Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey says she has confidence in her Board colleague Christian Dorsey, despite his continued legal and financial troubles.
As first reported by the Washington Post, Dorsey’s long-running personal bankruptcy case was dismissed by a federal judge last week after Dorsey overstated his debt obligations in “an act of overt misrepresentation,” according to the bankruptcy trustee.
A park that’s under construction a few blocks south of Clarendon is expected to get a new name.
Arlington’s Park and Recreation Commission is recommending Henry Clay Park be renamed Zitkala-Ša Park, after a prominent Indigenous activist and author who lived in Lyon Park. The County Board is set to consider the name change at its Saturday meeting.
Arlington County is expected to pilot a program that prices parking by demand along Metro corridors.
The proposed $5.4 million program, funded by VDOT, is slated to be considered by the County Board this weekend.
(Updated at 9:45 a.m.) Developer JBG Smith is making changes to plans it had for two courtyard eateries on Crystal Drive.
In 2018 the County Board approved a plan for two restaurants for the green space at 2121 Crystal Drive, which currently has walking paths, trees, a field, a lighted gazebo and seating. JBG Smith is returning to the County Board with a new plan that would combine the two eateries into one larger restaurant.
Arlington’s former police chief says disagreements with the County Board led him to seek an early retirement.
M. Jay Farr, who retired in September, wrote a letter to the editor of the Sun Gazette, which was published online today. In it, he refuted claims that he left amid agreements with Arlington’s new, reform-minded prosecutor.
(Updated at 10:30 a.m. on 12/02/20) Arlington is seeking diverse voices in its Dialogues on Race and Equity, but so far the biggest group of respondents have been middle-aged white women who are relatively affluent.
Arlington County Chief Race and Equity Officer Samia Byrd and Challenging Racism Director Alicia Jones McLeod, who are promoting a new questionnaire on the topic of race, see this as a sign to keep pushing for broader participation.
(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) Facing a potential $41-56 million budget gap, the Arlington County Board is signalling that service cuts and tax rate hikes may be included in next year’s budget.
At its Tuesday meeting, the Board provided guidance to County Manager Mark Schwartz on the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022 budget, covering July 2021 through June 2022. Underlying it all is a big drop in tax and fee revenue caused by the pandemic.
(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) For the third day in a row, Arlington’s daily coronavirus case average has risen to a new record.
In Arlington, 58 new cases were reported overnight, following 74 new cases on Tuesday and 82 new cases on Monday. The trailing seven-day total of new COVID cases is now 382, or nearly 55 per day, a new record.
Arlington Streetcar Anniversary — Today is the sixth anniversary of the cancellation of the Columbia Pike and Crystal City streetcar project. [ARLnow]
APS Still Planning for In-Person School — “Some have asked why we are proceeding at this time given the latest health metrics. It is important that we gather the information schools need to plan now, so that they have the time to prepare for possible transitions in January. Delaying the process would mean that we would not be ready to open our schools for more students, should we determine it is safe enough to do so.” [Arlington Public Schools]
John Robinson, Jr. spent his time and energy advocating for Arlington’s minority residents, and on Tuesday (Nov. 17) the County Board will consider renaming the future town square in Green Valley in his honor.
The Green Valley Civic Association wants to rename what is currently known as Nauck Town Square, at 2400 S. Shirlington Road, to John Robinson, Jr. Town Square. The association asked the County to change the name last year, and the Planning Commission approved the recommendation.
Crystal City Development Approved — “The Arlington County Board today approved JBG Smith’s plan to develop Crystal Gateway, a nine-story office building with ground-floor retail, at 101 12th Street S. in Crystal City. Community benefits associated with the project include the developer conveying 54,500 sq. ft. of land for Gateway Park, which will connect Long Bridge Park to Crystal City.” [Arlington County]
Teacher Groups Banding Together — “Representatives from teacher associations in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington and Manassas Park will host a news conference Monday urging a return to virtual-only learning. In a statement Sunday evening, the Fairfax Education Association said it ‘stands with our colleagues from the Northern Virginia region to ask the Governor to return the Commonwealth to a full Phase II of the reopening plan and to recommend that our schools return to a fully virtual method of instruction.'” [InsideNova]
(Updated 11/19/20 at 6:30 p.m.) Along with the coming cold snap and the yearly debate over when to play Christmas music, the arrival of Arlington’s annual Christmas tree sales are one of the signs the holiday season is upon us.
This year, some of the volunteer organizations and churches that hold the sales have changed their operations, with health and safety precautions in mind.
