America runs on Dunkin’^® and this National Donut Day, America runs on free donuts. On Friday, June 2, Dunkin’ die-hards and donut fans can enjoy a free classic donut of their choice, with any beverage purchase.

No More Donut FOMO, Please!
Last year, social media was abuzz the day after National Donut Day, with tweets flowing in from forlorn guests who missed out on their free donut. This year, Dunkin’s sounding the alarm, urging donut fans across America to set their alerts and turn on notifications for the ultimate donut day of the year. Whether it’s the time-honored glazed donut, the irresistible creamy Boston Kreme or a delightful Strawberry Frosted with Sprinkles, every guest has a deliciously compelling reason to nab their free donut at Dunkin’ this time around.

To make the most of the holiday, guests can pair a classic donut from Dunkin’ with their favorite drink, from the adored Butter Pecan Iced Coffee to a full-bodied Cold Brew. Whatever donut-drink combo guests go for, there’s no incorrect way to celebrate National Donut Day – as long as it involves a free donut!

“Friends don’t let friends miss out on free donuts,” said Jill McVicar Nelson, Chief Marketing Officer, Dunkin’. “This June, we’re rallying donut fans nationwide to end donut FOMO for good. So gather your friends, grab your favorite donut on us, and indulge in the sweet delight of National Donut Day!”

At Dunkin’, Every Day is Donut Day!
Founded in 1950 in Quincy, Mass., Dunkin’ has been renowned for two things: premium coffee and donuts. At inception, most donut shops offered four donut varieties. The original Dunkin’ location raised the stakes with 52 varieties, one for each week of the year, including nostalgic treats like Creme Filled Coffee Rolls, Tarts and Filled Lemonaires. While Dunkin’s menu has evolved, all store locations nationwide still use Dunkin’s signature donut recipe, with each donut finished by hand.

Today, Dunkin’ reigns as the largest donut and coffee brand in America, selling more than 2 billion donuts and MUNCHKINS® Donut Hole Treats annually – that’s enough to girdle the globe 15 times! Dunkin’s most beloved donut remains the timeless Glazed, closely followed by the Boston Kreme. While its staple classics are available nationwide, Dunkin’ customizes its specialty assortment for regional tastes and preferences.

The countdown is on – guests shouldn’t forget to grab their free donut at Dunkin’ on June 2!

To stay updated on the latest happenings at Dunkin’, visit DunkinDonuts.com or subscribe to the Dunkin’ blog to receive notifications at news.dunkindonuts.com/blog.

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced today a landmark change in how state agencies will recruit and compete for talent by eliminating degree requirements, preferences or both for almost 90% of state classified positions. The new Commonwealth hiring practices will expand opportunities for Virginians and give equal consideration to all qualified job applicants.

“On day one we went to work reimagining workforce solutions in government and this key reform will expand opportunities for qualified applicants who are ready to serve Virginians,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “This landmark change in hiring practices for our state workforce will improve hiring processes, expand possibilities and career paths for job seekers and enhance our ability to deliver quality services. Last month, Virginia achieved the highest labor force participation rate in nearly ten years demonstrating the Commonwealth’s sustained workforce developments.”

“Changing how we think about workforce planning, talent acquisition, and leveraging knowledge, certifications, technical skills, apprenticeships, and work experience into measurable business results has been a Day 1 Workforce Development priority for this Administration,” said Secretary of Administration Margaret “Lyn” McDermid. “As an employer, state government has one of, if not the most diverse occupational portfolios in Virginia. Our employees design, build, manage, and sustain public services across hundreds of lines of business and giving equal consideration to all job applicants, including those who have experience solving real world problems is a smart business practice.”

“This is great news for state government and all job seekers. By giving equal consideration to applicants with an equivalent combination and level of training, knowledge, skills, certifications, and experience we have opened a sea of opportunity at all levels of employment for industrious individuals who have the experience, training, knowledge, skills, abilities, and most importantly, the desire to serve the people of Virginia,” said Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater. “We are also working hard to examine regulated occupations and professions to find ways to simplify and speed up credentialing processes and universal licensing recognition for individuals who want to live and work in Virginia.”

This change will take effect July 1, 2023. Virginia is the latest in a growing number of state governments to elevate the value of work experience and its new prominence in the future of America’s workforce. On average, Virginia state agencies advertise over 20,000 job opportunities each year.

Members of Congress representing Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia today wrote to leaders of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to express strong local opposition to “any changes to the current High Density (‘Slot’) and Perimeter rules at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (‘National’).”

Their letter followed recent, local opposition to proposed changes to weaken the slot and perimeter rule from the DCA Community Noise Working Group, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, and the president of Washington Metro Airports Authority, which operates the airport.

The letter was signed by Rep. Don Beyer (VA-8), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), and Reps. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Steny Hoyer (MD-5), Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-2), David Trone (MD-6), Abigail Spanberger (VA-7), Jamie Raskin (MD-8), John Sarbanes (MD-3), Kweisi Mfume (MD-7), Jennifer McClellan (VA-4), Bobby Scott (VA-3), and Glenn Ivey (MD-4).

They wrote:

“National and Washington Dulles International Airport (“Dulles”) operate as an integrated system of federally owned assets. National was never intended to be a long-haul airport. The dual airport system was crafted with this is mind to accommodate limited land and runways at National. Dulles occupies 11,830 acres while National is just 860 acres. Acknowledging the physical limitations and community impacts of aircraft noise at National, Congress mandated the Slot and Perimeter rules.

“National is currently designed to accommodate 15 million passengers annually. Last year, the airport set a record of 24 million passengers. Regarding safety, at its current level of activity, National already experiences an above average number of missed approaches and early turnouts because of weather, high demand, airfield layout, and runway length. Additional daily flights would likely increase the number of missed approaches and early turnouts, disrupting an already complicated airspace and impacting safety.

…

“Our priority should be the safety and efficiency of flights, not the personal convenience of a comparatively small number of powerful and well-connected individuals. No Member of Congress appreciates another representative meddling with the assets in their state or district. We, too, strongly oppose any attempts by other Members and special interest groups to dictate operations at these airports for their own personal convenience at great cost to our communities and constituents.”

Full text of the letter follows below and a signed copy is available here.

***

Dear Chair Graves and Ranking Member Larsen:

As Congress begins consideration of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill this year, we write to strongly oppose any changes to the current High Density (“Slot”) and Perimeter rules at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (“National”).

National and Washington Dulles International Airport (“Dulles”) operate as an integrated system of federally owned assets. National was never intended to be a long-haul airport. The dual airport system was crafted with this is mind to accommodate limited land and runways at National. Dulles occupies 11,830 acres while National is just 860 acres. Acknowledging the physical limitations and community impacts of aircraft noise at National, Congress mandated the Slot and Perimeter rules.

National is currently designed to accommodate 15 million passengers annually. Last year, the airport set a record of 24 million passengers. Regarding safety, at its current level of activity, National already experiences an above average number of missed approaches and early turnouts because of weather, high demand, airfield layout, and runway length.  Additional daily flights would likely increase the number of missed approaches and early turnouts, disrupting an already complicated airspace and impacting safety. Additionally, National has limited capacity of airport infrastructure such as gates, ticket counters, baggage handling areas, and parking, which are currently being stretched thin to handle the existing level of commercial flights. Adding slots or an expanding National’s perimeter would further strain facilities at National.

Previous slot and perimeter changes have prevented Dulles from realizing its full potential as the primary long-haul flight destination for the Washington metropolitan area. The more expansive facilities at Dulles are structured to allow larger planes to land and take off, which yields efficiencies for customers, carriers, and our climate. In just the last decade, the federal government has spent significant amounts of money to bolster Dulles’s infrastructure. For example, Phase 2 of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail Silver Line expansion opened less than six months ago and links the Washington metropolitan area to Dulles. The $6.8 billion, 41-mile-long Silver Line is Metro’s largest expansion since its creation in 1976. Further, a recently announced $50 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will provide for construction of a new terminal at Dulles.

Our priority should be the safety and efficiency of flights, not the personal convenience of a comparatively small number of powerful and well-connected individuals. No Member of Congress appreciates another representative meddling with the assets in their state or district. We, too, strongly oppose any attempts by other Members and special interest groups to dictate operations at these airports for their own personal convenience at great cost to our communities and constituents.

For these reasons, we look forward to working with you to pass an FAA reauthorization bill this year that leaves intact the current rules governing operations at National.

Attorney General Jason Miyares today sued Michael D. Lansky, LLC, which does business under the name Avid Telecom, its owner Michael Lansky, and its Vice President Stacey S. Reeves, for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people and violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws.

“Avid Telecom refuses to stop their robocalls, despite receiving over three hundred warnings. They have routed nearly 235,000,000 calls to numbers with Virginia area codes. Avid Telecom even went as far as spoofing the Caller ID numbers of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Virginia State Police. It’s obvious that the only way to get this organization to stop harassing Virginians is by taking them to court, and holding them accountable,” said Attorney General Miyares.

Avid Telecom is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider that sells data, phone numbers, dialing software, and/or expertise to help its customers make mass robocalls. It also serves as an intermediate provider and allegedly facilitated or helped route illegal robocalls across the country. Between December 2018 and January 2023, Avid sent or attempted to transmit more than 24.5 billion calls. More than 90 percent of those calls lasted less than just 15 seconds, which indicates they were likely robocalls. Further, Avid helped make hundreds of millions of calls using spoofed or invalid caller ID numbers, including more than 8.4 million calls that appeared to be coming from government and law enforcement agencies, as well as private companies.

Avid Telecom allegedly sent or transmitted scam calls about Social Security Administration scams, Medicare scams, auto warranty scams, Amazon scams, DirecTV scams, credit card interest rate reduction scams, and employment scams. Examples of some of these scam calls are available to listen to here and here.

The USTelecom-led Industry Traceback Group, which notifies providers about known and suspected illegal robocalls sent across their networks, sent at least 329 notifications to Avid Telecom that it was transmitting these calls, but Avid Telecom continued to do so.

Today’s legal action arises from the nationwide Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force of 51 bipartisan attorneys general. In August, Attorney General Miyares joined this Task Force to investigate and take legal action against those responsible for routing significant volumes of illegal robocall traffic into and across the United States.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General also provided investigative assistance in this lawsuit.

Attorney General Miyares is joined in filing today’s complaint by the Attorneys General of Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Today the local branch of the oldest and largest civil rights organization in America announced a $60,000 charitable contribution to EcoAction Arlington, which was founded in 1978 and whose mission focuses on encouraging environmentally-friendly behaviors, ensuring environmental justice, and addressing the climate crisis. The NAACP selected EcoAction Arlington through a strategic grant and partnership from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has more than 17 million members and churches in over 30,000 locations across 160 countries and territories. While Arlington is the smallest self-governing county in America, disparities continue to impact communities of color in disparate ways. “Arlington has a 10 year life expectancy difference amongst its neighborhoods, and this donation will create focus and provide much needed tree canopy in places that have, for decades, been left out of the conversation,” said Branch President Michael Hemminger.

The NAACP Arlington Branch is one of the most active branches in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Branch takes a comprehensive equity approach towards supporting disadvantaged neighborhoods through transitioning to green environments. “For years, EcoAction Arlington has been a committed partner in the furtherance of our mission, making them a natural fit for why we selected this non-profit as the recipient,” said Hemminger in a statement. The donation helps leverage additional resources with the goal of increasing the number of trees planted from current levels by approximately 500 trees a year for the next five years in Arlington’s historically disadvantaged communities.

Research demonstrates that trees act as natural filters by absorbing pollutants and harmful particles from the air, and their absence can result in higher levels of air pollution, leading to respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Black communities are almost three times more likely to die from asthma related causes and this donation is an important step forward in helping to right many wrongs of the past.

The NAACP will continue to fight for the achievement of equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminates discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.

AHC Inc.’s College and Career Readiness (CCR) program hosted its college signing day on May 5 – where students announced their college plans and showcased new T-shirts for their chosen colleges.

This year, the CCR program included 37 high school seniors and 32 juniors from lower-income homes. The students received acceptance from 156 out of the 257 schools they applied to and $13.3 million in gift aid and scholarships from those schools. Many students are the first generation in their families to reach this educational milestone.

The CCR program has served 238 students since its inception in 2016. Tutors, mentors, and other key staff members were there to celebrate during the exciting ceremony. QuestBridge Scholar Ribka Desta opened up the ceremony with an emotional speech that described her experience in the CCR program.

For CCR Manager Gabriela Segovia, all the hard work comes together in these ceremonies. “The students we were able to serve this year are nothing short of amazing,” Segovia exclaimed.  “This kind of success is only possible when the entire community comes together to work for something they all believe in, providing access to resources for our students to achieve their dreams,” added Segovia.

About Some of the Students

Liya Rike is attending Elon University this fall. Liya is planning to study communications and international relations. She aims to become an international news reporter/anchor, with an outlet like CBS, CNN, or the Associated Press. She also aspires to become a model one day. As a first-generation student, the CCR program helped explain the ins and outs of the college acceptance process. “CCR helped me in so many ways … with the common app, my essay, and financial aid. Since I come from a family that doesn’t have experience with college applications, CCR was a huge part of my college process. But it also gave me a safe space to be in with students like me, which I don’t get much of in my PDWI.”

Christopher Ventura plans to study engineering or computer science at the University of Virginia this fall. Since joining the CCR program, he worked with a mentor who helped him push toward his goal of furthering his education and eventually working for SpaceX or Tesla. “CCR guided me through the process and helped me acquire a mentor who could help me with anything college related.”

Ribka Desta is attending Stanford University on a full-ride scholarship, courtesy of the QuestBridge Scholars program. She plans to study English in college. When asked how the CCR program helped her, Ribka exclaimed, “The CCR program helped me by answering all my questions. This knowledge and security made me more comfortable and confident in my college application process. My mentor looked out for me, gave me information, and we used our two heads to develop solutions and best plans these past two years of high school!”

Toromo Funsho is attending the University of Virginia to study psychology this fall. Funsho also is considering double majoring in Film. Her goal is to hone her skills throughout college to create more skilled film projects that feature the diversity she feels is missing from the entertainment industry. “My parents made sacrifices for me throughout my life, and I want to make them proud,” says Toromo. “However, I do not want to go to college just for them but for myself as well.” She especially appreciated AHC’s staff support throughout her time in the CCR program.

Michael Atubire Jr. will be attending Bridgewater College on a full-ride athletic scholarship. He is the first student from the CCR program to achieve this feat and will study Business this fall. He dreams of playing football in the XFL or NFL or coaching on any level. When asked how the CCR program led to his college decision, Michael said, “The CCR program helped me apply for FASFA and find scholarships. I also learned what to look for in a college.” Bridgewater College was one of the schools that allowed Michael to pursue Business while playing football.

About the College and Career Readiness Program 

CCR provides students living in AHC’s affordable apartment communities with the tools and support to successfully graduate from high school and go to college or develop a career path. High school juniors and seniors work one-on-one with a mentor who helps them navigate the challenges of applying for financial support and scholarships and identifying educational and career options.

Where They’re Headed This Fall

• Virginia Commonwealth University
• James Madison University
• Northern Virginia Community College
• University of Virginia
• George Mason University
• American University
• Stanford University
• Virginia Tech
• Bridgewater College
• Elon University
• Yale University
• George Washington University
• Marymount University

Interested in Mentoring or Tutoring?  Contact Laura Jackson at [email protected].

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined 27 colleagues in introducing the Kids Online Safety Act, comprehensive bipartisan legislation to protect children online.

The Kids Online Safety Act provides young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against online harms. The bill requires social media platforms to by default enable a range of protections against addictive design and algorithmic recommendations. It also requires privacy protections, dedicated channels to report harm, and independent audits by experts and academic researchers to ensure that social media platforms are taking meaningful steps to address risks to kids. 

“Experts are clear: kids and teens are growing up in a toxic and unregulated social media landscape that promotes bullying, eating disorders, and mental health struggles,” said Sen. Warner. “The Kids Online Safety Act would give kids and parents the long-overdue ability to control some of the least transparent and most damaging aspects of social media, creating a safer and more humane online environment.”

Reporting has shown that social media companies have proof that their platforms contribute to mental health issues in children and teens, and that young people have demonstrated a precipitous rise in mental health crises over the last decade. 

Specifically, the Kids Online Safety Act would: 

• Require that social media platforms provide minors with options to protect their information, disable addictive product features, and opt out of algorithmic recommendations. Platforms would be required to enable the strongest settings by default.
• Give parents new controls to help support their children and identify harmful behaviors, and provides parents and children with a dedicated channel to report harms to kids to the platform. 
• Create a responsibility for social media platforms to prevent and mitigate harms to minors, such as promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and unlawful products for minors (e.g. gambling and alcohol).
• Require social media platforms to perform an annual independent audit that assesses the risks to minors, their compliance with this legislation, and whether the platform is taking meaningful steps to prevent those harms. 
• Provide academic and public interest organizations with access to critical datasets from social media platforms to foster research regarding harms to the safety and well-being of minors.  

Sen. Warner, a former tech entrepreneur, has been a vocal advocate for Big Tech accountability and building a safer online environment. He has introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at addressing these issues, including the RESTRICT Act, which would comprehensively address the ongoing threat posed by technology and social media platforms from foreign adversaries; the SAFE TECH Act, which would reform Section 230 and allow social media companies to be held accountable for enabling cyber-stalking, online harassment, and discrimination on social media platforms; and the Honest Ads Act, which would require online political advertisements to adhere to the same disclaimer requirements as TV, radio, and print ads. 

The one-page summary of the bill can be found here, the section-by-section summary can be found here, and the full text of the Senate bill can be found here.

April 27, 2023 – AHC Inc., a leading developer of affordable housing in Maryland and Virginia, today held its grand opening of The Terraces at Arlington View, a $40.8 million redevelopment of an affordable housing community located on the eastern end of Columbia Pike, at 1420 S. Rolfe Street. The Terraces includes 77 affordable apartments and more than doubles the number of homes from the previous building. The new community features many sustainable elements, including solar panels, a green roof, and electric charging stations.

Numerous local dignitaries attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, including Virginia State Senator Barbara Favola, State Delegate Alfonso Lopez and Arlington County Board members Christian Dorsey and Takis Karantonis.

“We’re excited to open The Terraces at Arlington View and to bring more quality, affordable homes to the Arlington community,” said Paul Bernard, President & CEO of AHC Inc. “The Terraces is in a prime location, central to jobs and transportation, and close to shopping locations on Columbia Pike. The new building will not only provide dozens of families and individuals with an opportunity to build brighter futures – but also contribute to the economic vitality of Arlington and the Commonwealth.

“The redevelopment and expansion of The Terraces at Arlington View by our longstanding affordable housing partner, AHC Inc., speaks to many of the County’s housing goals in Arlington: providing beautiful, energy efficient units accessible to households earning lower incomes,” said Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey. “I am proud of the County’s role in funding the project through $8 million in AHIF and TOAH funds and welcome this new addition to our community and affordable housing inventory.”

This new building is phase one of a larger redevelopment plan. A second phase for The Terraces at Arlington View will eventually bring redevelopment of the other buildings on the west wide of S. Rolfe Street, providing even more brand-new homes to the community.

“We applaud the efforts and commitment of AHC and Arlington County to create and preserve affordable housing in this community,” said Ed Delany, Senior Capital Officer for Community Finance in the Mid Atlantic region. “The Terraces at Arlington View is a prime example of the success that comes when public and private entities engage to bring safe, high-quality and affordable housing to residents.” 

Features and Amenities

Sustainable design elements of the building include a 190-panel solar system, AHC’s second solar project in Arlington, and a large green roof to support stormwater management. The solar is expected to generate 84,000 kwh a year, enough to power nearly eight single-family houses a year. The parking garage also has two electrical vehicle (EV) chargers.

This new community is AHC’s first Energy Star-certified building and the achieved Gold-level certification with EarthCraft Multifamily, the nation’s first multifamily-specific green building program.

The building includes a new community room, fitness room, courtyard, leasing office, and resident services onsite space. The apartments feature modern fixtures and finishes, bigger and more numerous windows, new appliances, and WaterSense plumbing fixtures. As part of AHC’s efforts to break down the digital divide and create digital equity, every apartment also will have free Wi-Fi.

Apartment Affordability and Sizes

The 77 new affordable apartments at The Terraces will house families earning between 30% and 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

The building includes 15 three-bedroom apartments, 47 two-bedrooms, 14 one-bedrooms, and one studio apartment. Eight homes have been set aside for Arlington County’s Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) program, which provides the opportunity for residents with disabilities to maintain their housing and pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent. Eight apartments are fully ADA accessible, and all the homes in the new building meet Universal Design standards.

Project Partners

This project was made possible by AHC Inc.’s many partners.

The project won an allocation of $2.03 million in competitive tax credits from Virginia Housing (VH), which generated $19.5 million in tax credit equity from Capital One through Hudson Housing Capital. The Arlington County Board allocated $7.1 million from the AHIF (Affordable Housing Investment Fund) and $984,000 in Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing (TOAH) funds. The project received $16 million in construction financing from Capital One and $10.57 million in permanent financing from Virginia Housing, plus a $900,000 loan from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund.

AHC Inc. also collaborated with Cunningham and Quill Architects, who designed the renovation, Harkins Builders, who executed the construction, Walter L Phillips, AVT’s civil engineer and Klein Hornig, LLP, financing counsel.

Jamestown, a design-focused real estate investment and management firm, today announced a wave of new office leasing at Ballston Exchange, a mixed-use retail, dining, and office development in Arlington’s Ballston neighborhood. The three deals, which total nearly 30,000 square feet, will add to the dynamic workplace environment at the property and bring new career opportunities to the neighborhood.

• Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a global nonprofit advisory organization that provides governments, health organizations, and the private sector with health system support, leased approximately 15,000 square feet at the property. MSH was represented by CRESA and Jamestown was represented by Cushman & Wakefield.
• EPIGEN, a professional management and technical services company, leased approximately 10,800 square feet at the property. Cushman & Wakefield represented both parties in the deal.
• COMTO, the leading national advocate for employment diversity, inclusion, and contracting opportunities in the transportation industry, leased approximately 3,800 square feet at the property. COMTO was represented by CRESA and Jamestown was represented by Cushman & Wakefield.

“With its proximity to transit and expansive, tech-enabled common spaces, Ballston Exchange offers businesses a flexible and hyperconnected workplace environment,” said Mark Witschorik, Director of Asset Management for the Mid-Atlantic Region at Jamestown. “The property’s many indoor and outdoor common spaces and amenities, including the shared conference center and event space, provide tenants with added capacity to support their evolving and variable needs without investment in additional space, and that built-in flexibility is an amenity in its own right.”

Ballston Exchange is well situated with direct access to the Metro and offers a range of tenant amenities, including indoor and outdoor public open space, concierge services, and event space. In addition, Jamestown has outfitted Ballston Exchange with new shared tenant amenities, including a 10,000-square-foot, full-service conference center, to address the needs of modern companies and tenants.

Since acquiring the property in 2015, Jamestown has modernized the property via architectural renovations, landscaping, and streetscape improvements. The property’s diverse retail tenants include Shake Shack, Orange Theory Fitness, CorePower Yoga, Greenheart Juice Shop, Dunkin Donuts, We, The Pizza, Farmbird, El Rey, Hawkers, Tend, Chopt, CAVA, MyEyeDr, The UPS Store, and Bearded Goat Barber. Office tenants include Booz Allen Hamilton, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), CENTRA Technology, and more.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) has forecast a Code Orange air day for the metropolitan Washington region tomorrow: Friday, April 21. Code Orange levels mean the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The region recorded its first Code Orange for the year on April 13.

On unhealthy air days, COG advises the following health precautions:

• Children and older adults should reduce outdoor activities.
• Healthy individuals should limit strenuous work or exercise, especially outdoors.
• Individuals with respiratory and heart ailments, emphysema, asthma, or chronic bronchitis should limit their activity level. If breathing becomes difficult, move indoors.

Residents can check current air quality conditions on COG’s website or by downloading a free air quality app from Clean Air Partners.

On unhealthy air days, residents are encouraged to take the following actions to help reduce pollution:

• Turn off lights and electronics when not in use and follow tips from your electric utility about how to use less electricity to cool your home.
• Avoid lawn mowing or use an electric mower.
• Use transit, carpool, or work from home to limit driving. Fill up your gas tank during evening hours.

COG provides air quality forecasts and current air quality conditions for metropolitan Washington. It also educates the public about voluntary actions people can take to reduce pollution and the health risks of bad air quality through its Clean Air Partners program, which is co-sponsored by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council.

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and 12 colleagues in introducing a resolution that would designate April 2023 as “Preserving and Protecting Local News Month.” The resolution officially recognizes the role of local news as an essential function for democracy in the United States.

“In Virginia and across the country, local news outlets are relied on to keep our citizens informed, combat disinformation, and serve as a crucial check on our government institutions,” said Sen. Warner. “It is important that we continue to honor the hard work that local journalists do for our Commonwealth and for our democracy in the face of continued budget cuts, newsroom closures, and staff reductions that have made their work more challenging.” 

According to research, the overall employment in newspaper, television, radio, and digital newsrooms in the United States fell by 26 percent, or 30,000 jobs, from 2008-2020. More than 100 local newsrooms were forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 30 percent of local television stations reporting budget cuts and staff reductions. As of September 2022, 42 local newspapers have closed or merged in Virginia alone, with significant staff cuts plaguing surviving papers. This resolution affirms the significance of local news in increasing civic engagement and strengthening democratic norms and practices, and acknowledges the valuable contributions of local journalism toward the maintenance of healthy and vibrant communities.

In addition to Sens. Warner and Schatz, the resolution is co-sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Bob Casey (D-PA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

The resolution has been endorsed by PEN America; Alliance for Community Media; Free Press Action; National Press Photographers Association (NPPA); Native American Journalists Association (NAJA); Writers Guild of America, East, AFL-CIO; Ethnic Media Services; Society of Environmental Journalists; Society for News Design; Common Cause; Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO; National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); Native Public Media; Public Knowledge; Society of Professional Journalists; Theatre Communications Group; National Newspaper Association (NNA); National Writers Union (NWU); and National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).

 Sen. Warner has long been an outspoken supporter of local news. In the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sen. Warner led colleagues in a push to include local journalism and media outlets in relief packages.

 Full text of the resolution is available here.