county government | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published August 9, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated August 9, 2019 at 7:47AM

County Releases Statement on ART Crashes — “We are incredibly thankful that no one was seriously injured in these incidents, which the County and ART take very seriously. ART’s number one priority is the safety of our riders and others on the road.” [Arlington County]

More I-395 Nighttime Closures — “Motorists should expect significant lane closures on the general purpose lanes along I-395 North this weekend, August 9-11, from Duke Street (Exit 3) to past Pentagon City/Crystal City (Exit 8C) for bridge rehabilitation work along the I-395 corridor.” [Press Release]

News

Officials: More Overtime for Fire Department Means Bigger Cuts Elsewhere

By Vernon Miles

Published August 2, 2019 at 3:45PM

Arlington County Fire Department vehicle (file photo)

The Arlington County Fire Department’s overtime crisis is having a ripple effect on other programs, leaving training and logistics to take a hit.

Between the 2016 and 2018 fiscal years, the department exceeded its overtime budget every year.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 19, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated July 22, 2019 at 4:18PM

(Updated on 07/22/19) Office Vacancy Rate Dropping — “The commercial vacancy rate in the County continues to improve. The vacancy rate as of the second quarter of 2019 stands at 16.6%, down nearly 5% from its historic high of 21% in 2015. Arlington Economic Development also announced it successfully closed 26 deals in FY 2019, representing 7.2 million square feet of office space and 43,000 jobs.” [Arlington County]

County Adopts New Bathroom Policy — “The Arlington County government has adopted what amounts to a […] policy for government-building restrooms and locker rooms. The policy, outlined to County Board members on July 16, will formally allow any individual to use a male or female restroom ‘that corresponds with gender identity or expression,’ county staff said.” [InsideNova]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 12, 2019 at 7:30AM

HQ2 to Include Banana Stand, Local Businesses — “Schoettler said the outdoor areas will likely include elements from its Seattle headquarters, such as a community vegetable garden and a banana stand… Amazon’s in-house food program will only serve about one-quarter of the HQ2 workforce, encouraging the majority of the employees to each lunch at nearby businesses. And because Amazon will own the buildings, Schoettler said it will be able to curate the retail to focus on locally owned businesses.” [Bisnow, WAMU, Washington Business Journal]

County Again Recognized for Tech Savvy — “Arlington County is once again among the top ranked digital counties in the nation. The Center for Digital Government and National Association of Counties 2019 award designated Arlington second place in the 150,000-249,999 population category.” [Arlington County]

News

‘This is Going to Be All Out of Pocket’ — Residents Drowning in Repair Costs After Floods

By Airey

Published July 11, 2019 at 10:30AM | Updated June 26, 2023 at 8:42PM

Neighbors and friends assist [Redacted] in clearing her furniture ruined by the flooding. (Staff photo by Ashley Hopko)

(Updated at 2:30 p.m.) Residents hit hard by floods across Arlington are worrying about how to pay the repair costs.

Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz declared a state of emergency two days after Monday’s flash floods wrecked homes and destroyed businesses. The County Board now needs to approve the emergency declaration, which could pave the way for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid.

News

UPDATED: Arlington County Declares Emergency After Major Flash Flooding

By ARLnow.com

Published July 10, 2019 at 10:10PM | Updated July 11, 2019 at 11:26AM

Flooding along 14th Street N. near Westover in 2019 (file photo)

Update at 11:20 a.m. — Arlington County’s Solid Waste Bureau has issued the following statement about trash collection in the wake of Monday’s flooding. In it, the county apologizes for notices of “improper trash preparation” issued to flood-impacted residents “during this difficult time.”

The County continues to take special measures to assist residential curbside customers in trash collection efforts following this week’s damaging storm. We have identified areas that experienced extensive flooding and will have additional County trash collection trucks sent out daily to monitor these areas and collect items set on the curb. This will continue through Saturday, July 21 and will be extended if necessary. The County will also continue to monitor other areas and expand this service if necessary.

News

Arlington Investigating Cyber Attack on County Payroll System

By ARLnow.com

Published July 10, 2019 at 4:55PM | Updated July 10, 2019 at 5:22PM

Arlington County government offices/headquarters at 2100 Clarendon Blvd

(Updated at 5:20 p.m.) Arlington County has revealed a cyber attack that penetrated the county’s payroll system.

In a statement, the county says a number of employees were impacted by the intrusion, but did not specify the exact number or impacts. The intrusion appears to be the result of a “phishing” email targeting county employees and not a hack, the press release suggests.

News

UPDATED: Arlington Estimates $3.5 Million in Flood Damage to County Property

By ARLnow.com

Published July 9, 2019 at 11:15AM | Updated July 9, 2019 at 4:56PM

Pedestrian bridge washed away along Lubber Run (photo by Ashley Hopko)

(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) Arlington officials estimate that Monday’s flash flooding caused $3.5 million in damage to county infrastructure, particularly bridges in local parks.

As of last night, the an Arlington Dept. of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman said the department was aware of “at least six pedestrian bridges adjacent to the Four Mile Run stream and one storage building at Bon Air Park” which have been washed away.

News

Geofencing Restricts Where Scooters Can Take You in Arlington

By Vernon Miles

Published June 27, 2019 at 3:30PM | Updated June 27, 2019 at 3:48PM

Bird scooter in Arlington (via @RideBird)

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) Scooters are all the rage in Arlington now thanks to a newly-extended pilot program, but there are some places they can’t take you.

Geofencing is the limiting of where the scooters can ride or park. Certain areas are set as fenced off by Arlington County government as part of the Shared Mobility Devices (SMD) pilot, according to county transportation spokesman Eric Balliet.

News

Video: Paper Shredding Truck Fire at County Office Building

By ARLnow.com

Published June 26, 2019 at 1:30PM

A box truck that provides mobile paper shredding services caught fire at an Arlington County office building Wednesday morning.

Firefighters managed to extinguish the small blaze in the truck’s shredder before the flames could spread, as seen in a fire department video below.

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County Planning Safety Improvements on Military Road, Lorcom Lane

By ARLnow.com

Published June 24, 2019 at 9:30AM

Map showing Military Road and Lorcom Lane (image via Google Maps)

Arlington County is holding an open house Thursday night to discuss a road safety project in North Arlington.

The project is set to re-stripe portions of residential Lorcom Lane and Military Road as “complete streets” with the goal of “reducing conflicts between people driving and people biking through enhanced pavement marking and signage designs.”

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 24, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated June 24, 2019 at 8:36AM

Helicopter Complaints Continue — “Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), one of the lawmakers who requested the study, said that helicopter noise is ‘our number one constituent complaint’ and that the number of complaints has risen steadily since he took office in 2015.” [Washington Post]

Early Morning Apartment Fire — “Units were called to 2400 blk 27th Ct S for fire in 4 story garden apt. On arrival crews found balcony #fire on floors 1 & 2 being controlled by #firesprinklers. Fire extinguished, no extension inside. No injuries.” [Twitter]