Arlingtonians’ views of the county government performance and overall quality of life have not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, a new survey confirms.
While improving from the last resident-satisfaction survey conducted in 2022, overall grades on six key metrics remain down from 2018, according to data presented June 17 to County Board members.
Pedestrian Killed on Parkway — An adult man died after being struck by a vehicle around 4 a.m. Saturday on the northbound George Washington Memorial Parkway near Columbia Island, U.S. Park Police said. The driver stayed at the scene and called 911. Medics took the victim to a local hospital, where he later died. Northbound lanes were closed at I-395 during the investigation. [WTOP]
Subsidized Housing Snapshot — About 4,600 Arlington residents — 1.9% of the county’s population — lived in subsidized housing in 2025, below the statewide average of 2.2%, according to USAFacts. Those households earned an average of $22,415 a year and paid about $535 a month in rent, with federal subsidies covering the rest. [USAFacts]
New Deputies Graduate — Seven new Arlington County deputy sheriffs graduated June 2 from the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy after 10 weeks of training in jail operations, court security and other duties. [Arlington County]
Data Centers Face New Fee — Virginia lawmakers have agreed to tax data centers’ electricity use in a budget deal expected to raise $1.2 billion over the next two years. The fee would charge $0.011 per kilowatt-hour, capped at $600 million annually, and still needs approval from both chambers and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D). [Virginia Scope]
Fight the Bite — The Virginia Department of Health is marking Mosquito Control Awareness Week, which runs June 21–27, with tips on how residents can prevent mosquito bites. [VDH/X]
Storm Threat Today — “Watching Monday closely: More than one round of strong to severe storms possible, with damaging wind gusts over 57 mph the primary threat. A few tornadoes can’t be ruled out, along with flooding downpours in spots.” Storms are most likely after 2 p.m., with the NWS also warning of possible flash flooding. [Capital Weather/X, NWS/X]
It’s Monday — Expect a high near 92 with showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 2 p.m., and south winds gusting up to 25 mph. Storms continue overnight with a low around 67 and up to an inch of rain possible. [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.
Every year, for just a few minutes, one of Arlington’s most iconic works of public art comes to life exactly as its artist intended.
On Saturday, Aug. 1, at approximately 9:32 a.m., visitors will gather in Rosslyn to witness the annual shadow alignment at Nancy Holt’s Dark Star Park (1979–84). At that precise moment, the shadows cast by the sculpture’s spheres and poles align with permanent shadow forms embedded in the ground—a phenomenon Holt designed to commemorate the anniversary of Rosslyn’s founding.
The alignment lasts only a few moments, but it has become a beloved Arlington tradition, drawing residents, visitors, artists and architecture enthusiasts alike to experience the intersection of art, astronomy, and history. If the weather cooperates, the park transforms into a striking demonstration of how light, time and place can become part of a work of art.
Created between 1979 and 1984, Dark Star Park was Arlington’s first County-commissioned public artwork and remains one of the nation’s earliest examples of integrated public art—where sculpture, landscape architecture and the surrounding environment function as a single work. Rather than placing an object within a park, Holt made the entire park the artwork, incorporating spheres, pools, steel poles, tunnels, earthworks and carefully positioned plantings into an immersive landscape.
Nancy Holt (1938–2014) was a pioneering artist whose work spanned poetry, film, photography, land art and large-scale public sculpture. Throughout her career, she explored perception, time and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Dark Star Park remains her most significant urban installation and one of the few major works by the artist that can be experienced in an accessible city setting.
Whether you’ve attended for years or have never visited before, Dark Star Park Day offers a rare opportunity to experience a public artwork that changes with the movement of the sun—and reminds us that some of the most memorable moments in art happen not inside a museum, but out in the world around us.
Dark Star Park Day
When: Saturday, Aug. 1, beginning around 9 a.m.; shadow alignment at approximately 9:32 a.m.
Where: Dark Star Park, 1655 N. Fort Myer Drive, Rosslyn
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 — Jun 19, 2026.
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:
It will be sunny with a high near 85°F and a west wind blowing at 7 to 13 mph, with gusts up to 22 mph. Saturday night will be mostly clear with a low around 65°F and a west wind at 3 to 8 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
– Mark Twain
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. 👋
A pair of good Samaritans rescued a kayaker knocked into the Potomac River without a life vest during a sudden thunderstorm last week.
The kayaker, an older man who has been paddling the Potomac for the last 25 years, had been caught off guard by heavy winds and rain on June 11. Forced out of his kayak by the waves, he was left stranded in the river and unsuccessfully tried to catch the attention of several other vessels before boaters Orlando Karpf and Madison Cutlip heard his cries for help.
*Mamistad Groups meet IN PERSON-only the introductory Zoom call is virtual. :)
Pregnancy and new mom groups are a lifesaver when it comes to normalizing those feelings we just can’t be prepared for.
Reaching state tournaments this spring season was something familiar for one Yorktown High School team, but a new experience for a second.
Getting there marked a first for the girls softball team, but was old hat for the previous state-champion boys lacrosse squad.
From Italian subs stacked with imported cold cuts to slow-roasted turkey and beef cuts at local delis, Arlington has sandwiches for every palate.
Here are the nominees for “Best Sandwich Shop in Arlington” as part of our ARLnow Readers’ Choice awards.
Did we miss your favorite spot? Write it in!
Voting will close in two weeks.
Voting for Best Pet Boarding 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 Family Physician in Arlington. The results are now official:
It could now be 2027 before any community task force is empaneled to consider structural changes to county governance.
A timetable put in place last December suggested that a task force could be appointed sometime in the second half of 2026. But getting past a number of procedural steps has taken longer than anticipated, County Board members were told at their June 17 meeting.
Falls Church could consolidate all Election Day voting in a single location, if the General Assembly supports doing so next year.
The city currently is divided into three voting wards, with two voting in different parts of the Falls Church Community Center and the third at Oak Street Elementary School.
Recent trends in Arlington’s hotel-occupancy and room rates are pointing modestly upward after a downturn in 2025.
For the first four months of 2026, the county’s hotel-occupancy rate was up 2% year-over-year, while the revenue per available room was up nearly 6%, according to new data.
