Opinion

Yesterday, ARLnow ran a story about “ruffled feathers” over the Washington Capitals banner that appeared in place of the Blues Festival banner on Columbia Pike. By mid-afternoon, all the parties had reached an agreement on what to do with both banners. However, many were shaking their heads that someone associated with the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization felt the need to run to the media instead of trying to solve the problem first and avoid the unnecessary public drama.

Now that we have moved past the “consternation,” there are still at least a few hours left to jump on the Caps bandwagon. Even people who do not follow hockey regularly or even sports at all have been going to watch parties and joining in the excitement.

Earlier this month, Gov. Ralph Northam vetoed legislation that would have provided more low-cost private sector health insurance options to Virginians. His rationale seemed to be that he was 100 percent focused on putting hundreds of thousands of Virginians on to Medicaid, and he did not want any distractions from that plan.

The governor won on his number one legislative priority yesterday. Of course, those who do not qualify for expanded Medicaid or have employer-provided coverage are still trapped in the low-option, high-cost Affordable Care Act exchanges.

This week we were reminded of the price tag on the latest round of proposed borrowing to be voted on by Arlingtonians this fall — $245 million.

As part of the latest briefing on the bonds, County Manager Schwartz reminded Board Members that the latest iteration of the 10-year capital spending plan would bump us up close to the 10 percent cap in annual debt service that is recommended to retain the highest bond ratings. It is projected to hit 9.9 percent to be exact.