By Clara Bridges
If you lived in Arlington during the 2017 Virginia elections, you have probably been visited by canvassers a few times before the November 7 election who wanted to remind you to vote.
Opinion
Given the 2017 election results, Virginia’s Democratic legislators are in a much better position than ever before to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. This is their top 2018 joint legislative priority.
Virginia Democratic legislators can’t do this alone. They lack a majority in both legislative branches.
Once a year, we poll all of our readers and use the data collected to help set the direction of ARLnow.com for the year to come.
The time has arrived to unveil the 2018 ARLnow reader survey, which is now live and ready for your feedback.
Before we head out for the long weekend, these were our most-read stories this week:
Discuss anything of local interest in the comments below. If you have story ideas, email us at arlingtonnews@gmail or submit an anonymous tip.
Last month I wrote about the School Board’s lack of explanation for the last minute addition to their legislative package which included a restriction on people of faith. This month, the Arlington School Board is spending meeting time discussing the length of voicemails between the administration and staff.
As you let that sink in, is there anything else the School Board has done that leaves you scratching your head? Turns out, they may not have had the power to do it. Don’t like the new school boundaries? They might not actually exist.
By Emily Patton
The Women’s March in Washington and around the country on January 21, 2017, became the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Those of us who marched that day can clearly recall the feelings of unity, drive and purpose. We came in buses, fresh off of planes, on foot, by car and by Metro. We waited in hours long traffic, some never even making it into the city, but we didn’t care.
There is a continuing controversy over whether to create an “Arts District” in the Four Mile Run Valley area.
Latest arts subsidy controversy
That’s according to a post on Arlington Yupette, an anonymous, sometimes conspiracy-laden blog often associated with Jim Hurysz, a top donor and advisor to Clement.
It would be — by our count — either the eighth or ninth run for local office for the repeat candidate, who most recently ran for County Board. The Yupette blog suggests Clement would focus on fiscal restraint as a School Board candidate.
It’s the end of a cold and snowy week; quite a way to start 2018.
Before we head out for the weekend, these were our most-read stories this week:
On Tuesday, the Arlington County Board bypassed the longest serving member of the Board not to serve as its chair, independent John Vihstadt, in order to elect Democrat Katie Cristol. Congratulations are in order for the first millennial to take the center seat.
But hopefully voters will return Vihstadt to the Board this fall, and then the Board will give him the opportunity to serve as its chair in his next term.
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Progressive Voice is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.com.
By Katie Cristol
On December 21, Arlington County’s public engagement team (led by Bryna Helfer) posted a new draft Public Engagement Guide for Capital Projects.
This latest draft incorporates feedback received from residents and County staff during 2017. Over the next two weeks (until January 18), Bryna and her team are very interested in receiving your feedback on this draft.