The county government’s arborist is pushing back on accusations that an iconic tree was removed needlessly from a Lyon Park median.
But local residents aghast at the removal aren’t letting the county government off the hook for its actions.
New APS Labor Agreement –“The Arlington School Board today certified a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between Arlington Public Schools (APS) and the Arlington School Administrators (ASA)… The APS–ASA successor agreement signed today is the most comprehensive administrative collective bargaining agreement in the Commonwealth.” [Press Release]
County Tops LGBTQ Rating — “Arlington County earned a perfect score – 100 out of 100 – on the Human Rights Campaign’s 14th annual Municipal Equality Index (MEI). The MEI examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there. Arlington again received a score of 100 – plus an additional 16 bonus points – on the MEI Scorecard.” [Arlington County]
Video: Pentagon City Crash — “The changes @ArlingtonDES made with the Army Navy Drive Complete Street Project seem to have greatly reduced the number of crashes at this intersection (once the lights were better aligned). This is the first one I’ve seen in a while.” [Dave Statter/X]
Trees Cut Along Route 50 — “Looks like someone took a machete to all of the young recently-planted sapling trees along Arlington Blvd between N Courthouse Rd and 10th St N. There are now yard signs warning people that damaging the trees is a class 3 misdemeanor.” [Adam Theo/Bluesky]
New Chick-fil-A at DCA — “Christmas came early and Chick-fil-A is back and better than ever!!!!!!! The newly expanded restaurant reopened today, bringing back fan favorites, just in time for your holiday travels. National Hall, near the D Gates.” [Reagan Airport/X]
Spanberger’s Latest Plans — “Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) began rolling out specifics Thursday of how she plans to deliver a more affordable Virginia, offering proposed legislation in areas of health care, housing and energy that she said uphold the promises that got her elected last month.” [Washington Post]
Latest on Legion Bridge — “The Trump administration appears to be growing impatient with a perceived lack of progress by Maryland to replace the American Legion Memorial Bridge. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced last week (Dec. 9) that the Federal Highway Administration will seek feedback and proposals on ways to accelerate the delivery of a new bridge in the hopes of relieving congestion on the Capital Beltway.” [FFXnow]
Trump’s Name Now on Kennedy Center — “The Kennedy Center installed President Donald Trump’s name on its exterior Friday morning, a dramatic change to a building established by law as a “living memorial” to a slain president.” [Washington Post]
It’s Monday — The skies will gradually become cloudy, reaching a high temperature of around 44 degrees, accompanied by a light southwestern wind. Monday night, there is a 40% chance of rain and snow occurring from 1 am to 4 am, followed by a possibility of rain after 4 am. With an expected low of 35 degrees, the light south wind will intensify to 5-10 mph later in the evening. [NWS]
Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. ARLnow has been decking the halls at an Industrious office for years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing your own coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked. Industrious has several Metro-accessible coworking locations in Arlington to keep your season merry and bright.
Photo courtesy Tom Mockler/X
Pinky Swear Productions is excited to announce the remount of the 2023 Best Musical winner of Capital Fringe Bell Wringer
Have you ever been beset by strange happenings? A weird creature in your backyard…or closet? Someone poked you, but nobody’s there? One Tennessee family sure has.
This fast-paced bluegrass musical follows the true story* of the haunting of the Bell family as they attempt to cope with the presence of a mischievous and malevolent witch. Why did she do it? Well, you’ll get an explanation. Or not. But you’ll definitely be entertained by the hijinks and hubbub of the legendary boo-hag of Red River!
Only ten shows, so act fast before she disappears to haunt another town.
Details
Where: Gunston Theater 2, 2700 S Lang St, Arlington, VA 22206
When: October 22 – 31
Thursday & Friday 7:30 PM
Saturday & Sunday 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM
Run time: 80 minutes, no intermission
Ages: Suitable for middle school & up
by Seth Alcorn & Karen Lange
Directed by Jen Jacobs
Featuring: co-writer Karen Lange, Tom Howley, Nicole Ruthmarie, Julia Rudgers, Adrian Iglesias, and Hope Gundlah
*Well, local lore claims it’s true
Good Friday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
🕗 News recap
The following articles were published earlier today — Dec 19, 2025.
- 7:30 am: Morning Notes for December 19, 2025 | 🗣️ Comments
- 8:30 am: Decision on creating governance task force pushed back to summer of 2026 | 🗣️ Comments
- 9:15 am: Barcroft Apartments named a state landmark, paving the way for historic designation | 🗣️ Comments
- 10:00 am: Smart growth and a more stable economy among 2026 goals for County Board chair | 🗣️ Comments
- 11:15 am: Falls Church library’s new digital archive provides more access to local history | 🗣️ Comments
- 11:45 am: Poll: Favorite community event in Arlington | 🗣️ Comments
- 1:30 pm: Crystal City Restaurant sold to adult entertainment chain after 62 years in business | 🗣️ Comments
- 2:45 pm: ARLnow and sister sites switching to new email platform | 🗣️ Comments
- 3:15 pm: Police investigate crashes in Ballston and Arna Valley, identify victim of fatal wreck on S. Glebe Road | 🗣️ Comments
- 3:45 pm: Results of new rating system for Virginia schools create confusion for APS leaders | 🗣️ Comments
Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.
- BREAKING: Police investigating fatal crash overnight on S. Glebe Road (30246 views)
- UPDATED: Two pedestrians struck in Ballston road rage incident (26112 views)
- UPDATED: Driver dead after car careens down sidewalk in Ballston (19120 views)
- Crystal City Restaurant sold to adult entertainment chain after 62 years in business (16971 views)
- Stratford Garden restaurant and bar opens at former motel in Falls Church (13746 views)
- Lyon Park residents demand answers after iconic tree removed from median (9660 views)
- Police: Man beat up three people in Crystal City then urinated in public after arrest (8822 views)
- Arlington faces $13M shortfall from low consumer spending and real estate revenue (8002 views)
- BGR: The Burger Joint closing next week in Lyon Village after 15 years (7741 views)
- Federal workers to get extra days off before, after Christmas (7510 views)
- Yorktown sophomore wins piano competition, will perform with National Chamber Ensemble (7119 views)
- Jurors deadlock in case of W-L substitute teacher accused of sexual relations with a student (7073 views)
- Christmas movie marathon at Arlington Drafthouse begins tomorrow (5118 views)
📅 Upcoming events
Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
- 9:30 am: Artisan Fair — Barcroft Apartments
- 12:00 pm: Sungazing at the National Air and Space Museum
- 👉 7:30 pm: National Chamber Ensemble – Holiday Cheer!
Here are the events planned for Sunday:
- 2:00 pm: Learn to Letterbox: Winter Holiday Edition
- 👉 5:00 pm: Live Nativity at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church
🌤️ Saturday’s forecast
Expect a mostly sunny day with a high temperature near 44 degrees, as calm winds in the morning shift to the south, ranging from 5 to 9 mph. For Saturday night, skies will be partly cloudy, with the temperature dropping to around 36 degrees and a south wind blowing between 8 to 11 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
– Buddha
🌅 Tonight’s sunset
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! 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. 👋
Explore exciting fall workshops at Art House 7! Coming up October 24–25, master artist Teresa Oaxaca returns for a special 2-day Painting a Child’s Portrait in Oils workshop for ages 16–adult. Looking for something shorter? Try the pottery wheel, create a ceramic leaf plate or keepsake ornaments, or explore drawing, printmaking, and Suminagashi. We also offer parent-child workshops and special art workshops for kids on Veterans Day and Election Day!
Art House 7 offers classes throughout the year, taught by a range of fantastic teachers. You can buy art supplies next door. We’re near the Lee Harrison Shopping Center.
County education leaders are still evaluating new accountability ratings that showed a mix of success and shortcomings among Arlington schools.
Eight Arlington schools were categorized as “Needs Intensive Support” under new rating system and first results released earlier this month by the Virginia Department of Education, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members at their Dec. 18 meeting.
Add to Calendar
Join us in person for a day packed with excitement and peace of mind! Our Child Safety Fun event features a cool fair filled with games and activities for the kids, plus a seat check station to make sure the car seats are installed correctly and to ensure your little ones are buckled up safely. It's a perfect chance to have fun and learn some important safety tips. Don’t miss out on this awesome event made just for families!
Thursday was a busy night of vehicular incidents for Arlington County first responders.
Less than two hours after a pair of pedestrians were struck and injured in an alleged road rage hit-and-run, another pedestrian was struck a few blocks away in Ballston. A woman crossing in the crosswalk at Fairfax Drive and N. Utah Street was hospitalized, police say, after she was struck by the driver of a pickup truck.
ARLnow is approaching its 16th anniversary next month and much has changed in media during that time.
On the digital side, the blogging era gave way to the Buzzfeed era of scaled, social media-driven audiences, which has since given way to a more atomized era of niche media, podcasters, YouTubers and email newsletters.
An institution in the D.C. area adult entertainment scene is changing hands to a regional chain.
Crystal City Restaurant and Gentlemen’s Club (422 23rd Street S.) has been sold to Paper Moon, which operates other gentlemen’s clubs in Richmond, Northern Virginia and D.C. It’s only the second time the family-owned business has transferred ownership in its 62-year history.
Go to Crystal City Restaurant sold to adult entertainment chain after 62 years in business
Read more
As the end of the year approaches, this week we’re taking a step back to look at something many residents say they love about Arlington: its community.
Year after year, Arlington’s community events help to bring people together and offer an opportunity to share in experiences that can’t be found anywhere else.
Here are the nominees for “The Best Community Event in Arlington” as part of our ARLnow Readers’ Choice awards.
Did we miss your favorite event? Write it in!
Voting will close in two weeks.
Voting for Best Spa in Arlington is still taking place. Be sure to cast your vote before voting closes next Friday at 8:30 a.m.
Two weeks ago, we voted on the Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in Arlington. The results are now official:
- Lebanese Taverna
- Yayla Bistro
- Istanbul Grill
An ever-increasing amount of Falls Church history is now available with just a few keystrokes.
The city’s Mary Riley Styles Public Library has started encouraging the public to take a test drive of its new digital archive.