It’s holiday time and the lights are coming on in Arlington.
Over the next several weeks, a slew of tree lightings, Santa visits, markets, and holiday celebrations are happening around the county. That’s in addition to last night’s Shirlington tree lighting and the Santa photo shoots already underway at the Pentagon City mall.
Happy Friday Arlington and welcome to December!
We have new list of open houses to browse this weekend, whether you’re looking to rent of buy.
Arlington’s small business community is strong and resilient. However, local businesses continue to face challenges from economic uncertainty, drops in consumer confidence, losses in access to capital, and disruptions from artificial intelligence. BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development, continues to rise to the challenge by supporting over 6,000 small businesses in Arlington with one-on-one counseling, innovative programming and robust marketing to encourage consumers to shop locally.
During a recent presentation to the Small Business Coordinating Council, BizLaunch Director Tara Palacios highlighted fiscal year 2026 results that underscore both the impact of Arlington’s business support programs and the pressures ahead.
BizLaunch provided technical assistance to entrepreneurs at a level 56% above its annual goal, reflecting sustained demand for one-on-one advising and business guidance. The division also served a diverse business community, including 52% women-owned businesses and 45% minority-owned enterprises. Nearly a quarter — 24% — of clients were in food and retail, industries that continue to face heightened economic pressure.
Major marketing and PR campaigns drove engagement across Arlington. Small Business Saturday, one of BizLaunch’s signature programs, prompted more than 4,141 transactions and $211,862 in consumer spending through the Open Rewards incentive, supported by a $10,625 investment of County funds. A coordinated marketing campaign with the BIDs and Partnerships further amplified the effort, generating more than 56,000 organic social media impressions, 44,000 video views and 1,619 engagements, along with nearly 2,000 paid ad clicks.
Support for business development through programming has also expanded. The BizLaunch Transformational Challenge and Pitchfest drew 40 participants for a five-week training program covering strategic planning, marketing, artificial intelligence and financial management. Participants developed pitch decks and presented to a panel of private lenders and business leaders. In all $25,000 was awarded to local businesses through the pitch event which came from private donations and contributions from the Industrial Development Authority. (more…)
A box truck has overturned on a residential North Arlington street.
The crash happened just after 11 a.m. at the intersection of N. Lexington Street and 22nd Street N., on the border of the Leeway-Overlee and Tara-Leeway Heights neighborhoods, south of Langston Blvd. It appeared to involve a truck collecting donations for the Vietnam Veterans of America and a BMW sport utility vehicle.
A stretch of Lorcom Lane on the northern edge of the Cherrydale neighborhood is slated to get pedestrian safety upgrades, particularly aimed at improving a school walking route for kids.
Between N. Quebec Street and Nelly Custis Drive, the county will install sidewalks where there are none, widen existing sidewalks and reduce pedestrian crossing distances. Kids walk this stretch of Lorcom Lane to get to Dorothy Hamm Middle School and Taylor Elementary School.
Due to the extended period of extreme heat forecasted for the next several days in our area, the Civic Jam event originally scheduled for Friday, July 3, 2026, has been postponed to Friday, July 24, 2026.
Commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary of the United States of America at Civic Jam! Celebrate the City of Falls Church’s diverse community, civic engagement, and classic summer fun. Jam out to live, local music, sip on local brews, enjoy tasty treats and eats, and a full evening of festivities for all ages on Friday, July 3, 2026, from 6 to 10 p.m.
(Updated at 10:35 a.m.) The proposal to build a Rosslyn-to-Georgetown gondola remains just a gleam in the eye of aerial lift transport fans and Georgetown business owners.
But it has captured the imagination of Arlington residents to a degree few issues have.
Hamm Middle School Closed — Updated at 11 a.m. — From Arlington Public Schools: “Closure Alert: Dorothy Hamm Middle School is closed today, Fri, Dec 2… The closure is due to impacts from a water leak that have affected both water and heating in the building.” [Twitter]
Gun Brandishing at Clarendon 7-Eleven — “3000 block of Washington Boulevard. At approximately 3:04 a.m. on December 1, police were dispatched to the report of a person with a gun. Upon arrival, it was determined the known male suspect entered the business and became involved in a verbal dispute with the clerk after being told he could not purchase alcohol after midnight. During the incident, the suspect lifted his shirt and displayed a handgun in his waistband before fleeing the scene on foot.” [ACPD]
Good Thursday evening, Arlington. Today we published 6 articles that were read a total of 6802 times… so far.
The following are the most-read articles for today — Dec 1, 2022.
(Updated at 8:50 p.m.) A new historic marker has gone up at the 138-year-old Mount Salvation Baptist Cemetery, honoring the final resting place for a number of early Halls Hill leaders.
The county installed a historic marker in October at Mount Salvation Baptist Cemetery on N. Culpepper Street in the Halls Hill neighborhood, also known as High View Park. A brief unveiling ceremony was held in late November and attended by Board Chair Katie Cristol, local historian Charlie Clark, Black Heritage Museum president Scott Edwin Taylor, and others.
Just before Christmas, Santa Claus and his helpers are coming to town, on a fire engine instead of an eight reindeer-powered sleigh.
From Dec. 20-23, Saint Nick and his elves will visit Arlingtonians who live near the Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department station, located near Fairfax Drive and Langston Blvd at 6950 Little Falls Road. He will be riding a decked-out reserve fire engine, dubbed the “Santamobile” and decorated by the department.
