A cafe franchise promising authentic Yemeni coffee and treats may soon fill a vacant space left by Chasin’ Tails in East Falls Church.
Qahwah House, a Michigan-based Yemeni coffee shop, has applied for work permits at 2200 N. Westmoreland Street, which the seafood restaurant left in 2022.
An Arlington School Board member is cautioning Democrats against arguing with voters about the school system’s policies on transgender students this election season.
“Please don’t engage — you don’t need to get into a debate,” School Board member Zuraya Tapia-Hadley told attendees at an Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting on Wednesday.
Medically reviewed by Dr. Carl Williams, PhD, LCADC
For families in Arlington and nearby Northern Virginia communities, the search for addiction treatment often begins with a practical question: What kind of help is actually appropriate?
The answer isn’t always obvious. A person may be working full time, caring for children or maintaining a household while substance use becomes increasingly difficult to control. Another person may need a more structured level of care because of medical, psychological or safety concerns.
Recent local data show progress in reducing opioid overdose deaths, but they also show why access to treatment remains important.
Arlington County recorded 29 opioid overdoses in 2025, including three fatal overdoses. That was a substantial decline from 53 total opioid overdoses and 10 fatal overdoses in 2024, according to Arlington County’s opioid incident data.
The numbers represent meaningful progress. Arlington’s Addiction Recovery Initiative, or AARI, continues to coordinate prevention, treatment access, harm reduction and overdose-response efforts across the county. Arlington also provides a substance-use resource line to help people connect with treatment, support groups and other services.
The broader Northern Virginia picture shows a similar direction. In the Fairfax Health District, there were 56 opioid overdose fatalities in 2025, down 22% from 72 in 2024 and 52% from the record high of 117 in 2023. Fairfax County reported the figures in June 2026.
Fairfax-specific figures shouldn’t be read as Arlington statistics. They do, however, provide useful regional context for families in Arlington, Falls Church and neighboring communities who may be comparing treatment options across Northern Virginia.
Several factors can influence overdose trends, including wider access to naloxone, treatment services, medications for opioid use disorder, public education and changes in the illicit drug supply. Local prevention and response systems can also make it easier for people to receive help after an overdose or other substance-related crisis.
But overdose statistics capture only one part of substance use. A person doesn’t have to experience an overdose to have a substance use disorder, and someone can struggle for years without entering formal treatment.
Fairfax County’s treatment numbers illustrate the continuing need. More than 2,105 people with opioid use disorder received assessment and treatment services through the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board in fiscal year 2025.
For families trying to decide whether treatment is necessary, the question is therefore broader than whether an overdose has occurred.
Substance use can be difficult to recognize when a person continues meeting visible responsibilities.
A professional may continue showing up for work while drinking or using drugs in private. A parent may continue managing school schedules and household responsibilities while relying increasingly on substances to cope with stress. Someone can appear successful to friends and colleagues while privately experiencing cravings, loss of control or repeated attempts to cut back.
Worst Costco for Parking? — “POV: Look on the bright side…life could always be worse…like this Costco parking lot we found in Arlington, Va.” [Costco Twins/IG]
Indecent Exposure in Va. Square — “On September 2 at approximately 3:40 p.m., one adult victim and two juvenile victims were in the area when the unknown male suspect approached and exposed himself. The victims left the area and went a nearby business. The suspect followed them, and the three victims left the business to get away from the suspect. The suspect is described as a male in his 60s, approximately 5’5” tall, wearing jeans and a football jersey.” [ACPD]
Alleged Armed Drunk Driver — “Last night, an officer conducted a traffic stop resulting in the recovery of a loaded firearm and the arrest of the driver for DUI and a firearm violation. These proactive efforts demonstrate ACPD’s commitment to keeping our community safe in accordance with our key initiatives.” [ACPD/X]
Feds Seen in Arlandria — “Federal agents were spotted in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood on Friday, Sept. 5. There were no reports of arrests. Footage taken by ALXnow at around 9:30 a.m. shows multiple vehicles with Texas license plates in the parking lot of The Birchmere at 3701 Mount Vernon Avenue. A photo submitted to ALXnow also shows federal officers speaking to people at Four Mile Run Park.” [ALXnow]
Celebrating Commanders Victory — “Washington Commanders fans left the Crystal City Sports Pub feeling good following their team’s season-opening win at home Sunday against NFC division rival, the New York Giants.” [DC News Now]
Student Science Project in Space — “On Aug. 24, 5,000 lbs. of cargo were sent to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Included in that cargo was an experiment created by Yorktown senior Ryan Sullivan, Arlington Tech freshman Asher Greene, and Washington-Liberty freshman Grayson Talbot.” [APS]
Food Hall in Potomac Yard — “Wonder has inked a sublease for its first Alexandria restaurant, with the fast-growing concept sharing a 7,000-square-foot building currently half occupied by Chase Bank. The quasi-food hall, where recipes from a host of celebrity chefs and high-profile restaurants are prepared for dine-in or takeout, has subleased 3,458 square feet at 3625 Richmond Highway in Potomac Yard.” [WBJ]
Spotted Lantern Fly Spotted — “These spotted lanternflies from Asia are getting awfully big. Hope the War Department has the resources to handle this invader that came over our borders.” [Dave Statter/X]
Rain Helps But Dry Streak Continues — “Washington’s two-week dry spell came to a close Thursday during hit-or-miss showers and storms. It probably wasn’t enough to have a major impact on the return of dry conditions over recent weeks… National Weather Service outlooks for the next two weeks favor drier-than-average weather continuing.” [CWG]
It’s Monday — Expect sunny skies and a high near 75 with a gentle northeast breeze at 7 mph. Overnight, the skies will remain mostly clear as the temperature drops to around 54, and the east wind at 5 mph will calm down by evening. [NWS]
Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by Industrious. ARLnow has been in 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.
Registration is now open for Rosslyn Fall Fest, returning to the NOW pop-up park (1401 Wilson Blvd) on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 1 to 6 p.m. Expanded this year onto Oak Street, the FREE event will transform Arlington’s most urban neighborhood into a seasonal destination featuring an inflatable corn maze, local makers market, seasonal beer garden, live music, and fall-themed experiences for all ages to enjoy.
Attendees can explore a curated market of local makers and artisans, enjoy ciders and seasonal brews in the beer garden, navigate an inflatable corn maze, test their skills at inflatable axe throwing, and take part in pumpkin-themed activities and other fall experiences. Food vendors, live music, and dog-friendly programming round out the afternoon.
Points were abundant in blowout victories by Arlington’s three public-school teams in their second games of the 2025 high-school football season.
Two of the Sept. 5 wins were home, non-district blowouts for the Yorktown Patriots and Wakefield Warriors, now both 1-1, in public-school contests.
Join us at Westover Taco for the official Fund Her Game Charity Launch, bringing together athletes, fans, business leaders, and community supporters who want to strengthen girls’ and women’s sports across the DMV.
Fund Her Game was created to invest in the teams, leagues, programs, and organizations that help women and girls play, compete, develop, and lead, from recreational sports through professional competition.
Good Friday 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 — Sep 5, 2025.
Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.
Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Here are the events planned for Sunday:
Expect showers and potential thunderstorms with a high near 89°F and southwest winds of 5-8 mph; there’s an 80% chance of precipitation. Rainfall may measure between a tenth and a quarter of an inch, with higher amounts possible during storms. On Saturday night, anticipate showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, followed by likely showers and a low around 62°F. A north wind of around 7 mph will accompany an 80% chance of precipitation, with rainfall mirroring daytime figures. See more from Weather.gov.
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
– Elon Musk
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. 👋
The weekend is here and so is a new episode of the ARLnow podcast.
In the latest episode, Vernon, Dan and Lene — and two special guests, Simon Rathle and David Guas from Bayou Bakery — discuss a few notable local news stories in Arlington from the past week, including:
Arlington Public Schools leaders are seeking to help more students earn college degrees in tandem with high school diplomas.
In the spring, 19 students at Arlington Tech — the Governor’s STEM Academy at the Arlington Career Center — received associate’s degrees from Northern Virginia Community College through the program’s dual-enrollment effort.
Arlington native Major Jeff “Simmer” Downie and his F-16C are making the trip back to the D.C. area next week to fly in a show he grew up watching.
Downie is the lead solo pilot with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. When the air demonstration squadron comes to Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County on Sept. 13 and 14, it’ll be a rare opportunity for Downie to fly near his hometown.
Several years ago, ARLnow stopped publishing letters to the editor and opinion columns.
Whereas opinion content in print newspapers was largely confined to its own section, clearly separate from the news, the internet flattens content and makes every post “headline news” somewhere, from social feeds to search results to email newsletters. We heard from many readers who voiced concerns less at the ideas expressed in opinion articles and more so in ARLnow’s decision to “highlight” them.
Given that our primary focus is reporting the news, it wasn’t too hard of a decision to pull back on publishing opinion content. After all, those who want to voice their thoughts on local issues can always do so in our comment section.
But the comment section itself has not been immune to the broader deterioration of online engagement, which has over time resulted it in becoming more of a battleground for political takes than the forum for purely local insights and discourse that many would prefer.
So in an attempt to bring back more longer-form local opinion and analysis, we’re bringing back letters to the editor. But with a twist.
We’ve created our own Letter to the Editor forum, where anyone can submit letters for all to read, upvote and comment on, and for ARLnow to consider for publication. We’ve yet to decide if and how we will publish letters to the editor on the site — that will depend on the volume and quality of the submissions we receive.
We’d appreciate any feedback on this new offering, including bug reports (this is a beta version, after all). Please email us with your thoughts.
Happy posting!
Please join us in congratulating Benny Mirpuri, owner of Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repair at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, on reaching an incredible 35 years in business.
For three and a half decades, Benny has proudly served the Pentagon City and surrounding communities, providing quality jewelry and watch repair services along with the exceptional customer service that has made Fast-Fix a trusted local business.
