News
Rain glistening on leaves in Courthouse (courtesy George Brazier)

No Charges for Miller Activist — A Virginia woman who distributed leaflets disclosing the home address of top White House aide Stephen Miller will not face state criminal charges, according to court documents filed Tuesday by Arlington County’s top prosecutor. Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti (D) said proceeding could risk having a “chilling effect on others wishing to engage in peaceful political protest.” [Washington Post, CBS News]

Rosslyn Dome Makeover — Boston-based Beacon Capital Partners has renovated the former Artisphere and Newseum theater dome at 1101 Wilson Blvd as part of a broader repositioning of the 24-story office building, where occupancy fell to 46% after the Spaces coworking offices closed. The renovated 220-seat venue will serve as a tenant amenity, but Beacon is open to a long-term lease for the right tenant. [WBJ]

Organics Pickup Help on Way — Arlington County has hired American Disposal Services to perform all curbside organics collections beginning Monday, May 11. The county said the additional contractor will help restore reliable performance after recent service issues. Yard waste and food scraps should continue to be placed out on regular collection days. [Arlington County]

Punch at Joint Base Gate — A former soldier was scheduled to appear in federal court Monday following his arrest for allegedly punching a military police officer in the face during a security stop at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall last week. The man fled on foot during a marijuana inspection at the Hatfield Access Control Point in Arlington. Officers later allegedly recovered a loaded handgun from his waistband. [Patch]

Click It or Ticket Returns — Arlington police are urging drivers to buckle up ahead of a national high-visibility seat belt enforcement campaign that runs from May 11 to May 31, coinciding with the Memorial Day holiday. NHTSA reports that nearly 50% of the 22,713 passenger vehicle occupants killed nationwide in 2024 were not buckled. [ACPD]

Marymount Wins Flag Football Title — The Marymount Saints captured the first-ever Jets ECAC Women’s Flag Football Championship with a 37-26 win over the Franciscan Barons in Sunday’s title game at the Jets training facility. Saints QB Jesenia Velez was named tournament MVP after amassing 253 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns. [New York Jets]

Buzz Over Beekeeping Rules — A new proposal to regulate beekeeping in Alexandria, which would limit the number of hives allowed on properties and create setbacks of 5 to 10 feet, has drawn criticism from local beekeepers. “Honeybees are pollinators and beneficial to the landscaping of our city,” wrote former beekeeper Alex Crawford-Batt. [ALXnow]

Toxic Metals in East Wing Debris — Debris from the demolition of the White House East Wing that was dumped at the nearby East Potomac golf course has tested positive for lead, chromium and other toxic metals, according to an interim report by a Virginia engineering firm. More than 30,000 cubic yards of excavated soil had been transported to the site as of last month. [WTOP]

Potomac Testing Expands — Months of water quality testing has shown E. coli levels in the Potomac River are back to normal after January’s massive sewage spill, but advocates say continued monitoring is critical. The Potomac Riverkeeper Network’s monitoring program is expanding from 28 sites to 37 this season. [WTOP]

It’s Wednesday — Expect rain showers most of the day, with a high near 78 and southwest winds of 15 mph gusting to 30 mph. Showers and thunderstorms are likely in the evening and overnight, with a low around 55. [NWS]

Support local journalism. Join the ARLnow Press Club to boost our reporting and to get upgraded newsletters.


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 — May 5, 2026.

📅 Upcoming events

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

⛈️ Wednesday’s forecast

Expect showers and possible thunderstorms after 5 pm, with a high near 77°F, and south winds at 15 mph, gusting up to 30 mph. There’s an 80% chance of rain, with rainfall amounts between a quarter and half an inch. Wednesday night, showers and possibly thunderstorms will continue, especially after 11 pm. The low will be around 55°F, with winds shifting from west to north at 8 mph. The chance of rain remains at 80%, with precipitation between a tenth and quarter of an inch, potentially higher during thunderstorms. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”
– Henry David Thoreau

🌅 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! 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.


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…)


News

A redevelopment project at the site of two former hotels in Green Valley has broken ground, promising new apartments and townhouses in early 2028.

NOVEL Arlington, located at the former site of the Hotel Pentagon and Comfort Inn Pentagon City, is getting underway at 2480 S. Glebe Road — promising a mix of 493 apartments, 37 for-rent townhomes and 549 parking spaces.


Schools

With its 2025-26 fifth-grade student exchange complete, the Arlington Sister City Association is looking for those who would like to take part in the coming school year.

Fifty Arlington families recently returned from a spring break journey to Aachen, Germany, where they were hosted by families that had visited Arlington last fall.


Event

Join DC Road Runners and Potomac Valley Track Club for our annual Family Night at the Track and Meet of Miles. The event is open to runners of all ages and paces as well as nonmembers.

This event hosts 400 meter and 800 meter races for kids ages 1-8, as well as multiple 1-mile heats for participants of all ages. There is also a 3K race that is open to participants of all ages.


News

Arlington’s first deer cull resulted in 26 deer being shot and removed from local parks, despite challenging winter conditions.

The cull — which lasted from Feb. 2 to March 20 in seven parks along Four Mile Run and near the Potomac in North Arlington — resulted in 1,500 pounds of venison donated to the Arlington Food Assistance Center after being tested and processed, according to a program update from the Department of Parks and Recreation.


Events

The annual Columbia Pike Blues Festival will be relocating to a smaller space when it returns next month, eliminating the need for any major road closures.

The popular festival, which will feature a lineup of nationally recognized artists headlined by Kentucky funk and soul group Joslyn & The Sweet Compression, will take place at Penrose Square on June 13, Columbia Pike Partnership Executive Director Andrew Schneider told ARLnow.


Events

Food trucks, family friendly activities and feel-good jams are coming to Lubber Run Community Center later this month with the return of Arlington Palooza.

The event will take place from 1-6 p.m. Saturday, May 16, promising entertainment for all ages, a wide array of artisan and community vendors and a food truck alley with sweet treats and hot bites.


News

More candidates may kick off campaigns for Virginia’s new 7th Congressional District at this week’s Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.

A host of aspirants already announced their candidacies at the party’s March and April meetings. But some contenders — including Dorothy McAuliffe and Elizabeth Guzman — have yet to stand in front of the party rank-and-file.


News

It will be the heat of summer when Falls Church leaders consider possible changes to the city’s snow-removal ordinance.

At an April 29 calendar-setting work session, City Manager Wyatt Shields told City Council members he’d like to hold a “scoping” session on July 20, focused on rules applying to commercial property after snowstorms.