As the readers of ARLnow know, this is the final week for regular opinion columns. First, let me say thank you to Scott Brodbeck for asking me to do this nine years ago.

Drafting the last one is a bitter-sweet moment for me. Along with Peter Rousselot, I have been writing faithfully since January of 2013 when his first column was published just hours before mine.


The school-to-prison is the most misunderstood phenomenon in Arlington, even amongst the highest levels of leadership. School board and county officials, including law enforcement and the former Commonwealth Attorney, have vehemently denied that the school-to-prison pipeline exists in Arlington.

They acknowledge the phenomenon but contend that it exists elsewhere, but “not here.” Such narrow-mindedness is troubling. Perhaps it is cognitive dissonance that causes them to recoil at the mere suggestion that our affluent county with its highly educated residents and top-ranked schools is complicit in the school-to-prison pipeline. It is.


Community Matters is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

My father and I recently visited Bridgeport, Alabama, a small town located in Northeast Alabama near the state’s border with Tennessee. My father recounted many memories of his time in Bridgeport in the mid-1960s, largely impacted by segregation and poverty. He noted that of the 11 members of his 6th grade class, only two eventually went to college.


Making Room is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

This is my last column. Over the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of sharing my views about housing with you. I don’t know if I changed anyone’s mind, but I do know I stirred up some conversation (and plenty of clicks for ARLnow). I hope ‘Making Room’ has at least inspired you to reflect on what Arlington means to you and the role that secure housing plays in your life.


On January 8, 2013, ARLnow published its first regularly-scheduled opinion column, written by Peter Rousselot.

Since then we’ve expanded to eight distinct columns, which run on a biweekly basis. In all, we have published nearly 2,000 articles from our opinion columnists since Peter’s first piece.


If it’s shocking to you that it’s December already, you’re not alone.

Maybe it’s because fall seemed to be a mere extension of summer that then quickly transitioned to winter. Or maybe it’s continued remote work that makes the days blend together. Or maybe we’re all working harder than usual given the nationwide labor shortage.


An opinion column railing against gas-powered leaf blowers apparently struck a nerve: it is now ARLnow’s most-read article of the year.

Opponents of the blowers have two primary complaints: the noise and the fumes.


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