Washington Blvd just west of Westover (Photo via Google Maps)

A community meeting is scheduled for tonight (Wednesday) to discuss a road re-striping plan that would add bike lanes but remove some parking on the western portion of Washington Blvd in Arlington.

The meeting is set to take place at the Westover Branch Library (1644 N. McKinley Road) from 5-8 p.m.

“We invite community members to provide ideas and insights on how we achieve the maximum benefits for bicycle access and pedestrian safety, while minimizing potential impacts in the area,” says the meeting’s web page.

Among the changes being proposed:

  • “Create nearly a two-mile stretch of bike lanes from Sycamore St. to George Mason Dr.”
  • “Narrow unnecessary wide travel lanes to help calm traffic.”
  • “Install a dedicated left turn lane for westbound Washington Boulevard at N. Ohio Street to help reduce backups.”
  • “Sidewalks will be more comfortable for walking due to buffering provided by the new bike lanes.”

The restriping, as proposed, would add bike lanes in both directions to where they don’t already exist on Washington Blvd between Westover and East Falls Church, but at the expense of some on-street parking.

The project is being planned by Arlington County but will be performed and funded by VDOT, which maintains that stretch of Washington Blvd.

Photo via Google Maps


Train in Clarendon Metro station (Flickr pool photo by Brian Irwin)

Sale of Reeves Farmhouse Moves Forward — From a press release following yesterday’s Arlington County Board meeting: “The Arlington County Manager today recommended that the County move forward with the sale of the historic Reeves farmhouse, and that the County not be a financial partner in the farmhouse’s restoration and reuse.” [Arlington County]

‘No Systemic Problem’ Led to High Water Bills — Arlington County says it has investigated resident complaints about unusually high water bills and found “no systemic problem.” Errors in billing or meter-reading were found in only five percent of complaints, the county said, adding that customer-side leaks and a hot and dry summer help to explain many of the remaining cases. [Arlington County]

Arlington Millennials Willing to Move — According to a new study, 77.5 percent of Millennials in Arlington say they would leave the region for the right job offer. That’s the highest response of any D.C. area jurisdiction surveyed. Millennials make up 35-40 percent of Arlington’s population, but real estate affordability remains a concern. Only 28 percent of Millennials in Arlington said they can afford to buy a home in the D.C. area. [Washington Business Journal]

Another Phone Scam Warning — Arlington residents are getting phone calls from scammers claiming to be Dominion Virginia Power technicians collecting unpaid electric bills. “In some cases, scammers have deliberately falsified the information transmitted to the victim’s Caller ID display to disguise their identity,” warns the Arlington County Police Department. [Arlington County]

Talk By Black Man Who Befriends KKK Members — Daryl Davis, a musician who befriends KKK members and convinces them to leave the organization, gave a talk in Arlington earlier this week. Of our current political climate, he said: “This is the best thing that has happened to this country because we have been so much in denial of racism in this country, xenophobia and all these kinds of things… Now we can no longer turn a blind eye to it.” [Fox 5]

Arlington’s ‘Cafe Urbanism’ — A new article in a publication written for state and local government officials asks poses the question: “Hip restaurants have helped revive cities. But is the boom fizzling out?” As a prime example, the article cites recent restaurant closures in Clarendon. [Governing]

Flickr pool photo by Brian Irwin


APS Extended Day registration issue“Server issues” prevented parents from registering for the Arlington Public Schools Extended Day program last night.

Extended Day registration opens at midnight on March 1, meaning that those fighting for a spot in the popular program stayed up late trying to register — until APS finally notified parents that it was closing the registration indefinitely until the problems can be fixed.

The issues occurred less than 12 hours after the Arlington County website went down due to technical issues that affected numerous sites around the web on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if the Extended Day glitch was related.

From a post on the APS Facebook page, published after 1 a.m.:

At this time we are aware of the server issues preventing families from registering for Extended Day services.

We are working to have the issues resolved as quickly as possible.

In order to allow all families the opportunity to register successfully, we temporarily suspended registration for Summer 2017 and School Year 2017-2018 until further notice.

We will provide an update tomorrow via APS School Talk and our website.

We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.

Here’s what one self-described “angry parent” said about the snafu, in an email to ARLnow.com:

If you haven’t heard, APS’ early registration system broke down last night. Registration began at midnight. If you don’t get in, you don’t get a slot for your child/children in the fall.

Every year, at midnight on March 1, working parents are forced to take part in this cruel system that requires them to stay up til midnight and beyond.

I was up until 2 trying to get on before giving up. So I’m at work today with only 4 hours of sleep. (APS expects me to deliver my daughter to school on time the next day.)

APS sent out a notice at 1:30 a.m. saying they will have to do it all over again.

I hope this incident sheds light on an unnecessarily cruel system that forces parents, who obviously have jobs to go to or they wouldn’t need aftercare, to stay up half the night hitting refresh buttons to make sure they have affordable aftercare.

“Please open registration at a reasonable hour,” another parent said in response to the APS Facebook post.


(Updated at 9 a.m.) As feared, it was pouring rain during last night’s Clarendon Mardi Gras parade.

But the raindrops did not dampen the spirits of those in the parade, who made their way up Wilson Blvd to the delight of thin but enthusiastic crowds.

From a dancing monkey to a guy on a penny-farthing to a bunch of people pedaling on the Trolley Pub, the parade hearkened back to a bygone era when “Keep Clarendon Weird” was the neighborhood’s motto.


Arlington County Police are on scene of a possible barricade situation in the Douglas Park neighborhood, just south of Columbia Pike.

Police have blocked off part of 16th Street S., between Glebe Road and S. Monroe Street.

“Lots of police cars and a cop on a loudspeaker that keeps asking for a guy to come to the door,” an anonymous tipster told ARLnow.com just before 7 p.m. “[They’re saying] we’re not going anywhere… just come out.”

“ACPD is working to have a wanted subject safely exit a residence,” said police department spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “There is no larger threat to community.”

Update at 8:50 p.m. — “The suspect has safely been taken into police custody,” Savage said. “Police remain on scene investigating.”


Hourly forecast for 2017 Clarendon Mardi Gras parade (via Weather.com)

(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) Organizers are hoping for a Mardi Gras miracle, but it looks like tonight’s parade in Clarendon will be a soggy one.

The 18th annual Clarendon-Courthouse Mardi Gras Parade is slated to kick off at 7 p.m., making its way up Wilson Boulevard from N. Barton Street to N. Irving Street.

2013 Clarendon Mardi Gras paradeAn hourly forecast suggests rain may begin shortly before the parade begins, but Matt Hussmann, executive director of the Clarendon Alliance, says it will go on rain or shine — unless there is lightning in the area.

“We’re going forward and hoping the weather holds off,” said Hussmann. “The Mardi Gras Ball will go on irrespective.”

The annual parade has not had the best luck with weather. It was postponed in 2010, postponed and then cancelled in 2014, and postponed again in 2015 — all due to snow. It rained during the rescheduled 2015 parade.

Screen capture (top) via Weather.com. Photo (bottom) courtesy Jason Dixson Photography.


Becky McCleskey (photo courtesy U.S. Park Police)Becky McCleskey, an Arlington woman reported missing earlier this month, has been found dead.

McCleskey’s body was found Friday in the Potomac River near Old Angler’s Inn in Maryland, according to U.S. Park Police. Foul play is not suspected.

A vehicle belonging to McCleskey was found in a parking lot at Great Falls National Park in Virginia on Feb. 6, when police were first informed of her disappearance.

From a Park Police press release:

On Friday, February 24 at approximately 5:50 p.m. a body was recovered from the water near Old Angler’s Inn in Potomac, Maryland.

The body has been confirmed as that of Becky McCleskey, 56, of Virginia.  McCleskey had been reported missing on February 6, 2017 in the area of Great Falls, Virginia. An extensive air, land, and water search was conducted for two days by the United States Park Police and the Montgomery County Fire and Police Departments.

Mrs. McCleskey’s vehicle was found in the parking lot at Great Falls National Park, Virginia on February 6, 2017.  There is no indication of foul play.

McCleskey has a son who is a high school student in Arlington, we’re told. She also leaves behind a husband, according to an email sent to Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington parishioners.

Her first husband, Arlington native Brian McCleskey, died of respiratory failure in 2007, according to a Washington Post obituary.

Photo courtesy U.S. Park Police


Arlington County website down 2/28/17

(Updated at 3:10 p.m.) A widespread Amazon Web Services outage brought down the Arlington County website around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

As of 1:30 p.m. the site appeared to be partially back up, although images are not currently loading and some pages are still down.

A number of large websites and services are reported to be down or experiencing significant issues due to an outage of AWS’s web storage servers in the eastern United States. The outage was still ongoing as of 3 p.m.

Arlington County tweeted about the outage about half an hour after it started.


Jason Allen Johnson (photo courtesy ACPD)Police are still searching for Jason Allen Johnson, the suspect in the shooting death of a 23-year-old man at a house party in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Arlington.

Police say Johnson, 37, likely fled to Maryland after the Feb. 19 shooting. There’s no word on his current whereabouts, but detectives don’t think he’s in Arlington.

“Based on our investigation, we do not believe that Johnson is in Arlington County,” said Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage.

“We ask that anyone with information on Johnson’s whereabouts contact the Arlington County Police Department at 703-558-2222,” Savage said. “Information can also be provided anonymously through Arlington County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS. Arlington County Crime Solvers is offering a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of Johnson.”

“Johnson is considered armed and dangerous,” she added. “Anyone who sees Johnson should not approach and contact 911 immediately.”


Metro train (Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley)

Gutshall Running for County Board — As predicted, business owner Erik Gutshall is running for County Board this year, seeking the seat being vacated by Jay Fisette. Gutshall says on his website that his candidacy will be announced at the Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting on Wednesday. Gutshall unsuccessfully challenged County Board member Libby Garvey in last year’s Democratic primary. [Erik Gutshall for County Board]

Oscars Flub Involved W-L Grad — Warren Beatty is back atop the national consciousness, after an envelope mix-up led to perhaps the worst mistake in Oscars history, with Beatty and Best Picture co-presenter Faye Dunaway at the center of the fiasco. As many long-time Arlingtonians remember, Beatty spent his teenage years in Arlington, reportedly living on N. Huntington Street. He graduated from Washington-Lee High School and, as noted in a yearbook photo, was a star football player and the senior class president. [InsideNova]

Arlington Elementary Schools Top Rankings — In new rankings of D.C. area public elementary schools, Arlington elementary schools tallied a sweep of all the top 10 spots. [NicheWashington Business Journal]

ACPD Trying Out Uber Lane — This past weekend in Clarendon, the Arlington County Police Department set up a designated rideshare pickup lane to improve safety for those using Uber and Lyft to get a ride home from the bars. The police department described the action as a “pilot program” that was the result of “creative problem solving.” [Twitter]

Arlington’s ‘Segregation Wall’ — A new historic marker notes the significance of a 1930s-era wall in north Arlington. The wall was built by white residents of the Waycroft-Woodlawn neighborhood to provide a physical barrier between them and the historically black Hall’s Hill (High View Park) neighborhood. [InsideNova]

Loan for Affordable Apartments Approved — The Arlington County Board on Saturday approved a $7.4 million loan to help build 125 new affordable apartments at the Berkeley on S. Glebe Road. Nonprofit developer AHC is expected to seek another loan for the redevelopment, from the county’s affordable housing fund, next fiscal year. [Arlington County]

Per-Student Spending to Rise — Under a new budget proposed by Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy, per-student spending would rise 2.9 percent to $19,521. APS has been straining to keep up with rising enrollment, issuing bonds to build new schools and renovate others. [InsideNova]

Flickr pool photo by Erinn Shirley


View More Stories