A three-day Fourth of July weekend is fast approaching.
This would usually be one of the busiest travel times of the year. Instead, airports have barely a quarter of the travellers as last year, and traffic maps are mostly a sea of green. The pandemic has affected nearly all aspects of normal life, including the willingness of people to leave one’s house and visit other places or people.
Washington-Lee High School in Arlington is now Washington-Liberty. Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County will be getting a new name, after a vote yesterday. Jefferson Davis Highway, meanwhile, is now Richmond Highway.
Is it time for Lee Highway — also known as Route 29 — to get a new name?
Following protests over the killing of George Floyd, there’s now a national movement to #DefundThePolice.
Most proponents say they want to redirect a portion of sizable police budgets to social services, investing in community rather than punishment.
Arlington and the rest of Northern Virginia are set to begin the first phase of the region’s reopening on Friday.
With coronavirus cases increasing steadily, but not exponentially, and hospitals having sufficient extra capacity, local health officials say localities can start reopening relatively safely. (Much of the rest of the Virginia started reopening on May 15. D.C. is also partially reopening this coming Friday.)
The D.C. Council is reportedly considering making some pandemic-era alcohol rules a new fixture of the local dining scene.
Barred in DC reports that the provision, in Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget, would make restaurants’ newfound ability to offer beer, wine and cocktails for delivery and takeout permanent. It would be a shot in the arm for struggling restaurants that have seen business drop precipitously during the coronavirus crisis.
At its meeting this weekend, the Arlington County Board is set to formally approve an ordinance granting the county emergency powers to hold public meetings online instead of in person.
That codified what has been the county’s improvised practice during the pandemic, including during the recent county budget process. County Board meetings are being held online, as are public information sessions about things like plans for the revamped Metropolitan Park in Pentagon City and proposed changes to a crash-prone section of Route 50.
Arlington County’s parks are closed, a safety precaution intended to prevent overcrowding and the spread of the coronavirus.
While trails are open, the closure of parks has reduced recreation options for those seeking to get outside as the weather gets warmer. That, along with the county deciding against closing vehicle lanes for extra space, may be factors contributing to more crowded sidewalks and trails.
There’s growing evidence that the outdoors are, other than one’s home, the safest place to be during the pandemic.
A study in China revealed that the vast majority of outbreaks reviewed were the result of indoor transmission of the coronavirus. Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb discussed the findings on social media and on CNBC Thursday.
On a Wednesday four weeks ago — which seems like a lifetime ago — Arlington had 36 known cases of COVID-19 and ARLnow conducted an unscientific poll.
Of nearly 2,800 respondents, 0.76% said they had tested positive for COVID, 4.4% said they had COVID-like symptoms, and 11.6% said they had a close personal connection who had tested positive.
There’s a global-pandemic-slash-economic-crisis going on, but you know what apparently isn’t affected? Towing.
Just like death and taxes, being towed is inevitable if you park without a permit in a private lot patrolled by a towing company. Even now.
As of midday Tuesday, Arlington County had 36 known cases of COVID-19. There are likely many more that have gone unreported.
While totally unscientific, we wanted to get some perspective on the case count from the personal experience of our readers. Are there substantially more people out there experiencing symptoms, for instance, but who haven’t tested positive yet?
Over the weekend, in the midst of a pandemic, some local restaurants and bars were surprisingly crowded.
With sports leagues, recreational programs, major events, schools and many other facets of everyday life suspended or cancelled, in an effort to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases, the sight of revelers crowding D.C. area bars and restaurants prompted some outrage on social media.
