Arlington County yesterday revealed the five finalists for the new county logo.
Aiming to replace the current logo that depicts Arlington House, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s former mansion, the county asked community members for design suggestions in February. Those were narrowed down with the help of a design firm and a Logo Review Panel, which met on April 15 to discuss the designs.
Last week, the Arlington County Board approved a new budget that holds the current real estate tax rate steady.
In some ways, that’s a win given the fears of a pandemic-caused budget crunch. Tax revenue ended up coming in above estimates and federal funding freed up million in local funds. Instead of making significant budget cuts, as originally feared, the Board was able to add in numerous initiatives, paid for with one-time funding.
(Updated at 11 a.m.) After more than a year of online-only Arlington County Board meetings, some have decided they actually prefer it to in-person.
Instead of schlepping to a Courthouse office building and sitting quietly for hours, one can now speak at Board meetings at home, in your pajamas if you prefer. Board meetings have been broadcast on local cable TV and online for years, but the virtual format now provides an opportunity to participate in the meetings to those who cannot attend in person.
Last week the Virginia General Assembly approved a marijuana legalization law that will take effect this summer.
Yes, come July 1, you can legally possess, cultivate and share small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Regulated, commercial sales of cannabis products are not set to take place in Virginia until 2024 under the legislation.
(Updated at 10:15 a.m.) Though coronavirus cases in Arlington are up over the past couple of weeks, there’s hope that progress is being made against the virus as vaccinations quicken.
Nationally, cases are up in some places and down in others — a stalemate as vaccinations are countered by increasing prevalence of more infectious variants. Still, some experts believe continued vaccinations will ultimately prevail, muting the impacts of new variants and leading to a relatively quiet summer in terms of infections.
President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan has added a glimmer of hope to those who would like to see an expanded Metrorail system.
The initial planning for the system in the 1960s envisioned a line down the Columbia Pike, ultimately terminating in Annandale, but the proposed line was nixed in order to save on costs. A physical remnant of the planning is a pair of stub tunnels near the Pentagon Metro station, built to accommodate a potential future Columbia Pike expansion.
Gov. Ralph Northam announced this morning a proposal to move up the legalization of marijuana in Virginia to this summer.
A legalization bill championed by state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D), who represents part of Arlington, passed the General Assembly earlier this year. But it called for legalization of recreational marijuana possession and cultivation on Jan. 1, 2024.
There’s word this morning that the idea of a Rosslyn-Georgetown gondola might not be as dead as we first thought.
Just over four years since the Arlington County Board said it was “not in favor” of the $80-90 million project, which always seemed to be more attractive to Georgetown business interests than to those on the other side of the river, a D.C. Council member is raising the hopes of the gondola’s cult-like following with a new funding request.
The pandemic is still here, but — with rising vaccinations — there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
It could yet be many months before things return to some semblance of normal, but today let’s try to imagine the pandemic being over.
VDOT is in the process of designing changes to Route 1 as it travels through Crystal City.
The changes include turning Route 1 from more of a highway to an urban boulevard of sorts, with the heavily-traveled commuter route brought down to grade in places where it’s currently elevated.
At least 25 restaurants have closed in Arlington since the start of the pandemic, nearly one year ago.
The restaurants that have closed their doors run the gamut from local watering holes to workday lunch spots to a neighborhood froyo stop. Many were hit hard by the the loss of business caused by the pandemic and subsequent safety measures, though some might have closed regardless.
A bill that has passed the Virginia House of Delegates would allow bicyclists in the Commonwealth to treat stop signs as yield signs in certain situations.
HB 2262 would legalize a common practice: cyclists rolling through stop signs when no other traffic has the right of way.
