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.
Just over 5,000 Dominion customers were without power Saturday afternoon, according to the power company’s website.
The large outage, centered around Columbia Pike but running from Douglas Park in the south to Lyon Park in the north, is the result of storm damage, Dominion said. A line of thunderstorms with gusty winds and heavy rain rolled through Arlington prior to the outage.
A total of 5,044 customers were affected as of 2:45 p.m.
Dominion reported nearly 20,000 outages throughout Northern Virginia following the storms. The good news is that an earlier Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been dropped for Northern Virginia locales, suggesting that the worst of the storms is over.
Update at 7:20 p.m. — Power has mostly been restored after an hours-long outage. Fewer than 250 homes and businesses in Arlington remain in the dark as night falls, according to Dominion.
Showers late. Overcast. Mild. High of 73 and low of 53. Sunrise at 6:22 am and sunset at 7:52 pm. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Haiku of the Day
Ocean waves crashing
Silent whispers in the night
Moonlit serenade
🌅 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. 👋
This furry girl was born in California, but now calls the Long Branch Creek neighborhood her home.
Here’s what her owners had to say about River:
As an indoor cat, she makes the most of her apartment kingdom. She enjoys chasing reflected light, laser pointers and is adept at catching flies.
On warm days, she’ll settle into a sunspot on the carpet until her fur is hot to the touch.
Although shy around strangers and unhappy in cars, she is vocal and playful with her people.
River loves stick toys, and pays close attention whenever someone ties their shoe laces. She enjoys burrowing under blankets to sleep for hours, and is happiest when snuggling on a lap.
River is particularly proud of her tuxedo coloring and symmetrical handlebar mustache.
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 gallery!
In Ballston’s battle of the beer bars, Crafthouse has emerged as the survivor.
World of Beer, in the Ballston Point building at 4300 Wilson Blvd, closed up shop earlier this week.
“We’re ceasing our business operations in Arlington, Virginia starting April 17,” a sign on the door says. “Thank you, Arlington, for allowing us to be a part of this community for the last 3 years.”
The watering hole opened in October 2020 in the former Ted’s Montana Grill space. It was a return to the neighborhood for the suds-centric national chain, after a World of Beer franchise up the road rebranded as Crafthouse.
From our article on the opening:
The restaurant is not far from Crafthouse (901 N. Glebe Road), which was Virginia’s first World of Beer location from 2012 until 2017, when the owner parted ways and rebranded locations in Ballston, Reston and Fairfax. […]
The split between then-owner Evan Matz and World of Beer took a bitter turn later in 2017, when the chain sued Matz for violating the terms of the franchise agreement. In October 2018, Matz sued back.
All three Crafthouse locations, including in Ballston, remain open. World of Beer has D.C. area locations in Bethesda and Rockville.
While you’ll no longer be able to get an obscure beer from halfway around the world at World of Beer, a new beverage option recently opened in the same building: D.C.-based coffee shop Slipstream opened within the past month or so.
A flock of birds migrate past the National Mall, viewed from Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Amazon HQ2 Opening Nears — “The en masse, in-person return of Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 employees under the company’s new three-day-a-week mandate is unlikely to occur before the opening of the Pentagon City campus’ first towers at Metropolitan Park. But that may come sooner than you think. The twin, 22-story towers are just weeks away from being move-in ready, an Amazon representative said, with a grand opening still expected in June.” [Washington Business Journal, Washington Post]
Robbery on a Bus — “The juvenile victim was on a public transit bus when the two juvenile suspects approached him and demanded his sweatshirt. The victim refused and attempted to exit the bus during which the suspects allegedly pushed him, prevented him from leaving and made threatening statements towards him. The victim then removed the sweatshirt and ran off the bus. Medics responded and evaluated the victim on scene. Petitions were obtained for the two juvenile suspects.” [ACPD]
Temporary Closure of I-395 Ramp — “The southbound South Glebe Road (Route 120) ramp to northbound I-395 will be closed, weather permitting, between 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 25 and 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 26 and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday to 4:30 a.m. Thursday, April 27 for traffic camera pole replacement work.” [VDOT]
GW Parkway Lanes Closing — “D.C.-area drivers should expect to prepare for some considerable delays on the northern end of the George Washington Parkway. As part of a $161 million restoration project, the National Park Service said it will be closing the southbound lanes between Interstate 495 and Virginia Route 123 on Saturday. The work was supposed to start last week but was postponed due to inclement weather. This traffic pattern could stick around until late 2025.” [WTOP]
Courthouse Cantina Now Serving — “Very important breaking news. Taco Bell Cantina now serving alcohol.” [Twitter]
Unhealthy Air Today — “The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) has forecast a Code Orange air day for the metropolitan Washington region tomorrow: Friday, April 21. Code Orange levels mean the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups. The region recorded its first Code Orange for the year on April 13.” [Press Release]
It’s Friday — Sunny. High of 88 and low of 58. Sunrise at 6:23 am and sunset at 7:51 pm. [Weather.gov]
Address:5604 4th Street S. Neighborhood: Glen Carlin Type: 5 BR, 4 (+1 half) BA single-family detached — 4,800 sq. ft. Listed: $1,895,000
Open House this Sunday, April 23, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Noteworthy: Quality built by A&N in the popular Glen Carlin neighborhood bordering two parks
A&N Homes presents a light-filled new home with these quality details: *Energy efficient Pella Low-E windows; low maintenance HardiPlank siding, stone water table, and MiraTEC trim; 30 year architectural shingle roof; extensive insulation and two zone heating and cooling; Shrock cabinets, Quartz countertops, JennAir kitchen appliances including gas range and rangehood vented to the outside; finished and stained-in-place 4 inch oak floors on main and upper levels; LFV floors for comfort and endurance on the lower level; stone floored front porch; vented gas fireplace in the family room; screened in porch with wood decking and steps to level rear yard; sodded and landscaped lot.
Blocks to 94 acre Glencaryln park with play areas and wooded trails, Arlington County Library and community garden, Carlin Hall, and the Ball Sellers historic home. Easy commute to Washington, business and government centers, and from the primary bedroom to the main level office.
With 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, and an open, airy floorplan, there is exceptional space for everyone and everything.
For the past few weeks, ARLnow has been experimenting with an automated email newsletter that’s written almost entirely by AI.
The “ARLnow AM” newsletter sends at 8 a.m. each weekday morning and summarizes that day’s Morning Notes and the past day’s local news articles.
Aside from the headlines, the intro and the article summaries are all written by the GPT-4 generative AI model. Further, the email’s design was mostly coded by GPT-4 and the creation and sending of the email each morning requires no human intervention.
The idea behind the email was to give readers a morning alternative to our venerable Afternoon Update email without needing to use scarce additional staff resources.
The newsletter is admittedly not perfect. Let’s list the ways:
We’re still working to refine the design. Coding an email newsletter that’s compatible with all email clients is much harder than it sounds.
Sometimes the AI-written article blurbs miss factual nuances in stories.
The AI-written intros are, for lack of a better term, corny. They’re also a bit repetitive. We’re trying to figure out ways to improve it.
At this point, we have not included any local advertising. (According to our polling, at least, the ads from local businesses on ARLnow are seen as a generally positive feature of the site.)
So, the bottom line is that this is experimental and the blurbs should not be entirely relied upon for decision-making purposes. But, if you want a front seat to seeing how AI can be applied in local media, we’re offering a chance for readers to sign up and check it out.
Note that this is on a separate mailing list, so signing up will not affect an existing Afternoon Update or ARLnow Press Club subscription.
Riding a bike along the Bluemont Junction Trail on a warm spring day (Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler)
More New Stuff Coming to DCA — “Today, Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport announced a new slate of concessions… At DCA, you’ll soon be able to fuel up on coffee at Compass or Zeke’s, or grab a pint from Atlas Brew Works.” [Washingtonian, Twitter]
High Speed Chase on I-66 — “Watch: Tonight’s @VSPPIO chase was from Sycamore to DC (where chase was called off) on I-66E just before 10p. Infiniti with expired tags. Speeds 110 mph.” [Twitter]
Ungentlemanly Conduct Near Crystal City Restaurant — “400 block of 23rd Street S. At approximately 4:22 p.m. on April 18… The suspect became involved in a dispute with an employee of a business regarding payment, during which the suspect allegedly implied he had a weapon before exiting the business. The suspect then returned to the business, stole a beverage, exited and threw it against the window. No injuries were reported.” [ACPD]
Beyer Warns of Passport Delays — “‘The D.C. passport office, where we channel passport requests for Northern Virginians, has a significant backlog in passport renewals,’ U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th) said in a recent missive to constituents. ‘They are not accepting casework requests from congressional offices at this time, which means that my office is not able to request assistance with passport renewals.'” [GazetteLeader]
Earth Day Events in Arlington — “There are plenty of ways to observe Earth Day, from parades and parties to cleanups, rallies and workshops. Here’s what’s going on in Arlington.” [Patch]
Millennial Homeownership Stats — “Washington’s home-ownership rate among Millennials stands at 45 percent compared to the national average of 51.5 percent, according to the data. Millennials trail Generation X (69.7 percent of whom own homes), while both Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation that preceded them each have rates of more than 75 percent.” [GazetteLeader]
New Restaurant in F.C. — “A new restaurant has taken flight in Falls Church City, and it’s got instant cred. Ellie Bird opens at Founders Row on April 14 with a whimsical dining room, inventive entrees, kid-friendly cuisine and cleverly named cocktails. It’s the second venture for Falls Church residents Carey and Yuan Tang, who also own the Michelin-starred fine dining establishment Rooster & Owl on 14th Street in the District.” [Arlington Magazine]
Potomac Yard Station Opening Soon — “After more than a year of delays, the Potomac Yard Metro Station will open on Friday, May 19… The $370 million project has seen its share of delays. It was initially scheduled to open in April 2022.” [ALXnow]
It’s Thursday — Mostly sunny. Pleasantly warm. High of 87 and low of 50. Sunrise at 6:25 am and sunset at 7:50 pm. [Weather.gov]
