A 21-year-old man is behind bars after police say he robbed the same tobacco shop in Virginia Square multiple times.
Arlington County police made the announcement early Thursday afternoon. Police say the suspect robbed the store — understood to be the Tobacco Hut at 3528 Wilson Blvd — and stabbed an employee last month, resulting in serious injuries.
Two of Arlington’s Taco Bell locations are expected to host hundreds of runners the last weekend of November during a 50K race fueled by Tex-Mex.
The Taco Bell DC 50K — an unlicensed event billed as both “the ultimate mix of endurance and spice” and “something completely stupid” — will take contestants on a roughly 32-mile loop, visiting eight Taco Bell locations in Northern Virginia and D.C. on Saturday, Nov. 29.
When Eddie Kaufholz and his family moved to Arlington nearly five years ago, they were not thinking about starting a business. They wanted to live in a place that was diverse, interesting and full of opportunity, with a school system they could rely on. Arlington fit.
In the years that followed, working out of a home office off Columbia Pike, he consulted with organizations across Northern Virginia and around the country: nonprofits, advocacy groups, mid-sized companies, agencies of various sizes. The work itself was good. But somewhere across all those projects, he started to notice a pattern.
”The agency model has gotten really bloated,” Kaufholz says. ”Layers, handoffs, middle management. The senior people who pitch the work often disappear once it starts. The idea with PILLAR was to strip all of that down; keep senior people on the work, approach each client with humility and care, do world-class strategy and execution, and pass the efficiency back to the client instead of absorbing it as agency margin.”
That thinking, slowly, became PILLAR, the Arlington-headquartered creative, communications and marketing agency Kaufholz founded.
PILLAR, he says, is built on an old idea. ”An idea that has always been possible but rarely practiced: that an agency should be structured to serve the work itself.” The team that delivers the work is assembled around the specific needs of each client and only stays as long as the work calls for them.
”The senior strategist on your kick-off call is the senior strategist writing your messaging,” Kaufholz says. ”Every person on a project is there because the work specifically calls for them.”
PILLAR’s recent work has spanned human rights, executive leadership, higher education, advocacy and direct-to-consumer ecommerce. The roster has included national nonprofits, a national multimillion-dollar direct-to-consumer brand and a number of institutions navigating significant moments of strategic change. The model is built to scale up to be the agency of record for a national brand, or to scale down to design a logo for a neighborhood nonprofit. PILLAR takes equal pride and care in both.
What Kaufholz did not understand when he started, he said, was how much the County itself would matter in making any of it possible. (more…)
It’s that time of year again. This Sunday at 2 a.m., we’ll “fall back” as Daylight Saving Time comes to an end for 2025.
While gaining an extra hour of sleep sounds nice in theory, the reality of earlier sunsets and darker evenings can be a tough adjustment for many. By the end of next week, the sun will be setting before 5 p.m. in Arlington, leaving many commuters heading home in the dark.
Amazon is slashing about 14,000 jobs, but the company’s HQ2 in Pentagon City will mostly be spared, ARLnow is told.
The company said in a Tuesday letter to employees that it is laying off thousands of corporate workers to reduce bureaucracy and “realize efficiency gains” in “this generation of AI.”
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.
A Falls Church “toy library” will let customers borrow some toys free of charge in exchange for donations of leftover candy following Halloween.
The Toy Nest is collecting unopened candy as part of its annual candy buyback program, which loans out games, puzzles and more in exchange for sugary treats. The buyback program runs for a week, beginning the day after Halloween this Saturday.
Military Prompts Delays at DCA — “Flights were impacted at Arlington, Virginia’s Reagan National Airport for a period on [Wednesday] afternoon after two jets and a Coast Guard helicopter were called to an airspace violation north of D.C., though no aircraft was actually found, sources told ABC News.” [WJLA, WUSA 9]
Tech Glitch In Juror System — Arlington Circuit Court officials yesterday grappled with a technical glitch related to a vendor’s website that left those seeking to fill out juror questionnaires for 2026 unable to respond. Clerk of Court Paul Ferguson told ARLnow the problem was rectified by the early afternoon, acknowledging his office had fielded “hundreds of calls” from those trying to complete the online response form, which is required by law, but unable to do so. –Scott McCaffrey
Feds Struggle With Finances — “While on intermittent family medical leave for an illness, Brown fell behind on car payments. However, she had an arrangement to make them up, as soon as she returned to work and received her first paycheck in October. But just as she returned to work, the federal government shut down. She received a partial paycheck, but when she left her Arlington, Virginia, condo one day, she noticed the car had been taken.” [WTOP, Axios]
Regional Spending Is Down — “Credit card spending is down in the DMV, per new Bank of America data. The shutdown is likely to blame, the bank says. Compared to last year, card spending per household in the D.C. area dropped 1.4% in the week ending Oct. 18.” [Axios]
Pentagon Wants Faster Firings — “The Pentagon removed key protections for defense civilian workers and directed that managers move with “speed and conviction” to fire employees with “unacceptable” performance reviews last month, just a day before the government shut down.” [Washington Post]
Cox Case in Court — “Registered sex offender Richard Cox was back in an Arlington County Courtroom Wednesday, asking the judge to represent himself on some of the charges he faces… The Arlington prosecutor said if Cox chooses to represent himself on all charges, the prosecutor will file motions to try to stop that. The prosecutor doesn’t want Cox to be able to cross-examine alleged child victims.” [WJLA]
More on Va. Redistricting — “Democrats argued that’s precisely why they propose opening this process. “Potentially giving the voters a choice to revisit their past decision in a small way under extraordinary circumstances undermines no one,” said Sen. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria).” [Washington Post]
Gov. Race Has Wide Impact — “Spanberger’s stump speech, however, hints at the possible national implications of her race. House Democrats plan to center affordability and the needs of the working class in their push to retake the House next year, and Spanberger’s speech seems to provide a blueprint for that strategy. After invoking the issues that matter most to voters, Spanberger was quick to list three issues that make life unaffordable: the cost of housing, health care and energy.” [Washington Post]
F.C. Field Hockey in Finals — “The Meridian Mustangs earned their third overtime win in the past seven days, with Zorah Randhawa’s goal completing an improbable rally to defeat James Monroe 2-1 in the Regional Semifinals. If you haven’t been riding the emotional roller coaster that is the Meridian High School field hockey team, jump on now.” [FCNP]
Coastal Flooding Possible — “A Coastal Flood Warning has been issued for Arlington County for tomorrow, October 30, from 9 AM to 6 PM. Tidal flooding possible, with up to a foot of water in low-lying areas. Avoid flooded roads.” [Arlington Alert/X]
It’s Thursday — Expect rain and possible storms in the morning, followed by midday showers and then clearing conditions later in the afternoon, with a high of 66 degrees. Southeast winds of 13-15 mph will turn south, with gusts up to 24 mph. There is a 90% chance of precipitation, with half to three-quarters of an inch of rainfall possible. Thursday night will be mostly clear, with a low of 47 degrees and west winds of 9-11 mph, gusting up to 20 mph. [NWS]
Good Wednesday 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 — Oct 29, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Thursday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect rain and a potential thunderstorm before 1pm, followed by possible showers between 1pm and 2pm, with a high of 66 degrees. Southeast winds of 13-15 mph will turn south in the afternoon, with gusts up to 24 mph. There is a 90% chance of precipitation, with half to three-quarters of an inch of rainfall possible. Thursday night will be mostly clear, with a low of 47 degrees and west winds of 9-11 mph, gusting up to 20 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
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Three years of pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly upgrades along Army Navy Drive culminated in a ribbon cutting in Pentagon City today (Wednesday).
Four members of the Arlington County Board, the chair of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority and other transit advocates attended the ceremony at the intersection of Army Navy Drive and S. Hayes Street, along the 0.6-mile stretch of road that received improvements between S. Joyce Street and 12th Street S.
Local food security organizations are seeking donations and urging caution as uncertainty continues to hang over food assistance in Virginia during the government shutdown.
While federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is expected to come to a halt on Saturday unless lawmakers strike a deal, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced a plan yesterday for a stopgap measure to make sure people can still eat.
