As Arlington continues to prepare for Amazon’s arrival, justified concerns have been raised about the impact of Amazon’s coming here on our environment, our parks, and our schools.
Concerns relating to the environment take place in the context of a Virginia legal system that reserves to the state, rather than municipalities like Arlington, many decisions regarding regulation of products and practices that harm our environment.
For years, I have advocated for eliminating the anti-business Business, Professional and Occupational License or BPOL tax.
Now comes news that Arlington officials are looking for a way to slash the tax for Amazon, or eliminate their requirement to pay altogether.
By Krysta Jones
Growing up as a Black girl in the 1980s and 1990s in the American South, I would not have described myself as a victim of racism. I know that my family members and I have been beneficiaries of affirmative action and outreach programs which were critical in giving Blacks and other minorities equal footing. Yet despite my personal experiences and our progress as a nation in a number of areas, racial disparities still exist.
You might’ve spotted some snow flurries today, but this weekend figures to feature a major warm-up.
Though temperatures may remain a bit chilly through Saturday, the forecast includes rising temperatures up to the 50s by tomorrow afternoon. By Sunday, things could even make it to the 60s and 70s.
On Feb. 23, the Arlington County Board voted to advertise a 2.75-cent real estate tax-rate increase for calendar year 2019.
As ARLnow.com reported:
Arlington School Superintendent Patrick Murphy made news this week by proposing his “first” budget in excess of $20,000 per student. Except it is not.
The Fiscal Year 2019 APS adopted budget was $640.1 million. So, per student cost for the current year is $23,331 based on an enrollment of 27,436 (which was nearly 600 students less than the initial enrollment projection).
By Reid Goldstein
With high school, middle school and a portion of elementary school boundary adjustments behind us, this is a good time to reflect on the recent boundary processes and consider how we can collectively improve future ones.
Keep your eyes peeled for another round of snow and wintry mix tonight into tomorrow morning.
It seems March has plenty of cold weather left, with evening an outside shot at some snow Sunday night in the forecast.
Arlington residents and County government have had a tortured, fitful relationship with streetlights — a key piece of infrastructure on which everyone depends.
That relationship is complicated by the fact that Dominion Energy — not Arlington County government — owns a majority of Arlington’s approximately 19,000 streetlights (Slide 4):
Two Thumbs Down to the County Board for advertising a tax rate that nearly doubled the county manager’s proposed increase.
Apparently a 4.7 percent spending increase is not enough “flexibility” for Board Members in setting spending priorities. If they passed their proposed rate increase, it would allow for nearly 6 percent spending growth versus the current fiscal year.
The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by Gary Shapiro, the president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), who writes in support of Amazon’s plans to open up a new headquarters in Crystal City and Pentagon City.
The Crystal City-based group lobbies on behalf of more than 2,200 consumer technology companies, Amazon included, and it has recently come out in strong support of the company’s vision for Arlington. Shapiro appeared at a recent forum of Amazon executives and regional leaders, and the CTA even organized a pro-Amazon demonstration at the event.
By Charles Head
Gerrymandering: an odd partisan game played by politicians. A quaint tradition of American electioneering played out in smoky back rooms, but of little consequence. Is that really true?
