News | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published May 31, 2018 at 9:00AM | Updated May 31, 2018 at 9:37AM

State Budget With Medicaid Expansion Passes — “After months of inaction, Virginia’s General Assembly passed a budget Wednesday that expands Medicaid to around 300,000 low-income Virginians. The House voted 67-31 Wednesday night to send the two-year budget bill to the governor, and 68-30 to send the ‘caboose’ bill to the governor that the Senate approved earlier in the day.” [WTOP, Richmond Times-Dispatch]

County Auditor Gearing Up for New Projects — “Arlington County Board members and the general public soon will be able to see what topics the government’s internal auditor plans to study over the coming year.” [InsideNova]

Crime Report: Gropings in Pentagon City and Along Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

Published May 30, 2018 at 4:50PM | Updated February 28, 2020 at 10:38AM

File photo

On Friday evening, a woman was allegedly touched inappropriately in a store at the Pentagon City mall, leading to the arrest of a 24-year-old Alexandria man.

On Saturday afternoon, a man hugged a woman without her permission and also touched her breasts. That groping happened in an elevator of an apartment building near Columbia Pike.

Workers with Disabilities at Army National Guard Center Go On Strike, Demand Ability to Unionize

By Alex Koma

Published May 30, 2018 at 3:45PM | Updated May 30, 2018 at 4:12PM

Workers at the Army National Guard Readiness Center picket the facility (courtesy of LIUNA)

A group of workers with disabilities at the Army National Guard Readiness Center on S. George Mason Drive has gone on strike, pushing for the right to unionize and a reduction in healthcare costs.

A dozen employees with Didlake, a Manassas nonprofit that contracts with the National Guard to provide maintenance and custodial services at the center, walked off the job on this past Friday. They’ve been hoping for more than a year now to organize with the help of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, commonly known as LiUNA, but Didlake has repeatedly refused to recognize their efforts and negotiate with the workers.

Volunteers Wanted as Metro Plans ‘Full-Scale’ Emergency Exercise Sunday

By Alex Koma

Published May 30, 2018 at 9:45AM

WMATA is gearing up to test how first responders would handle a major Metro emergency in Arlington, and officials are looking for some help.

Metro is planning a “full-scale exercise” at the Crystal City Metro station (1750 S. Bell Street) on Sunday, June 3, and is looking for volunteers to make the event feel more real for participants. Check in for the event begins at 6:30 a.m., and it’s set to wrap up by 1 p.m, according to an event listing.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 30, 2018 at 9:00AM

Rolling Thunder and U.S. Park Police on motorcycles, on the Memorial Bridge (photo courtesy John Sonderman)

More Water Infrastructure Repairs — Work to replace a collapsed 18-inch stormwater pipe on Arlington Ridge Road is expected to continue through the weekend, prompting detours on Arlington Ridge between 23rd Street S. and S. Glebe Road. Also today, crews from the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services are working to fix a broken water main, affecting 50-100 water customers, on the 1600 block of N. Jackson Street in Lyon Village. [Twitter, Twitter]

History of the Namesake of Hall’s Hill — The historically African-American neighborhood of Hall’s Hill in Arlington is named after an “infamous” 19th century slaveowner named Basil Hall who once shot a slave in a fit of “bravado.” In 1866 his land was sold to form the neighborhood. Hall had a sister, a downtown brothel keeper named Mary Ann, whose land in Arlington later became Marymount University. [Falls Church News-Press]

Police Investigate Armed Robbery at Pentagon City Mall

By ARLnow.com

Published May 29, 2018 at 1:55PM

File photo

Officers were dispatched to the mall shortly after 2 a.m.

Police say the men entered the back room of the business, pistol whipped an employee in the face, and stole cash and other items before fleeing.

ACPD to Enforce New Clarendon Drop-off Points

By ARLnow.com

Published May 29, 2018 at 11:15AM

New nighttime drop-off and pick-up zones are coming to Clarendon in an effort to stop double parking, blocking of crosswalks and other bad driver behavior.

The county is specifically working with Lyft, Uber and Red Top Cab to make sure the new traffic patterns are followed by those driving nightlife patrons to and from Clarendon.

Arlington County Launches ‘New Online Resource for Consumers’

By ARLnow.com

Published May 29, 2018 at 10:15AM

Arlington County has launched a new “Consumer Protection Clearinghouse” website, with consumer-oriented information about everything from towing to cable TV service to food trucks. The site is a one-stop shop that puts local, state and federal resources in one place.

The new site was announced at last week’s Arlington County Board meeting.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 29, 2018 at 9:15AM | Updated May 30, 2018 at 8:42AM

Work Begins to Replace Collapsed Pipe — A collapsed 18-inch stormwater pipe is being replaced on Arlington Ridge. The work is necessitating a detour for Arlington Ridge Road traffic between 23rd Street and S. Glebe Road. The stretch has been the site of numerous water main issues over the past few years. [Twitter]

Big Turnout for Caps Sendoff — Thousands of fans reportedly flocked to the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Ballston on Saturday to give the Caps a Stanley Cup sendoff as they traveled to Las Vegas for Game 1 of the finals. [WUSA 9]

Motorcyclist Injured in Crash on Shirlington Circle

By ARLnow.com

Published May 25, 2018 at 5:55PM

A motorcycling “wiped out” while driving around the circle, according to scanner traffic, and suffered a number of injuries. The injuries are believed to include broken bones but are not life-threatening.

One lane of Shirlington Circle traffic is squeezing by the crash scene; it is unclear if any ramps are blocked.

Major Power Outage in Del Ray, Part of Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published May 25, 2018 at 4:55PM

Nearly 5,000 Dominion customers are without power this afternoon due to a major outage centered around Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood.

The outage extends as far south as King Street and as far north as Arlington’s water treatment treatment plant and the nearby residential neighborhood along S. Glebe Road. The traffic signal at the busy intersection of Glebe and Route 1 is also reported to be dark.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 25, 2018 at 9:45AM | Updated May 25, 2018 at 12:40PM

Memorial Day Closures — Arlington County offices, courts, schools, community centers and other facilities will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Metro, meanwhile, will operate on a Sunday schedule on Monday. [Arlington County, WMATA]

Spraygrounds Opening Today — Arlington’s spraygrounds will open for the summer today. The water play areas are located at Drew Park, Hayes Park, Lyon Village Park and Virginia Highlands Parks. [Arlington County]