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Morning Notes

Published February 27, 2017 at 10:05AM | Updated February 27, 2017 at 10:54AM

County Board Mulls Exotic Pet Ban — As expected, the Arlington County Board on Saturday voted to advertise a ban on “wild and exotic” pets in the county. Animals covered by the proposed ban “range from monkeys, wolves, raccoons and lynx to alligators, tarantulas, hedgehogs and even sugar gliders.” A hearing on the matter will be held March 18, ahead of final approval by the Board. [Arlington County]

Arlington Cultural Diversity Ranking — Arlington ranks No. 33 among “mid-sized cities” in a new list of cities with the most cultural diversity, behind places like Columbia, Maryland; Glendale, Arizona; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. [WalletHub]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 23, 2017 at 9:30AM

Young buck (deer) in backyard (Flickr pool photo by Lisa Novak)

Vornado Scraps Development Proposals — Ahead of the closing of its merger with JBG, Vornado has indefinitely put on hold a number of development proposals, including: all but one building of its proposed RiverHouse development in Pentagon City; a revamp of the shops at 1750 Crystal Drive that was to include a new 12-screen multiplex; and a pair of retail pavilions at 2101 and 2201 Crystal Drive. [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington a ‘Best City’ to Go Car-Free — According to a new list in Forbes, Arlington County is one of the top 25 U.S. cities for one to live without a car. Arlington was also one of nine places whose walkable neighborhoods were profiled in the magazine. [Forbes]

Around Town

Arlington Among the Worst ‘Cities’ to Own a Car

By ARLnow.com

Published January 26, 2017 at 11:25AM

The website SmartAsset ranked localities by factors like hours spent in traffic per year, rate of motor vehicle theft, number of parking garages per driver and “the non-driving options a resident has for getting around.”

At the top of the list — the alleged worst city to own a car — was Newark, New Jersey, followed by San Francisco and D.C.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 4, 2017 at 8:30AM | Updated January 4, 2017 at 10:11AM

CivFed Approves Marijuana Resolution — The Arlington County Civic Federation has approved a resolution in support of legalizing medical marijuana in Virginia. [WJLA, InsideNova]

Beyer Opposes ‘Holman Rule’ — Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) has joined other local legislators in opposing the proposed reinstatement of the “Holman Rule,” which would allow a legislator to offer an amendment that would “reduce the salary of any federal employee, or eliminate a federal employee’s position without hearings, testimony, or due process.” [Federal News Radio, House of Representatives]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published November 16, 2016 at 9:05AM

APS Receives Top Ranking — Arlington Public Schools is the top school division in Virginia and in the D.C. area, according to new rankings from Niche.com. All three comprehensive high schools in Arlington ranked in the top 10 in Virginia, according to the website. [Arlington Public Schools]

Alleged Racial Confrontation at Metro Station — A local man says a trio of older white men confronted him last week in the Courthouse Metro station, a few days after the election, and told him “good thing you’ll all be gone soon” — an apparent racially-motivated comment — and “it’ll be great again soon.” [Patch]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 20, 2016 at 9:00AM

Earthquake Drill Today — Virginia and a handful of other states will be participating in the Great SouthEast ShakeOut earthquake drill today at 10:20 a.m. [ShakeOut.org]

Sobering News on Office Vacancies — County officials are warning that Arlington’s office vacancy rate will remain relatively high for the foreseeable future. Optimistically, economic development officials believe that by “slowly and steadily” winning lease renewals and new tenants, the vacancy rate could decline to just past 15 percent, from the current 20 percent, within a few years. [InsideNova]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published September 15, 2016 at 9:15AM

Arlington Named No. 11 Best Place in America — The same folks who named Arlington the best city to live in America earlier this summer have named it the 11th “best place to live in America.” Los Alamos, New Mexico topped the list and locally Merrifield, Virginia placed fourth. [Niche]

APS Schools Earn State Accreditation — All Arlington public schools, save one that is still being considered, have earned state accreditation. The final school is expected to be accredited later this fall, school officials say. “I want to congratulate all of our dedicated teachers and school leaders as well as our students and families on achieving full accreditation in all of our schools once again,” Superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy said in a statement. [InsideNova, Arlington Public Schools]

Around Town

Arlington Named ‘Hardest-Working City in America’

By ARLnow.com

Published August 29, 2016 at 2:15PM

The financial website SmartAsset has Arlington ranked No. 1 on its list of the “hardest-working cities in America.” The website ranked 113 U.S. cities by labor market data on the average number of hours worked in a week and the average number of weeks worked per year.

The four hardest-working cities after Arlington were Anchorage, Alaska; Lincoln, Nebraska; Plano, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Detroit ranked last on the list

Schools

APS: We Didn’t Even Apply for the Newsweek Ranking

By ARLnow.com

Published August 17, 2016 at 1:15PM

But there’s a big asterisk to that fact, says an APS spokesman.

As opposed to 2010, when all APS high schools were included in the top 500, for the past couple of years the school system hasn’t even applied to be ranked by Newsweek.

Around Town

Arlington Named Third ‘Healthiest City in America’

By Adrian Cruz

Published August 4, 2016 at 2:30PM

Arlington has been named among the nation’s healthiest places to live.

The county was called the “third healthiest city in America” by Niche.com, the rankings site that previously called Arlington the No. 2 “Best City for Millennials,” “Best City to Live in America” and the No. 7 Suburb to Live in America.

News

Arlington Named No. 1 ‘Digital County’

By ARLnow.com

Published July 21, 2016 at 11:20AM

That’s according to the Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties, which gave Arlington high marks for its tech related to “open government, transparency, citizen engagement, security and operations.”

This is the first time Arlington has achieved the honor.

Around Town

Arlington Named No. 2 ‘Best City for Millennials’

By ARLnow.com

Published July 11, 2016 at 12:00PM

That’s according to Niche.com, the same rankings website that recently pegged Arlington as the “Best City to Live in America” and the No. 7 Suburb to Live in America.

In the latest rankings, Arlington received high marks for the number of millennial residents, job opportunities and access to bars and restaurants. It was dinged only for a high cost of living.