(Updated at 1:50 p.m.) Three out of four lanes of Wilson Blvd in Ballston were blocked by utility work Monday morning.
The work, at the intersection of Wilson and N. Randolph Street, near the mall, was to replace a blown electrical transformer in a utility vault that’s in the middle of the westbound lanes of Wilson. Crews from Dominion Energy were on scene, along with a large, mobile crane.
(Updated at 8:40 p.m.) An “electrical emergency” — reportedly a utility pole being burned by a malfunctioning power line — has prompted an extended road closure in Virginia Square.
Police have closed 14th Street between N. Lincoln Street and N. Kirkwood Road, near Arlington Science Focus Elementary School, to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Shooting Suspect Served Time for Murder — Updated at 8:40 a.m. — Crystal City shooting suspect Mumeet Ali Muhammad was released from prison two years ago after being convicted of a 1991 murder in Arlington. And he had recently been arrested but then released after allegedly threatening to shoot a man in D.C. and possessing a gun as a felon. [WTOP, NBC 4]
Witness Recounts Hiding in Office During Shooting — “An association employee described the scene to InsideNoVa on Thursday, saying recent active-shooter training helped employees get through the terrifying episode. ‘Everybody did precisely what they should have done,’ said the employee, who asked that his name not be published… ‘I got right up next to door, crouched down and made myself as small as possible,’ he said. ‘I heard screaming, him yelling at her, her pleading with him.'” [InsideNova]
Update at 7:30 p.m. — The number of Dominion customers without power is down to 1,551. The outages are mostly in the North Highlands and Courthouse neighborhoods.
Earlier: More than 4,000 Dominion customers are currently without power in Arlington County.
A power outage planned for the 3000 block of Clarendon Blvd was canceled earlier this month, but it’s back on this weekend.
According to Binyam Gebreyes, operations specialist for Dominion Energy, the earlier planned outage didn’t occur because there were difficulties accessing the necessary equipment.
Update at 5:10 p.m. — A power outage near the southern tip of the county has prompted the closure of the Fairlington Community Center, according to the parks department.
Weather Alert: 5/30 – Fairlington Community Center is closed due to power outage. All classes, activities, meetings and events are cancelled.
A planned power outage will effectively shut down a number of businesses on one block in Clarendon this weekend.
“We are replacing a transformer,” Dominion Energy spokesman Charles Penn said. “The outage should last 24 hours. The planned transformer and switch replacement is scheduled for June 1 and it will impact 1200 N. Garfield and 3030 Clarendon Blvd.”
A brief power outage turned off the lights at homes, businesses and even the Virginia Dept. of Motor Vehicles office in Virginia Square this afternoon.
The outage was reported prior to 2:30 p.m. A map from Dominion Power said more than 2,600 customers were without power across a large swath of North Arlington, from the far northern reaches of Arlington County to part of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
Del. Patrick Hope (D-47th District) is swearing off campaign contributions from Dominion Energy and calling on his fellow Democrats to do the same, becoming the latest in a line of state lawmakers to reject money from one of Virginia’s only regulated monopolies.
Hope announced at his annual pancake breakfast Saturday (Jan. 5) that he’ll now stop accepting campaign cash from the electric utility, according to a video posted by the Democratic blog Blue Virginia. Hope has accepted $9,500 from Dominion since he was first elected back in 2009, but decided to stop doing so as he gears up to run for a sixth term in office this fall.
Update at 3:40 p.m. — Only 13 Dominion customers remain without power in Arlington.
Earlier: Parts of north and south Arlington are without power on this snowy Tuesday night.
Some 330 Dominion customers in Arlington were still without power Monday morning, following Friday’s intense, prolonged wind storm.
Dominion crews worked throughout the weekend to restore electricity in Northern Virginia. The few hundred without power in Arlington was down from more than 14,000 as of Friday evening.
(Updated at 7:35 p.m.) Friday’s wind storm has taken a toll on Arlington, sending trees toppling onto cars, houses and across roads, and knocking out power to tens of thousands.
As of 7:30 p.m., Dominion reported 14,663 customers without power in Arlington. An hour earlier, it appeared that the numbers were finally dropping, but thanks to continued strong winds it has, in fact, gone up.
