Arlington Democrats have officially endorsed School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton’s bid for a second term.
Zecher Sutton was the lone candidate to seek the party’s endorsement prior to the Feb. 27 filing deadline. As a result, the planned May caucus was canceled, and party members unanimously voted to support her on Wednesday.
Metro Funding Advances — Maryland and Virginia lawmakers are advancing funding proposals supporting the DMVMoves plan, which calls for $460 million in new annual capital funding for Metro starting in fiscal 2028, according to Metro. [WMATA/X]
Peak Bloom Predicted — The National Park Service projects cherry blossom peak bloom will arrive between March 29 and April 1 this year. [National Mall NPS/X]
Jones Sues Over Tariffs — “These illegal tariffs are nothing more than a tax on Virginia families and when a President tries to impose them without legal authority, it is our responsibility to step in and defend the rule of law,” Attorney General Jay Jones said. The coalition suit challenges tariffs of up to 15% imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. [Press Release]
Median Signs Debate — In a letter to the County Board, Dave Schutz argues against banning political signs from road medians, saying the move would disadvantage apartment dwellers. “In areas dominated by apartments, median signs are often one of the primary ways residents know an election is happening.” [Letter to the Editor]
It’s Friday — Foggy conditions clear up before 11am, then showers are possible in the late afternoon. Expect mostly cloudy skies with a high near 54 degrees and an east wind blowing at 5 to 8 mph. For Friday night, there’s a 30% chance of showers, with a low temperature around 45 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. [NWS]
Flickr pool photo by ksrjghkegkdhgkk
This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].
Question: How much of an impact do you think the ROAD to Housing Act will have on housing affordability in Arlington?
Answer: The Road to Housing Act became law ten days ago, with the stated goal of improving housing affordability in the United States.
I don’t see many policies in the Act that will improve affordability in the Arlington/Northern VA/DC Metro markets, outside of incentives for more affordable multi-family housing, but there are policies that should improve affordability in other markets that are more saturated with institutional investors that own swaths of single-family homes (e.g. Atlanta and Phoenix) and for manufactured/mobile homes.
The Local Conversation Needs to Change
If we are going to improve affordability in our market, most of the change has to be done locally/regionally, not nationally, but it requires a paradigm shift in how we discuss and solve for housing affordability.
Affordability Disconnect: Near Term Expectations Not Realistic
A disconnect between housing affordability expectations and reality prevents the right community and political conversations from happening. We expect/demand housing affordability immediately, ignoring the difficulty, and consequences, of achieving it that quickly.
Stable and healthy housing affordability is a long-term process requiring gradual change over a 10-15+ year period.
Demand-Side Solutions Won’t Work
Demand-side solutions, such as lower interest rates or easier financing, artificially inflate home values, as seen during the COVID-era housing boom and early 2000s. They are not a good long-term solution to affordability because they push values even higher (along with your property taxes) and affordability gets worse when rates/lending normalize and no longer provide artificially low monthly payments.
Supply-Side Solutions Are Not Immediate
Most policy discussions focus on supply-side solutions: building more/faster and denser housing (e.g. Arlington’s Missing Middle/Expanded Housing Option), incentivizing more existing home sales, or disincentivizing concentrated ownership by companies and individuals. Econ 101 tells us that more supply = lower prices = affordable housing (winner winner!).
This is the only path to stable, long-term housing affordability…BUT, at current interest rates, prices must drop 30-35% in the United States to become affordable, at current income levels. A 30-35% drop in home values would devastate the economy, so a supply-side solution won’t (shouldn’t) provide immediate affordability. (more…)
Update at 10:25 p.m. — The bridge and the lanes have reopened.
Earlier: Northbound S. George Mason Drive is closed between S. Columbus Street and Four Mile Run Drive due to an outside fire.
Join us on August 1 between 10 AM to 2 PM for a drop‑in event for the whole family! Explore our Dojo—the high‑tech, STEAM‑driven space where you can dive into activities like MakeCode Arcade, Roblox, Minecraft, robotics, 3D printing, drones, VR, and more. While you’re here, take advantage of our amazing enrollment specials, or simply enjoy a fun day of coding, meeting new friends, high fives, and plenty of Hi‑Yahs!
Good Thursday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Mar 5, 2026.
Here is what’s going on Friday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Showers may occur after 4pm, with foggy conditions clearing up before 11am. Expect a mostly cloudy sky with a high near 54 degrees and an east wind blowing at 5 to 8 mph. The chance of precipitation stands at 20%. For Friday night, showers could occur after 7pm, and a low temperature around 45 degrees under a mostly cloudy sky with east winds at 5 to 8 mph and a 30% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me…. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
Thanks for reading! If you have something to say about an issue of local note not covered today, feel free to post it as a letter to the editor on our new forum.
Bring the whole family to Arlington Mill for an evening of laughs, basketball, and underdog determination with Goat.
This animated family comedy follows a determined young goat chasing his dream of becoming a professional basketball star. Before the movie, kids can enjoy face painting and family-friendly activities, making this one of our most kid-focused events of the summer.
After 26 years of serving customers at Silver Diner in Arlington, Dorothy Johnson — known to regulars as “Mama D” — is hanging up her uniform.
Johnson will wait on customers for the last time this Saturday (March 7) at the Ballston restaurant, located at 750 N. Glebe Road. Silver Diner will hold a going away party at the restaurant at 1:30 p.m. so coworkers and customers can say their goodbyes, according to a press release.
Arlington County’s firefighter union is speaking out against a proposal to remove four vacant firefighter positions from the payroll.
The current county budget draft proposes to consolidate the Arlington County Fire Department’s two heavy rescue companies, relocating them under a single roof at Fire Station 1 (500 S. Glebe Road). This would reduce ACFD’s total authorized staffing by four full-time employees.
The Virginia Department of Health has partially lifted a recreational water advisory for the Potomac River, though the warning remains in place for a 4.7-mile stretch upstream of Chain Bridge.
VDH issued the advisory on Feb. 13 out of caution following a sewage spill in the Potomac that occurred Jan. 19 and subsequent sewage discharges in early February. The situation has been monitored by Virginia, Maryland and D.C. since then, and a bipartisan group of D.C.-area lawmakers recently sought additional federal funding for the repairs and cleanup.
A bounty hunter has pleaded guilty to illegal brandishing in an incident where he is accused of unlawfully detaining a Green Valley resident, falsely claiming to have a warrant for his immigration arrest.
Matthew Mallory has also entered a no contest plea to a charge of trespassing in connection to the June incident, where prosecutors say he lied about having a document from the Department of Homeland Security in order to enter a home and detain a victim at gunpoint.
It’s a changing of the guard for pizza restaurants in Crystal City.
The regional pizza chain Pizzeria Paradiso is expected to open a new fast-casual spot in National Landing Water Park this spring, replacing Crush Pizza and Wine at 1611 Crystal Drive.
At Northern Virginia Family Services (NVFS), one of the region’s largest and most established human services nonprofits, we believe every child deserves to walk into the classroom on the first day of school feeling confident, prepared, and ready to learn. But for many local families, the excitement of a new school year is overshadowed by the financial stress of buying school supplies. By helping families meet this essential need, we can ease financial pressure and give students the tools they need to succeed from day one.
This summer, NVFS is bringing together individuals, businesses, and community partners from across Northern Virginia, to provide new backpacks and essential school supplies to more than 1,500 local students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
