We hope you are celebrating George Washington’s birthday with a three-day weekend. Most county services will be closed Monday and there are festivities abound in Alexandria for those who want to partake.
The week’s roundup of news included everything from updates to Covid mitigation strategies in schools to confirmation that an Amazon Fresh is coming to Crystal City.
We’ll assume many of you are courting your sweethearts locally this weekend ahead of Valentine’s Day, based on poll results earlier this week about Arlington’s date spots.
Or maybe you’re venturing out with a light jacket to enjoy Saturday’s unseasonably tepid weather before we’re reminded it’s still February on Sunday with some snow possible — more likely to just be a coating than accumulation.
Valentine’s Day is around the corner, which naturally leads many to consider where to take their significant other out on a date.
If you live in Arlington, there’s a natural gravitational pull to stay closer to home when possible. After all, you’re presumably paying the higher rent or mortgage payments associated with living here because you like being close to stuff.
Once a year, we ask ARLnow readers to take a couple of minutes to provide feedback that sets the stage for everything we do over the next 12 months.
Adjustments in our news coverage mix, changes to our opinion content, and prioritizing weekly in-depth features. These are all things that survey feedback helped to bring about recently.
The contest to name the “Pentagon chicken” produced plenty of great would-be monickers: Chick Cheney, Col. Sanders, Joint Cheeps of Staff.
Ultimately, the name Henny Penny was chosen, and the chicken found up being serenaded on national TV by Jimmy Fallon.
It was quite a week.
There was everything from breaking news, like the county finalizing a new jail medical provider after the latest inmate death, to helpful stories like where to stock up on Girl Scout cookies. And you all seemed particularly interested in stories about wayward poultry and an aggressive fox.
Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most famous weather-forecasting groundhog, saw his shadow Wednesday morning, thus predicting six more weeks of winter.
“As I look over the faces of the true believers from around the world, I bask in the warmth of your hearts, I couldn’t imagine a better fate, with my shadow I have cast than a long, lustrous six more weeks of winter,” Phil said in a statement, as read by a member of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle.
(Updated at 10:10 a.m.) There was no shortage of news this week, from lawsuits to fires to a violent incident at a local drive-thru.
Hopefully, this weekend is much quieter as Arlington stays safe inside following the snowfall Friday.
This week was yet another filled with plenty of news about snow, but unlike previous January weeks not a lot of actual snow.
Using its last traditional snow day allotment, Arlington Public Schools closed Thursday for what turned out to be a bust — a rainy, cold day. Lucky for students looking to enjoy the weather when school’s closed, this weekend should at least be sunny, albeit a little cold, in Arlington.
Arlington Public Schools is not alone in defying Virginia’s new governor.
One of the first acts in office for Gov. Glenn Younkin (R) was an executive order intended to let parents decided whether their children wear masks to school. But APS — along with Alexandria and Fairfax County, among other public school systems — says that masks are still required, despite the order.
The snow melted away this week, allowing Arlington to venture back out between winter storms.
Schools returned from a bonus snow week of winter break, although many have been sent back home to isolate due to a rise in Covid cases in schools. With only one more snow day allotment left, students and teachers at least have MLK Day as a buffer from expected winter weather this Sunday night. Check back with us over the weekend to get the latest on road conditions and closures.
Like it or not, another round of snow is looking increasingly likely this weekend.
Forecast models are putting the odds of at least an inch of snow at 50% or above, and some are even suggesting more than a foot is possible, according to the Capital Weather Gang. The storm would cross our area Sunday into Monday.
