Arlington’s police chief intends to continue defending automated license-plate readers amid evolving conversations about the technology.
Despite the County Board’s recent vote to remove all Flock Safety cameras from public land in Arlington, at an Oct. 13 presentation to the Arlington County Civic Federation, Police Chief Andy Penn said that similar surveillance technology performs valuable work.
A deadline to release footage of a fatal Columbia Pike police shooting came and went on Friday, prompting criticisms at this weekend’s County Board meeting.
County Manager Mark Schwartz said on Saturday that he anticipates body-worn camera footage from the May incident will be released to the public by later this week. That did not satisfy a number of County Board members and others, who had expected footage in advance of the meeting.
Supporters of the Integration Station are again mobilizing against a plan to shut down the specialized program for young students with intellectual disabilities.
About 20 proponents of the program used the School Board’s Sept. 24 public-comment period to ask Board members to rescue the program from planned elimination. The mood among many speakers, most with direct connections to the program, was testy.
Arlington Public Schools has once again announced plans to end its partnership on the Integration Station early-childhood initiative.
Supporters of The Children’s School plan to rally before the School Board next week to oppose the planned phaseout. It follows a previous plan to shutter the program in 2025, which school leaders ultimately abandoned.
Arlington election officials are expecting a slight dip in the use of mail-in ballots during this election cycle.
“I think mail voting will be down by maybe 10%,” predicted David Leichtman, a Democratic member of the Arlington Electoral Board.
More public information on the outcome of towing-related complaints may be coming soon to Arlington.
When planned improvements to the towing section of the county government’s website are complete, “you’ll be able to see the complaints and the resolutions,” said Eliseo Pilco, Jr., the county’s towing manager.
The Arlington County Board voted this afternoon (Tuesday) to discontinue the county’s use of Flock Safety cameras, sources tell ARLnow.
The vote came after a closed session to discuss the move. The county issued the following statement about the vote Tuesday night.
A Northern Virginia congressional candidate who has faced strong criticism from Jewish leaders recently retweeted an antisemitic rant depicting Adolf Hitler.
Shelly Arnoldi, the Libertarian candidate in Congressional District 8, which includes Arlington, reposted a video last week that begins with Hitler shouting about “Jewish globalization” and alleges a plan to “exterminate the European race.”
Several Falls Church residents and one Council member have urged city staff to exercise maximum transparency around a major affordable housing development.
Several speakers on July 28 voiced concerns to City Manager Wyatt Shields that staff have not been communicating adequately about documents related to the Virginia Village plan as they evolve.
A statewide environmental advocacy group has praised Arlington’s recent decision to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers.
The Quiet Clean Virginia Foundation sees the County Board’s vote on July 18 as a model for other localities across the state.
County Board members went into their two-month summer break after 15 minutes of verbal fireworks over Missing Middle housing policies currently tied up in litigation.
Three Board members — Maureen Coffey, Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., and Takis Karantonis — castigated colleague Susan Cunningham for a proposal made without much advance notice at the tail end of the Board’s July 21 meeting.
All five candidates running for County Board say they will protect the Barcroft Sports & Fitness Center and its gymnastics programming from elimination.
Candidate James DeVita said that, if elected, he “absolutely” would support both.
