Good morning, Arlington. Jo here. It’s Thursday, August 19: National Potato Day and Bill Clinton’s 75th birthday.
The following are preview of stories we’re planning to cover later today.
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(Updated at 6:15 p.m.) Police and firefighters are on scene of an overturned vehicle in Pentagon City, near the Costco and the Amazon HQ2 construction site.
The crash happened around 3:45 p.m. at the intersection of 15th Street S. and S. Elm Street. Photos from the scene show only a single vehicle: a black SUV resting on its side, with its windshield smashed. Bystanders could be seen standing around it, before police arrived.
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This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.
Just in time to celebrate America’s founding in 1776, Arlington’s Dominion Stage will conclude its 76th Season with Dead Air by Greg Jones Ellis, May 29 through June 13, at Theater On the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr., Arlington, Virginia.
The inaugural winner of Dominion Stage’s Playwriting Competition, Dead Air introduces us to “Reggie,” a popular TV host whose on-air trademark is “my son the genius.” However, the son is a recluse who resents his mother’s use of him as a “Unique Selling Point” in the increasingly competitive daytime talk show world. As Reggie’s career takes off, her on-air advice to a variety of guests ironically contrasts with her failing marriage and her troubled child.
As one of Arlington’s oldest cultural institutions, Dominion Stage has decidedly made a name for itself. During the pandemic, they expanded upon that reputation by initiating its Playwriting Competition, of which Dead Air was the inaugural winner.
“A play isn’t a play until it’s fully staged, but playwrights need encouragement along the way,” says playwright Greg Jones Ellis, who was the inaugural winner. “Winning the Dominion Stage Best Play award validated my effort and supplied that encouragement.”
As the Competition was initiated during the pandemic, the winning play was treated to a live-streamed staged reading. Over the next several years, the play was further refined and tweaked. The Competition itself evolved: post-pandemic, winning plays are now given full stagings as the final show of each Dominion Stage season.
“I’m so glad I reached out to Dominion Stage after the pandemic and inquired about a full production. I think the play is in very good hands at Dominion Stage; the director is sensitively guiding each actor, all of whom are giving their roles 100%,” said Ellis. (more…)
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(Updated 8/19 at 12:25 p.m.) Some Arlingtonians suspected it a few weeks ago, and an entomologist with Virginia Tech has now confirmed it: those mysterious, itchy red bug bites generating a buzz here are likely from oak itch mites.
The Virginia Tech Insect ID Lab has not yet received a mite this year to study, Kirsten Ann Conrad, an extension agent for Virginia Cooperative Extension, tells ARLnow. But the mite theory nonetheless is likely correct, she says.
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
Two people were hurt in an armed robbery of Preston’s Pharmacy on Route 29 this morning.
The robbery happened around 9:15 a.m. at the neighborhood pharmacy, located at 5101 Lee Highway.
Friday, May 29, 2026
8pm (Doors open at 7)
Most of Arlington’s current Protected Bike Lanes have a weak point: bus stops.
While riders have a largely low-stress, comfortable ride separated from moving cars by parked cars, that protection falls away at the bus stop where they need to mix with large vehicles that have somewhat limited rear and side visibility.
Introducing our latest Pet of the Week… Kaia! Find this 5-month-old mini Siberian husky exploring the streets of Rosslyn. If you see her, say hi — she loves attention.
Here’s what else you need to know about this blue-eyed beauty:
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(Updated at noon) The remnants of Tropical Storm Fred may cause more than just heavy rain today.
Arlington and most of the D.C. area is now under a Tornado Watch. The watch is in effect until 8 p.m.
Cherry Blow Dry Bar, which has operated at 1041 N. Highland Street in Clarendon for just over six years, closed earlier this month, citing financial issues.
“We essentially closed because we used all the operating capital we had available,” said Jonathan Carver, who owned the Clarendon blow dry bar for the past two years, and closed it on Aug. 2.
The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial is currently closed to the public due COVID protocols and may not be open to the public by September 11, a Pentagon spokesperson confirms to ARLnow.
The Department of Defense closed down the 9/11 Memorial and public tours again earlier this month due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the region.
This Memorial Weekend: Argentine Festival USA Returns May 23
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