ARLnow.com | ARLnow.com

Remote Schooling Is Causing Employee Burnout, Arlington Firm Says

Published October 22, 2020 at 11:45AM

Working parents are increasingly feeling burnout from juggling a job and remote schooling, according to a new survey commissioned by an Arlington-based consulting firm.

“A new national poll of the U.S. workforce indicates that 65 percent of employees with children in remote learning situations are feeling burnout,” said a press release from Crystal City-based Eagle Hill Consulting.

“Even for workers without remote learning children, the burnout levels also are high – at 52 percent,” the press release continues. “Among workers who are burnt out, many attribute the stress to the COVID-19 pandemic – 42 percent for workers with remote learning situations and 28 percent for those without children in remote learning.”

The survey results come as Arlington Public Schools prepares to welcome back the first group of students for in-person learning on Nov. 4, in a multi-phase process that currently aims to have all students who opt-in back in classrooms, at least part-time, by the end of January.

Arlington Parents for Education, a group formed to push APS to open schools full time, has distributed orange “Open Schools Now” signs to supporters around the county and garnered more than 1,000 signatures on an online petition. But APS is far from the only school system to open the school year with distance learning only, due to health concerns; burnout from parents pulling double duty between work and pandemic-related childcare or schooling obligations is a nationwide phenomenon.

The survey found that 45% of parents with children in remote learning attributed their burnout to their workload, while 42% said it’s about “balancing work and their personal life.”

“These findings shouldn’t be surprising to employers. Families and workers were burnt out even before the pandemic,” said Eagle Hill Consulting President and CEO Melissa Jezior. “Employees are bouncing back and forth between their work computer to their child’s device, struggling to do two jobs at once. The only solution for employers is to work hand-in-hand with employees to meet their individual needs.”

“This isn’t an easy situation for employers to resolve, with work life balance taking on a whole new meaning during this health crisis,” Jezior added.

The survey was conducted last month and included more than 1,000 randomly-selected employees from around the country.

Police Looking for Note-Passing Robber

By ARLnow.com

Published October 22, 2020 at 10:45AM

A store was robbed in Clarendon on Monday by a man whose tools of the trade were a pen and paper.

Arlington County police say a business on the 3100 block of Wilson Blvd was robbed around 4:45 p.m., by a man who passed a note to a cashier. Initial reports at the time suggest that it was the CVS Pharmacy on the block which was robbed.

TitleMax Closes on Lee Highway, Future of Building in Question

By ARLnow.com

Published October 22, 2020 at 9:50AM | Updated January 10, 2023 at 10:49AM

TitleMax closed at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. George Mason Drive

(Updated at 10:50 a.m. on 1/10/22) The two retail occupants of a squat commercial building at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. George Mason Drive have now both moved out.

TitleMax, which opened at 5265 Lee Highway in 2014, closed recently and has cleared out of the space, which was previously a 7-Eleven store. A sign on the door directs customers to a remaining TitleMax location at 6198-C Arlington Blvd, in Seven Corners.

No explanation for the closure was given.

Next door, long-time local business Sam Torrey Shoe Service closed in July after the owner decided to move to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

TitleMax’s presence in the neighborhood drew some controversy early on.

Then-County Board candidate Christian Dorsey called the business a “predatory lender” and pushed for its lease to be terminated in the event that a proposed land swap between property owner Virginia Hospital Center and Arlington County happened. A land swap went through, but the Lee Highway property was not included.

Through a PR rep, Virginia Hospital Center said that it is still deciding what to do next with the property.

“TitleMax and Sam Tory have terminated their leases,” the rep told ARLnow. “The Hospital has made no decisions about the future of the site.”

Another Dense Fog Advisory in Effect This Morning

By ARLnow.com

Published October 22, 2020 at 9:00AM

Foggy morning on the roads in Arlington on Oct. 22, 2020

Another day, more fog.

Arlington is again under a Dense Fog Advisory this morning. The fog reduced visibilities during the morning commute, making driving treacherous at times.

The advisory is in effect until 10 a.m. Though it’s starting to burn off, it’s still foggy out there as of publication time.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 22, 2020 at 6:00AM

Crystal City Parking Lot Staying Put — “Crystal City has been a scalding hot market for new development ever since Amazon.com Inc. moved in — but one well-positioned lot will continue to sit empty for the foreseeable future. Gould Property Co., which owns a small parking lot at 2661 S. Clark St., filed a request with Arlington County last month asking for permission to maintain the property as surface parking through early 2026.” [Washington Business Journal]

Westover Apartment Building Named — “Kathleen Sibert, who led the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN) from 2008 until earlier this year, will remain a permanent part of the organization through a facility named in her honor… Located in Westover, Sibert House is designed to provide permanent-supportive housing and a foundation to help individuals achieve better health, overcome substance abuse and mental illness, obtain job security, and attain their goals.” [InsideNova]

Schools Also Facing Budget Gap — “Superintendent Durán said that APS is facing an estimated budget gap at this time of between $24 million and $31 million. The APS budget gap continues to fluctuate and is based on continued unknowns including more possible revenue loss, more possible savings and more costs as APS works to return students to in-person learning while continuing to provide distance learning. The school district is examining its current practices and reviewing the budget.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Arlington Water Facts — “In a year, Arlington residents use some 8 billion gallons of water. That’s about a trillion 8-ounce glasses of the stuff. Clean, safe and always at the ready.” [Twitter]

Real Estate Costs on the Rise — “Not only are home prices on the rise across the Washington area; the average cost on a per-square-foot basis continues to grow, too… In Virginia, Arlington led the pack, with its average per-square-foot cost of $455 up 4.4 percent from $436.” [InsideNova]

Real Estate Firm Opening Second Office — “McEnearney Associates is excited to announce a new office location in the heart of Clarendon in Arlington, Virginia located at 3033 Wilson Boulevard… This will be McEnearney Associate’s second office location in Arlington.” [Press Release]

Airport Concession Sales Way Down — “Roughly 33 concessionaires were open at Reagan and 44 at Dulles, or just over 40% of all shops in the two airports… the shops that are open are still struggling with very low foot traffic and a customer base that is spending less than normal. Sales per passenger were down 20% at Reagan National and 22% at Dulles in August compared to the same month of 2019.” [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington Early Voting on Irish TV — “Irish TV RTÉ was in Courthouse filming the early voting for the election.” [@Irelands4Courts/Twitter]

UPDATED: ACPD Investigating Shooting in Arlington Mill Neighborhood

By ARLnow.com

Published October 21, 2020 at 8:00PM | Updated October 22, 2020 at 4:34PM

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) A boy was shot in the hand Wednesday in the Arlington Mill neighborhood near Columbia Pike.

The shooting happened on the 800 block of S. Frederick Street around 4:15 p.m., the Arlington County Police Department said.

Police were not called until 25 minutes after the shooting. They were dispatched nearby, to the 900 block of S. Dinwiddie Street, where they found the victim.

“Arriving officers located the juvenile male victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the hand and rendered aid,” ACPD said in a press release Thursday afternoon. “He was transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.”

Three suspects reportedly fled prior to officers arriving on scene.

“Preliminarily, it is believed that the victim and three known suspects became engaged in a dispute, during which one suspect produced a firearm and discharged it, striking the victim,” police said. “The suspects then fled the scene and the victim left the area on foot and sought assistance nearby.”

“This is an active investigation,” ACPD said on social media. “Anyone with information is asked to call ACPD’s Tip Line at 703-228-4180.”

Prelim. investigation indicates the incident occurred in the 800 block of S Frederick St, Approx. 25 mins later, at 4:41p.m., police were dispatched to the 900 block of S Dinwiddie St, where the victim was located and transported to an area hospital for treatment of minor injury.

— ArlingtonCountyPD (@ArlingtonVaPD) October 21, 2020

Peter’s Take: Trump Is Hazardous to Arlington’s Health

By ARLnow.com

Published October 21, 2020 at 3:30PM

Peter’s Take is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

On October 8, the New England Journal of Medicine published an unprecedented editorial entitled “Dying in a Leadership Vacuum.” Without mentioning Donald Trump’s name, the editorial presents a devastating indictment of Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After using specific metrics to demonstrate why and how the national governments of many other countries have done a far superior job regarding COVID-19 than the U.S. government, the editorial notes:

“Governors do not have the tools that Washington controls. Instead of using those tools, the federal government has undermined them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was the world’s leading disease response organization, has been eviscerated and has suffered dramatic testing and policy failures. The National Institutes of Health have played a key role in vaccine development but have been excluded from much crucial government decision making. And the Food and Drug Administration has been shamefully politicized, appearing to respond to pressure from the administration rather than scientific evidence….”

The editorial concludes:

“[T]ruth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.”

Specific impacts on Arlington

Donald Trump’s leadership failures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic have harmed Arlington residents in the same kinds of ways that those failures have harmed residents of Riverside, California, or Austin, Texas, or Oshkosh, Wisconsin, or Brunswick, Maine. But Trump has caused additional harm here in Arlington over and above the harm he has inflicted everywhere else.

White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, who “has been a voice of logic and stability since the pandemic began,” identified the September 26 Rose Garden ceremony for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as a COVID-19 super spreader event:

“[P]eople were crowded together, were not wearing masks. So the data speak for themselves,” Fauci told CBS News Radio host Steven Portnoy….A significant number of attendees of the Rose Garden ceremony later tested positive for COVID-19, including Trump… .”

This Rose Garden event led health departments from D.C. and nine other neighboring jurisdictions (including Arlington) to protest the lack of contact tracing and the increased risks to residents throughout the Washington region of contracting COVID-19.

The Coney Barrett event was not an isolated one in terms of specific Arlington health impacts. In August, Trump spoke to a crowd of several hundred at a Pentagon City hotel. “Reporters covering the event noted that many conference attendees did not seem to heed requests to physically distance and wear masks in the ballroom.”

Staffers at Trump’s Rosslyn HQ have been correctly criticized for not following CDC guidelines:

“[S]taffers were not social distancing and no one was wearing masks, a likely violation of Virginia’s mask requirement for indoor public spaces … .”

(more…)

#Peter's Take

UPDATE: Arlington County’s Website Is Back Up

By ARLnow.com

Published October 21, 2020 at 3:00PM | Updated October 21, 2020 at 7:49PM

Update at 7:45 p.m. — The county website is back up, though some users who accessed the site while it was down may still have their visits redirected to the temporary page, for now.

Earlier: Bad news: More than 24 hours later, Arlington County’s website is still down as of Wednesday afternoon. Good news: the county’s voting information pages and payment portal are among the things currently up.

As of 3 p.m. the county website was still reduced to a temporary, static page with a few links. That’s despite Arlington Public Schools recently announcing that its tech troubles, caused by a fiber optic line cut, had been resolved.

A county spokeswoman told ARLnow that the county was, in fact, also affected by the fiber cut, but it was not the reason for the website outage.

“Arlington County Government’s fiber was cut as well yesterday,” said Shannon Whalen McDaniel. “However, we are not experiencing a disruption due to a redundancy in our system.”

There is still no estimate as to when the county’s full website might be back online.

“We can’t provide an estimate at this time, but staff are working to resolve it as quickly as possible,” Whalen McDaniel said.

In addition to the CAPP payment portal, library website, service request page, real estate search and County Board meeting agendas, the Arlington voting and elections sub-site remains up. Whalen McDaniel said that is due to some good planning.

“Given the criticality of the voting site, we had a back-up site for it already in place for redundancy sake,” she said. “Yesterday, we simply expedited the move to this replacement site to ensure there would be no impact on voting information.”

The county’s last major update to its website was made at the end of 2013, when it switched to a more flexible WordPress-based system — the same underlying Content Management System as ARLnow and millions of other sites — for most pages.

Arlington Man Pleads Guilty to Healthcare Fraud

By ARLnow.com

Published October 21, 2020 at 2:15PM

A 29-year-old Arlington resident has pleaded guilty to a multi-million dollar healthcare fraud.

Federal prosecutors charged Onkur Lal with bilking Medicaid, Medicare and the TRICARE military health care system out of $3.5 million by submitting fraudulent bills for non-existent prescriptions while working at a trio of local pharmacies.

Prosecutors say Lal conspired with the owner of the pharmacies in carrying out the fraud from 2014 to 2019. After the guilty plea, Lal now faces up to five years in federal prison.

More from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia:

An Arlington man pleaded guilty yesterday to his role in a conspiracy to commit health care fraud that resulted in losses of over $3.5 million.

According to court documents, Onkur Lal, 29, worked in various roles at MedEx Pharmacy, MedEx Health Pharmacy, and Royal Care Pharmacy, which were all owned and operated by the same individual. From around 2014 to around 2019, Lal conspired with the owner and others in a number of different fraudulent schemes to defraud health care benefit programs, including TRICARE, Medicare, Virginia Medicaid, and Maryland Medicaid. Lal took part in a number of fraudulent schemes, including generating false prescriptions, billing health insurance companies for prescriptions that were never filled, and billing patients’ health care benefit programs for numerous high cost medications that he and his co-conspirators knew were not prescribed and/or never received.

Lal and his conspirators also submitted false invoices under the names of other pharmacies, in an attempt to circumvent audits. Further, Lal and another co-conspirator fraudulently posed as pharmacists by elevating their title and credentials within the pharmacy’s prescription software system. Lal and his co-conspirator then used these elevated titles to verify prescriptions, which they then submitted to health care benefit programs and pharmaceutical suppliers for payment. The various schemes resulted in health care benefit programs losing more than $3.5 million.

Lal is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 21, 2021, and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Maureen R. Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); James A. Dawson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division; and Dermot F. O’Reilly, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations with the Defense Criminal Investigative Services, made the announcement after Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton accepted the plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Monika Moore, Carina A. Cuellar, and Jamar K. Walker are prosecuting the case.

Flickr photo by Joe Gratz

Budget Cuts on the Table as County Works to Overcome Fiscal Gap

By ARLnow.com

Published October 21, 2020 at 11:30AM

Arlington doesn’t have it as bad as other communities, but the pandemic is causing a drop in tax revenue that is likely to result in some budget cuts.

That’s the message from County Manager Mark Schwartz, who presented an update on the county’s finances at last night’s County Board meeting.

The main highlight from Schwartz was the county budget closeout — the allocation of funds leftover from the previous fiscal year’s budget, which closed on June 30. There was $22.4 million left over from the 2019-2020 budget, most of which Schwartz recommended using to boost the current Fiscal Year 2021 budget.

“As proposed, $13.4 million would be used for the FY 2021 budget, $2 million would be put into the County Manager contingency fund, $2 million would support an employee separation contingent, and $5 million would be set aside to address COVID-related expenses in the FY 2022 budget,” said a county press release, below.

The Board is scheduled to vote next month on Schwartz’s recommendations, after receiving public feedback.

While a number of local advocacy groups have traditionally used the budget close-out process to secure additional funding for various initiatives, that is likely to be curtailed this year. Schwartz reiterated his previous warning that the county and Arlington Public Schools are together facing a $56 million budget gap for FY 2021.

“Usually we would already be thinking about our next budget, but instead we must figure out how we will provide the services and programs in the FY 2021 budget and fulfill our primary obligations to Arlington residents,” Schwartz said.

On the table for closing the gap, caused by a revenue shortfall and unexpected pandemic-related costs, is a reduction in county services. Schwartz’s presentation said that the county hopes to save $6.1 million by reducing some services and by not filling some vacant positions.

While holding out hope of saving money with a hiring freeze and preserving currently filled positions, Schwartz recommended that the Board set aside $2 million for “employee separation” costs, potentially including early retirements and buyouts.

From a county staff report:

As we work through development of the FY 2022 budget, we will be considering changes in how we deliver services based on our experience during COVID and due to anticipated revenue declines. This contingent would allow the Manager flexibility in addressing any impacts of these changes. As an example from prior years, we have offered various incentives for early retirement and other buy-out options. It is likely that these options will need to be effective prior to the beginning of FY 2022 (July 2021); thus, funding would be needed in FY 2021.

Other planned sources of savings outlined by Schwartz include debt refinancing ($2.4 million), federal CARES Act funding ($9.3 million) and “operational adjustments” — delayed facility openings ($1.9 million).

More from a county press release, below.

(more…)

Arlington Pet of the Week: Troy

By ARLnow.com

Published October 21, 2020 at 11:00AM

Arlington Pet of the Week Troy (photo courtesy of Ben)

Meet Arlington’s newest Pet of the Week, Troy, a 7 year old Golden Retriever who loves walks and lounging next to the pool.

Here is what Troy’s owner had to say about their life together in Arlington:

Troy is a 7-year-old, exuberant golden retriever who has spent his formative years as an enthusiastic Arlingtonian. Troy is passionate about his household maintaining a strict schedule by emulating his rooster compatriots with 6 o’clock rise and shine wake-up barks and will hit the hay after watching 30 minutes of nightly news. During the summer, he spends his days lounging poolside while sneaking sips of delicious pool water. He has been known to never turn down a spoon of peanut butter, his mother’s home cooking, a tasty sock, or an unattended dish rag.

Troy often fills his days off with DIY projects, which include digging holes underneath the fence and trimming the bills of baseball caps. His favorite activity is walking with his best friend along the beautiful Donaldson Run trail and loop where he sits patiently accepting pets and expecting compliments from all who pass. New and exciting developments in his life include supervised access to the upstairs bedrooms and spending more time with his family while they telework from home. Troy is looks forward to cheering on the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturdays and crunching around in the colorful Virginia fall leaves. He is deeply loved by his family and brings so much joy to their lives.

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email [email protected] with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Please don’t send vertical photos, they don’t fit in our photo galleries!

#Pet of the Week