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.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
People crossing the street in Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Amtrak Station Construction in Sight — “Amtrak says construction on a new station in Crystal City could begin as soon as 2025, though the date of completion remains unclear. The rail service disclosed June 5 it had applied for $33.8 million through a competitive Federal Railroad Administration grant program… The money Amtrak applied for would go entirely toward platform construction in Crystal City, which is estimated to cost $42.3 million.” [Washington Business Journal]

County Registrar Reappointed — “Arlington Electoral Board members on June 9 reappointed county director of elections (registrar) Gretchen Reinemeyer to her second four-year term, ensuring continuity through the 2024 presidential election and beyond. The vote was unanimous, said Electoral Board secretary Scott McGeary, who serves on the body alongside chair Kim Phillip and vice chair Richard Samp.” [Gazette Leader]

Rosslyn Metro Incident Investigated — From the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission: “Investigation W-0227 relates to an evacuation for life safety reasons due to smoke in the Rosslyn Station on February 8, 2023. Riders and the Train Operator heard a loud bang as the train was moving through the tunnel approaching the station… Metrorail did not establish command, ensure the station was evacuated, or clearly communicate among Metrorail personnel during the response.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Ball-Sellers Fundraiser Complete — “The Arlington Historical Society reached its fundraising goal of $6,000 to save the Ball-Sellers House from powderpost beetles. The money raised in the GoFundMe campaign will be used for the spraying and moisture barrier that will protect the home from powderpost beetles, which have been eating away at the house.” [Patch]

Upcoming Juneteenth Events — “Celebrate Juneteenth—the annual holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S.—through a variety of local events, including concerts and guided tours. Here are some of the highlights happening in and around Arlington.” [Arlington Magazine]

Theater Award for WHS Student — “Wakefield High School student Angie Sukhee won an award Monday night for her role in ‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical’ at the Cappies gala. The National Capital Area Cappies Gala, an awards event that is considered the Tony Awards for high school theater in the D.C. region, was held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” [Patch]

Beyer Backs Commission Resolution — “U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th) has become the lone member of the Virginia congressional delegation to sign on to a proposed congressional resolution aimed at setting up a national Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Commission.” [Gazette Leader]

Another Funding Round for Hungry — “With eyes on [profitability], catering startup HUNGRY just closed a huge Series C round. The Rosslyn, Virginia startup, which connects chefs with catering clients in an online marketplace, closed the Series C1 round at $10 million. According to leadership, it will be the company’s final raise before anticipated profitability.” [Technically DC]

Cristol Says Goodbye — From departing County Board member Katie Cristol: “And that’s a wrap. I’m so grateful to colleagues and community members for a moving send-off, and to Arlington for the extraordinary opportunity to lead these past eight years. Looking forward to spending a bit more time with these two – and seeing you around the neighborhood.” [Twitter]

It’s Wednesday — Cloudy but then clearing later in the day, with chances for showers or storms. A bit breezy, with a high of 79 and a low of 60. [Weather.gov]

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 13, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Tuesday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 7096 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 13, 2023.

  1. Morning Poll: Which of these noise complaints has the most merit?
  2. Shop selling snacks “from all seven continents” opens at Pentagon City mall
  3. Morning Notes
  4. VHC Health opens outpatient pavilion after some three years of construction

📅 Upcoming events

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

  • No events today. Have one to promote? Submit it to the calendar.

⛈️ Wednesday’s forecast

A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Southwest wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. At night: Mostly clear, with a low around 60. West wind 6 to 10 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
– Christopher Columbus

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

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

Morning Poll: Which of these noise complaints has the most merit?

By ARLnow.com
1/3

One inevitability of running a local news outlet is that you’ll get plenty of people contacting you with complaints about stuff, some more newsworthy than others.

In general, we’re disinclined to use our limited reporting resources as a cudgel against pet peeves that lack greater significance or safety concerns to the community at large. More often, the better stories tend to be those that come from tips sent because something seems interesting, not because it bothers the tipster personally.

Recently, though, there has been a noticeable uptick in a certain type of tip: those complaining about noise.

Noise is a constant concern in a place like Arlington, which has no shortage of noisy things from airliners to helicopters, bars to buses.

Noise complaints abound in our 26 square miles, but those that have a more limited local impact and fall into a category that might be described as “annoying but to be expected where you live” often do not rise to the level of local coverage.

Arguably, the following three noise complaints could get that categorization. But after receiving each in notably short succession, we’re going to let readers decide which, if any, has the most merit and might deserve additional scrutiny.

First up: (1) the use of leaf blowers in Ballston when there are, in fact, few if any leaves on the ground.

You folks should do a story on excess use of gas powered leaf blowers in [Ballston]. I live off Welburn Square, and when I work at home I hear pairs of workers with leaf blowers frequently, like every few days. This happens literally year round, every month,–80% of the time there are no leaves!

Are these county workers? It seems like a waste of taxpayer money plus unneeded air pollution and sound pollution.

I’ve attached a photo from this morning. No leaves!! Yet two guys with gas powered blowers wailing.

Regards

Welburn Square apartment resident.

Next: (2) nightly runway closures at DCA steering late flights closer to residential towers in nearby Crystal City.

As a longtime resident of Crystal City, my high-rise building, and others on the northern end of Crystal Drive, are directly along the flight path of aircraft currently departing the 15/33 runway that’s being used during the evenings while the main runway is worked on. Since the project started,  aircraft depart that runway perhaps 1000′ from my building regularly during the late evening until nearly 3AM … and then resume a few more times before 6AM when the main runway is cleared for regular daytime traffic. (It’s intolerable for us in Waterford House and Crystal Gateway, but likely is worse for the residents of Crystal City Lofts and Water Park Towers.)

In addition to working professionals, several buildings in this part of Crystal City count many senior citizens as homeowners and/or renters. Taken together, we are all directly – and adversely – impacted being in such immediate proximity to the overwhelming noise of aircraft taking off on 15/33 that pass so close to our buildings during the overnight hours. I think you’d agree that long-term sleep deprivation and the related health consequences – at any age – certainly is not the answer. :(

According to a 2022 airport diagram[1], DCA runway 15/33 is 5200×150′ while 4/22 is 5000×150. Runway 4/22 is another ‘cross’ runway but departs over the Potomac River and does not put departing aircraft so close to residential buildings during their initial climb-out from DCA. Given the nearly identical length of these runways, it would be nice to know why DCA is not able to use that runway instead and therefore prevent disrupting the residents of northern Crystal City.

Finally: (3) the daily playing of the National Anthem at a Navy facility in the Penrose neighborhood, which allegedly “started last fall” and “can be heard from several blocks away, through windows, and is played every day.”

I am writing in about the Naval Support Facility at 701 S Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA. Several months ago, the facility began playing the National Anthem every morning at 8am.There are speakers pointed directly into the neighborhood. While it may have simply been an oversight, I wanted to bring Arlington County’s noise ordinances to your attention.

According to Arlington County, the Naval Support Facility is located in Zone S-3A. Arlington’s noise control regulations require that noise for Zone S-3A is below 95 decibels for “impulsive noise” during daytime hours (7am – 9pm weekdays, 10am – 9pm weekends) and below 90 decibels during nighttime hours. Please note they also define impulsive noise as lasting less than 1 second [Noise Ordinance, page 2]. All other noise needs to remain below 60 decibels during daytime hours and 55 decibels during nighttime hours. The Naval Support Facility plays the National Anthem at an audio level far beyond the permissible levels.

Additionally, I would like to bring your attention to the prohibited acts in the Arlington County noise ordinance. [Noise Ordinance, page 6]. I live approximately 600 feet from the Naval Support Facility, and the noise is extremely loud, even with the windows closed. This is a direct, clear violation of Arlington County’s noise ordinances.

“My neighbor has tried bringing this to Arlington County, but they won’t preemptively come out to the facility to witness the noise, so they won’t enforce their own rules,” the anthem tipster told ARLnow.

Which of the above complaints do you think has the most merit?

Map via Google Maps

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Working out in Long Bridge Park (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Green Valley Stabbing — “3200 block of 24th Street S. At approximately 10:53 p.m. on June 11, police were dispatched to the report of a stabbing. Upon arrival, officers located the male victim suffering from a laceration and rendered medical aid until the arrival of medics. The victim was transported to an area hospital where he was treated for serious, non-life threatening injuries.” [ACPD]

Cristol Reflects on Final Board Meeting — “Arlington County Board member Katie Cristol will attend her last board meeting Tuesday as she prepares to leave her post next month after seven and a half years in office. The board’s first millennial member, Cristol was just thirty when she first ran for her seat in 2015, with the goal of bringing the perspective of a younger resident and recent renter to the body.” [DCist]

County Board Election Results Plan — “Election officials won’t be able to start the computerized ranked-choice count at least until mid-Friday three days after the election, and could be held up even further owing to matters outside their control. As a result, ‘it’s unrealistic to set a time in advance’ for the tabulation of votes, Arlington Electoral Board vice chairman Richard Samp said at the body’s June 9 meeting.” [Gazette Leader]

Va. Gov., WaPo Ed Board Against DCA Bill — From Gov. Glenn Youngkin: “A flourishing @Dulles_Airport and @Reagan_Airport are key elements in a thriving Virginia. The balanced two-airport system these premier aviation hubs comprise should be preserved and strengthened, not undermined.” [Twitter, Washington Post]

Metro Touts Progress — From WMATA: “On Saturday, 327,000 customers chose Metrorail, making it the highest ridership Saturday since the pandemic! On Sunday, 227,000 more of you rode with us. Trains ran on time an average of 89% this weekend to help make #YourMetro a fast, reliable option to get around.” [Twitter]

It’s Tuesday — Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. At night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind around 7 mph. [Weather.gov]

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 12, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Monday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 11069 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 12, 2023.

  1. Power outage and road closure after tree falls on utility lines
  2. A half-dozen affordable garden apartment buildings near Rosslyn are set to be renovated
  3. Morning Notes
  4. Arlington Career Center project approved despite some resident concerns

📅 Upcoming events

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

☀️ Tuesday’s forecast

Sunny, with a high near 80. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. At night: A slight chance of showers after 2am. Mostly clear, with a low around 60. South wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

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

County Board salaries may reach six-digits over next few years after Saturday vote

By ARLnow.com
Arlington County Board discussing hike in its own salary cap (via Arlington County/YouTube)

Arlington County Board member salaries may top the $100,000 mark for the first time over the next four years, after a vote this weekend.

Board members were paid a $57,648 annual salary as recently as a year ago, though after a series of votes in 2022 and in April the base Board member salary has been increasing — to $89,851 with the new Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

A vote at the end of Saturday’s Board meeting will provide the Board flexibility to further raise its salary, as soon as next year.

The every-four-year vote sets a cap for Board member pay. The unanimous vote on Saturday brings the cap to $119,833 for Board members and $125,460 for the Board chair, a position that rotates annually.

The cap was recommended by county staff, calculated by taking this year’s average median income for Arlington and raising it 3% annually through 2027.

County Board salary pay cap raise (via Arlington County)

Board members spoke in favor of setting the Board salary at a rate that would allow members to live in pricy Arlington without existing wealth or the support of a higher-earning spouse.

“There ought to be at least some modicum of remuneration for the Board work that can attract people who can afford to do these jobs,” Board Vice-Chair Libby Garvey said prior to the vote. “Being at the AMI for a single person is a close approximation.”

Garvey said the new cap is “reasonable” and, noting that no members of the public stuck around until mid-afternoon to speak about the agenda item, “we don’t seem to have a lot of controversy about it.”

While service on the County Board has historically been considered to be a part-time position, member Matt de Ferranti argued that it’s now essentially a full-time position given its various civic and legislative responsibilities.

“This is not a part-time job, and whatever your convictions are politically, it should still not be a part-time job in my opinion,” de Ferranti said. “We need a situation where everyone who has the skills and wants to serve, financially can be able to make it work.”

“I think it’s an important step for governance and the right thing to do,” he added, “so that it’s not just folks who have means who can serve on this Board, which is the history of Virginia and in part the history of Arlington.”

Katie Cristol, who previously expressed reservations about raising her own pay in 2022, expressed some similar misgivings this time around, noting that Board members will be paid around the same as or more then elected Board members of larger jurisdictions like Loudoun County or Prince William County.

Board Chair Christian Dorsey countered that other jurisdictions have district-based representation, whereas Arlington County Board members are elected at-large and thus represent more people on a per-capita basis.

Even if the Board later hikes its salary up to the cap — the weekend’s vote does not increase pay by itself, it only establishes the maximum salary that the Board can set over the next four years — it will still be lower than the Board member salaries in neighboring Fairfax County, population 1.1 million

“We’re not the highest and we’re not the lowest, and that’s probably a safe space for us to be,” Dorsey said before adjourning the meeting.

Local elected official salary comparison chart (via Arlington County)

Power outage and road closure after tree falls on utility lines

By ARLnow.com
Reported power outage along Old Dominion Drive (via Dominion)

A hundred-some Dominion customers are without electricity along Old Dominion Drive after a tree fell on power lines.

The outage is affecting the Rock Spring neighborhood in far northern Arlington, including the area around Discovery Elementary and Williamsburg Middle School. A portion of Fairfax County is also within the power outage boundaries, as listed on the Dominion website.

Old Dominion Drive is expected to remain closed near the Arlington-Fairfax County border for at least four hours, as the fallen tree is removed and the lines repaired, according to scanner traffic.

Dominion lists the estimated time of power restoration as between noon and 3 p.m.

The outage comes as thunderstorms are expected in the D.C. area this afternoon.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Clouds and haze over Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

New APS Redo Policy Approved — “Superintendent Francisco Durán said he has signed off on changes to the middle and high school grading policy at Arlington Public Schools that will allow students to retake or redo assignments and reduce the weight of quizzes or homework on a student’s overall grade.” [WTOP]

Pike Improvements Continue — “Arlington County Board members on June 10 [awarded] a contract totaling just under $35 million to wrap up the final phases of streetscape improvements to Columbia Pike. The funding will support the two segments of the project that currently are neither completed or under construction.” [Gazette Leader]

Slow Go for Rosslyn Commuters — “The situation now appears to be improving after earlier this week Metro riders faced very slow commutes on what were supposed to be ‘express’ buses put in place during a partial shutdown of the Orange and Silver lines in Virginia. As 7News first reported Tuesday, buses that were supposed to save commuters time by making limited stops have encountered major traffic congestion and slowdowns related to numerous construction projects in Rosslyn.” [WJLA]

Beyer Intros Another Helo Noise Bill — “U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (D-VA-08) today introduced the Reduce Helicopter Noise Act to take federal action that would rein in the growing noise of helicopter flights over American communities.” [Press Release]

County Sells New Bonds — “On June 8, 2023, Arlington County issued $187 million in Series 2023 General Obligation (GO) Public Improvement Bonds. The bonds received a total of seven bids in a competitive sale, with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. submitting the winning bid with a 3.48% average interest rate.” [Arlington County]

‘Temporary’ Lot Back Before Board — “It was November 1983, and those five board members had just approved allowing the owner of a Crystal City parcel zoned for high-rise residential to use it, instead, as a 70-space parking lot on a temporary basis. Thirty-nine years later, the parking lot is still there – and still, 12 amendments to the original vote later, on a temporary basis. Current County Board members on Saturday are being asked to address the matter a 14th time.” [Gazette Leader]

Lexus Driver Rams ACPD SUV — “Someone’s having a bad night. They ran into the back of an @ArlingtonVaPD SUV about 45 minutes ago on Route 50W at Irving Street. No serious injuries reported.” [Twitter]

Police Pride Event Returning — “Engagement events such as Pride with the Police provide a unique opportunity to strengthen these partnerships and hear directly from community members. The 3rd annual Pride with the Police event will take place on: Thursday, June 29, 2023. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.” [ACPD]

It’s Monday — Showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 8am. High near 78. South wind 11 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. At night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers between 11pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 59. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. [Weather.gov]

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Jun 9, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Friday evening, Arlington. Today we published articles that were read a total of 14436 times… so far.

📈 Top stories

The following are the most-read articles for today — Jun 9, 2023.

  1. Parent fight at elementary school graduation ceremony draws police response
  2. Police investigating man’s death near county offices
  3. Morning Notes
  4. New bridge over Lubber Run to replace two destroyed in 2019 flooding

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

  1. DEVELOPING: Arlington air quality now at ‘hazardous’ level (15439 views)
  2. Parent fight at elementary school graduation ceremony draws police response (12703 views)
  3. UPDATED: Local air quality reaches Code Red level as wildfire smoke thickens (7913 views)
  4. JUST IN: Police investigating early morning shooting in Clarendon (7260 views)
  5. ACPD: Man beat up at busy N. Glebe Road intersection (6923 views)
  6. Insect damage jeopardizes the oldest building in Arlington (5680 views)
  7. UPDATED: Police respond to reported fight and shot fired in Green Valley (4978 views)
  8. Arlington Soccer Association ditches white shorts (4951 views)
  9. Columbia Pike’s Mpanadas finally getting a grand opening later this month (4621 views)
  10. Air quality alert issued for Wednesday amid smoke from Canadian wildfires (4433 views)
  11. Chicken + Whiskey hopes to start serving this week in Clarendon (3785 views)
  12. NEW: Arlington police annual report confirms rise in crime (3677 views)
  13. Another Code Red day on tap, but some relief from wildfire smoke in sight (3446 views)

📅 Upcoming events

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

Here are the events planned for Sunday:

☀️ Saturday’s forecast

Sunny, with a high near 84. West wind 7 to 9 mph. At night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind around 6 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”
– Arthur C. Clarke

🌅 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. 👋

Parent fight at elementary school graduation ceremony draws police response

By ARLnow.com
Oakridge Elementary School (photo via Google Maps)

(Updated at 11:20 a.m.) A physical fight among 2-3 adults marred a promotion ceremony for fifth graders at Oakridge Elementary on Thursday.

Police were called to the school in the Arlington Ridge neighborhood around 4:45 p.m. for a report of a sizable fight, involving adults and possibly children as well.

“At approximately 4:46 p.m., police were dispatched to the 1400 block of 24th Street S. for the report of a fight,” Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow. “Upon arrival, it was determined that adults who are known to each other became involved in a physical altercation during an event at the school. The parties were separated and no significant injuries were reported. The investigation is ongoing.”

Savage said that no children were injured, though medics were dispatched to the school for a child who may have been bitten during the fracas.

An email sent to parents, obtained by ARLnow, further describes what happened.

Dear Oakridge Families,

I wanted to inform you that an altercation occurred between two adults this afternoon during our Fifth Grade Class Promotion. Staff intervened and were able to separate the parties involved as quickly as possible. The police were called to the school to investigate the matter and there were no injuries.

If your children have questions or would like to discuss this matter with a counselor, the student support team will be available all day tomorrow.

A tipster tells ARLnow that the fight might have been a bit larger, involving three women and a group of school staff and parents trying to break up the brawl.

“There was a fight amongst the parents… that got physical resulting in parents on the ground and other parents and staff breaking up the fight,” the tipster said. “Children were crying. Police and EMS were called.”

“This isn’t safe for our children,” the tipster added.

This is at least the second significant, traumatic incident this year for the fifth grade class at Oakridge. An alleged “sexual incident” among two students during an overnight visit to the Arlington Public Schools Outdoor Lab in Fauquier County — which was investigated by local law enforcement — involved fifth graders at Oakridge, according several sources.

Photo via Google Maps

Police investigating man’s death near county offices

By ARLnow.com
File photo

Arlington County police are investigating the death of a man near the county office complex at Sequoia Plaza.

A family member called 911 around 4 p.m., reporting that he was attempting to kill himself, according to initial reports. He was found dead by arriving police and firefighters, in an outdoor area near the Arlington Dept. of Human Services offices and a county-run mental health facility.

“At approximately 4:04 p.m., police were dispatched to the 2100 block of Washington Boulevard,” ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage said. “Upon arrival, an adult male was located deceased. ACPD is conducting a death investigation and based on the preliminary investigation, the death does not appear suspicious and there is no apparent ongoing threat to the public. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine cause and manner of death.”

A ramp between Washington Blvd and Route 50 was closed during part of the investigation.

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of self-harm, call 911. You can also call the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988, Arlington Dept. of Human Services’ emergency services line at 703-228-5160, or CrisisLink at 703-527-4077.

View More Stories