poll

Opinion

Morning Poll: Should Arlington Raise Employee Salaries?

By ARLnow.com

A new analysis of county employee compensation, prepared by county staff, says that Arlington employees earn less than their counterparts in Alexandria and Fairfax County.

The Washington Examiner reports that veteran employees often earn thousands of dollars less than employees in Alexandria and Fairfax, the county’s two biggest competitors in terms of hiring. Despite the fact that Arlington often hires employees at higher starting salaries, the staff analysis recommends raising county employee salary ceilings in Arlington to compete for the best workers.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Ode to April

By ARLnow.com

This site is often a venue for serious debate about (mostly) serious issues. Which is fine — although we wish some folks would play a little nicer in the comments section.

On a day like today, however, with the sun shining, plants in bloom, and people enjoying the nice weather, maybe a less serious question is in order.

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News

Poll: What Would You Like to See Return to Clarendon-Courthouse?

By ARLnow.com

Clarendon and Courthouse have changed — a lot — over the past couple of decades.

The arrival of Metro in the late 1970s and early 1980s heralded the demise of many small mom-and-pop retailers and ethnic restaurants that once gave the area its unique character. It also helped speed along the end of large department and five & dime stores.

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News

Poll: Tax Tobacco to Pay for Medicaid?

By ARLnow.com

The bill would raise the tax on cigarettes from the current $0.015 per cigarette to the national average of $0.0725 per cigarette, or $1.45 per pack. Virginia currently has the lowest cigarette tax in the U.S.

The bill would also raise the tax on snuff and other tobacco products. Cigars would be taxed at 50 percent of the wholesale price, up from 10 percent.

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Around Town

Verizon and Comcast Reps Respond to Poll

By ARLnow.com

In a poll we conducted yesterday, nearly three quarters of respondents rated their overall experience with Comcast “poor” or “very, very bad.” The comments section generally reflected the same sentiment.

In the article that accompanied the poll, we also mentioned Verizon’s FiOS service, saying that it helps protect consumers by giving them a viable alternative to cable.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Rate Your Experience With Comcast

By Scott Brodbeck

It’s not so much that the Comcast customer service agents themselves are that bad, it’s just that the customer service system in which they operate seems to be designed with the sole purpose of minimizing cost at the expense of producing meaningful solutions to customers’ problems and complaints.

Comcast has a partial monopoly in Arlington. Sure, Verizon FiOS and satellite TV are available to single family homes and certain apartment buildings and condos. But for many apartment and condo-dwellers, Comcast is the only game in town. The only option for those folks in the event of an unresolved grievance is to either grin and bear it, cancel service and forgo cable and/or internet altogether, or complain to the county’s cable administration office and hope for the best.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Are You Working Over Christmas?

By ARLnow.com

We just wanted to take a quick moment to thank everybody who will be working over the Christmas holiday.

From emergency personnel to military service members to media workers to retail and service employees, here’s to the dedicated men and women who will be protecting, informing and serving us while much of the community is opening presents and spending time with family.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Rising Rents

By ARLnow.com

According to a Delta Associates study cited by the Post, local apartment rents have increased 8.2 percent this year, to an average of $1,643. Rents in the Washington area are at 20-year highs, as people flee the housing market for rentals. Only New York City has a lower vacancy rate.

Earlier this year, we reported on the red-hot rental market in Pentagon City, where the average rent at the beginning of the year was $1,902 and rising. And Pentagon City certainly wasn’t alone in terms of rent hikes in the county.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Chinese Food in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Sure, there are some who will testify that the Chinese restaurants here are no different than anywhere else. But there are also plenty of people who have said emphatically that Chinese food was soooo much better wherever they lived before Arlington (New York City, for instance). For them, finding one — just one — comparable restaurant in Arlington remains a challenge.

What do you think? Feel free to share your restaurant recommendations in the comments.

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