After a cross-country journey and a recent brush with animal control, a man who arrived in Arlington with three goats finally made it to D.C.
However, he didn’t stay for long and he only has two goats with him now.
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A man who arrived in Arlington with three goats remains in the county despite having lost his livestock.
The traveler known as Jacob Holiday has encamped in a median on the western side of Theodore Roosevelt Bridge for the past several days, placing himself closer than ever to his final destination in D.C. A tipster and ARLnow staff have been unable to observe any goats with him since they were seized by animal control.
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Just before they could complete an extensive journey across much of the country, a man and his goats ran into trouble with Arlington animal control.
Animal control has taken custody of the livestock that arrived in Arlington last week, citing a “legal matter,” Jennifer Toussaint, chief of animal control in Arlington County, told ARLnow.
A man and his goats set up camp in Arlington last night, nearing the end of a long and somewhat peculiar sojourn across much of the country.
By foot and by hoof, a man known as Jacob Holiday and his livestock have been traveling this way for a long time. Holiday told Midwest Media in November that they’d been on the road for years, traveling from Minnesota to spread a message of peace and love.
After decades of trying to return to Romania, the last four of which he spent homeless in Arlington, a 77-year-old man is finally going home.
Ion Chilom arrived in the United States 44 years ago, fleeing a communist dictatorship in Romania. Since then, he has made several attempts to return home, but political conditions and financial insecurity dashed those hopes until a neighbor set up a GoFundMe campaign last month.
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The Clarendon post office has restricted after-hours access to its lobby, citing issues with people relieving themselves and otherwise causing problems at the location.
The U.S. Postal Service is in the process of installing an automated entry system to enter the lobby at 3118 Washington Blvd from 6 p.m.-7 a.m., USPS spokesperson Mark Wahl told ARLnow. Once completed, customers with a QR code or fob have been able to access their boxes during those hours.
Arlington leaders fear that federal cuts could threaten local and region-wide efforts that have helped prevent homelessness from ballooning in challenging economic times.
Arlington typically receives about $4.2 million in annual federal “continuum-of-care” grants. “If we have reduced federal support, it could risk a lot,” County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr. said in a June 17 meeting.
Arlington’s level of homelessness was largely stable from 2025 to 2026, but the number of those considered chronically homeless showed a year-over-year increase.
A total of 29 single adults in Arlington were counted as chronically homeless in this year’s Point-in-Time Survey, a one-night regional tally of those experiencing homelessness across the region. That’s up from 23 a year before.
The recent death of a woman who spent much of the last two decades on Arlington’s streets is driving conversation on intervention options in Virginia.
Carol Ann Sauer — remembered as a friend and a “fixture to locals” who helped her at times, especially during bad weather — died from complications related to pneumonia and sepsis at VHC Health shortly before midnight on Dec. 31. She was 66.
Arlington government leaders appear willing to fill financial gaps if the federal government reduces housing grants to support vulnerable populations — but they don’t know how big those gaps might be.
“We’re not going to not find a way to fund it. We’re not going to let that all fall apart,” Board member Maureen Coffey said at the Housing Commission’s Jan. 15 meeting, which looked at impacts of current and future budget cuts to federal housing funds.
D.C.-area musicians are coming together in Falls Church later this month to support assistance to unhoused people.
Four bands are set to perform at the third annual Reason 2 Rock Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 20. The event will donate 100% of its proceeds to the Arlington-based nonprofit PathForward.
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.