Opinion | ARLnow.com

Making Room: Getting and Keeping People Housed is Essential for Coronavirus Recovery

Published April 27, 2020 at 2:45PM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:26AM

It is impossible to follow Virginia’s “stay-at-home” order if you do not have a home.

The emerging economic crisis across the country, as layoffs skyrocket, could leave millions of people with unaffordable housing, or even homeless. It goes without saying that increased homelessness and crowding within homes puts our community at risk for an even worse outbreak than we are already experiencing. For this most obvious reason, the County Manager’s proposed budget for FY 2021 puts a high priority on funding acute housing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

Published April 24, 2020 at 9:00PM

After a week’s hiatus, the weekend discussion post is back.

Given the lack of a post last weekend, we’ll take a look back at the most-read Arlington stories of the past two weeks.

Morning Poll: Close Roads for Pedestrian Zones and Socially Distanced Outdoor Cafes?

By ARLnow.com

Published April 24, 2020 at 10:05AM

There’s growing evidence that the outdoors are, other than one’s home, the safest place to be during the pandemic.

A study in China revealed that the vast majority of outbreaks reviewed were the result of indoor transmission of the coronavirus. Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb discussed the findings on social media and on CNBC Thursday.

Peter’s Take: New Era for Gun Safety in Virginia

By Peter Rousselot

Published April 22, 2020 at 2:15PM

As of April 20, there were 300 officially-reported Virginia statewide coronavirus deaths. By contrast, the annual average Virginia statewide gun violence death toll has been 958.

While the governmental path forward to minimize coronavirus deaths remains uncertain, Virginia has passed a significant number of new common-sense gun safety laws this year. These new laws will help substantially to lower our gun violence death toll from what it would have been without them.

Morning Poll: Tracking Coronavirus in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Published April 22, 2020 at 10:00AM

On a Wednesday four weeks ago — which seems like a lifetime ago — Arlington had 36 known cases of COVID-19 and ARLnow conducted an unscientific poll.

Of nearly 2,800 respondents, 0.76% said they had tested positive for COVID, 4.4% said they had COVID-like symptoms, and 11.6% said they had a close personal connection who had tested positive.

The Right Note: What is Governor Northam’s Plan?

By Mark Kelly

Published April 21, 2020 at 3:00PM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:20AM

Governor Northam has a duty as we move forward to balance this public health emergency with the substantial economic damage being done right now in order to promote the overall health of our Commonwealth. Getting to the other side of this crisis is a true test of leadership for the governor and the Democrats in charge of the General Assembly.

According to modeling, which admittedly has produced projections that regularly overstate the impact of COVID-19 in Virginia when compared to actual data, Virginia is just two days from peak resource use. Daily case increases have plateaued even with increased testing. More people have been discharged from the hospital than are currently being treated. There is no shortage of hospital beds or ventilator capacity. And Virginia’s share of national cases has remained constant. All of this means, what we have done is working in terms of slowing the spread of this coronavirus.

Progressive Voice: Tackling Climate Change Close to Home, On Lee Highway

By Progressive Voice

Published April 20, 2020 at 1:45PM

Progressive Voice is a bi-weekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

By Scott Matties

Ed Talk: Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

By Maura McMahon

Published April 17, 2020 at 1:30PM

Last week, Arlington Public Schools revealed its continuous learning plan for the remainder of the academic year. As with all APS decisions, the plan is controversial and parents have been quick to react with criticism.

I initially approached this week’s column intending to discuss the most contentious aspect of the plan. But no matter what APS does or doesn’t do, parents will continue to criticize and debate. So, upon considering the conversations I’ve had, my own reactions, and comments I’ve heard and read, I decided instead to look for some silver linings.

The Hurtt Locker: Institutions Rise to Address COVID-19 Challenges

By Matthew Hurtt

Published April 16, 2020 at 3:10PM

As governments at every level react (and sometimes overreact) to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, other institutions across society have risen to the occasion to fill in the gaps and confront the unintended consequences of shutting down the economy to address the present situation.

Across society, we observe four key institutions working in concert (and sometimes at odds) with one another: business, community, education, and government.

Modern Mobility: How Close Are We to Premium Transit on the Pike? (Part Two)

By Chris Slatt

Published April 15, 2020 at 2:55PM | Updated April 29, 2020 at 2:24PM

Back in January, I kicked off this series looking at the Pike Premium Transit Network.

This is the year that the Columbia Pike Streetcar was supposed to start running; since many folks claimed that a “Modern BRT” system could be implemented more quickly than a Streetcar, I’m examining how far we’ve come in that implementation compared to what was envisioned.

Community Matters: How Will History Remember Our Response to COVID-19?

By Krysta Jones

Published April 14, 2020 at 3:00PM

It’s been more than two weeks since we began our stay at home order in Virginia due to COVID-19. In that time, testing has increased which has provided a clearer picture of the pandemic.

Unfortunately, it’s become more common to learn about relatives, friends and others in our lives who have succumbed to COVID-19 related illnesses.

Making Room: Please Give Us Space for Social Distancing

By Jane Green

Published April 13, 2020 at 1:30PM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:21AM

Approved for partial funding: a widening of the W&OD Trail (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

We are now in Week 4 of social distancing. Schools are closed. Most stores are closed or pick-up only. Arlingtonians who are not fortunate enough to be teleworking are faced with furloughs, layoffs, or difficult travel to essential work. Arlington has even closed parks, fields, courts, and playgrounds.

These are difficult changes that are intended to flatten the curve of coronavirus infections.