Winning Lotto Ticket Sold — ” A $1 million winning ticket in Virginia’s New Year’s Millionaire Raffle was sold in Arlington, along with four other winning $1 million tickets across the state, according to the Virginia Lottery. Winning ticket No. 485284 was bought at the Harris Teeter at the corner of South George Mason Drive and Columbia Pike in Arlington.” [Patch]

Garvey Is ‘Ultimate Survivor’ — “Marginalized and at times even ridiculed by Arlington’s political establishment for her opposition to the Columbia Pike streetcar project, County Board member Libby Garvey a decade later has emerged unscathed.” [Gazette Leader]

Crystal City Hotel Sold — “An affiliate of JBG Smith Properties has sold the Crystal City Marriott for nearly $66 million, or about $191,836 per room, as the Bethesda developer continues to prune what’s left of the properties it picked up through its 2017 acquisition of Vornado Realty Trust’s D.C.-area business.” [Washington Business Journal]

Yorktown Wins Local Tourney — “With two convincing victories, the Yorktown Patriots won the four-team Reagan Sharnae Way Holiday Invitational girls high-school basketball tournament at Annandale High School. Yorktown routed Gar-Field, 57-24, in the first game, then Annandale, 71-40, in the second. The wins snapped a six-game losing streak for Yorktown (3-9).” [Gazette Leader]

Minor Earthquake Felt — “A small earthquake occurred near Rockville, Md., early Tuesday… The 2.3-magnitude quake, according to initial estimates, occurred a few minutes before 1 a.m. at a depth of about 9.5 miles.” An ARLnow reader described hearing “a low rumble” in Arlington. [Washington Post, Twitter]

It’s Wednesday — Expect partly sunny skies with a high near 47, accompanied by a light and variable wind that will shift to northwest at around 6 mph. Later Wednesday night, there’s a slight chance of rain, starting after 1am. The skies will be cloudy, and the temperature will drop to around 34. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Brian Gannon

Garvey Likely to Be Chair — “Presume nothing until the final votes have been cast the evening of Jan. 2, of course, but odds certainly favor Libby Garvey being elected by her colleagues to what would be her third one-year stint chairing the Arlington County Board over a dozen years in office.” [Gazette Leader]

F.C. Tops Va. Wealth Generation List — “A new study from the Smart Asset financial advisory firm released today shows that the City of Falls Church ranks Number One among all jurisdictions in Virginia in ‘experiencing the most wealth generation over the last 10 years.’ The study measured increases in median income, investment income and home values.” Arlington is No. 6 on the list. [Falls Church News-Press]

History Museum Seeks County Funds — “Those working on a multi-pronged renovation of the Arlington Historical Museum will have to wait a few more weeks to see if the county government opts to join the effort by financially supporting it. If not, advocates may have to spread out to County Board members to make their case.” [Gazette Leader]

Payphone Hangs on in Arlington — “Answer to yesterday’s #WhereIsItWednesday This payphone with the amusing sign can be found in the Arlington County Courthouse.” [Twitter]

It’s 2024 — Expect sunny skies and a high near 44 degrees, accompanied by a northwest wind ranging from 8 to 11 mph. As night approaches, clouds will increase, and the temperature will drop to around 30 degrees, with a steady northwest wind at about 6 mph. [Weather.gov]

More Candidate Announcements Expected — “Political junkies will be able to get another fix on Jan. 3, as the monthly Arlington County Democratic Committee rings in the new year with more candidate announcements.” [Gazette Leader]

APS Students Off For Primary Day — “Arlington students will get the day off, but teachers will be expected to show up, for Virginia’s dual presidential primary on March 5. Arlington School Board members on Dec. 14 approved without comment a staff proposal to make the day a teacher workday. While that will reduce the total number of instructional days from 180 to 179, the school system still has enough time on the schedule to meet the state-mandated 990 hours of instructional time.” [Gazette Leader]

Award for Animal Control Chief — From the Animal Welfare League of Arlington: “AWLA is proud to announce that our very own Chief Jennifer Toussaint has been named as the 2023 National Animal Care and Control Association Leader of the Year! Congratulations Chief Toussaint on this prestigious award!” [Twitter]

Local Ice Cream Shop Expands — “Mimi’s Handmade is now chilling at the Mosaic District in Merrifield. The ice cream maker quietly opened its newest shop at 2985 District Avenue, Suite 160, about a month ago, owner Rollin Amore told FFXnow yesterday… Started in Pentagon City in December 2021, Mimi’s is named after Amore’s youngest daughter and builds on gelato and sweets recipes passed down by his grandmothers.” [FFXnow]

It’s Friday — Expect a mostly cloudy day with a high near 50 and a slight chance of rain, accompanied by a northwest wind at around 7 mph. The chance of precipitation is 20%. On Friday night, rain chances continue through 1 am, with the temperature dropping to around 35. The northwest wind will persist at 6 to 9 mph and the chance of precipitation remains at 20%. [Weather.gov]

Mob Assault in Pentagon City — “At approximately 9:21 p.m. on December 26, police were dispatched to the report of a fight. Upon arrival, it was determined the group of juvenile victims were in the area when a group of approximately 15 suspects approached them and attempted to steal one victim’s clothing items. The victims attempted to leave the area during which one of the suspects struck another victim. The victims then entered a nearby business when the suspects followed them and a physical altercation ensued inside the store, causing property damage.” [ACPD]

Group Pushing for Performance Space — “An arts-advocacy group begins 2024 as it did 2023 – on the hunt for a location and funding to support a dedicated, community-based performance center in Arlington. ‘Our number-one goal for 2024 is to locate a site for a new performing-arts center, to allow us to move forward on this critical project with a capital campaign,’ said Janet Kopenhaver, president of Embracing Arlington Arts.” [Gazette Leader]

Arlington Library Director Profiled — “Library directors typically aren’t on the front lines of testy national debates, but with the backing of the county board, and a solid-blue constituency, Kresh has given a full-throated voice to fight against book bans. The Arlington native is using a voice honed over decades in professional and personal pursuits that led her through a 30-plus year career at the Library of Congress and through two marriages to men before she finally acknowledged she is gay.” [Washington Post]

VHC Holds Kids Xmas Event — “More than 600 people were on hand Dec. 21 as the VHC Health (Virginia Hospital Center) Pediatrics Center held its annual Coat & Toy Drive Holiday Party. Children attending the event received a collective 400 toys and 450 coats to make for a joyous and warm holiday season.” [Gazette Leader]

WHS Boys Off to Hot Start — “The host Wakefield Warriors start play in the annual three-day, eight-team George Long Holiday Hoops Tournament today playing well with a 6-1 overall record and a 1-0 mark in the Liberty District.” [Gazette Leader]

It’s Thursday — Partly sunny skies and a high near 58 with a northwest wind at around 7 mph today. Tonight, expect a low around 43. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Jeff Vincent