The Falls Church Planning Commission will soon change from being a final decision-maker to an advisor for some new development projects in the city.
The shift in responsibility comes in response to new state laws, which took effect July 1 and aim to speed up the creation of new housing across the commonwealth. Under the new rules, many localities must move from planning commission approval of projects to staff approval of development plans.
Arlington’s unemployment rate ticked up once again in July, continuing a months-long trend that has paralleled federal downsizing across the region.
The county’s unemployment rate stood at 3.5% last month, slightly above 3.4% in June and a major increase from 2.5% in July 2024.
Arlington’s unemployment rate continued its upward trajectory in June, reaching a 55% year-over-year increase, according to new data.
A total of 5,247 county residents were reported as seeking work that month, according to state data released earlier this week. That’s up from the 3,380 residents reported as unemployed in June 2024, and up from 5,061 recorded in May of this year.
A new policy on notifying parents about confirmed and suspected drug overdoses could be going into effect at Arlington Public Schools.
To comply with a new state law that went into effect July 1, the Arlington School Board is considering a new policy statement requiring the notification of all parents or guardians at a school within 24 hours of a school-connected student overdose.
Arlington’s unemployment rate has risen to its highest point in nearly four years.
A total of 5,061 Arlington residents were counted as seeking jobs in May, according to new figures from the Virginia Employment Commission.
Arlington’s new School Board chair is promising to protect community values she sees as under threat from the state and federal governments.
Bethany Zecher Sutton’s colleagues unanimously selected her to chair the School Board at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday), replacing Chair Mary Kadera.
Political leaders need to meet the moment and connect with a fearful and angry Northern Virginia electorate, one county leader believes.
“The status quo is just not good enough. What are we going to do about it?” County Board member Julius “JD” Spain Sr. said during a Saturday forum sponsored by NAACP branches of Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County.
Today marks the start of the state government’s new fiscal year, and brings into effect numerous new laws that won approval during the 2025 General Assembly session.
State legislators introduced just under 2,000 measures during the 2025 session. A total of 727 were enacted into law, according to state data.
By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats in Virginia have built up a hefty fundraising advantage for their effort to reclaim the governor’s mansion in a race seen as a bellwether for the party in power in Washington heading into the 2026 midterms.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The candidates for Virginia’s lieutenant governor are set to make history after Sen. Ghazala Hashmi won the Democratic nomination for the position on Wednesday.
Hashmi is the first Muslim and the first Indian-American to be nominated to appear on the ballot for a Virginia statewide office. She defeated five other candidates, including Democrat Levar Stoney by less than a percentage point, to secure the nomination in a razor-thin primary race. Stoney congratulated Hashmi on Wednesday in a concession statement.
By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Former Del. Jay Jones will look to be the face of legal resistance to President Donald Trump in Virginia after winning Tuesday’s closely watched Democratic state primary for attorney general.
An advocacy group is calling on Arlington school officials to push back on a new state policy on reporting students as either male or female.
On May 12, the Virginia Department of Education’s policy on records collection removed an option to designate some students as “other” rather than male or female.
