News
A London Fog Tea Latte at Kaldi’s in Clarendon (Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar)

Pentagon Gun Arrest — “A man with a loaded gun in his car and a device in his underwear that would enable the firearm to act like a machine gun was arrested outside the Pentagon last week after attempting to speed off with Pentagon police officers clinging to his vehicle, according to court documents reviewed by CBS News. Prosecutors allege Kaleel Nagbe had a loaded firearm with 16 rounds, including one in the chamber, when he was stopped for a traffic infraction — holding a phone while driving — at the Pentagon complex.” [CBS News]

Big Crash in East Falls Church — From Dave Statter: “Langston Boulevard at N. Westmoreland Street near I-66 – just outside the City of Falls Church – is shut down. A two car crash took down power lines beside the restaurant La Cote D’or Cafe.” [Twitter]

Police Lieutenant Retires — “After 34 years of dedicated service to the Arlington community, friends and colleagues gathered this afternoon to celebrate the retirement of Lt. D. Mathews. Throughout his career, Lt. Mathews served with exceptional passion for the policing profession in various assignments including Patrol, Organized Crime, Vice, Digital Forensics and the Special Operations Section.” [Facebook]

Fish Taco Spot Coming to F.C. — “The team behind the Fish Taco restaurant chain, which started out more than a decade ago with a single spot in Potomac, has inked a deal to open a new outpost in Falls Church — and it’s not stopping there. The eatery’s second spot in Northern Virginia, following one at the Boro District in Tysons, adds to a host of new tenants at Founders Row including Ellie Bird, Kyu Ramen, Seoul Prime and Semicolon Café.” [WBJ]

It’s Wednesday — After a clear start to the morning, expect rain to begin by midday, with a high of 53 degrees and mild southeast winds at 6 mph. Rain will likely continue into the night, cooling to a low of 36 degrees. Southwest winds of 6-13 mph are expected, shifting northwest and potentially gusting up to 20 mph. Nighttime precipitation chances remain at 80%, with an additional tenth to a quarter inch of rainfall. [NWS]

Flickr pool photo by Jason Gooljar


Around Town

Good Tuesday 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 — Dec 17, 2024.

📅 Upcoming events

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

🌧️ Wednesday’s forecast

Expect rain to begin around 9am, with a high of 53 degrees and mild southeast winds at 6 mph. Precipitation is certain, though less than a tenth of an inch is anticipated. By Wednesday night, rain will likely continue mainly before 1am, cooling to a low of 36 degrees. Southwest winds of 6-13 mph are expected, shifting northwest and potentially gusting up to 20 mph. Precipitation chances remain at 80%, with an additional tenth to a quarter inch of rainfall. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

🌅 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 has the Arlington single-family home market performed in the first half of 2026?

Answer: Arlington’s single-family detached (SFD) market got busier and more competitive in the first half of 2026, yet prices increased at their slowest pace since 2023.

More Competition, Modest Appreciation (Resale Market)

Note: this data is for resales of single-family detached (SFD) homes; I have a separate analysis of the new construction market further down.

  • The average and median price increased 3.5% and 1.9%, respectively
  • Over the past five years, the average and median price increased 13.9% and 11.1%, respectively
  • The average and median price of a home increased to $1.44M and $1.299M, respectively
  • Demand and competition rose to the highest levels since 2022, with 66% of homes selling within the first ten days on market and 68% of homes selling at or above the original asking price
  • The average buyer paid 1.3% more than the original asking price, compared to 2025 when the average buyer paid 0.3% less than the original asking price
  • Buyers of homes that went under contract within the first week on market paid an average of 4.7% over the asking price

Dig Deeper: Performance Varied by Size, Price Point

The appreciation gap between the average price (3.5%) and median price (1.9%) matters. The average is more sensitive to expensive sales. In 2026, 15.7% of closed resales sold for $2M or more, up from 12.7% in 2025. At the other end of the market, only 21.7% sold below $1M, down from 24.4%. That shift toward higher-priced homes helped lift the average faster than the median.

Average and median prices are useful, but neither tells us whether gains were shared evenly across the market. To test that, I divided the closed resale market into four sold-price quartiles for each year. Each quartile represents one-fourth of that year’s sales, from the least expensive 25% to the most expensive 25%. (more…)


Sports

The Washington-Liberty Generals girls track-and-field team again proved itself strong in cold weather at the Bobcat Blizzard Invitational track-and-field meet.

For the second time in three years, the W-L girls team won the championship. The squad finished second in 2023.


Sports

History was made in Arlington on Saturday (Dec. 14) when a varsity high-school girls dual wrestling match between two teams was held for the first time in the county.

As part of the multi-team Capital Duals Meet hosted at Wakefield High School, the host Warriors and Washington-Liberty Generals wrestled to a 12-12 tie in a scaled-down girls match.


Event

Join the Rosslyn BID and Arlington Arts at the 34th Rosslyn Jazz Fest 2026 featuring live jazz, food trucks, local vendors, and family-friendly activities in the heart of Rosslyn! This year’s lineup is bringing a diverse mix of performers and bands redefining the jazz music genre including Plena Libre, Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars, Parlor Greens, and Dogo du Togo & the Alagaa Beat Band.


News

Arlington’s police union and top prosecutor are in a war of words over a previous case involving the Pentagon City stabbing suspect.

Leonardo Reyes, the man accused of sending a mother and her toddler to the hospital with life-threatening stab wounds in a Saturday night attack, was out on probation for the attempted robbery of a drug store in 2021.


News

Eight new school zone speed cameras are being installed around Arlington.

The new cameras will start issuing warnings with the start of school after winter break, before issuing $100 tickets to speeders starting Feb. 5. Today’s announcement of the new cameras follows a similar announcement in August, which revealed plans for ten cameras that are now in operation around the county.


News

Utility work at the planned second site for Amazon’s HQ2 has concluded.

“All construction operations have concluded,” contractor Clark Construction told local residents in an email Friday. “Your engagement and support has helped us to efficiently carry out these community enhancements. We appreciate your patience, understanding, and cooperation.”


Around Town

A fast-casual Italian restaurant serving customizable pasta bowls has a new timeline for its Ballston opening.

Scolapasta has been in development across from the Ballston Metro station since February. While initially hoping to open this past summer, owner Burak Temel said the restaurant now expects to open its doors this spring.


News

County Board members on Saturday (Dec. 14) rebuffed a staff-proposed increase in trespass-towing fees across Arlington, opting to keep the base rate at $135 for passenger vehicles.

At the same time, Board members followed a staff recommendation in rejecting — for now — a “second-signature” requirement before any tows can occur.