Author: ARLnow.com

Shots Fired Investigation in Green Valley — From the Arlington County Police Department: “ACPD is investigating the report of shots heard in the area of 25th Street S. and S. Kenwood Street. At this time, no injuries have been reported. Police remain on scene investigating and a police helicopter is assisting with an aerial search of the area.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Local Statements on Tyre Nichols — Both the Arlington County Police Department and Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti issued statements over the weekend following the release of video showing the murder of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers. [Twitter, Twitter]

Candidate Wants Missing Middle Referendum — “Candidate Natalie Roy said Jan. 26 that if County Board members enact Missing Middle housing changes in the spring as currently anticipated, the public should be asked to authorize the changes in a November referendum… In Virginia, getting an advisory referendum of this type on the ballot is complicated at best, impossible at worst.” [Sun Gazette, Patch]

Planetarium Back Open — A celebration of the reopening of Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium, after an overhaul and a nearly three-year closure, was held on Saturday. [NBC 4]

Origin of Arlington’s Name — “Today, the Arlington Heights folks, says Murawski, would like to “dispel the rumor that we were named after” that long-gone earl (also called Baron Arlington). He put me in touch with Craig Chapman, chairman of the Bibury Parish Council, who knows the subject. Chapman assured me that his study of the 370-year association between our two hometowns shows no link to the other two British Arlingtons, only Bibury’s.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Beaver Family Near Roosevelt Island — From the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail: “We discovered a family of beavers has built a lodge near our volunteer location tomorrow near TR Island. Volunteer with us tomorrow to improve the trail and maybe see a beaver up close.” [Twitter]

Wakefield Wins Track Meets — “By wide margins and with multiple first-place finishers, the Wakefield Warriors won both the girls and boys Arlington County indoor track and field championships. The girls amassed 125 points in the high-school meet at Thomas Jefferson Middle School to win by 79 points over the Washington-Liberty Generals. The Wakefield boys scored 123 and won by 77.5 over the runner-up Yorktown Patriots.” [Sun Gazette]

Va. Sens. Support D.C. Statehood — “It’s a bill that is going absolutely, positively nowhere this two-year session of Congress, but Virginia’s two U.S. senators have signed up as cosponsors of a measure giving statehood to a portion of the District of Columbia.” [Sun Gazette]

It’s Monday — Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 56 and low of 41. Sunrise at 7:17 am and sunset at 5:28 pm. [Weather.gov]

Limits to Ranked Choice Voting — “The field may be as many as a half-dozen by the time the dust settles, but for voters in June’s Arlington County Board Democratic primary, there will be some limits on how many candidates one can rank as part of the new instant-runoff process. Technical constraints mean that voters will only be able to select their top three choices, no matter how many candidates emerge, county elections chief Gretchen Reinemeyer confirmed.” [Sun Gazette]

Arlington’s Busiest Battalion Chief — From the Arlington County Fire Department: “The busiest Battalion Chief (BC) for the ACFD in 2022 was Battalion 111 with over 1,000 calls for the year. BC’s are dispatched on all significant incidents to serve in a command capacity. Day to day they manage their battalions which are comprised of multiple fire stations.” [Twitter]

GOP Mainstay Dies at 100 –“In the days before COVID sent public events into lockdown mode for a number of years, Arlington County Republican Committee meetings were made just a little bit sweeter by Clara ‘Delle’ Macrae. A familiar face at GOP meetings, Macrae provided brownies, cookies and refreshments for monthly membership gatherings when they were held at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) building in Ballston for years… Macrae died Jan. 14, having turned 100 years old last summer.” [Sun Gazette]

Yet Another Gun at DCA — “On Wednesday, an Alexandria man was prevented from bringing his 9mm handgun onto his flight. The gun was loaded with 10 bullets… The gun marked the third gun caught at one of the airport security checkpoints within the past week, TSA said. The total number of guns confiscated at Reagan National Airport checkpoints now stands at six in the first 25 days of 2023.” [Patch]

Job Posting Requirement Stats — “Northern Virginia’s employers say they’re flexible about degree requirements for entry-level positions, seemingly opening the door to more community college students and a broader, more diverse talent pool. But their job postings suggest otherwise… 56% required at least a high school diploma or vocational training, while 32% required a bachelor’s degree, 8% an associate’s degree and 4% a graduate degree.” [Washington Business Journal]

Metro Increasing Train Frequency — “Metro announced today that beginning Feb.7, customers on the Blue, Blue + (Yellow Line replacement) and Orange lines will see trains every 12 minutes from 6 – 9 a.m. and 3 – 6 p.m. on Tuesday through Thursday. Beginning Feb. 21, Red Line customers will see trains departing every 8 minutes all day until 9 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday.” [WMATA]

It’s Friday — Clear throughout the day. High of 43 and low of 31. Sunrise at 7:20 am and sunset at 5:25 pm. [Weather.gov]