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.

JUST IN: Arlington Police to Start Wearing Body Cameras Tomorrow

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County police officers will start wearing body cameras on Wednesday, the police department announced today.

The relatively swift implementation of the new body-worn cameras follows a community discussion of police practices in Arlington, which itself followed the civil unrest caused by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis this past May.

“Effective Wednesday, December 16, 2020, Arlington County Police Officers assigned to the Operations Division will begin wearing body worn cameras and recording all dispatched calls for service, enforcement contacts and investigative contacts,” ACPD said today. “The deployment of cameras includes officers assigned to Patrol, Special Operations, Community Outreach, K-9 and the Emergency Response Team (commonly referred to as SWAT).”

The department already has cameras in police cruisers and interview rooms.

The Arlington branch of the NAACP launched a petition in June calling for ACPD to implement body-worn cameras. The online petition now has more than 12,000 signers.

“The Arlington County Police Department welcomes the use of body worn camera technology as an additional tool in our commitment to providing professional law enforcement services to the Arlington community,” Acting Police Chief Andy Penn in a press release. “We recognize our community’s trust is earned each day with every interaction. I am confident these cameras will build upon our longstanding history of community policing by highlighting the professionalism of the agency while instilling greater public confidence as we continue to hold ourselves accountable to the highest professional standards.”

More from the press release:

In June, County Manager Mark Schwartz announced funding for a Body Worn Camera program for the Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, and Fire Marshal’s Office as part of his proposed FY 2021 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). In July, the County Board approved the CIP and funding for the program. Specifically, the CIP provided $268,000 for body worn camera hardware; $244,000 for upgrades to four County courtrooms to support the technology; $536,000 for data storage, software, and maintenance; and $755,000 for replacing existing in-car camera systems to one compatible with body worn cameras.

In November, the Police Department, Sheriff’s Office and Fire Marshals’ Office sought the public’s input and feedback on draft Digital Evidence Management System policies, regulating digital audio and video recordings captured by body worn cameras, in-car cameras, and interview room cameras. The goal of this engagement was to create model policies utilizing established best practices and to continue to strengthen community relations and professional standards within the departments by enhancing transparency, accountability and training. All comments were reviewed and evaluated for incorporation into the policies.

In New York City, body-worn cameras were recently found to have increased officer reporting of police stops, helping to improve accountability.

Despite the new body cameras, Arlington County has a policy of turning off public feeds of traffic cameras during police and fire department incidents.

Photo courtesy ACPD

Morning Poll: Real vs. Fake Christmas Trees

By ARLnow.com

It has been a boom year for live Christmas trees.

Various news outlets, including the New York Times, report that sales of Christmas trees — the real ones — have soared amid the pandemic, leading to shortages in some areas. Those stuck at home, it seems, have taken to holiday decorating as a way to enliven one’s living space and spend some quality indoor time.

Despite the good news for Christmas tree farmers, the overall Christmas decorating trend has been moving toward artificial trees, the sales of which seem destined to overtake their live counterparts.

Real trees may look pretty and smell nice, but the convenience factor of artificial trees — and the long-term cost savings — has led people to increasingly opt for the latter.

Which, if any, are you putting up in the living room this year?

Flickr pool photo by Dennis Dimick

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

ANC and Addison Alternatives Announced — “Metro will offer free shuttle bus service and other travel alternatives during the spring closure of Addison Road and Arlington Cemetery stations on the Blue and Silver lines, the transit agency announced today. Addison Road and Arlington Cemetery will be closed from Saturday, Feb. 13 through Sunday, May 23, 2021, to allow for construction.” [WMATA]

Business Buys Ballroom Building, Before Bar by Beer Boss Brings Big Bucks — “Monument Realty has acquired the former Clarendon Ballroom as the owners of popular beer garden The Lot plan to open a temporary event venue inside the building on Arlington County’s Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. MR 3185 Wilson Retail LLC, an affiliate of the District-based commercial real estate developer, acquired the building at 3185 Wilson Blvd. Dec. 11 for about $6.7 million, according to Arlington County land records.” [Washington Business Journal]

COVID Concerns Cause County Crew Changes — “You can now add snow removal to the long list of things that have had to change because of COVID-19. ‘This year, what makes it different than many other years, is the threat of COVID and really the concern of just keeping the employees safe, keeping them distanced enough to where they can do their work but also go home safely,’ said Jeremy Hassan, the chief operating engineer for Arlington County’s Water, Sewer, and Streets Bureau.” [Fox 5]

Business Burglary Prompts Large Police Response

By ARLnow.com

Two men who were allegedly caught inside a business during a burglary, but initially refused to come out, prompted a large police response over the weekend

The incident happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday on the 2500 block of Wilson Blvd, roughly between Clarendon and Courthouse.

Police, after being flagged down and told 0f the possible burglary, spotted the men inside the business and ordered them to come out. After they refused a standoff ensued, and the U.S. Park Police helicopter and a SWAT team were called in.

“As Emergency Response Team officers prepared to make entry to the building, one suspect surrendered himself to police and was taken into custody without further incident,” said today’s Arlington County Police Department crime report. “The second suspect was located inside a closet during a search of the building and taken into custody without further incident.”

Two Arlington men, ages 46 and 34, were arrested and now face several burglary-related charges.

Police did not reveal which business was burglarized.

Photo via Google Maps

Coronavirus Cases Dip Slightly After Record Week

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) Arlington’s coronavirus case rate hit new records last week, but is starting this week a bit lower.

After the county’s seven-day trailing average rate of new daily cases hit a record of 96 on Friday, the average has trended down and, as of this morning, currently stands 80. That’s still higher than at any point in the pandemic prior to last week, however.

A total of 257 new cases have been reported since Friday, but no new COVID-related deaths and only one new hospitalization has been reported since then. The trailing seven-day total of hospitalizations remains at 15.

Arlington’s test positivity rate, meanwhile, has been slowly falling, and currently stands at 7.3%, down from a recent high of 8.7%.

The cumulative number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Arlington is currently 7,463, 612 and 164, respectively.

The new Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is currently being distributed across the country. This morning a nurse in New York City became the first person to publicly receive the vaccine in the U.S. after its regulatory approval last week.

Despite the optimism around the vaccine, it will still take months for most people to be vaccinated. In the meantime, hospitalizations statewide have hit another record.

“As the first shipments of a COVID-19 vaccine rolled out of a Pfizer plant in Michigan on Sunday morning, a record 2,154 Virginians were hospitalized for treatment of the virus, and caseloads and deaths continued to increase,” InsideNova reported on Sunday. “The number of hospitalized patients statewide was up about 200 from a week ago and nearly 400 from two weeks ago as the the recent surge begin to translate into more serious cases, according to data from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.”

Virginia Hospital Center is among the hospitals seeing a rise in COVID patients, ER chief Mike Silverman said Friday in his weekly public social media post.

“Although it seems that the DMV is doing better than a lot of the country, we’re also seeing records set for new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations,” he wrote. “Locally, hospitals are full or getting full. [Emergency departments] are pushed to capacity and beyond.”

“About 40% of the patients I saw had COVID. Overall, about half of my patients required admission to the hospital which is a much higher rate than normal,” Silverman continued. He added “COVID is so prevalent in our patients” that he switched to wearing an N95 mask throughout his nine-hour shift and avoided taking it off even to eat or drink.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Green Building Update — “The County Board today adopted an update to the Green Building Incentive Policy for site plan projects that strengthens Arlington’s commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality… ‘By raising the bar on green building incentives for site plan developments, Arlington is reaffirming our commitment to our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050,’ Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said.” [Arlington County]

Big Storm Expected Mid-Week — “A major winter storm is set to wallop the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday, with many areas from western Virginia to southern New England expected to see heavy snowfall. But for the immediate Washington area, a messy mix of precipitation is more likely than a major snowstorm.” [Capital Weather Gang, Twitter]

Arlington Officer Honored — “Arlington County Police Officer Anthony Gatto was among 18 law-enforcement personnel from across the region who were cited Dec. 11 with the area’s 23rd annual ‘Law Enforcement Awards of Excellence for Impaired Driving Prevention.'” [InsideNova]

Video: Implosion of Rosslyn Holiday Inn Hotel Tower

By ARLnow.com
1/12

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) The 18-story former Holiday Inn hotel in Rosslyn came down this morning during a controlled demolition that closed local roads and I-66.

The implosion, which was scheduled for 8 a.m., brought down the 50-year-old hotel tower and could be heard for miles around. A large dust cloud covered much of the area afterward.

The demolition, which will make way for a new development featuring a 25-story residential tower an a 38-story hotel tower, can be seen around the 8:30 mark of the live-streamed video below.

Here are two other views of the implosion, courtesy of Brian Danza.

Video by Jay Westcott

ARLnow Weekend Discussion

By ARLnow.com

The weekend is here but the week’s biggest local excitement is yet to happen.

The implosion of the former Rosslyn Holiday Inn is set for 8 a.m. on Sunday. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to take a look at the planned road closures.

The public is being discouraged from watching in person, but ARLnow staff photographer Jay Westcott will be on the scene. You’ll be able to see his photos afterward and, if all goes well, we will be livestreaming the implosion on our Facebook page.

Here are the most-read Arlington articles of the past five days:

  1. Implosion to Fell Rosslyn Hotel Tower This Weekend
  2. Va. to Enact New Midnight Curfew, Stricter Limits on Gatherings
  3. I-66, Numerous Roads Around Rosslyn to Close for Hotel Implosion
  4. Pentagon Row Rebrands as ‘Westpost,’ Adds New Beer-Centric Pizza Restaurant
  5. Prelude to Demolition for Circa 1907 Dominion Hills Mansion?
  6. Coronavirus Cases Hit New Peak in Arlington
  7. New Pierogi Stand Opening in Ballston Quarter Food Hall
  8. ACPD: Gunshot Fired During Robbery in Fairlington
  9. Health Matters: Should I Get the COVID Vaccine if I Have Allergies?
  10. Man in ‘Jabbawockeez’-Style Mask Robs Couple at Gunpoint

Feel free to discuss those stories or anything else of local interest in the comments. Have a nice weekend!

Bill to Streamline Long Bridge Project Passes U.S. House

By ARLnow.com

An act of Congress may help to streamline the planned Long Bridge project.

The project to build a new rail bridge across the Potomac, accompanied by new bike and pedestrian facilities, is one of the key components of a $3.7 billion plan to expand passenger and freight rail in Virginia.

To help it along, this week the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill that would cede National Park Service land near the river to Virginia or D.C. “as necessary for the Long Bridge Project.” The land transfer would reduce the complexity and cost of the project, as well as the time required to complete it.

The bill still must pass the Senate and be signed into law by the president. Its passage was hailed by Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and the National Landing Business Improvement District as an important step forward.

Another New Coronavirus Record As Arlington Nears 100 Cases Per Day

By ARLnow.com

The trajectory of coronavirus infections in Arlington continues to be up and to the right.

As of Friday the county again set a new record in its seven-day trailing average of reported COVID-19 cases. The Virginia Dept. of Health reported 109 new cases overnight, bringing the seven-day total to 671 and the daily average to 95.9 cases.

The county’s test positivity rate ticked down slightly this week, and is now 8.0%

Since Wednesday, seven additional hospitalizations have been reported, bringing the seven-day trailing total to 15. Two new COVID-related deaths have also been reported in that timeframe.

New statewide coronavirus restrictions were announced by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam yesterday and are set to go into effect Monday. The new rules include a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew, a 10-person cap on social gatherings and a strengthened universal nask requirement.

“Arlington welcomes the Governor’s actions to protect Virginians from the surging spread of the COVID-19 virus,” County Board Chair Libby Garvey said in a statement Wednesday evening.

“We have all seen the numbers and the trends, and they are deeply disturbing. We know that pandemic fatigue is real, and that it is particularly difficult to hunker down during the holidays, when we all want to be with the people we love,” Garvey continued. “But we need everyone to comply with these measures to help avoid overwhelming our healthcare system. Stay home, wear a mask if you must go outside, keep at least six feet of distance between you and those outside your household, and wash your hands frequently.”

Group Recommends ‘Loving Avenue’ As New Name for Lee Highway

By ARLnow.com

A week after narrowing down the list of possible new names for Lee Highway to ten, a task force has settled on its recommendation.

The state route through Arlington currently named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee should instead be named after civil rights figures Mildred and Richard Loving, says the Working Group on Renaming Lee Highway.

“Mildred and Richard Loving Avenue” would honor the Virginia couple whose fight for the legalization of interracial marriage in the the 1960s culminated in a Supreme Court case and inspired the 2016 movie Loving.

Though Caroline County residents, the Lovings also lived in Washington, D.C., where they originally married in 1958 since interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia at the time. They were forced to move to D.C. in 1959 after being arrested and pleading guilty to “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth.” Their fight to overturn anti-miscegenation laws was rejected by the Virginia Supreme Court, but eventually resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned such laws nationwide.

Members of the working group, who spent four months engaging with local residents and business owners while considering dozens of names suggested by the public, said the Lovings are deserving of having one of Arlington’s main commercial thoroughfares named in their honor.

“The landmark Loving Supreme Court case literally changed the United States” said Sandi Chesrown, Lee Highway Alliance Vice President and Working Group Member. “The case brought an end to the ‘separate but equal’ yet legally sanctioned way of life in America, it fueled the rise of multiracial families, and it supported the June 2015 ruling that legalized same sex marriage. For me, the name Loving has both Virginia and national significance and it encompasses justice.”

“The Lovings not only lived in the state, but the name relates to the Virginia state slogan, ‘Virginia is for Lovers,'” the Lee Highway Alliance, which helped organize the renaming process, said in a press release. “When travelers cross Key Bridge coming to VA from DC, they are met with the state slogan. It was the opinion of the Working Group that it made sense that the name ‘Loving’ would be the first road traveled on in the state. The name also represents a desire of Arlington County for people to treat one another in a loving way.”

In addition to Loving Avenue, the working group also narrowed down the remainder of the list to four runners-up, to be considered by the County Board: John M. Langston Boulevard, Ella Baker Boulevard, Dr. Edward T. Morton Avenue, and Main Street.

The Board is set to be briefed by the working group next week, and will then decide whether to advance the name change to the state legislature or the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

More on the name change from a press release, below.

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