News
A dog and some damp pavement in Ballston (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

DCA-to-Pentagon Hotline ‘Inoperable’ — “A hotline connecting air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport and their counterparts at the Pentagon has been “inoperable” since March 2022, a Federal Aviation Administration official confirmed Wednesday.” [Washington Post]

Arlington Dems on Court Order — “Victory for justice and due process! Glad to see illegally-detained Arlington resident Badar Khan Suri will be released from ICE custody — no one should be taken by the government for exercising free speech or without due process.” [Arlington Democrats/X]

Virginia ACLU on Court Order — “‘The Constitution protects us all – regardless of citizenship – from being targeted by the government for our political speech and our family associations. The Trump administration is trying to silence speech it doesn’t agree with by targeting people like Dr. Khan Suri and Mahmoud Khalil, but ideas are not illegal,’ said ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Eden Heilman.” [Press Release]

Arlington Woman, 103, Dies — “Helen P. Illy, age 103, of Arlington, VA recently passed away peacefully at home… She came to Washington, DC to work for the government, met Bob, and they married in 1953. She worked for the federal government, worked in the family business while raising her three daughters, went back to work for the federal government, and retired in 1984.” [Dignity Memorial]

Robbery in Ballston — “The male suspect entered the business and attempted to purchase merchandise at the counter. When the suspect’s payment declined, he jumped over the counter and grabbed cartons of cigarettes. An employee confronted the suspect before he ran around the counter and pushed another employee into a display case, causing property damage.” [ACPD]

First Global Arlington Tech Cohort — “Arlington Economic Development (AED) today announced the first cohort of Arlington Tech Launchpad, a new soft-landing program that invites high-potential global technology companies to explore Arlington as a strategic gateway to the U.S. market. ” [Arlington County]

Park Volunteer Award — “On Tuesday, May 13, Arlington announced the Tree Stewards of Arlington and Alexandria as the recipients of the 2024 Bill Thomas Park Volunteer Award. The award was presented in recognition of the organization’s outstanding contributions to environmental stewardship, education, and community engagement.” [Arlington County]

Arlington Harris Teeter Investigated — “Kroger stores in multiple states, the investigation has revealed, show a pattern of overcharging customers by frequently listing expired sale prices on the shelves and then ringing up the regular prices at checkout – a practice that adds additional burdens on to American families.” [The Guardian]

More on Va. GOP Ticket Drama — “Republicans… are fielding a historically diverse ticket in Virginia in one of the only states holding elections this year… But in the shadow of Washington, where President Donald Trump’s push to stamp out DEI programs has caused turmoil at colleges, businesses and throughout the federal government, things have gotten complicated.” [Associated Press]

It’s Thursday — Morning showers will give way to gradual clearing and a high near 80. Afternoon winds will be calm, from the southwest at 5 mph. Thursday night, there’s a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Otherwise expect partly cloudy conditions and a low around 66, with a 40% chance of precipitation. [NWS]


Around Town

Good Wednesday 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 — May 14, 2025.

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Thursday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

⛈️ Thursday’s forecast

Showers and possible thunderstorms after 2pm are expected, gradually clearing towards mid-morning with a high near 80. Afternoon winds will be calm, from the southwest at 5 mph, and a 50% chance of precipitation. Thursday night, there’s a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, followed by a chance of showers after 8pm. Partly cloudy conditions and a low around 66 with calm wind, and a 40% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
– Norman Vincent Peale

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

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.


Sponsored

This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].

Question: How much of an impact do you think the ROAD to Housing Act will have on housing affordability in Arlington?

Answer: The Road to Housing Act became law ten days ago, with the stated goal of improving housing affordability in the United States.

I don’t see many policies in the Act that will improve affordability in the Arlington/Northern VA/DC Metro markets, outside of incentives for more affordable multi-family housing, but there are policies that should improve affordability in other markets that are more saturated with institutional investors that own swaths of single-family homes (e.g. Atlanta and Phoenix) and for manufactured/mobile homes.

The Local Conversation Needs to Change

If we are going to improve affordability in our market, most of the change has to be done locally/regionally, not nationally, but it requires a paradigm shift in how we discuss and solve for housing affordability.

Affordability Disconnect: Near Term Expectations Not Realistic
A disconnect between housing affordability expectations and reality prevents the right community and political conversations from happening. We expect/demand housing affordability immediately, ignoring the difficulty, and consequences, of achieving it that quickly.

Stable and healthy housing affordability is a long-term process requiring gradual change over a 10-15+ year period.

Demand-Side Solutions Won’t Work
Demand-side solutions, such as lower interest rates or easier financing, artificially inflate home values, as seen during the COVID-era housing boom and early 2000s. They are not a good long-term solution to affordability because they push values even higher (along with your property taxes) and affordability gets worse when rates/lending normalize and no longer provide artificially low monthly payments.

Supply-Side Solutions Are Not Immediate
Most policy discussions focus on supply-side solutions: building more/faster and denser housing (e.g. Arlington’s Missing Middle/Expanded Housing Option), incentivizing more existing home sales, or disincentivizing concentrated ownership by companies and individuals. Econ 101 tells us that more supply = lower prices = affordable housing (winner winner!).

This is the only path to stable, long-term housing affordability…BUT, at current interest rates, prices must drop 30-35% in the United States to become affordable, at current income levels. A 30-35% drop in home values would devastate the economy, so a supply-side solution won’t (shouldn’t) provide immediate affordability. (more…)


News

While an annual point-in-time count showed the D.C. region has seen a slight decline in homelessness, Arlington’s count increased by 12%.

The point-in-time count from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) is an annual snapshot tallying people experiencing homelessness around the region.


News

The annual Arlington Palooza and two 5K races will prompt some road closures this weekend.

Temporary closures are expected in Arlington Forest and Rock Spring to accommodate the Palooza and the Jamestown Fun Run and Walk 5K on Saturday. On Sunday, the Girls on the Run 5K will affect Pentagon City.


News

By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that a Georgetown scholar from India be released from immigration detention after he was detained in the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign college students.


News

Two large downed trees caused traffic and power woes in separate parts of Arlington this morning.

The first, on the 2400 block of S. Walter Reed Drive near Shirlington, fell last night around 9 p.m., taking down utility lines, knocking out the power to nearby homes and businesses, and completely blocking the road.


News

The Theodore (Teddy, to his friends) Roosevelt Bridge’s two-year rehabilitation project started this week with new roadway changes that will be in place at least through 2027.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) started work Monday on a series of changes to the bridge described by DDOT as “structurally deficient and functionally obsolete.”


News

A second independent has qualified to be on the County Board ballot in November, guaranteeing that the election again will be run under the still controversial ranked-choice format.

Jeramy Olmack has successfully filed paperwork to be on the Nov. 4 County Board ballot, election officials have confirmed to ARLnow.