Author: ARLnow.com

School Board Caucus Kicking Off — “It’s almost show time for the Arlington County Democratic Committee’s School Board endorsement caucus… Voting is slated for: Sunday, May 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School, 3500 23rd St. South. Wednesday, May 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Campbell Elementary School, 737 South Carlin Springs Road. Saturday, May 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Washington-Liberty High School, 1301 North Stafford St.” [Gazette Leader]

First Day of Early Primary Voting — “Arlington County will be implementing ranked choice voting for the first time in the June 20, 2023 Democratic Primary Election for the office of County Board (2 seats)… First day of Early Voting for the June 20, 2023, Primary Election: May 5, 2023.” [Arlington County]

Sierra Club Candidate Endorsements — “The Sierra Club’s Virginia chapter has endorsed Maureen Coffey and J.D. Spain Sr. in the June 20 Democratic primary for Arlington County Board. ‘In their answers to our candidate questionnaire and our interviews with the candidates, J.D. and Maureen demonstrated a solid grasp of climate change as the defining challenge of our time,’ said John Bloom, chair of the Potomac River Group of the Sierra Club, which includes Arlington.” [Gazette Leader]

Prosecutor Fires Back at GOP — From Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, in response to the Arlington GOP accusing her campaign event’s special guest of being a communist: “Dear @goparlington, wrong Angela Davis. Thanks for the racism, tho. (PS. I’m an American citizen who was born in Iran).” [Twitter]

Dehghani-Tafti Says Challenger Took GOP $ — “Dehghani-Tafti told the News-Press ‘It is very concerning that over a third of my opponent’s identifiable funding comes from Republican donors, including those with contributions to Donald Trump, Glenn Youngkin, Jason Miyares, Amanda Chase, Josh Hawley, and the Republican National Committee.'” [Falls Church News-Press]

County Still Has Lowest Unemployment — “Arlington retained the pole position, recording the lowest jobless rate among Virginia’s 133 cities and counties in the latest data. With 159,040 county residents employed in the civilian workforce and 3,374 looking for jobs, Arlington’s unemployment rate stood at 2.1 percent in March, according to figures reported May 3 by the Virginia Employment Commission.” [Gazette Leader]

‘Joy Luck Club’ at Aurora Hills Library — “Join us for tea and a movie! Fun fact: Following Flower Drum Song in 1961, The Joy Luck Club was only the 2nd Hollywood film featuring a mostly Asian cast, and would not be repeated again until Crazy Rich Asians in 2018. This event is part of the Library’s celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.” [Arlington Public Library]

YHS Football Coach Honored — “Bruce Hanson thought he was attending a simple and brief recognition ceremony when his name would be called and he’d receive a handshake. He was surprised when the event became much more, making him a bit emotional… Hanson was one of multiple Arlington Public School employees on hand in front of the School Board April 27 to be recognized for reaching a milestone of 30 or more years of service. The longtime teacher and coach was the only one saluted for a half-century of service.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Friday — Sun, plus some clouds. Mild. High of 69 and low of 51. Sunrise at 6:06 am and sunset at 8:04 pm. [Weather.gov]

Rappelling Down Hotel for Good Cause — “More than 70 brave individuals will cruise down the exterior facade of the 14-story Hilton Arlington National Landing on May 5 at the ’14 Stories of New Hope’ fundraiser for New Hope Housing. The Alexandria-based nonprofit aims to wipe out homelessness in Northern Virginia by providing shelter, housing and an array of support services.” [Arlington Magazine]

Forum on Governance Change Proposal — “Proponents of changing aspects of Arlington’s 90-year-old governance structure may get an inkling of what’s politically and logistically feasible, and what is not, at an upcoming forum. The Arlington County Civic Federation’s Task Force in Governance and Election Reform – acronym ‘TiGER’ – will host the gathering on Thursday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Central Library.” [Gazette Leader]

Mechanical Bull Coming to Ballston Bar — “Break out your sun hats and seersuckers, it’s time to GIDDY UP for a good cause at Quincy Hall. Join us this Saturday, May 6th for a day of Kentucky Derby celebrations: MECHANICAL BULL RIDES starting right after Kentucky Derby (around 7pm).” [Instagram]

Clement Lauds Fairfax County — “‘Why can’t Arlington be more like Fairfax County?’ is not a phrase one hears too often in the corridors of power across Arlington.But in at least one case, a County Board candidate believes Arlington officials should have followed their Fairfax counterparts this year. Audrey Clement, making her latest bid for County Board as an independent, on May 1 criticized the incumbent Arlington County Board for gouging taxpayers by not reducing the real-estate-tax rate” as Fairfax did, by 1.5 cents per $100. [Gazette Leader]

Cristol Staying Here Miffs Some in Tysons — “Saddened to hear that our new chief cheerleader for #Tysons VA @kcristol
says: ‘And even after the transition, I’ll keep the title I’ve always valued most: Arlingtonian.’ Yikes! Don’t Tysonians deserve better?” [Twitter]

Green Valley Takes the Stage — “If the names Friendly Cab, Funshine Preschool, Veterans Memorial YMCA, Richard Walker Shoes, Naomi’s TV, Chinn’s Funeral Home, Mamie Brown’s Friendly Beauty School and Majestic Barber Shop don’t ring a bell, they will after you’ve attended a performance of ‘From Nauck to Green Valley: Transforming a Community.’ Encore Stage & Studio’s new student-devised original play looks at the history of one of Arlington’s historically African-American communities.” [Gazette Leader]

Warner Intros Social Media Bill — “U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) joined 27 colleagues in introducing the Kids Online Safety Act, comprehensive bipartisan legislation to protect children online. The Kids Online Safety Act provides young people and parents with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against online harms.” [Press Release]

It’s Thursday — Mostly cloudy and cool. High of 62 and low of 43. Sunrise at 6:07 am and sunset at 8:03 pm. [Weather.gov]