Author: ARLnow.com

Launched in January 2010, ARLnow.com is the place for the latest news, views and things to do around Arlington, Virginia. Started by a Pentagon City resident who has spent the past several years working in local TV news, ARLnow.com seeks to distinguish itself with original, enterprising, up-to-the-minute local coverage.

Power Outage Reported in Virginia Square Area

By ARLnow.com

Parts of Arlington County have been experiencing power problems this morning.

Currently, more than 1,200 power customers are reported to be in the dark in the Virginia Square, Cherrydale and Ballston neighborhoods, according to an outage map from Dominion Energy.

Some complication have been reported from that outage, including tripped fire alarms, smoke from generators starting up, non-functioning traffic signals and a potential power surge in a building.

Several traffic light issues were reported earlier this morning, in Clarendon and Ballston. It’s unclear if those problems are related to the current power outage.

https://twitter.com/WTOPtraffic/status/1374341756666384392

Update at 11:05 a.m. — The outage is down to about 350 Dominion customers, per the power company’s website.

Arlington Joins Neighbors in Asking for More Vaccine Supply

By ARLnow.com
A vial of the COVID-19 vaccine (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

Arlington County has the capacity to administer 14,000 vaccine doses per week, but has been getting at most 8,000 doses per week from the state.

That’s according to a letter sent to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, which represents Arlington and other local government in the region. The letter asks the governor to send Northern Virginia localities more doses to quicken the pace of vaccinations.

“We have assembled the capacity to administer many more doses of coronavirus vaccine than we are currently administering,” the commission’s letter says. “With additional doses allocated to our health districts immediately, we can put that capacity to work to quickly assist the Commonwealth in achieving its vaccination and equity goals.”

The letter notes that Arlington has over 28,000 people who meet current Virginia’s Phase 1A and 1B guidelines waiting for their vaccinations to be scheduled. Meanwhile, the state announced last week that some health districts — including less populated areas where there is less vaccine demand — would begin transitioning to Phase 1C.

“Each of our health districts have waiting lists for vaccines for individuals in the 1A and 1B categories that far outstrip the supply we have received to date,” the letter says. “We stand ready to meet your expectation that everyone, even those who have not yet registered, will have a place in line six weeks from now, but we will need more doses immediately to make that reality.”

As of Tuesday morning, 24,690 people in Arlington — 10.4% of the county’s population — have been fully vaccinated, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. In all, just under 67,000 doses have been administered in Arlington, at a trailing seven-day average rate of 1,372 doses per day. That figure includes doses administered by pharmacies and other private entities.

County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said the county is also seeking more autonomy from the state to make decisions about vaccination priorities.

“We hope that the Governor will respond to the NVRC’s request to increase Northern Virginia’s vaccine supply, and to allow our Health Directors greater discretion to make decisions about how we administer the vaccine to our residents going forward,” de Ferranti said in a statement. “We have the capacity and the demonstrated commitment to vaccinating our community as quickly and equitably as possible.”

Arlington’s Congressman, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), also weighed in, tweeting his support Monday for more vaccine doses.

Police: Gun Drawn During Robbery in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

A man brandished a gun and stole cash during a robbery of a store in Pentagon City over the weekend.

The name of the store was not specified, but police say the robbery happened between 6-6:30 p.m. this past Saturday, on the 1100 block of S. Hayes Street — the same block as the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall.

The suspects had purchased items from the store an hour prior to the incident, and were trying to return them when a dispute over the return turned into a robbery, according to police. No one was hurt and two suspects remained at large as of Monday.

More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report:

ROBBERY, 2021-03200158, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At approximately 6:35 p.m. on March 20, police were dispatched to the report of an armed robbery. Upon arrival, it was determined that at approximately 5:07 p.m. the two suspects purchased items from a retail store and returned at approximately 6:00 p.m. to return the items previously purchased. A dispute ensued over the return during which Suspect One attempted unsuccessfully to reach over the counter and remove cash from the register. Suspect One then brandished a firearm and demanded cash from an employee. The suspects then fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash. Upon arrival, police canvased the area with negative results. No injuries were reported. Suspect One is described as a 25-30 year old Black male, light complexion, approximately 5’9″ and 200 lbs. He was wearing a black ski mask, gray hoodie and distressed blue jeans. Suspect Two is described as a 25-30 year old Black male, dark complexion, with short dreads. He was wearing a black jacket and glasses. The investigation is ongoing.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Statements of Support for AAPI Community — “Arlington Public Schools condemns racism and all expressions of hate, bias and discrimination. The horrific shootings in Atlanta earlier this week are a tragic reminder of the increase in violent attacks, hate speech and discrimination targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We grieve with the families of the victims of the shootings in Atlanta on March 16 and share the sorrow of all who stand against hate and discrimination.” [Arlington Public Schools, Press Release]

Opposition to Zoning Proposal — “The proposal has nevertheless attracted some pushback from Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, a community group that has begun organizing opposition to the county’s housing efforts on the grounds that Arlington hasn’t properly prepared for additional growth… Other affected neighborhoods, including Green Valley in South Arlington, also offered opposition.” [Washington Business Journal]

Citizen Group Wants Tree Update — “‘Don’t call us, but we promise we’ll call you’ appears to sum up the Arlington County government’s reaction to an Arlington County Civic Federation call for an expeditious effort to update an analysis of the county’s tree canopy… The Arlington government last conducted a tree inventory in 2016, reporting the findings in 2017. The roughly 750,000 trees in the county’s 26 square miles cover about 41 percent of the county’s ground area.” [Sun Gazette]

Chainsaw Art Coming to Lyon Park — “This summer, Mallon is scheduled to do chainsaw sculptures on three stumps trees near the community center in Arlington’s Lyon Park, a community-owned park in the county. Mallon, who grew up in Arlington, said he usually brings about five chainsaws to a project, depending on the level of detail of the work.” [Patch]

GOP Gov. Candidate in Arlington — Glenn Youngkin, a Republican candidate for governor, made a campaign appearance at the Crystal City Sports Pub over the weekend. The event was criticized by Democrats for its crowd of maskless supporters. [Twitter, Twitter]

Airport Passenger Volume Going Up — “TSA screened 1,543,115 people yesterday, Sunday, March 21. The last time checkpoint throughput topped 1.5 million was March 15, 2020.” [Twitter]

Video: Thieves Run Off With BLM Sign Taken from Home Near Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County police are investigating the theft of a Black Lives Matter sign from a home near Rosslyn.

The theft was reported Saturday on the 2000 block of 20th Road N., in Arlington’s North Highlands neighborhood.

“On March 20, police received an online report of a larceny,” according to an ACPD crime report. “The report stated that at approximately 12:18 a.m. on March 20, the unknown suspects entered the victim’s driveway and stole a Black Lives Matter sign from the front yard.”

The homeowner, Jennifer Herrera, tells ARLnow that the theft — which was caught on the home’s video surveillance system — is part of a recent pattern.

“[There have been] other instances from neighbors of signs being stolen,” she said. “Our next door neighbors had their sign stolen and their cars keyed. Another family walked by my house recently and their child pointed to my BLM sign and asked his mother if that was their sign and the mother replied ‘no, our sign was stolen.’ When I realized our sign was missing, I walked around the block and noticed houses that had a BLM sign in their yard the previous day, no longer had them.”

The county has also seen the repeated vandalism of Black Lives Matter and other racial justice signs at local churches.

Herrera points out that, in the video, one of the suspects asks “what’s the number?” while the other appears to read a street address from their phone. That, she said, seems to point to an organized effort to steal the signs.

“The most disturbing point of all of this is that it seems to be an organized, purposeful effort,” she told ARLnow. “A car was dropping off and picking up these individuals to steal the signs and possibly key cars in our neighborhood.”

Herrera said the pair appeared to be young adults. She hopes her video can help “uncover any organized, nefarious… activity happening in Arlington.”

Police provided an additional description of the suspects in the crime report.

“Suspect One is described as a white female, with average build and blond hair,” said ACPD. “Suspect Two is described as a white male, thin, approximately 6′ tall with dark hair. The investigation is ongoing.”

EXCLUSIVE: Arlington County Police Encrypt More Radio Channels

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Police Department has quietly removed more of its radio channels from public monitoring.

Without a public announcement, ACPD started to encrypt two of its main radio channels for police communication earlier this month. A department spokesperson confirmed the move after inquiries from ARLnow, saying it’s part of a regional plan.

“As of March 1, 2021, Arlington County finalized adoption of the National Capital Region (NCR) Interoperable Encryption Plan,” said ACPD’s Ashley Savage. “In our primary radio zone, the adoption resulted in further encrypting the administrative channel, 1E, to protect the personal and confidential information of members of the public interacting with law enforcement as well [as] encrypting our last talk around channel, 1C, for tactical and operational security reasons.”

The “talk around” channel is used by officers at the scene of an incident to communicate with one another, and to relay updates to Arlington’s Emergency Communications Center. Monitoring it allowed hobbyists and news media to better understand what was happening during significant police incidents.

For the media, it also allowed more informed decisions about whether to send reporters and photographers to certain potential stories, and would sometimes help with formulating more targeted questions to ask of a police spokesperson or witnesses. Without it, reporters for broadcast stations and other outlets, including ARLnow, will be more dependent on official statements from police, which can lack key details, or accounts from witnesses, which can be hard to obtain and verify.

ACPD said that it will keep its main dispatch channel unencrypted, which will allow the public and media outlets to hear police dispatches and some initial communication between officers on scene and dispatchers. The department also highlighted the other official means by which it posts information, like a daily crime report on weekdays.

“The police department remains committed to transparency and our primary radio channel, 1A, where calls for service are dispatched, remains unencrypted,” said Savage. “The department also shares information related to criminal incidents through the Daily Crime Report, Online Crime Map, Open Data Portal and press releases. We also use Arlington Alert to provide emergency notifications in the event of a public safety threat to the community.”

ARLnow reported exclusively last summer — as a wave of protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd swept the country — that ACPD was considering encrypting more channels.

At the time, the local branch of the NAACP expressed concerns about police transparency. Since then, the department has implemented a body-worn camera system and participated in a county-run examination of police practices. The final police practices report made no mention of police radios or encryption.

File photo

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Major Courthouse Development Approved — “The Arlington County Board today approved Greystar Real Estate Partners’ plan to redevelop seven parcels that make up the Courthouse Landmark Block with a 423-unit apartment building. The developer has committed to providing extensive community benefits.” [Arlington County]

Zoning Proposal May Face Pushback — “Two potentially conflicting constituencies – advocates of affordable housing and residents of single-family neighborhoods – could end up colliding if Arlington County Board members next month move forward on a recommendation to allow much higher building heights in some transitional areas of the county. The proposal… calls for allowing (though not permitting by right) building heights higher by 60 feet than normally allowed in a number of zoning districts, if the buildings comprise 100-percent affordable housing.” [Sun Gazette]

APS Planning Summer School — “Arlington Public Schools plans to offer in-person and distance learning summer school for students. Summer School will take place from July 6-30 for elementary students and from July 6-Aug. 6 for secondary students.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Man Arrested for Bathroom Peeping — “1700 block of Fort Myer Drive. At approximately 3:25 a.m. on March 18, police were dispatched to the report of a peeping. Upon arrival, it was determined that the male victim was using the restroom when he observed a cell phone placed through the crack of the stall. The victim confronted the known suspect and alerted building security.” [Arlington County]

Arlington Startup Moving to D.C. — “Auto refinancing startup MotoRefi is moving its headquarters from Arlington to D.C. and beefing up its executive team, the company said in an announcement. The company has signed a 22,000-square-foot lease at 1717 Rhode Island Ave. NW, relocating to a larger space as its workforce continues to grow. It plans on opening the new office, in the same building as venture firm Revolution and Uber, later in 2021, it said.” [Washington Business Journal]

Why Elmo is on the County Manager’s Desk — County Board member Katie Cristol, in response to a question about an Elmo toy seen on County Manager Mark Schwartz’s desk during Saturday’s virtual Board meeting: “My Elmo-obsessed kid made an on camera appearance at Thursday’s 4.5 hour work session, and Mark, who is a real sweetheart, brought out his own Elmo on the videoconference, to no end of delight from my two-year old.” [Twitter]

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

It’s been a busy week here and, frankly, we’re all exhausted.

That being said, let’s get right to the most-read Arlington articles of the week.

  1. Baltimore Ravens Player Arrested in Arlington
  2. Wakefield HS Football Players Called Racial Slurs During Recent Game, APS Says
  3. Proposed Pedestrian Bridge from Crystal City to DCA Set for Next Stage
  4. Arlington Drops to No. 2 on ‘Best Cities to Live’ List
  5. Mom’s Pizza on Columbia Pike Closing This Summer After 32 Years
  6. As Va. Transitions to Next Vaccination Phase, Arlington Still Working Through Current Group
  7. Here’s How Your Tax Dollars Are Spent in Arlington County
  8. Courthouse ‘Landmark’ Block Redevelopment Set for County Board Vote
  9. Portion of GW Parkway to Close This Weekend for Removal of Crashed Cars

Feel free to discuss those stories, or any other topics of local interest, in the comments. Hope you enjoy the sunny weekend weather!

Water Main Break Closes Road in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Several hundred people in Crystal City are without water service after a water main break.

Emergency water main repairs are taking place near the Buchanan House apartments at 320 23rd Street S., according to Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Service.

DES says 23rd Street S. is being closed between Clark Street and Crystal Drive during the repairs, which are expected to wrap up this evening.

Photo via Google Maps

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Alleged Carjacking Crew Busted in Arlington — “The audacious spree, police officials said Thursday, accounted for five of 21 armed robberies and armed carjackings in the D.C. region linked to the same four-person crew in January and February… Two were arrested Feb. 5 and Feb. 19. The other two were apprehended a week later after a SWAT team converged on them in a hotel in Arlington.” [Washington Post]

Va. Expands Eligibility for Retail Vaccinations — “The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced today that Federal Retail Pharmacy partners will expand within Phase 1b to offer vaccines to individuals who are 16-64 with high-risk medical conditions, as well as frontline essential workers.” [Virginia Dept. of Health]

Still a Thing: Homes with Septic Tanks — From Chris Slatt on Twitter: “I was today years old when I learned that there are 38 residences in Arlington County with septic tanks.” [Twitter, Arlington County]

Maintenance Worker Exposes Himself — “5300 block of N. Carlin Springs Road. On March 16, police received a message on the Telephone Reporting Unit phone line regarding an indecent exposure. The victim stated that at approximately 3:30 p.m. on March 15, while having maintenance completed inside her residence, the suspect exposed his genitals to her.” [ACPD]

Rosslyn-Based Rosetta Stone Acquired — “IXL Learning, developer of personalized learning products used by more than 12 million students, announced that it has acquired Rosetta Stone, the leader in technology-based language education.” [PRNewswire]

Origin Coffee Lab Profiled — “For the coffee, Mekonnen relies on a 5-kilo-capacity Probat P5-2 roaster to turn out fresh roasts. The machine also serves as an industrial centerpiece and natural focal point, one the company plans to highlight more through educational events and tastings as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.” [Daily Coffee News]

ACPD: No Carjackings Since Stepped-Up Crystal City Patrols

By ARLnow.com

A month ago, Arlington County police announced stepped-up patrols in and around Crystal City, following a string of carjackings.

Since then no new carjackings have been reported, and ACPD says it has taken five guns off the streets via proactive enforcement.

More from a press release:

In February, the Arlington County Police Department launched a criminal patrol detail to address recent violent crime trends in Crystal City and the surrounding neighborhoods. The detail takes a two-pronged approach to reducing criminal activity in the area: education and enforcement. Officers conduct high-visibility enforcement patrols while engaging community members and business stakeholders about important crime and safety information.

As a result of the proactive investigative efforts of officers working the detail, 6 weapons have been recovered including 5 firearms and 1 pair of brass knuckles. Additionally, there have been zero carjackings or thefts of idling vehicles in the Crystal City area since the detail began. Officers are committed to maintaining public safety through dedicated crime prevention strategies and initiatives. Our efforts to prevent and reduce crime in Arlington County are enhanced by the active involvement of the community and members of the public are encouraged to continue following these safety tips for preventing motor vehicle thefts.

There have been 18 carjackings in Arlington since the start of 2020, including 13 along the Route 1 corridor. By contrast, there were three carjackings from 2018-2019.

The police department provided the following list of arrests and incidents that have occurred since the high-visibility patrols started.

(more…)

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