Police union representative at the Arlington County Board meeting on Nov. 18, 2022 (via Arlington County)
Arlington’s fire and police unions are poised to lose a battle to change the pay scale the county uses — one that union representatives say contributes to ongoing staffing shortages.
This year, the Arlington County Police Department has hired 29 officers and lost 52 officers, Arlington Coalition of Police (ACOP) President Randall Mason told the Arlington County Board in a meeting earlier this month. It will lose five more by February 2023.
Oz signage remains up on the new home of Wagamama in Clarendon (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
(Updated at 10:20 p.m.) It does not appear that the Asian-inspired restaurant Wagamama will be opening in Clarendon this year.
Back in March, the London-based chain with more than 200 locations in 27 countries announced it was set to move into Oz’s former home at 2950 Clarendon Blvd by the summer. It was a move that elicited excitement from many, considering Wagamama’s popularity overseas.
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 common is it for a home sale to fall through once it’s under contract?
Answer: According to a recent study, 70% of sellers fear that buyers will back out of the deal before it closes. How often do real estate transactions actually fall apart?
Arlington, Northern VA Buyers Are Committed
Since 2019, less than 10% of real estate contracts fell through in Arlington, compared to 26.3% in Prince George’s County.
Just 11.4% of Northern VA real estate contracts didn’t make it to closing, as opposed to 13.8% in Montgomery County MD and 15.2% in Washington DC.
Spring Buyers Are More Committed
Homes that go under contract during the spring market are more likely to close than those that sell later in the year.
In Northern VA, just 9.6% of homes that go under contract in April fall through, but December contracts fall through 12.8% of the time; 12% more than average.
This pattern of fall-through rates follows a similar pattern of best and worst times to go to market for sellers. February through May often produce the best results for sellers in speed and price metrics, it also gives sellers the best chance at getting to the closing table.
Seasonal fall-through rates across the entire DMV market follow a similar trend as Northern VA, but the average fall-through rate increases 4-5% when you include DC and Maryland suburbs. (more…)
Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti now has a challenger — someone who once worked for her.
Former Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Josh Katcher will go up against the incumbent in the Democratic primary in June. Katcher was hired as Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney by Theo Stamos in 2012 and he was promoted to deputy in 2021 near the outset of Dehghani-Tafti’s tenure.
If you’re a college student spending the summer in Arlington — whether you’re interning, working, or just home for a few months — EvolveAll is the place to stay fit, sharpen skills, and be in community.
For just $295, college students get full access to all of EvolveAll’s adult programs from May through August. That means Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, self-defense, yoga, Pilates, and more — a whole community of people who show up, put in the work, and look out for each other.
A resident living near the Walter Reed Community Center tells ARLnow that the noise coming from the nearby pickleball courts is “excessive” and constant, to the point that that a group of neighbors is “contemplating a lawsuit of our own” against the county.
The Women’s Crawl is coming to Falls Church on May 9, 2026!
Hosted by the team behind the Shrinks on Tap Podcast and presented by Expand Psychology, this one-of-a-kind event is more than a night out—it’s a movement.
U.S. Park Police helicopter over the Potomac (file photo)
Arlington police got an assist from their Park Service counterparts on an armed robbery Monday morning.
The incident happened in the Crystal City area around 7:15 a.m. According to a crime report, a man with a gun stole cash from an unnamed business, then fled on foot.
Rain drops in Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Charges Dropped Against Fmr. D.C. Official — “Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped an assault-and-battery charge against former D.C. deputy mayor of public safety and justice Christopher Geldart, who resigned in October after a personal trainer accused him of grabbing his throat in a gym parking lot and a resulting police statement triggered questions about whether he was meeting a requirement to live within city limits.” [Washington Post, WUSA 9]
Arlington Has Another Public Company HQ — “Leonardo DRS Inc., the Arlington subsidiary of Italian defense and space contractor Leonardo SpA, is Greater Washington’s newest public company. The company said after markets closed Monday afternoon that it had completed its all-stock deal to merge with Israel’s Rada Electronic Industries Ltd… Effective Tuesday, Rada’s existing stock symbol will be converted to Leonardo DRS and will be listed on the Nasdaq.” [Washington Business Journal]
Explosives detection canine Messi works Reagan National Airport and is featured in TSA’s 2023 calendar (via TSA)
Two dogs with the ruff job of sniffing out danger at Reagan National Airport are in the limelight.
Ava and Messi — the pair of pooches prowling DCA for smelly signs of explosives — are among the dozen good boys and girls featured in a free, downloadable 2023 monthly calendar from the Transportation Security Administration. It features dashing photos of these daring dogs accompanied by facts about them.
Update at 2:55 p.m. — Metro is single-tracking past the station and expected to resume normal service soon, with fire department units clearing from the scene.
Blue Line service has been suspended at Pentagon City due to a small fire producing smoky conditions at the station.