As interest in building and renting many varieties of office space declines in Arlington, more focus is falling on creative solutions.
Only a single new office building is currently under construction in all of Northern Virginia — although demand for offices with at least 50,000 square feet of space remains relatively strong, according to a new office market report from CBRE Research.
The Arlington Tenant-Landlord Commission is refereeing a dispute about living conditions at The Shelton affordable-housing apartments.
On one side is the Green Valley Civic Association, which contends the property owner is turning a blind eye to everything from drug use to needed apartment repairs.
This sponsored column is by Law Office of James Montana PLLC. All questions about it should be directed to James Montana, Esq., Janice Chen, Esq., and Victoria Khaydar, Esq., practicing attorneys at The Law Office of James Montana PLLC, an immigration-focused law firm located in Falls Church, Virginia. The legal information given here is general in nature. If you want legal advice, contact us for an appointment.
USCIS administers immigration benefits. In the time-honored tradition of government agencies since the days of Ur and Uruk, USCIS uses forms to collect, store, and interpret information. Immigrants complete these forms in order to obtain benefits. Most U.S. citizens have no idea what reams of paperwork these forms require. An ordinary green card application is comprised of ninety-seven pages of bare forms, which typically are supported by several hundred pages of supporting documents.
In better times, forms are a necessary evil. In the times we actually live in, forms are just another weapon with which to thwack your political opponents.
In the second iteration of the Trump Administration, USCIS has discovered a new, extremely petty way to make immigrants’ lives more difficult – by releasing new form versions which make utterly minute changes, and then decrees that yesterday’s official version is obsolete as of today.
The Office of Management and Budget, by the way, requires that all government forms have an ‘edition date’ and an ‘expiration date.’ USCIS evades this neatly by making the expiration date purely notional – the form can be valid after the expiration date, and it can be decreed obsolete at any time before or after the expiration date. (The edition date is notional, too – in the first months of the Trump Administration, USCIS persistently released forms backdated to January 20, 2025, seemingly just for the inaugural vibes.) The forms altered in the last two weeks are highlighted below.
Arlington’s unemployment rate has risen to its highest point in nearly four years.
A total of 5,061 Arlington residents were counted as seeking jobs in May, according to new figures from the Virginia Employment Commission.
Looking for a fall activity that gets you moving and builds real confidence? EvolveAll Martial Arts and Training Studio is offer free classes for youth and adults during it’s upcoming Intro Week, September 14-19.
EvolveAll, Arlington’s martial arts and fitness community off Columbia Pike, is once again opening its doors for a full week of free trial classes — and youth classes are one of the highlights. Kids ages 5-15 will get to try hands-on martial arts instruction designed to build discipline, focus, and self-defense skills in a supportive, age-appropriate environment.
This week’s adoptable pet of the week, a 5-year-old terrier mix named Pip, is already part of the ARLnow extended family.
Pip is an affectionate and loving dog being fostered by none other than ARLnow commentator and honorary mayor, Flood Czar.
Whether autumn means sipping local ciders, decorating pumpkins with the kids, or enjoying live music, Fall Fest is packed with festive fun for all ages and the perfect way to spend a crisp October afternoon in Rosslyn!
Matt Richards knows exactly what he wants to do on Saturday, Aug. 16: grab a beer and relax in the upper field at the Arlington County Fair.
After five years as chair of the Arlington County Fair Board, Richards is among those on the all-volunteer board who will be able to take a breath and enjoy the fruits of their labor this year thanks to a new partnership with the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation.
Arlington, Falls Church and other parts of the D.C. area are under a Flood Watch today.
The watch is in effect from 2 p.m. Monday until midnight. Forecasters say storms today will have torrential downpours that could quickly cause flooding on already saturated ground.
Numerous large-scale redevelopment and conversion projects are scheduled to go before the Arlington County Board at upcoming meetings.
A full slate of projects would bring a total of 1,535 new residential units and 344 hotel rooms to Rosslyn, Ballston, Shirlington, Crystal City and Virginia Square. They include both teardowns and adaptive-reuse projects involving underused office buildings.
An 82% increase in estimated costs has led Falls Church officials to rethink plans to improve a key city byway.
As a result, it appears likely that transportation and stormwater improvements along Lincoln Avenue will be phased in over time.
Veteran Stops Rape Suspect — “Kevin Cochie barely got back to his apartment at Water Park Towers in Crystal City when he heard screams from down the hallway. Cochie opened his door expecting to tell someone to stop the noise but instead, he encountered a naked woman yelling for help.” [WUSA 9]
ICE Spotted in Courthouse — From Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti: “I’ve had confirmed that yesterday ICE was outside the courthouse at the magistrate’s office, where police take folks to charge them. So people who were walking out of the magistrate’s office after being CHARGED — not convicted, just charged, when the presumption of innocence is attached — were being greeted by ICE… No confirmation on who or how many people were abducted, but will try to find out.” [Facebook]
GMU Prez Under Fire — “When the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights notified George Mason University on July 1 that it was opening an antisemitism investigation based on a recent complaint, the university’s president, Gregory Washington, said he was “perplexed.” Compared with other campuses, where protesters had ransacked buildings and hunkered down in encampments, George Mason had been relatively quiet over the past year, he said.” [ProPublica]
Youngkin AI Order — “Governor Glenn Youngkin today issued an executive order launching a first-of-its-kind agentic artificial intelligence (AI) regulatory reduction pilot to ensure that the Commonwealth captures the benefits of the latest artificial intelligence technology in reducing regulatory burdens and keeping regulations and guidance documents streamlined and up to date.” [Press Release]
It’s Monday — Expect showers and thunderstorms after 2pm, with otherwise mostly cloudy skies and a high near 89. A calm wind will become south around 6 mph in the afternoon, with a 70% chance of precipitation. Monday night, showers and thunderstorms are predicted before 8pm, possibly continuing until 2am. The temperature will drop to a low of 73, with an 80% chance of precipitation. [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.
