A large police presence remains on scene in Pentagon City after mall security requested help dealing with a “flash mob” of rowdy teens.
Numerous officers from Arlington County and Metro Transit Police responded to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City and the Metro station around 5:30 p.m. for a report of a large group of teens running amuck in the food court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government.
Arlington single-family homes continued to march closer to an average $2 million sales price in newly released data.
The average sales price of the 60 single-family detached properties that went to closing in September was $1,813,759 — up a whopping 23.5% year-over-year.
The owner of the Falls Church News-Press has started a crowdfunding campaign in an attempt to revive the weekly newspaper’s at-home delivery service.
The newspaper, which has been published continuously since 1991, eliminated free at-home delivery in a cost-cutting move earlier this year. Copies can now be picked up via bulk drops at locations across Falls Church and surrounding areas.
Both Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Virginia’s Democrat-majority legislature are claiming credit for this year’s round of tax rebates, but they’re casting them in very different lights.
The rebates, worth up to $200 for individuals and $400 for couples who filed jointly in 2024, will go out to most households by Oct. 15. A message on the checks names both the 2025 General Assembly, which approved the budget, and Youngkin, who signed it into law.
Grand Opening for Mobile Bookstore — The Wandering Shelf is hosting festivities this Saturday to celebrate its first few months on the road. A grand opening with raffle prizes, custom art portraits, desserts and more kicks off at 11 a.m. in the National Capital Bank parking lot, at 2505 Wilson Blvd, across from Simona Cafe. –Katie Taranto
Capital for Ballston Development — “FCP announces it has provided $47.1 million in capital… to finance the construction of a mixed-use development comprised of 553 luxury apartments, Mira and Ador, in two adjacent towers, anchored by an approximately 40,000 square foot grocery store. The development, located at the former Macy’s building site at 685 N. Glebe Road, adjacent to the Ballston Quarter shopping mall, is being developed by Arlington-based Insight Property Group.” [PR Newsroom]
Pentagon vs. Press — “The Pentagon’s latest revisions of its new rules for journalists covering the Defense Department are inadequate, the Pentagon Press Association said Wednesday, auguring a broader rejection by media outlets that have been told they must pledge to adhere to the restrictive regulations by Tuesday.” [Washington Post]
More Data Centers in Va. — “Virginia is for data centers. Big ones. Big Tech companies filed permits for 54 new data centers in the state in the first nine months of 2025, according to a Business Insider tally. The number represents the state’s single largest spike in planned data centers in any one year, and a 16% increase from Virginia’s 2024 total. Amazon-built data centers represent the bulk of the new construction, with 28 planned facilities.” [Business Insider]
It’s Friday — Expect sunny skies and a high near 65, with northeast winds at 6 to 9 mph shifting to the southeast in the afternoon. Friday night will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 53 and southeast winds at 3 to 6 mph. [NWS]
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia gubernatorial candidates Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger faced off Thursday for the first and only time on the debate stage in a fiery affair that was combative from the very first answer.
Earle-Sears, perceived by operatives in both parties to be trailing, went on the offensive throughout the hourlong clash, interrupting almost every one of Spanberger’s answers and referring to the congresswoman only by her first name.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Heather Campbell lost her job working for a food bank over the summer because of federal funding cuts. Her husband serves as an officer in the Air Force, but now he’s facing the prospect of missing his next paycheck because of the government shutdown.
If lawmakers in Washington don’t step in, Campbell’s husband won’t get paid on Wednesday. Because the couple lacks the savings to cover all their expenses, they expect to survive on credit cards to pay the mortgage and feed their three children, racking up debt as the political stalemate drags on.
Another “No Kings” day of action will involve several Arlington demonstrations next week, including a march into D.C. and a Ballston protest led by local seniors.
Over 1,500 people have already signed up for the latest wave of anti-Trump demonstrations in Arlington, part of over 2,000 protests planned nationwide on Saturday, Oct. 18, organizers told ARLnow.
The annual Army Ten-Miler race is still taking place this weekend despite the government shutdown.
The race with over 28,000 registered participants will take place as scheduled at 8 a.m. on Sunday — beginning and ending, as usual, at the Pentagon, the U.S. Army announced in a press release today.
County election officials have concluded that Long Bridge Park won’t work as an early-voting site for the 2028 presidential election, and they’re working to identify alternatives.
The county government’s fitness and aquatics center at the park was used as one of three early-voting locations in 2024 but “ended up serving fewer voters than expected,” election officials said in a draft strategic plan currently out for public review.
Developers of commercial projects in Falls Church could for the first time be required to meet minimum tree-canopy requirements.
City Council members at an Oct. 6 work session generally were supportive of a staff proposal that would set a minimum 10% canopy for future commercial development.
