A Stanford student and Paralympian who grew up in Arlington has been named a 2026 Rhodes scholar.
Sydney E. Barta of Arlington, Virginia, is a Paralympian and member of the track team at Stanford University, who studies bioengineering and sings in the Stanford acapella group “Counterpoint.” As part of the prestigious scholarship, Barta plans to study musculoskeletal sciences.
Arlington officials are asking state legislators to fill financial gaps left by the federal government’s reduction in support for local counterterrorism initiatives.
The D.C. region stands to lose about $20 million in funding — 60% of which is devoted to Northern Virginia — as the Trump administration makes changes to the Urban Areas Security Initiative.
The chair of the House Judiciary Committee is challenging Arlington’s top prosecutor over a case involving a local activist critical of the Trump administration.
Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti yesterday (Thursday), accusing her of “political bias” and requesting numerous documents related to court proceedings and federal funding for her office.
Some Falls Church leaders are expressing concern over a possible General Assembly measure that would take away local power to regulate parking in development projects.
Such a measure could be introduced by Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37), who represents the city in the upper house of the legislature. The topic was among the key points discussed at the Nov. 7 meeting of the City Council’s legislative committee.
Today (Friday) is the last day to submit feedback on planned upgrades to the volleyball court, playground and paths at Doctor’s Run Park.
The county is planning to resurface the existing volleyball court in the park, located at 1301 S. George Mason Drive in the Douglas Park neighborhood.
Flyover Planned Today — From AlertDC: “The U.S. Military will conduct an Aircraft Flyover in the NCR over Arlington National Cemetery on Friday, November 14 at approximately 11:15AM.”
Lingering Shutdown Impacts — “Some impacts could continue much longer than six weeks, whether that’s national parks trying to make up for lost visitor revenue or taxpayers waiting longer for refunds from a backlogged Internal Revenue Service (IRS). There’s also the looming threat of another potential shutdown in the not-too-distant future, since this bill only funds the government through Jan. 30.” [NPR]
Air Traffic Not Back to Normal Yet — “Airlines are optimistic they can resume normal operations just a few days after the government lifts its order to cut some flights at 40 busy airports, but it’s not clear how soon that will happen even though the federal shutdown is over. The Federal Aviation Administration did announce Wednesday night that airlines won’t have to cut more than 6% of flights at those airports.” [Associated Press, Washington Post]
CivFed Backs Governance Change — The Arlington County Civic Federation voted 38-1, with one abstention, on Nov. 11 to reaffirm its support for state legislation allowing the county to move forward on changes to its governance structure. The vote was on the Civic Federation’s 2026 legislative package, with the primary issue in the package being governance. –Scott McCaffrey
Bishop Drafts Immigration Statement — Arlington’s Bishop Michael Burbidge was one of four church leaders on the drafting committee for a nationwide message opposing “indiscriminate mass deportation.” The “special message,” which passed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on a vote of 216-5-3, called for “meaningful immigration reform” and lamented “a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.” —Dan Egitto
Apartment Market Downturn? — “Greater Washington’s multifamily market is starting to show signs of weakening, a potentially latent impact of Trump administration cuts. That’s according to the newest edition of the REVIVE monthly index from real estate services firm CBRE, which shows the number of occupied apartment units in Greater Washington declined by about 850 between June and September.” [WBJ]
Alexandria Train Station Project — “City leaders and various transportation officials broke ground yesterday (Wednesday) on a bundle of improvement projects at Amtrak’s Alexandria Union Station. Four upcoming projects seek to expand passenger and freight rail service at Alexandria Union Station at 110 Callahan Drive.” [ALXnow]
It’s Friday — Expect a sunny day with a high of around 58 degrees and a west wind of 6 to 9 mph. For Friday night, the weather will be mostly cloudy with a low of about 43 degrees. [NWS]
The two newest “stumbling stones” memorializing people enslaved in Arlington are located near a historic cemetery where the honorees are laid to rest.
The congregation of Lomax AME Zion Church was joined by community members on Nov. 9 to unveil the two new markers outside the church entrance on 24th Road S. in Green Valley.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jessica Sweet spent the federal government shutdown cutting back. To make ends meet, the Social Security claims specialist drank only one coffee a day, skipped meals, cut down on groceries and deferred paying some household bills. She racked up spending on her credit card buying gas to get to work.
With the longest shutdown ever coming to a close, Sweet and hundreds of thousands of other federal workers who missed paychecks will soon get some relief. But many are left feeling that their livelihoods served as political pawns in the fight between recalcitrant lawmakers in Washington and are asking themselves whether the battle was worth their sacrifices.
Three local advocates for housing, equity and youth received high honors from the Arlington Community Foundation last week.
The latest honorees exemplify a “tireless and unselfish commitment” to serving others, said former County Board member and retired Circuit Court Judge William Newman Jr., the namesake of the 2025 William T. Newman Spirit of Community Awards.
Donation and service events for local families in need are taking place at Roman Catholic parishes across Arlington this weekend.
The projects, part of over 100 events happening in the Diocese of Arlington as part of a “Week of Service,” include food drives, meal-packing events, fundraisers and other efforts to benefit the community.
An annual rally honoring victims of vehicle crashes in Northern Virginia is scheduled to begin at Gateway Park in Rosslyn this weekend.
The event, hosted by Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets, will start at 10 a.m. Sunday, the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Organizers hope to advance the following goals.
Fewer than 50 votes separate a winning and losing candidate for Falls Church School Board, meaning a recount could be in the works.
Electoral Board members certified the results Wednesday (Nov. 12). After tabulating provisional ballots and those received by mail by the Nov. 7 deadline, the margin between Kathleen Tysse (3,532) and Sharon Mergler (3,485) tightened from the 56-vote margin reported on Election Night to 47 votes upon certification.
