A bipartisan bill that will allow parents to opt their kids out of masking rules at schools has passed the Democrat-controlled Virginia State Senate, despite opposition from Arlington’s senators.
The bill would take effect on July 1. If it were also to pass the House of Delegates and be signed into law by the governor, it would essentially make the local school boards’ recent, tentative court victory over Gov. Glenn Younkin’s executive order on masks in schools moot.
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington is bucking the results of a study suggesting the county has a deer problem.
Arlington County hired a consultant last spring to count the local deer population using drones. The company published a report in September saying that parts of Arlington had populations of 20-39 deer per square mile in certain places, exceeding what’s considered healthy (between 5 and 15 deer per square mile).
A new K-8 private school is preparing to open this fall in a church near Crystal City.
This weekend, the County Board is scheduled to review a use permit letting Vienna-based Veritas Collegiate Academy open a satellite campus at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in the Aurora Highlands neighborhood at 935 23rd Street S.
This weekend, a new affordable housing development in the Fort Myer Heights neighborhood, near Rosslyn, could get the green light to get started.
During its regular meeting on Saturday, the County Board is slated to review plans for the Marbella Apartments, a proposal from Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) to build two 12-story, multifamily residential buildings that will be 100% affordable units for residents earning less than the area median income (AMI).
Arlington police nabbed suspects in pair of robberies in Crystal City over the weekend.
The first happened just before midnight at an unnamed business on the same block of 23rd Street S. in Crystal City as the 7-Eleven store.
Ethiopian Eatery Delayed Amid Litigation — “It’s been nearly five years since Abebe, who owns the Michelin-honored Chercher Ethiopian Restaurant & Cafe in D.C., sealed a deal to open a new restaurant at Courthouse Place, a nine-story building at 2000 N. 14th St., not far from Arlington’s police and court complex… Since then, Abebe has signed a lease for, and opened, a second restaurant in Bethesda — but the Arlington outpost remains in limbo due to a protracted landlord-tenant dispute he said could ultimately force him to walk away from the deal.” [Washington Business Journal]
W-L Boys, Yorktown Girls Top District — “With four victories against Liberty District opponents last week, including two against the Wakefield Warriors in all-Arlington boys basketball showdowns, the Washington-Liberty Generals (12-8) took over sole possession of first place with a 9-1 league mark and two high-school games to play… The Yorktown High School girls basketball team (15-3) had a busy and winning time last week with a 4-0 record against Liberty District opponents to take over sole possession of first place with a 9-0 record.” [Sun Gazette]
Covid continues to infect Arlington residents at rates higher than most of the pandemic, but the slope of new cases is still pointing downward.
Sixty-seven new local cases were reported today by the Virginia Dept. of Health, bringing the seven-day moving average down to about 124 cases per day. That’s down more than 80% from the peak average of 646 cases per day on Jan. 12.
Many small businesses in Arlington are hurting amid the pandemic, and that’s on top of some of the unique issues faced by Black and female business owners.
That was the topic of a pair of discussions held by Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) in Arlington on Friday (Feb. 4)
(Updated 6:15 p.m. on 02/16/22) For the next 18 months, bus fare will be free or reduced-price for thousands of income-eligible residents and students.
The fare reductions began this month as part of the Low-Income Fare Assistance and the APS Student Fare-Less pilot programs, which are intended to target residents most impacted by the pandemic.
Fallon Sings About Pentagon Chicken — “That stroke of social media brilliance was followed by even more exposure as ‘The Tonight Show’ host Jimmy Fallon wrote a song for the bold bird. It began with the lyrics ‘Are you just a clucker or an undercover spy?’ We do not expect the Pentagon to answer.” [WTOP, Twitter, Facebook]
WBJ Calls Out Crystal City Erasure — “On Jan. 18, JBG Smith Properties announced it has started construction on a pair of multifamily towers at 2000 and 2001 S. Bell St., a block south of the Crystal City Metro station. In, I dare say, the heart of Crystal City. But in that 750-word press release, “Crystal City” does not appear. Not once. ‘National Landing,’ meanwhile, appears seven times.” [Washington Business Journal]
(updated at 5:30 p.m.) In a win for a number of local school boards, the Arlington County Circuit Court has issued a temporary injunction preventing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin from banning mask mandates in schools.
The ruling came late Friday afternoon, after an emergency hearing that was held on Wednesday (Feb. 2).
The Mount Vernon Avenue bridge is a vital link between Alexandria and Arlington, but it’s in rough shape and in desperate need of a refit.
This morning (Friday) Sen. Mark Warner and local leaders met with engineers to review the state of the Arlington Ridge Road/Mount Vernon Avenue bridge and advocate for it to get a significant boost from federal funding. Federal funding for bridge infrastructure is currently in the hands of state leaders who will allocate funding to bridge projects around the state.
