A fleet of robots has begun wandering the sidewalks between Ballston and Rosslyn, searching for any defects to report back to the county’s Department of Environmental Services.
The bots, which went live at the start of this month, use a combination of laser scanners, mobile mapping, AI and machine learning to look for defects like cracks, weeds or gaps of at least half an inch.
Arlington’s two Republican members of the Electoral Board appear at loggerheads over how long early-voting dropboxes should be available before Election Day.
Richard Samp, the senior Republican on the three-member panel and its vice chair, used the July 8 board meeting to press for a reduction from more than 40 days of use to just 10. Not everyone was in favor.
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…)
Crash Families Fault Army — “The Army has avoided accountability and shirked oversight months after the deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter in Washington, dozens of family members said in a letter to the Army’s top official, calling for action and greater transparency.” [Washington Post]
Va. Falls in CNBC Ranking — “Virginia, last year’s No. 1 state and a top three finisher in each of the last five years, slips to fourth place in 2025 — its worst showing since 2018 — and cedes the No. 1 spot to North Carolina. A major reason is a drop in the state’s Economy ranking, to No. 14 in 2025 from No. 11 last year.” [CNBC]
Dems Blast Falling Ranking — “Virginia used to be #1. But Trump’s attacks on the Federal government ravaged Virginia’s economy. Glenn Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears stood by cheering. These are the consequences.” [Arlington Democrats/X, Abigail Spanberger/X, Rep. Don Beyer/X]
Youngkin Blames CNBC — “Gov. Glenn Youngkin isn’t taking the demotion in stride. The Republican on Thursday blamed new methodology from CNBC this year that includes “a new subjective metric that mistakenly ascribes substantial risk to Virginia from the federal government’s presence in the Commonwealth,” Youngkin wrote on social media.” [WBJ, Gov. Glenn Youngkin/X]
Local GOP Club Leader Dies — “I write to you with a heavy heart to announce the untimely passing of Rebecca (Becky) Ault, Acting President of the Arlington Republican Women’s Club (ARWC), on the morning of Tuesday, July 1st.” [Arlington GOP]
New Metro Cars Coming — “Metro ordered 256 8000-Series railcars from @Hitachi Rail USA, with options for more to replace the 3000-Series. Pilot car delivery is now expected in June 2027. The design of the 8000-Series includes open gangways, digital displays, and more handholds! ADA compliance, improved seating, wider walkways, and multi-purpose areas are key.” [WMATA/X]
It’s Friday — Expect patchy fog until 9am, followed by mostly sunny skies and a high near 89 with light, variable winds. There is a 30% chance of precipitation. For Friday night, showers and thunderstorms are possible mainly before 7pm, transitioning to partly cloudy skies and a Low around 73 with calm winds. [NWS]
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 — Jul 10, 2025.
Here is what’s going on Friday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect showers and thunderstorms primarily after 5pm and patchy fog until 9am, followed by mostly sunny skies and a high near 89 with light, variable winds. There is a 30% chance of precipitation. For Friday night, showers and thunderstorms are possible mainly before 7pm, transitioning to partly cloudy skies and a Low around 73 with calm winds. The chance of precipitation remains at 30%. See more from Weather.gov.
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
– Lao Tzu
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.
Join Jadin O’Brien, Olympic athlete, 3x NCAA pentathlon champion and 10x All-American (heptathlon) winner for this in-person and virtual 5K. This event is sponsored by The Alex Manfull Fund to raise awareness and advance research on debilitating infection-associated neuroimmune disorders (including PANS and PANDAS) that affect young people. The 5K is part of the organization’s 36 Hours for PANS and PANDAS Advocacy in Motion event. Runners will receive a Finisher’s Medal, Technical (Drifit) Event Shirt and A Chip Timed Event. The event commemorates the life of Alex Manfull, who died at age 26 due to PANDAS. Susan and William Manfull established the Fund in their daughter’s name with the vision that no life ever again be cut short—or interrupted—by these illnesses. Learn more at TheAlexManfullFund.org.
The Virginia Court of Appeals has withdrawn a recent decision reinstating Arlington’s “Missing Middle” ordinance, once again striking it from the books as judges reconsider arguments.
In a ruling that adds yet another layer of complexity to the legal fight over the controversial zoning change, the appeals court agreed on Tuesday to reassess a judgment that the court handed down just last month.
A new 355-unit apartment building has begun leasing in Crystal City, completing a pair of neighboring developments at the site of a former office building.
Valen, a 25-story tower at 2050 S. Bell Street, offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows and a rooftop pool. Its neighbor at 2051 S. Bell Street, The Zoe, began leasing last fall.
A new cafe with Korean shaved ice and brioche sandwiches has opened at the Founders Row development in Falls Church.
Semicolon Cafe, a small New York City-based chain that also offers classic cafe beverages and pastries, opened late last month at 103 Founders Avenue.
Per-square-foot sales prices dropped but some other data points moved higher as the Arlington real-estate market closed out the first half of 2025.
The average per-square-foot sales price for homes that went to closing countywide in June was $482, according to statistical data reported July 10 by Bright MLS, the Mid-Atlantic’s multiple-listing service.
A man from Philly is set to spend a decade and a half in prison for drug distribution after being nabbed during a sting in Arlington.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, along with Arlington County police chief Andy Penn, announced the sentencing Thursday morning.
