Feature

This sponsored column is by Law Office of James Montana PLLC. All questions about it should be directed to James Montana, Esq., Doran Shemin, Esq., and Laura Lorenzo, 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.

There’s plenty of immigration news this week, and plenty of business to do, but the point of Thanksgiving is to stop, just for a moment, to take stock and appreciate the blessings we all have.


Sponsored

This column is sponsored by Arlington Arts/Arlington Cultural Affairs, a division of Arlington Economic Development.

Arlington’s Four Mile Run corridor is home to an inspiring new happening. The new art market called SPARK! launches on Sunday, May 3, 2026, 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and continues every first Sunday of the month through November.

A fun inclusive outdoor market with handpicked art and food vendors and programming including poetry, music and art making, it’s the kickoff activity for the new outdoor venue 2700 Art Space, located at 2700 S. Nelson St., Arlington, Virginia 22206. Meet your neighbors, build community and be inspired.

At the first event, “Spark” your creativity with a smooth jolt of coffee from Rossana Coffee. Browse the stacks at the mobile bookstore Wandering Shelf. Get a massage from the licensed therapists from Zen27 Healing and Body Works. Peruse artwork by artists David Amoroso, Kate Rosendale or the printmakers and ceramicists from The Studios at Arlington Arts. Have a poem composed especially for you at The Poet is IN booth. Stop by Tigerflight and put the squeeze on a plush animal made from repurposed wool sweaters. Enjoy a Thai-inspired dessert from Mango Mama while listening to tropical sounds from the DJ’s of Leon City Sounds! Every month will offer something new and unusual. Visit the website for the full list!

Artist Roxana Alger Geffen will be the interactive artist at the first SPARK! bringing her popular Arlington Art Truck project “Patch or Swap: A Textile Rescue Lab” to the market! Fans of the Art Truck, which brought artists-in-residence to every corner of the County from 2018 through 2025, will be glad to know that SPARK! is curated with a similar vision by Arlington Arts’ programming team including Special Projects Curator, Cynthia Connolly.

Located adjacent to Jennie Dean Park, busy auto repair shops, a food assistance outlet and one of the region’s most popular “destination” dog parks, it is only a four-minute walk across Four Mile Run to the Tony Award-winning Signature Theater. The area is bustling all day.

Anchored by SPARK!, the venue now known as 2700 Art Space is at the nexus of several communities. It’s directly opposite Arlington Arts’ headquarters featuring Theatre On the Run, an 90-seat black box theater, rehearsal rooms, dance studios, and new printmaking and ceramics studios for the resident artists of The Studios at Arlington Arts (formerly LAC Arts Center on Langston Boulevard), which will hold its Spring Show and Sale on Saturday, May 2.

Music and merch aren’t the only types of art that will surround you at SPARK! As shown in this reel, even the tables and benches are fun! Film nights and other activities are in the making for the fall, and two works of temporary public art are currently being installed. Artist Adam Henry is creating a 10-foot tall sculpture of a golden retriever replete with a QR-code dog collar inviting you to upload selfies and stories about your pets. Directly adjacent to the outdoor space (on three sides of the Arlington Arts headquarters at 3700 S. Four Mile Run Dr.) will be a sweeping new mural by nationally acclaimed artist MasPaz. Both works grew out of a special Artist In Residence (AIR) Grant from Arlington Arts, made possible by a top-tier award from the National Endowment for the Arts, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Visit our website for more information about SPARK!


Around Town

The Thanksgiving holiday will mean closures of county facilities.

Arlington courts, libraries, community centers, vaccine clinics and government offices will be closed on Thursday and Friday. Thursday will also be a rare weekday off day for hard-working trash collection crews, who will resume collections a day delayed on Friday and Saturday.


News

The National Park Service is starting to work on plans to improve safety along the portion of the Mount Vernon Trail that winds through Arlington County.

South of the City of Alexandria, in Fairfax County, it will make similar improvements to the trail and reconstruct that portion of the GW Parkway.


Opinion

This month’s Mike Mount cartoon takes on two hot button issues: Taylor Swift’s concert ticket debacle and Arlington’s ongoing camp registration saga.

The website crashes suffered by Ticketmaster as millions of Swifties tried to secure tickets to her latest tour are reminiscent of those caused by Arlington parents eager to get their kids in coveted county summer camp slots.


News

Arlington Man Arrested in Cold Case — “Police have arrested a 61-year-old man from Arlington County who allegedly abducted and raped a Fairfax County woman multiple times over three decades ago. Fingerprint and DNA analyses suggest George Thomas Jr. and his now-deceased brother, Gregory Allen Thomas, were the offenders in the 1988 rape of a 22-year-old woman who got attacked as she was leaving work in Bailey’s Crossroads.” [FFXnow]

Christmas Trees Delayed — “The first batch [of Christmas trees for the annual Optimist Club sale], which was coming in from Canada, got delayed because of that nasty storm that hit late last week and into the weekend.” [Sun Gazette]


News

Arlington County has not ruled out the possibility of a permanent roundabout on Military Road despite the confusion a temporary version has caused for the past year.

In October 2021, where there used to be a stop sign for traffic on northbound Military Road, the county added paint lines, bollards and raised temporary curbs, and partially demolished a median. The work was aimed at improving safety where Military Road intersects with Nelly Custis Drive.