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Morning Notes

Published May 19, 2020 at 6:00AM

Ballston Macy’s Property for Sale — “The Macy’s department store in Ballston is being offered for sale and possible redevelopment as the national retailer moves forward with plans to close underperforming locations across the country. Cushman & Wakefield recently began marketing the store at 685-701 N. Glebe Road to buyers on the company’s behalf.” [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington Firms in Fortune List — Five Arlington-based companies are in the latest Fortune 1000 list of the largest companies in the U.S., including: AES (#310), CACI International (#549), E*Trade Financial (#755), Graham Holdings (#795) and AvalonBay Communities (#912). Amazon, which is building its second headquarters in Arlington, is #2. [Fortune]

News

DEVELOPING: Arlington 911 Call Center Evacuated

By ARLnow.com

Published May 15, 2020 at 6:15PM | Updated May 15, 2020 at 8:04PM

(Updated at 8 p.m.) Arlington’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC), which handles 911 calls and the dispatching of emergency personnel, was evacuated late Friday afternoon, ARLnow has learned.

The evacuation happened around 4 p.m. Police officers were told during that time to restrict all radio transmissions to emergency traffic only. There was no indication that the disruption affected any crucial police operations.

News

County Opens New Walk-Up Coronavirus Testing Site

By ARLnow.com

Published May 13, 2020 at 11:25AM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:20AM

A new walk-up coronavirus testing site opened Tuesday along Columbia Pike.

The testing center is a partnership of Arlington County, Virginia Hospital Center and Arlington Free Clinic. At a media briefing yesterday, officials from all three spoke about the importance of the facility in the fight against the virus.

News

JUST IN: Governor Allowing N. Va. to Reopen After Memorial Day

By ARLnow.com

Published May 12, 2020 at 11:45AM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:20AM

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Arlington and other Northern Virginia locales will be allowed to delay reopening until May 28, after Memorial Day, following a new executive order from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

The announcement follows pushback from local officials concerned that a potential reopening this Friday would be too soon. Arlington and neighboring localities have seen higher rates of coronavirus cases than less populous parts of the state, with 72% of new cases reported over the past 24 hours coming from the Northern Virginia region.

News

County to Detail How Much It Spends with Each Vendor

By ARLnow.com

Published May 8, 2020 at 2:40PM

Arlington County is working to publicly release data on payments to vendors, according to an email exchange between county officials and a local resident.

The new initiative came to light after a local resident filed a Freedom of Information Act Request to obtain a list of county expenditures, sorted by vendor, for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Some other localities publicly list such information, in the interest of transparency and showing which companies were being paid by the local government.

News

County Scales Up Public Health Workforce

By ARLnow.com

Published May 6, 2020 at 10:30AM | Updated September 23, 2020 at 11:13AM

Arlington County government headquarters in Courthouse (file photo)

(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) Arlington County has grown its public health workforce more than 10x since January amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“At the start of this emergency in January, we had approximately 15 members in Public Health leading response efforts,” Arlington Public Health Director Dr. Reuben Varghese tells ARLnow. “We have since expanded to more than 250, including many resources from other parts of the Department of Human Services, temporary reassignments from other County departments and community volunteers.”

News

County: No Plans to Close Lanes for Extra Bike and Pedestrian Space

By ARLnow.com

Published May 5, 2020 at 4:30PM

People walking in the street near Crystal City (Photo courtesy Aurora Highlands Civic Association)

Those who want to see Arlington close lanes or whole streets during the pandemic will have to keep waiting.

County officials say they don’t have the resources to close lanes in order to create extra space for social distancing among cyclists and pedestrians.

News

County to Temporarily Resume Yard Waste Collection

By ARLnow.com

Published May 4, 2020 at 5:35PM | Updated May 4, 2020 at 8:45PM

(Updated at 8:45 p.m.) After abruptly announcing a suspension of residential yard waste collection Friday afternoon, effective Monday, the county is backtracking a bit and resuming it for a week.

“Arlington’s residential trash contractor has identified enough staff to offer curbside yard waste collection during regular routes tomorrow May 5, through next Monday, May 11,” the Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services said in a tweet Monday afternoon. “The service will be temporarily suspended again beginning Tuesday, May 12.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 4, 2020 at 7:30AM

Lightning over Virginia Square and Ballston (photo courtesy @EthanDevries_/Twitter)

County May Get Million from CARES Act — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam “is considering a plan to distribute $3 billion of CARES cash using a formula that considers in economic need, a way to send more money to places like Lee County or Petersburg and less money to places like Alexandria and Arlington.” [@MichaelLeePope/Twitter, WVTF]

Arlington Trail Usage Way Up — “Trail counts are up 50% above average, on the weekends. Try an alternative route. Protect yourself and others by avoiding crowded trails.” [@BikeArlington/Twitter]

News

County Suspends Yard Waste Collection

By ARLnow.com

Published May 1, 2020 at 3:55PM

(Updated at 4 p.m.) With little notice, Arlington County is suspending its weekly collection of grass clippings, twigs and other yard waste.

The suspension is effective as of Monday, meaning that those whose green carts are already full will have to compost or figure out some other way to dispose of the contents.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 1, 2020 at 7:30AM | Updated May 1, 2020 at 9:29AM

VHC Staff Honored by NYSE — Two radiation therapists at Virginia Hospital Center, Melinda Mack and Amanda Sprecher, were honored during the opening bell ringing at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. [Twitter]

Tomorrow is Arlington’s ‘Community Day’ — “A beloved Arlington tradition, Neighborhood Day brings communities together to enjoy the great outdoors and strengthens ties between neighbors.  In our currently socially-distant world, Neighborhood Day 2020 (May 2) is swapping out the traditional outdoor get-togethers and focusing on how Arlingtonians can build community while staying apart.” [Arlington County]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 30, 2020 at 7:30AM | Updated April 30, 2020 at 9:10AM

Rosslyn in the rain (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Northam Announces COVID Changes — Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesdays that, starting today, Virginia residents can start having nonemergency surgeries and dental procedures again. The governor also announced that the state Dept. of Health will soon start releasing ZIP code-level coronavirus case data. [WTOP, @kamamasters/Twitter]

County Announces New Housing Director — “Arlington County has selected Anne Venezia to be the County’s new Housing Director… She most recently served six months as the Acting Housing Director and was the Housing Finance Manager for four years prior. Venezia joined Arlington County in 2008.” [Arlington County]