A 21-year-old man is behind bars after police say he robbed the same tobacco shop in Virginia Square multiple times.
Arlington County police made the announcement early Thursday afternoon. Police say the suspect robbed the store — understood to be the Tobacco Hut at 3528 Wilson Blvd — and stabbed an employee last month, resulting in serious injuries.
Amazon is slashing about 14,000 jobs, but the company’s HQ2 in Pentagon City will mostly be spared, ARLnow is told.
The company said in a Tuesday letter to employees that it is laying off thousands of corporate workers to reduce bureaucracy and “realize efficiency gains” in “this generation of AI.”
Military Prompts Delays at DCA — “Flights were impacted at Arlington, Virginia’s Reagan National Airport for a period on [Wednesday] afternoon after two jets and a Coast Guard helicopter were called to an airspace violation north of D.C., though no aircraft was actually found, sources told ABC News.” [WJLA, WUSA 9]
Tech Glitch In Juror System — Arlington Circuit Court officials yesterday grappled with a technical glitch related to a vendor’s website that left those seeking to fill out juror questionnaires for 2026 unable to respond. Clerk of Court Paul Ferguson told ARLnow the problem was rectified by the early afternoon, acknowledging his office had fielded “hundreds of calls” from those trying to complete the online response form, which is required by law, but unable to do so. –Scott McCaffrey
Feds Struggle With Finances — “While on intermittent family medical leave for an illness, Brown fell behind on car payments. However, she had an arrangement to make them up, as soon as she returned to work and received her first paycheck in October. But just as she returned to work, the federal government shut down. She received a partial paycheck, but when she left her Arlington, Virginia, condo one day, she noticed the car had been taken.” [WTOP, Axios]
Regional Spending Is Down — “Credit card spending is down in the DMV, per new Bank of America data. The shutdown is likely to blame, the bank says. Compared to last year, card spending per household in the D.C. area dropped 1.4% in the week ending Oct. 18.” [Axios]
Pentagon Wants Faster Firings — “The Pentagon removed key protections for defense civilian workers and directed that managers move with “speed and conviction” to fire employees with “unacceptable” performance reviews last month, just a day before the government shut down.” [Washington Post]
Cox Case in Court — “Registered sex offender Richard Cox was back in an Arlington County Courtroom Wednesday, asking the judge to represent himself on some of the charges he faces… The Arlington prosecutor said if Cox chooses to represent himself on all charges, the prosecutor will file motions to try to stop that. The prosecutor doesn’t want Cox to be able to cross-examine alleged child victims.” [WJLA]
More on Va. Redistricting — “Democrats argued that’s precisely why they propose opening this process. “Potentially giving the voters a choice to revisit their past decision in a small way under extraordinary circumstances undermines no one,” said Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria).” [Washington Post]
Gov. Race Has Wide Impact — “Spanberger’s stump speech, however, hints at the possible national implications of her race. House Democrats plan to center affordability and the needs of the working class in their push to retake the House next year, and Spanberger’s speech seems to provide a blueprint for that strategy. After invoking the issues that matter most to voters, Spanberger was quick to list three issues that make life unaffordable: the cost of housing, health care and energy.” [Washington Post]
F.C. Field Hockey in Finals — “The Meridian Mustangs earned their third overtime win in the past seven days, with Zorah Randhawa’s goal completing an improbable rally to defeat James Monroe 2-1 in the Regional Semifinals. If you haven’t been riding the emotional roller coaster that is the Meridian High School field hockey team, jump on now.” [FCNP]
Coastal Flooding Possible — “A Coastal Flood Warning has been issued for Arlington County for tomorrow, October 30, from 9 AM to 6 PM. Tidal flooding possible, with up to a foot of water in low-lying areas. Avoid flooded roads.” [Arlington Alert/X]
It’s Thursday — Expect rain and possible storms in the morning, followed by midday showers and then clearing conditions later in the afternoon, with a high of 66 degrees. Southeast winds of 13-15 mph will turn south, with gusts up to 24 mph. There is a 90% chance of precipitation, with half to three-quarters of an inch of rainfall possible. Thursday night will be mostly clear, with a low of 47 degrees and west winds of 9-11 mph, gusting up to 20 mph. [NWS]
Three years of pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly upgrades along Army Navy Drive culminated in a ribbon cutting in Pentagon City today (Wednesday).
Four members of the Arlington County Board, the chair of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and other transit advocates attended the ceremony at the intersection of Army Navy Drive and S. Hayes Street, along the 0.6-mile stretch of road that received improvements between S. Joyce Street and 12th Street S.
Local food security organizations are seeking donations and urging caution as uncertainty continues to hang over food assistance in Virginia during the government shutdown.
While federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is expected to come to a halt on Saturday unless lawmakers strike a deal, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced a plan yesterday for a stopgap measure to make sure people can still eat.
Arlington County police are investigating another series of airbag thefts.
The thefts were reported Tuesday morning on the 2000 block of S. Eads Street in Crystal City. Police say the suspect — or suspects — smashed windows on six parked Hondas overnight and stole the vehicles’ airbags.
Falls Church officials plan to start looking into options for limiting or banning the use of gas-powered leaf blowers within city limits.
Among the issues remaining to be determined, likely early next year, is whether city leaders already have the power to enact a prohibition — or if they must wait for approval from the state government.
Surprise Blue Angels Flyover — “The Blue Angels were spotted over parts of D.C. and surrounding areas midday on Tuesday… D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the flyover was to celebrate the Navy’s 250th Birthday, which was on October 13.” [Fox 5, Andrew Leyden/X, ARLnow/X]
Latest on Redistricting Battle — “The amendment’s release followed hours of heated debate in the state Senate earlier on Tuesday, where Democrats and Republicans clashed over the timing and legality of advancing the proposal, introduced after more than a million Virginians have already voted… Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Tuesday argued that the Democratic proposal violates the state Constitution’s intent that voters have a meaningful say before such measures move forward.” [Virginia Mercury, Press Release, Press Release]
Feds Facing Financial Strains — “The federal government shutdown led 658,000 civilian employees to miss out on their first full paychecks on Friday. The average federal worker makes more than the average U.S. worker, but many are still struggling financially.” [Axios]
Va. Emergency SNAP Plan — “VENA benefits will be issued weekly, not monthly, in hopes the federal shutdown will end soon. For example: If a household normally receives $200 for a monthly benefit, a $50 benefit will be issued on a weekly basis. Recipients and households should adjust to this new schedule and plan accordingly.” [Press Release]
Bus Brandishing in Buckingham — “Between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on October 20, the male suspect boarded a transit bus and engaged the driver in a verbal dispute. As the suspect was exiting the bus, he made threatening statements and displayed what appeared to be a firearm before fleeing the scene on foot.” [ACPD]
Acquisition for AI Firm — “Istari Digital, an Arlington-based developer of infrastructure enabling AI-directed workflows across teams, tools and classification levels, said it has acquired Dgraph, a graph database most commonly used for building knowledge graphs, from San Francisco-based owner Hypermode.” [Potomac Tech Wire]
Rosslyn’s CoStar Keeps Growing — “CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information, analytics, and 3D digital twin technology in the property markets, announced today that revenue for the quarter ended September 30, 2025 was $834 million, up 20% over revenue of $693 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. Net loss was $31 million.” [BusinessWire]
It’s Wednesday — Isolated showers are expected before 10am and after 2pm, with otherwise partly sunny skies and a high of 57°F. Winds from the northeast at 8-10 mph, gusting up to 18 mph, and a 20% chance of precipitation. On Wednesday night, expect rain and possible thunderstorms after 5am, a low of 51°F, east winds at 9-13 mph with gusts up to 21 mph, and a 90% chance of precipitation. [NWS]
The Falls Church City Council is considering a major increase to a pool of funding to support local residents facing short-term financial difficulties.
City staff originally proposed adding $20,000 to $25,100 previously allocated for an assistance fund that provides eligible households with up to $1,000 in support per year.
Election offices in Arlington and Falls Church are on the lookout for any glitches with the U.S. Postal Service handling official election-related mail.
A relatively small number of ballots from the office of Falls Church registrar David Bjerke were mailed but had not yet reached residents who requested them, Bjerke reported at an Oct. 23 meeting of the Falls Church Electoral Board.
Despite high office vacancy rates, several of Arlington’s major commercial corridors have some of the highest commercial real estate prices in Northern Virginia, new data shows.
Rosslyn, Ballston, National Landing and Clarendon/Courthouse/Virginia Square were the only sub-corridors of Northern Virginia with asking rates above $40 per square foot in third-quarter figures reported last week by Savills Research & Data Services.
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, said Monday that she would not oppose a push by the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature to redraw congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Virginia Democrats earlier in the day began taking steps to change the state’s constitution to allow for a new congressional map, a change that must ultimately be approved by voters before it becomes law. The change is designed to counter President Donald Trump’s push to create more partisan districts in several Republican-run states.
