outside the traditional criminal justice system, has been building its presence both inside and outside the courthouse. In addition to promoting diversion programs, the group has been working with survivors of abuse through a partnership with Doorways and running a pilot program that trains community leaders in restorative justice practices.
Early spring tree blossoms in a local backyard (staff photo)
Arlington’s Fudd Lights Up Tourney — Arlington native Azzi Fudd tied her career high with 34 points and hit 8 three-pointers as top-seeded UConn routed Syracuse 98-45 in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament. The undefeated Huskies (36-0) face North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Friday. [ESPN, Yahoo Sports]
Grenade Report at Eden Center — Falls Church police and bomb units from ACPD and ACFD responded to Eden Center Wednesday afternoon after a report of a grenade in the parking lot. The scene was cleared and businesses and roads reopened by 3 p.m. [Fox 5]
Bullet Found in Home — A woman in the 800 block of S. Greenbrier Street heard a loud noise Monday afternoon and found damage to her ceiling and a bullet on the floor, according to police. No injuries were reported and the investigation is ongoing. [ACPD]
DCA: Get There Early — Reagan National is urging spring break travelers to arrive early and check live TSA wait times at flyreagan.com. TSA staffing gaps from the DHS shutdown have made conditions unpredictable at area airports, with lanes suddenly closing and triggering major backups. [Reagan Airport/X, Axios]
Custis Trail Repaving Ahead — Sections of the Custis Trail will be repaved starting March 30, with work running through mid-April. The project covers the stretch from N. Oak Street to Langston Blvd, including through Hayes Park and Lyon Village. [Arlington Infrastructure/Bluesky]
N. Va. 40 Under 40 Announced — The Leadership Center of Arlington and Leadership Fairfax have named 40 honorees for 2026, including leaders from Arlington County government, ACFD, VHC Health, the Rosslyn BID and more. A virtual celebration is set for April 14 with an in-person reception at Caboose Commons in Fairfax. [Leadership Center]
Spanberger Rejoins ERIC — Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) has started the process of reentering the Electronic Registration Information Center, the voter roll data-sharing program that Virginia left under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). Virginia was a founding member of ERIC under Gov. Bob McDonnell (R). [Virginia Scope]
Redistricting Reshapes Spanberger — The fight over Virginia’s congressional redistricting referendum has overshadowed Gov. Spanberger’s affordability agenda, according to the Washington Post, and recast her moderate image just two months into her term. [Washington Post]
Peak Bloom Approaches — “Despite a sunny afternoon and patches of blue sky, the cherry blossoms remain at Stage 5: Puffy White. Peak Bloom can’t be far away.” [NPS/X]
Blossoms Blooming Locally — Cherry blossoms bloom throughout Arlington, too — not just at the Tidal Basin. Here’s where to find them.
New Legal Notice — A 117.1-foot antenna collocation is proposed; comments on potential impact to historic properties are due in 30 days. [Public Notices]
It’s Thursday — Expect mostly sunny skies with a high near 75 degrees and southwest winds at 9–13 mph, gusting up to 25. Clouds increase overnight with a 50% chance of light rain and a low around 57. [NWS]
There’s more local news to explore. Check out WSHnow, with stories from around the region.
An overhead view of Clarendon and the Metro station entrance (staff photo)
A variety of new pathways for redevelopment projects in Arlington and around Virginia are poised to open up following the passage of numerous housing-related bills.
Arlington has a new publicly traded company after a local AI cloud computing platform completed a merger with a California-based health technology firm last week.
Virginia Square-based Corvex finalized a reverse merger with Movano Inc. — a group that develops “wearable solutions” for users to track their personal health data — last Thursday. Movano is now called “Corvex” and remains under the “MOVE” symbol on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields makes fiscal 2027 budget presentation (screenshot via City of Falls Church)
Higher fees for property owners pair with rising real estate assessments in the Falls Church budget proposal unveiled by City Manager Wyatt Shields Monday night.
Falls Church homeowners would pay an average $611 more — an increase of 5% — in real estate taxes under the $134.3 million fiscal year 2027 budget.
Tree blossoms outside of Washington-Liberty High School (staff photo)
Juvenile Assaulted Near Rosslyn — A juvenile was assaulted Sunday afternoon near 16th Street at N. Quinn Street by another juvenile known to him, according to police. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries and declined medics at the scene. The suspect fled on foot. [ACPD]
Space Flight Boosts Edtech Firm — Aisha Bowe’s flight to space last April aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard boosted her Arlington company Lingo after federal DEI crackdowns chilled demand for its coding kits. Arlington and Fairfax county schools began purchasing the kits for extracurricular programs, and Lingo has sold more than 10,000 nationally. [WBJ]
Wakefield Grad Up for TV Award — Wakefield High School alumnus Christian Yosef’s short film “Trife,” about a father and son experiencing homelessness, has been nominated for the Television Academy’s 45th College Television Awards. Yosef wrote and directed the film while earning his MFA at USC. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in North Hollywood on Friday. [Arlington Magazine]
Washingtonian’s Arlington Guide — Washingtonian published a neighborhood guide to Arlington featuring new restaurants, shops and things to do, including Oasis the Listening Bar in Clarendon, the Pinball Basement in Rosslyn and the Wandering Shelf mobile bookshop. [Washingtonian]
New Kayak Launch on Four Mile Run — “Congrats to the Four Mile Run Conservatory Foundation and the City of Alexandria on the new kayak launch just across from Arlington’s Water Pollution Treatment Plant. More multi for multimodal.” [Arlington DES/X]
Housing Fair Next Month — Arlington’s annual Housing Fair is set for Saturday, April 25 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Walter Reed Community Center. The free event connects residents with mortgage lenders, real estate agents and housing resources. No RSVP required. [Arlington County]
ICE at DCA, IAD — ICE officers arrived at Reagan National Airport earlier this week, and were also at Dulles International Airport early yesterday to assist with security checkpoints, as TSA workers remain unpaid during the government shutdown. A senior ICE official said officers will check IDs and assist with crowd control but are not trained to operate X-ray screening machines. [Andrew Leyden/X, Fox 5, NBC 4]
Falls Church City Manager to Retire — Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields on Tuesday announced plans to retire. He has served in the post since 2007 and was assistant city manager before that in a local-government career spanning 23 years. Shields’s expected retirement date is Sept. 4. City Council members in coming days plan to detail plans for the search for a replacement. [Falls Church News-Press]
Vape Crackdown on Governor’s Desk — Attorney General Jay Jones (D) is backing the Vape Enforcement Act, two bills that would restrict vape shops to selling only FDA-authorized or FDA-pending products. “If they continue to break the law, they are going to lose their license,” Jones said. The bills are on the governor’s desk. [WJLA]
Offshore Wind Hits Milestone — Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is now sending power to the grid after its first commercial turbine was switched on Monday. The project, the largest offshore wind farm in the U.S., is about 70% complete and will produce 2.6 gigawatts when finished. [Virginia Mercury]
March Rainfall Below Average — D.C. has received 1.79 inches of precipitation this month, a bit below average, while Dulles is at 2.61 inches, about three-quarters of an inch above average, according to the Capital Weather Gang. Interstate 95 has been roughly the dividing line between wetter conditions to the west and drier to the east. [CWG/X]
It’s Wednesday — Expect partly sunny skies today with a high near 60 degrees and south winds at 3–9 mph. Tonight turns mostly cloudy with a low around 49 and south winds around 8 mph. [NWS]
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The front page of the March 2026 edition of The Virginia Independent (staff photo)
As debate over Virginia’s redistricting referendum heats up ahead of next month’s vote, a partisan newspaper advancing Democrats’ arguments has begun showing up in Arlington mailboxes.
Entrance to Arlington View neighborhood (via Arlington County)
More park space, improved traffic flow and better emergency-vehicle access are among the key desires of the Arlington View community.
Those concerns were outlined to County Board members on March 17, as the Board formally accepted an updated neighborhood plan that will guide future county planning efforts. It marks the first update to the original Arlington View Neighborhood Plan, which, when adopted in 1965, was the first of its kind in the county.
Carlos Lopez Sparks, a Centreville resident, faces a total of 20 charges stemming from four incidents on Feb. 24 and 25 — where he is accused of threatening store employees and customers with a gun and demanding cash before fleeing the scene.
