News

Asked to name national political figures they admire, aspirants for the County Board cast a wide net from left to right across the political spectrum.

The question was posed by former Board member John Vihstadt at the Sept. 2 Arlington County Civic Federation debate. A Republican and three independents are challenging incumbent Democrat Takis Karantonis in the Nov. 4 election.


News

A federal district court has dismissed an Arlington School Board lawsuit over a threatened freeze on federal funding, saying it’s the wrong venue for the case.

A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia threw out lawsuits by the Arlington School Board and Fairfax County School Board on Friday.


Schools

Start-of-school enrollment in Arlington is down from a year before and below springtime projections, but could move higher by the time a final tally is compiled at the end of the month.

Arlington Public Schools counted 27,603 students in pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade classes on Sept. 4, Superintendent Francisco Durán reported to School Board members that evening.


News

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Friday to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War, his latest effort to project an image of toughness for America’s military.


Schools

Candidates seeking an open School Board seat are focusing on student achievement, the school system’s budget and the impact of the Trump administration.

“We deserve to get our money’s worth” from funds that support schools, said James “Vell” Rives IV at a Tuesday candidate forum sponsored by the Arlington County Civic Federation.


News

County Board Chair Takis Karantonis attempted to fend off criticism of the county’s Democratic political monopoly during the first debate of the general-election season.

“Challenging times require experience and leadership — without having to compromise our values,” Karantonis said at a Tuesday campaign forum sponsored by the Arlington County Civic Federation.


News

Leaders of the NAACP Arlington branch acknowledge they are walking a fine line in the era of Donald Trump.

The group will continue to press its values while refraining from direct political activity, the Rev. DeLishia Davis, president of the Arlington NAACP, said at a Monday meeting.


News

A new collaboration between a South Arlington church and a local artist is seeking to memorialize places where immigration enforcement has arrested people in Arlington.

Led by the Rev. Ashley Goff, members of Arlington Presbyterian Church, artist Sushmita Mazumdar and other “trusted neighbors” set out yesterday (Tuesday) to locations where residents have documented recent detainments by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.


News

President Donald Trump’s crackdown on homeless encampments in D.C. comes during a period of increasing need for homelessness resources in Arlington.

The number of people without homes in Arlington has been steadily rising for the past four years — growing from a 10-year low of 171 in 2021 to 271 as of this January. Those numbers come hand-in-hand with increased demands on a local network of related services, including emergency housing.


News

Regional mutual-aid agreements do not require Arlington agencies to support federal policing efforts in D.C., County Board Chair Takis Karantonis believes.

The federal government is not a signatory to those agreements, and even if a request came via D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, it would receive close scrutiny, Karantonis said at a Tuesday luncheon of Arlington Senior Democrats.


News

Arlington’s congressman is quarreling with the Department of Homeland Security following a visit to one of Virginia’s immigration detention centers.

The federal department publicly criticized U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D) in a press release after he visited Farmville Detention Center on Friday. It accused him of prioritizing detainees with criminal convictions over crime victims.


Schools

Arlington Public Schools leaders are playing their cards close to their chests following the end of a federal investigation into the school system’s anti-discrimination policy.

In response to demands from the U.S. Department of Education, which targeted policies allowing transgender students to use facilities corresponding with their gender identities, Superintendent Francisco Durán said only that APS has received the findings and is formulating a response.


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