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.

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Oct 3, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Oct 3, 2023.

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Wednesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

☀️ Wednesday’s forecast

Expect patchy fog to clear by 10am, followed by a sunny day with a high near 84°F and calm winds turning southeast at 6 mph in the afternoon. On Wednesday night, patchy fog returns after 4am, with mostly clear skies and a low around 58°F. The south wind of around 5 mph will become calm after midnight. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.”
– Tony Hsieh

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

Listing of the Day: 830 21st Street S.

By ARLnow.com
1/6

Address: 830 21st Street S.
Neighborhood: Addison Heights
Type: 5 BR, 4 (+1 half) BA single-family detached — 5,005 sq. ft.
Listed: $2,169,000

Noteworthy: New Addison Heights Home by National Landing Attractions!

Welcome Home to Addison Heights! This new build by Classic Cottages is conveniently located to all the attractions National Landing has to offer. This 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath home has an open floor plan, including an expansive main level living space.

A well-appointed kitchen with JennAir appliances includes a breakfast bar and kitchen table space making room for everyone to enjoy a meal. The butler’s pantry with beverage center leads to a formal dining room. A home office with an abundance of natural light makes your Zoom calls bright! The Primary Suite includes a large walk-in closet, luxurious bath with dual vanities, soaking tub and shower. Three secondary bedrooms and a laundry room round out the upstairs.

In the basement, an entertainers delight with wet bar, recreation room and fitness room. Enjoy a 16 minute stroll to nearby Metropolitan Park and Whole Foods.

Listed by:
Michelle Lynch — Urban Living Real Estate, LLC
[email protected]
(571) 366-3324

BREAKING: Two charged after more overdoses at Wakefield HS

By ARLnow.com
Wakefield High School entrance in February 2023 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A 19-year-old man and a teen boy are facing charges after two girls overdosed at Wakefield High School last week.

Police and medics responded to the school just before 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27 for a report of a critical overdose. A student in the school clinic was going in and out of consciousness and Narcan was administered ahead of the arrival of first responders, according to scanner traffic.

Arlington County police said today that the overdose patient was a teen girl, who was transported to a local hospital along with a second overdose patient, also a teen girl. Both “have since recovered,” ACPD said in a press release.

An investigation into the overdose led police to arrest Walter Zelaya Padilla, a 19-year-old Fairfax resident, and a teen boy who lives in Arlington. They’re facing a battery of charges, with police saying that Padilla supplied fentanyl to the teen, who then gave or sold it to the victims.

The drug distribution happened within a school zone, APCD said.

The arrests come as Arlington County tries to combat a crisis of teen opioid abuse. While overdoses in general are trending down this year in Arlington, incidents of teen overdoses have prompted calls to action by parents and local officials.

In January, 14-year-old Sergio Flores died after overdosing in a Wakefield High School bathroom. In March, several Washington-Liberty High School students overdosed in the Ballston mall parking garage. Last month, another Wakefield student was found dead at an apartment building in what one elected official and a local advocacy group described as an overdose, though an official cause of death has yet to be determined.

If the student’s death last month is confirmed as an overdose, it would be at least the 11th reported juvenile overdose in Arlington County — fatal and non-fatal — so far this year, factoring the two last week and official numbers provided to ARLnow by the county earlier in September.

More on the drug arrests, below, via an ACPD press release.

(more…)

Morning Poll: How extensive are your Halloween decorations?

By ARLnow.com
Houses decorated for Halloween along N. Jackson Street in October 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

It’s October and thus officially spooky season — and the Halloween decorations are out in Arlington.

Just walk through a local grocery store or down a residential street and there are ghosts and goblins galore.

But not everyone is into decorating, or into Halloween for that matter. So today we’re asking: how extra are you when it comes to Halloween decor?

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Runners in Rosslyn near the Netherlands Carillon (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Another Award for Sustainability — “Arlington has achieved LEED® Platinum certification. Again. Arlington County was among 54 American and international jurisdictions to submit applications this year, and one of only four applicants certified at Platinum level… Arlington LEED-certified buildings include schools, community centers, libraries and office buildings.” [Arlington County]

New Historical Marker in the Works — “Members of the Arlington government’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board on Sept. 20 gave conditional approval to the design and wording for an historical marker that will go in the new Arlington Junction Park at South Eads Street and Army Navy Drive… The signage will note the area’s use as a major trolley crossroads from the 1890s to the 1930s, and also will note the history of the Alexandria Canal.” [Gazette Leader]

Police Looking for Clarendon Groper — “3100 block of Wilson Boulevard. At approximately 7:08 p.m. on September 30, police were dispatched to the report of an assault just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined the female victim was inside an establishment when the unknown male suspect approached her from behind and touched her inappropriately. Several witnesses then confronted the suspect outside the establishment before he left the scene on foot.” [ACPD]

Nearby Pumpkin Patch Options — “Whether you’re planning to bake a pie, carve a jack-o’-lantern or just add some festive flair to your stoop, there are plenty of places to pick up a pumpkin near Arlington. Here are a few suggestions.” [Patch]

Retirement for Parking Enforcer — From ACPD: “Last week, we celebrated the outstanding career of Public Service Aide Supervisor Arcielia Williamson who retired after serving the Arlington community for over 33 years! We are grateful for her years of dedication to public safety and wish her all the best in retirement!” [Twitter]

David Rubenstein Talks Local History — “Arlington House, he confessed, by the 21st century was looking ‘shabby.’ Under his grant, the National Park Service retrieved original furnishings and decorations that had been removed and now displays many new pieces chronologically and aesthetically accurate. Rubenstein is on board with legislative proposals to remove Lee’s name from what since 1972 has been officially called ‘Arlington House — The Robert E. Lee Memorial.'” [Falls Church News-Press]

First Football Defeat for W-L — “This time, the formula of scoring early and a lot overall didn’t work for the Washington-Liberty Generals. On the night of Sept. 29 on their home field, the Generals (5-1, 1-1) lost for the first time this season, falling to the Herndon Hornets, 38-37, in double overtime in a Liberty District high-school football contest.” [Gazette Leader]

Yorktown Notches Needed Win — “The Yorktown Patriots (4-2) snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating the host Centreville Wildcats, 28-21, Sept. 29 in non-district high-school football action. Yorktown led 14-7 at halftime, scored two second-half touchdowns to take an 28-21 lead then recovered an onside kick in the game’s final 30 seconds to secure the win.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Tuesday — Sunny with a high temperature near 83 degrees and a calm wind. Tuesday night will be mostly clear with a low temperature around 59 degrees. [Weather.gov]

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Oct 2, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Monday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Oct 2, 2023.

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Tuesday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

☀️ Tuesday’s forecast

The forecast predicts a sunny day with a high temperature around 83°F and calm winds turning east at 6 mph in the afternoon. Tuesday night will be mostly clear, with temperatures reaching a low of 59°F, and southeast winds at 5 mph calming down in the evening. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.”
– John F. Kennedy

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.

NOW: ACFD battling house fire in Arlington Forest

By ARLnow.com
1/16

Firefighters from Arlington and surrounding jurisdictions are on scene of a house fire in the Arlington Forest neighborhood.

The blaze broke out shortly before noon, reportedly in the front porch area of a home at the corner of Route 50 and S. Park Drive.

It was quickly brought under control and no people were inside when firefighters arrived, but according to scanner traffic a dog was removed from the home by firefighters. The dog’s condition could not immediately be learned.

Firefighters are currently looking for any remaining hotspots.

Man charged with DUI after rollover crash in Arlington Forest

By ARLnow.com
1/2

A 24-year-old man is facing several charges after a rollover crash Sunday morning.

The crash happened just before 6 a.m. near the intersection of Route 50 and N. Columbus Street in the Arlington Forest neighborhood.

A man driving a Chevy Camaro ran into a brick wall lining a residential property, flipping the coupe on its roof in the process. A local resident told ARLnow that there was “blood on the airbags” and the “driver apologized to [the] home owner before ambulating away.”

A suspect was later spotted on foot along Route 50 and taken into custody, an Arlington County police spokeswoman told ARLnow.

“Upon arrival, officers located an unoccupied, overturned vehicle which had struck a retaining wall,” ACPD’s Alli Shorb said. “Witnesses reported observing the male driver, who was determined to be the sole occupant of the vehicle, leave the scene on foot following the crash.”

“A lookout was broadcast and responding officers located the driver in the area of S. Carlin Springs Road and Arlington Boulevard and took him into custody,” Shorb continued. “He was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries considered non-life threatening.”

The suspect, a Falls Church resident, “was charged with Driving Under the Influence, Hit and Run and Driving Without a License,” Shorb said.

Route 50 intersections bordering the Arlington Forest neighborhood have proven crash-prone over the years, particularly the intersection of Route 50 and Park Drive, where a rollover crash happened in April.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Flight from DCA reflected in a Rosslyn office building (Flickr pool photo by Jeff Vincent)

Milestone for 9/11 Visitor Center — “The Pentagon Memorial Fund, Inc. (PMF) passed a critical milestone in plans for a Visitor Education Center near the site of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, receiving approval for its concept design from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA). This action follows approval in July of the concept design from the National Capital Planning Commission.” [Pentagon Memorial Fund]

Charges Against Mall Shop Owner — “The owner of a local ‘exotic’ snack shop has been arrested as part of a drug ring investigation by county police… One of those arrested was Matthew Powers, owner of the snack and collectible shop ‘Highs & Lows‘ which has locations on Richmond Highway and in Springfield Town Center. There’s also a shop inside the mall in Pentagon City.” [FFXnow, Fox 5]

Swim Club Suspension — “Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC) board president Mark Black has been suspended indefinitely by the U.S. Center for SafeSport and USA Swimming for unspecified allegations of misconduct… AAC produced a Tokyo Olympian two summers ago and achieved gold medal certification for the first time in 2021-22.” [SwimSwam]

No Arlington Envy for Fairfax — “Consider this comment, no doubt designed mostly for internal consumption, from Fairfax County Supervisor Dalia Palchik (D-Providence) at a recent briefing on that county’s economic-development initiatives… ‘I know, coming into this seat, I was a little jealous of things I was seeing in Arlington,’ she said. ‘No longer. They should be jealous of us.'” [Gazette Leader]

Early Morning Chase Outside Pentagon — From Dave Statter: “Here’s a wild one. @PFPAOfficial chased a woman driving through the #Pentagon just before 1:30 a.m. Her car crashed in the lower bus lanes of the Pentagon Transit Center. @ArlingtonVaFD took the handcuffed woman to the hospital.” [Twitter]

Fundraise for Local Startup — “Arlington startup Predict Health has raised $4 million in seed funding to improve the Medicare open enrollment experience using artificial intelligence. Shubadeep Debgupta founded Predict Health in 2019, inspired by his father Sailesh’s less-than-pleasant experience signing up for a Medicare insurer.” [Washington Business Journal]

Blue, Yellow Line Delays — “Most Metrorail customers will see nearly normal train service tomorrow, even as Metro continues to inspect the fleet’s oldest railcars. Metro will operate service to all customers (every 6-12 minutes from end-of-line stations); however Blue and Yellow line trains will depart every 15 minutes while work continues to repair tracks damaged in Friday’s derailment.” [WMATA]

It’s Monday — Sunny with a high temperature near 81 degrees, accompanied by a mild north wind around 6 mph. At night, expect mostly clear skies and a low temperature around 60 degrees with light and variable winds. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Jeff Vincent

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Sep 29, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Friday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Sep 29, 2023.

Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.

  1. Wakefield High School sees second student death this year (33077 views)
  2. UPDATED: Large power outage after reported substation fire (21669 views)
  3. Revamped, food-centric Crystal City Water Park set to open next week (20186 views)
  4. Clarendon Day, Celtic Festival and Oktoberfest to prompt road closures this weekend (14071 views)
  5. JUST IN: Large police response at Yorktown HS after threatening phone call (13876 views)
  6. A $4 million renovation of Ballston Wetlands Park is officially complete — and beavers returned for the occasion (11939 views)
  7. More Arlington properties are now located within floodplains, county says (9264 views)
  8. New study sees surge of people living alone in Arlington (8617 views)
  9. Metro 29 Diner faces uncertain timeline for reopening due to faulty sewer line (6326 views)
  10. Here are ten local businesses listed for sale in Arlington (5976 views)
  11. NEW: Shooting threat outside Washington-Liberty HS leads to arrest (5910 views)
  12. UPDATED: Arrest made after shooting on Columbia Pike (5575 views)
  13. Clarendon’s Bar Ivy now open ‘morning, noon and night’ with new breakfast options (4446 views)

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

Here are the events planned for Sunday:

🎙️ This week’s podcast

ARLnow’s reporting crew talked about some of the week’s stories and discussed why we make certain decisions. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, iHeart, Audacy or TuneIn.

🌥️ Saturday’s forecast

The forecast for Saturday indicates mostly cloudy weather with a high temperature near 71°F and a north wind at around 9 mph. During Saturday night, expect patchy fog to develop after 5am and partly cloudy skies, with a low temperature around 58°F. The north wind will decrease to around 5 mph before becoming calm. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”
– Ronald Reagan

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋

Fmr. journalist sentenced for child sexual abuse material

By ARLnow.com
1/3

A former ABC News producer whose Columbia Pike apartment was raided by the FBI last year has been sentenced.

James Gordon Meek, 53, pleaded guilty in July to transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material. Today he was sentenced to six years in prison, just above the minimum five year sentence for the charges.

The FBI raided Meek’s apartment on Columbia Pike in April 2022, as photos first published by ARLnow — taken by local resident John Antonelli — showed. Speculation about the raid swirled in the ensuing months, in part due to Meek’s job as a prominent producer for ABC News and his former role in counter-terrorism for the House Committee on Homeland Security.

More on the sentencing, below, from a U.S. Dept. of Justice press release.

An Arlington man was sentenced today to 72 months in prison for transportation and possession of child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, while visiting South Carolina in February 2020, James Gordon Meek, 53, used an online messaging platform on his iPhone to send and receive images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and to discuss his sexual interest in children. Some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12, including an infant being raped. Meek brought the iPhone containing the child sexual abuse material back with him when he returned to Virginia. Additionally, Meek possessed multiple electronic devices containing images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Bedell and Trial Attorney Whitney Kramer for the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section prosecuted the case.

This case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force is composed of FBI agents, along with other federal agents and detectives from northern Virginia and the District of Columbia. The task force is charged with investigating and bringing federal charges against individuals engaged in the exploitation of children and those engaged in human trafficking. Valuable assistance was provided by the Arlington County Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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