News

About 1,500 homes and businesses are without power in Arlington after heavy rain and some gusty winds from Hurricane Ida’s remnants.

Most of the outages are in neighborhoods along and north of Route 29, including Cherrydale, Maywood and Donaldson Run. Dominion reports about 1,350 in the area.


News

So far Arlington has dodged the worst of Hurricane Ida’s remnants this afternoon, but the storm system is still having some local impacts.

With a Flash Flood Watch and a Tornado Watch still in effect, Arlington Public Schools cancelled all afternoon and evening activities on school grounds.


Sponsored

This sponsored column is by Law Office of James Montana PLLC. All questions about it should be directed to James Montana, Esq., Janice Chen, Esq., and Victoria Khaydar, Esq., practicing attorneys at The Law Office of James Montana PLLC, an immigration-focused law firm located in Falls Church, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact us for an appointment.

Kremlin political intrigues are comparable to a bulldog fight under a rug. An outsider only hears the growling, and when he sees the bones fly out from beneath it is obvious who won.” – Winston Churchill.

The Trump Administration, in both its first and second iterations, has not lived up to that Churchill quotation, not least because its principals are so paranoid and unprofessional that they usually air their grievances in public. Sometimes, when facing unfriendly questioning before Congress, a leading Administration official bangs the table about how the Dow Jones Industrial Average has broken 50,000; sometimes, when a bottle of bourbon goes missing, a leading Administration official threatens to polygraph and prosecute FBI agents. This is not, as a general rule, a thin-lipped bunch of Silent Cals.

The Department of Homeland Security has been an honorable exception to that general rule; its personnel have been, at least by Trump Administration standards, fairly disciplined about airing their grievances in public. That’s where the Kremlinology comes in. The latest intel suggests that a real behind-the-curtain fight is happening between two factions at DHS – one, personified by policy majordomo Stephen Miller, and the other, by bureaucratic knife-fighter (and Cava enjoyer) Tom Homan. The Homanites appear to be winning. The purpose of this advertorial is tell you why we think that is true, and provide a bit of speculation about why.

First, why do we think it is true? Not every resignation means a change in policy; sometimes, when the chief of the Border Patrol resigns after widespread accusations that he flew to Thailand, Colombia, and Mexico to avail himself of the services of prostitutes, it’s just an HR thing. But some reshuffles are more significant, and we think the following four suggest a new policy direction.

(1) Kristi Noem is out, and Markwayne Mullin is in. Secretary Noem performed her duties in vapid, vigorous, indecent, indecorous style, and she consistently personified the most outré and bizarre actions by the immigration enforcement bureaucracy, from calling protesters ‘domestic terrorists’ to LARPing as a HSI agent during raids. Former Sen. Mullin has taken a different public tack. Secretary Mullin – echoing public comments from Tom Homan – has repeated in interviews that DHS is targeting “the worst of the worst” rather than engaging in broad sweeps, and has said that the Minnesota operation, which led to the deaths of several American citizens, will not occur again. ” Secretary Mullin recently remarked, “[m]y goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day.” We don’t think you’ll see him posing at CECOT in a Rolex. (more…)


News

Construction is wrapping up at the intersection of Langston Blvd (Route 29) and Glebe Road.

Last week, the traffic signals hanging from wires were swapped out for new mast-arm signals. This week, the contractor is expected to complete the remaining sections of sidewalk, curb ramps, and curb and gutter, according to the county’s project webpage.


Opinion

Arlington recently announced the end of one of the only good things to come out of the pandemic: the widespread implementation of automatic pedestrian phases on many of our traffic signals.

In many areas, pedestrians will have to go back to pushing a button in order to trigger an opportunity to safely cross the street. The response from many has been “pushing a button is not a big deal,” and indeed, pushing a button is not hard or onerous; what is a big deal is the guaranteed additional pedestrian delay that comes along with it, the negative effect on accessibility and the message that it sends.


Event

Internationally acclaimed pianist Carlos César Rodríguez joins NCE for a luminous performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, “Elvira Madigan,” celebrated for its elegance, lyricism, and timeless appeal. Artistic Director and violinist Leo Sushansky takes center stage in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, a cornerstone of the violin repertoire, offering a deeply personal and passionate interpretation of its sweeping romantic lines.

The program is further enriched by Florence Price’s Adoration, a work of profound beauty and spiritual warmth, and Johan Svendsen’s Romance, cherished for its lyrical charm and expressive simplicity.


Around Town

For this week’s Pet of the Week, we’re featuring two adoptable pups, Myrtle and Martin.

Thanks to the good folks at Homeward Trails Adoption Center, this brother-sister duo was recently evacuated from Louisiana ahead of Hurricane Ida.


Weather

(Updated at 11:50 a.m.) If the early morning lightning storm didn’t wake you up, congratulations: you’re either an exceptionally deep sleeper or have some very high quality windows.

A supercell thunderstorm spawned ahead of the remnants of Hurricane Ida brought exceptionally frequent lightning and thunder to the area between 3-4 a.m. The light show and the loud booms awakened numerous local residents, not to mention their dogs and kids.


Events

Hand-painted canvases, ceramics and other works of art will adorn the streets of Clarendon this weekend for an art festival.

The Arlington Festival of the Arts will take place this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4-5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event, now in its ninth year, will be outdoors on N. Highland Street, beginning at the corner of N. Highland Street and Washington Blvd.


News

There are now more than 3,000 Amazon employees assigned to the company’s HQ2 in Arlington.

That’s more than double the amount of employees this time last year, according to a spokeswoman for the company.


News

Northam Declares State of Emergency — “Governor Ralph Northam today declared a state of emergency to respond to impacts from Tropical Depression Ida, which is expected to cause heavy rains and flooding along the I-81 and I-66 corridors. Localities in the southwest region have already experienced heavy rainfall in recent days, leading to flash floods and complicating storm preparation efforts. In addition to the flood threat, there is also a risk of tornadoes across the Commonwealth.” [Gov. Ralph Northam]

Jail to Distribute Fentanyl Tests — “Beginning September 1, 2021, Arlington County will begin to distribute fentanyl test strips to individuals being released from incarceration. This new effort is in response to rising overdose numbers.” [Arlington County]


Announcement

Running now through May 23rd, at Gunston Arts Center, Ghost Limb is a timely and haunting examination of authoritarianism set during Argentina’s Dirty War that draws poetic inspiration from the Persephone and Demeter myth. When Consuelo’s son is “disappeared” by the military, she discovers a psychic link between her injured arm and her tortured child-and races to find him before it’s too late.

90 minutes with no intermission