It’s been a snowy week, and a veritable marathon for working parents with school-aged kids.

There are some snow lovers out there who have huge carefree smiles on their faces after two sizable snowfalls in one week. And there are others who — whether you generally like snow or not — will be falling asleep within 30 seconds of getting in bed early tonight


Arlington’s new bag tax is only a few days away from taking effect.

The tax, which was also enacted by neighboring Alexandria and Fairfax County after being authorized by the Virginia General Assembly, calls for certain stores to collect a five-cent tax on single-use disposable bags.


By most accounts, 2020 was a tough year. Despite hopes for better, 2021 certainly had its rough moments, too.

The pandemic is still here and, at least in terms of new cases from the latest variant, remains well underway. The stock market it up for the year, but the last half of 2021 hasn’t been kind to many investors amid inflation and stretched supply chains. And the country still appears to be inexorably divided politically, as was put on full display this past January.


It’s the afternoon before Christmas Eve and all throughout Arlington, things are getting quieter.

Whether you’re celebrating the holiday here, out of town or not at all (except perhaps the traditional Chinese takeout and movie evening), we hope you have a great holiday weekend. Also, we hope you booked your pie reservation early.


On Tuesday Arlington’s seven-day moving average of Covid cases set another record.

Just shy of 200 people are testing positive for the virus in Arlington each day, on average, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. Lines for local Covid testing sites stretch around multiple blocks. And yet, people are (mostly) still traveling for the holidays, dining at restaurants and generally living their lives.


You would be forgiven for feeling that the end of this week has March 2020 vibes.

It’s of course different, given that most people are vaccinated and the health implications are not as nearly dire as the outset of the pandemic. But the continued drip of news about rapidly rising rates of new Covid cases and well-known people contracting the virus — whether the CEO of Southwest Airlines or any number of NFL players and coaches — definitely stirs up memories of the NBA, Tom Hanks and that fateful day.


One of Arlington’s greatest assets is our highly educated population and range of knowledge in various policy topics. With my last column on ARLnow, I want to encourage you to pick something that you are passionate about in our community, and participate in our local government process. As a society, we would be better off with fewer keyboard warriors and more doers.

Commissions & Advisory Groups


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.


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