It is time for the Arlington County Fair, one of my favorite local traditions. This year the fair features a butterfly encounter, a first-ever beer garden, and goat yoga among other things.
As with every year, the fair also features appearances by your elected officials here in Arlington. Your school board members and interim superintendent, your county board members, the treasurer, and the sheriff will be there.
By Martha Villanigro-Santiago
At any age, we must be intentional about living your best possible life, especially being healthy and active. It’s important that individuals, community and government use data and resources to develop policies, programs and other assets that enable aging residents to flourish in Arlington.
It’s August and lots of people are going on vacation (including the person writing this post, from Gate 28 at DCA), but for those staying here it looks to be a beautiful weekend.
For a week in typically slow August, the past few days were especially busy news- and readership-wise.
Despite only being a few miles apart as the crow flies, some residents of Arlington and D.C. are reticent to date people who live in the other jurisdiction.
For some, it’s the perceived differences among people who live on opposite banks of the Potomac. For others, it’s more practical concerns: the distance makes Metro travel slow and Uber travel pricey.
Two recent columns discussing Arlington’s July 8 countywide flooding and Donaldson Run’s pollution and flood damage explained how the County’s development and construction policies and practices have increased impervious surfaces and resulted in the loss of mature trees. Combined, these factors have almost certainly heightened our flood risk and intensified the damage.
Today, I focus on the July 8 flood impacts on Lubber Run Park.
The recent audit of the Arlington County Fire Department’s (ACFD) budget crunching overtime costs is exactly the type of work that was envisioned when the independent auditor was proposed.
As reported on ARLnow, the audit found that ACFD is insufficiently staffed to avoid overtime. The department is fighting against attrition of an average of two employees per month. According to the audit, “it takes almost 12 months and costs almost $100,000 per recruit to recruit, hire and train” new firefighters And ACFD is unable to conduct as much training of existing personnel.
By Nick Dilenschneider
While young progressives across Virginia are mobilizing to retake both chambers of the legislature in this year’s elections, it is impossible for us to ignore the 2020 Democratic presidential primary already in full swing. Were you to ask 100 millennials whom they support right now, you would find answers as diverse as the generation itself. Some are looking to experience and electability, others are drawn to candidates taking aggressive stands on issues like healthcare and taxes.
July turned to August this week, as life in Arlington slowed just a touch and there were signs that fall is beginning to approach.
Maybe you noticed a bit less traffic on the roads as summer vacations ramped up. Or the Oktoberfest beers on local store shelves.
In his column last week, Mark Kelly discussed the recent unfortunate Supreme Court decision (5-4) concluding that federal courts could not provide relief from partisan gerrymandering.
In her persuasive dissent in that case, Justice Kagan concluded:
The Progressive Voice opined this week that it may be time to take measures that rein in growth.
It is slightly ironic that the growth in high rise housing has helped give Democrats a virtual lock on local elections is also causing consternation among “progressives.” It is also amusing that progressives complain about traffic and parking while many of them are advocating for eliminating travel lanes on already congested streets, stopping scooter rentals and eliminating parking spaces.
By Eric Harold
Floods, traffic, school capacity, lack of affordable housing. What do these increasingly recurring issues in Arlington have in common? All, in some form or fashion, are exacerbated by the increased growth and development throughout Arlington County for more than 20 years. There are many positive aspects to continued growth, but growth is not an unbridled good. The question is how to better manage it.
The last full week in July is coming to a close and a warm but relatively pleasant weekend is on tap.
It has been a busy week at ARLnow — a week we announced a new readership record and three new hires. (Technically, thanks to strong readership yesterday, our trailing 30-day traffic is now up to 1.415 million pageviews, another new record.)
