Author: ARLnow.com

Pacers Owner Keeps Streak Alive — “Chris Farley is a runner who, for nearly a quarter-century, had finished a marathon or otherwise run 26.2 miles every year in under three hours. But in November, Farley, the owner of the Pacers Running stores in the D.C. area, was pretty sure his streak was over. He ran the New York City Marathon in just over three hours, a disappointment to him and his wide orbit of friends and supporters. He was ready to call it quits and say the streak was behind him — until his friends stepped in and told him they’d help him achieve his goal.” [Washington Post]

Renovations for Monroe Park Playground — “Get ready for some fun, the Monroe Park Playground is being redone!  Share your feedback to help inform upcoming renovations for the playground area of Monroe Park, which requires replacements according to Arlington County’s facility lifecycle process. No new amenities are planned for this project, which is funded by the Capital Improvement Plan.” [Arlington County]

Robbery in Va. Square — “The female victim was in the area when she was approached by the two juvenile female suspects. One suspect allegedly struck the victim, causing her to fall to the ground. The suspects then took the victim’s personal property and demanded the victim’s cellphone before fleeing the scene on foot with the stolen items. Responding officers canvassed the surrounding area, located the suspects in the Rosslyn Metro and took them into custody. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries.” [ACPD]

Ranked Choice for General Election? — “It wasn’t the whiff of waffles you might have caught lingering in the air. But perhaps it was waffling.Intentionally or not, Arlington County Board members in a Jan. 2 confab with the Arlington County Civic Federation left some ambiguity whether they planned to enact ranked-choice voting for the 2024 general election. ‘It hasn’t been decided yet,’ County Board Chairman Libby Garvey said in response to a federation question, although she said upcoming meetings slated for Jan. 20 and 23 are ‘when I expect we’re likely to take it up.'” [Gazette Leader]

Hot Start for DJO Hoops — “A strong start to the season continued for the Bishop O’Connell Knights in recent days with more significant victories. First, the boys high-school basketball team (12-2, 2-0) finished 3-0 to win the Traditional Division of the annual Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach. Next, host O’Connell defeated Gonzaga, 65-57, in a big Washington Catholic Athletic Conference showdown in Arlington.” [Gazette Leader]

Strong Storm Expected Tuesday — “Weather models are unusually aggressive in simulating the potential for widespread 50 to 60 mph gusts as far south and west as the Carolina Piedmont. Major cities including Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York all could see gusts over 50 mph. The combination of high winds and saturated soils could topple trees, meaning power outages are likely.” [Capital Weather Gang]

It’s Monday — Expect a sunny day with highs near 45, and a northwest wind at 5 to 9 mph that will become a light westerly breeze in the afternoon. Clouds will increase during the night, with lows around 32. [Weather.gov]

Today’s Morning Notes are brought to you by coworking provider Industrious. ARLnow has been based in an Industrious office — one of several in Arlington — for years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about stocking an office. 

Flyover Planned This Morning — From AlertDC: “The US Military will be conducting a Flyover at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday January 5, 2024 at 9:10 AM.”

Protest at Blinken’s House — “Pro-Palestinian protesters targeted Secretary of State Antony Blinken with ‘fake blood’ outside his suburban Virginia home on Thursday. Activists surrounded his SUV as it rolled through the gates of his house in [Arlington, near the McLean border] and spilled red paint on the driveway as he left for work. The demonstrators shouted ‘shame on you’ and ‘war criminal’ and told the U.S. to stop the ‘genocide’ Gaza.” ACPD responded to the scene to assist the Diplomatic Security Service around 7:30 a.m. Thursday. [Daily Mail]

Public Safety Radio Issues — From Dave Statter: “Arlington County’s public safety radio system failed tonight. They went to a backup system, switching over to Fairfax County’s radio channels. That’s an important advantage of the long-standing interoperability in much of the region. It appeared to go down shortly after 6:30 p.m. This also impacted the Falls Church Police Department. FCPD shares Arlington’s radio system.” [Twitter]

Errant SUV Busted Bike Box — A driver who rammed into the Chase Bank in Pentagon City on Wednesday night “also completely took out the covered bicycle boxes that were there.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Final Report on Metro Derailment — “The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report on the October 2021 Blue Line train derailment, which led to more than half of Metro’s fleet of trains being pulled off the tracks and drastically reduced rail service.
The NTSB’s final report said Metro was aware of a problem that caused the wheelsets on its new 7000-series trains to drift too far apart but that officials in the transit agency didn’t properly address the hazard before a Blue Line train derailed near the Rosslyn Metro Station.” [WTOP]

Significant Snow Unlikely — “Earlier in the week, we said the odds favored more rain than snow for a storm expected in the D.C. region this weekend. That remains the case, with most areas probably only seeing a little snow and sleet Saturday morning before changing to mostly rain in the afternoon.” [Capital Weather Gang]

It’s Friday — Expect a sunny day with a high around 42 and a northwest wind around 6 mph, shifting to southwest in the afternoon. As night falls, anticipate increasing clouds and a low temperature of approximately 30, accompanied by a gentle south wind. [Weather.gov]