News

APS Evaluating Free Office Space — “School Board member Reid Goldstein… drilled Superintendent Francisco Durán on why the school system wasn’t looking at instead taking back space it for years had provided for free to Encore Learning and Edu-Futuro, two non-profit groups. ‘There are a lot of non-profits serving our schools, and somehow we’ve decided these two are worthy of free rent, free services,’ the senior School Board member said. ‘That needs to be re-thought.'” [Gazette Leader]

Civ Fed Forum Date Set — “It’s either the unofficially official, or the officially unofficial, start to Arlington’s fall election season, but either way, the Arlington County Civic Federation will hold its annual candidates’ forum on Tuesday, Sept. 5. The event will be held in person beginning at 7 p.m. at Hazel Auditorium on the North George Mason Drive campus of VHC Health (Virginia Hospital Center). An online option also will be available.” [Gazette Leader]

Police K9 Graduations — “On Friday, August 4, the Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) and Loudon County Sheriff’s Office celebrated the graduation of four K9 teams from Basic Patrol K9 School. The 16-week Basic Patrol K9 School, which was hosted by ACPD, focused on training in obedience, agility, article search, tracking and criminal apprehension.” [ACPD]

FCPS Trying to Poach Bus Drivers? — “On Aug. 4, signage on South Four Mile Run Drive in Arlington – directly across from the Arlington Trades Center where county school buses are garaged – was a sign recruiting school-bus drivers. Seems reasonable, except it was a sign recruiting school-bus drivers for Fairfax County Public Schools, which like all jurisdictions across the region seems perpetually in search of drivers to keep the school buses running.” [Gazette Leader]

Answer Man Tackles Trail Tag — “A short, informal dirt trail has long been worn from the paved W&OD trail, just east of Carlin Springs Road, up to the road itself. Lately, it’s been labeled the ‘Jay Fisette Memorial Trail.’ Googling the biography of the former Arlington County Board member gives no indication that he’s died. Is the designation a joke?” [Washington Post]

APS Teacher Hiring Nearly Complete — “Arlington Public Schools has “fewer than 68″ full-time teacher openings to fill before the new school year starts on Aug. 28, putting the school system ahead of where it typically is at this time of the year, according to Superintendent Francisco Durán. At Thursday’s Arlington School Board meeting, Duran said the school system is about 97.5-percent staffed with licensed teachers and that its human resources department is working to fill the remaining vacancies through recruitment events.” [Patch]

More on Ped Struck in Ballston — From Dave Statter: “UPDATE: @ArlingtonVaPD reports the person struck Friday outside Harris Teeter on N. Glebe was seriously hurt. The driver ‘was cited.'” [Twitter]

Evictions Rising — “Eviction filings have been on the rise across parts of Virginia and, in some areas, have surpassed pre-pandemic levels… Eviction filings have soared even more in Arlington County, increasing by nearly 13% during the first quarter of 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels.” [WTOP]