A woman was stabbed early Sunday morning during a large fight at a Courthouse hotel.
The incident happened around 2:30 a.m. It drew a large emergency response to the Arlington Court Suites hotel at 1200 N. Courthouse Road, two blocks from Arlington police headquarters.
Arriving officers encountered a melee involving what was estimated at the time to be around 100 people.
“The preliminary investigation indicates two large groups became involved in a physical altercation inside a hotel, during which the female victim was stabbed and the fire alarm had been pulled resulting in occupants exiting the building,” ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “Upon arrival, officers located the female victim in the parking lot suffering from a laceration and began performing emergency first aid until medics arrived. She was transported to an area hospital for treatment of injuries considered non-life threatening.”
“Officers responding inside the hotel located a suspect armed with a knife attempting to force entry into a hotel room,” Savage continued. “The suspect ignored the officer’s commands and the officer deployed a taser. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident and charged with a weapons offense.”
Video taken outside the hotel, below, shows the suspect being led out in handcuffs as medics treat the victim in the parking lot.
The suspect, a 20-year-old D.C. man, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. So far there’s no word of anyone being charged in the stabbing itself.
“The investigation into the events that preceded the malicious wounding are ongoing,” Savage said. “Anyone with information that may assist with the investigation is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected]. Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D89xLkRdytQ
Video courtesy David Cheek. Alan Henney contributed to this report.
APS Appoints New DEI Chief — “The School Board appointed Dr. Jason Ottley as the new Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at its Oct. 28 School Board meeting. Dr. Ottley has been serving as Interim Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer since Sept. 1.” [Arlington Public Schools]
Ed Center Project Taking Longer — “The firm that has been overseeing construction at the former Arlington Education Center will get another funding bump, as the project lingers longer than expected and requires more oversight. School Board members on Oct. 28 were slated to be briefed on the plan to provide another $277,083 to McDonough Bolyard Peck, which is serving as construction manager adviser on the project. Final approval of the funding is slated for November.” [Sun Gazette]
Time to Compost Your Pumpkins — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Reincarnation is real. Toss rotting pumpkins in the green curbside cart and they’ll come back to life as nutritious compost.” [Twitter]
Fewer Day Laborers at Shirlington Site — “The users, who live mostly on Columbia Pike and Alexandria, have shrunk to 10-20. ‘The outdoor site is no longer there, and it’s only a matter of time before jobs disappear from there,’ Tobar said.” [Falls Church News-Press]
ANC to Recreate 1921 Procession — “Arlington National Cemetery said Wednesday that it will host a public memorial procession and military flyover on Nov. 11 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of Unknowns. The procession, which visitors can observe, will begin at the main entrance to the cemetery on Memorial Avenue near the welcome center.” [Washington Post]
Honor for Wakefield Driving Teacher — “The Virginia Association for Driver Education and Traffic Safety has named Wakefield High School’s Tony Bentley the Behind the Wheel Teacher of the Year. The announcement was made at the state meeting, held online on Oct. 1, which featured 140 driver-education teachers and representatives from the Virginia Department of Education.” [Sun Gazette]
Staff of Rosslyn-Based Politico Unionizes — “The news staffs of Politico and E&E News went public Friday with the news that that they have formed a union. Around 80 percent of the newsrooms’ combined staffs are on board… Politico is based in Virginia, a right-to-work state, so employees will likely have the choice of whether or not to join if the union drive is successful.” [Washingtonian]
It’s Monday, Nov. 1 — The first day of November will be sunny, with a high near 60. Northwest wind 7 to 11 mph. Sunrise at 7:35 a.m. and sunset at 6:07 p.m. Tomorrow there will be a chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53.
(Updated at noon) Arlington County police say they’re aware of a reported threat to shopping centers in Northern Virginia.
News about the threat initially broke early this afternoon. Fairfax County’s police chief subsequently said information had been received by law enforcement about “potential public safety impacts to malls and shopping centers across the region.”
An Arlington police spokeswoman, responding to an inquiry from ARLnow, described the threat as “non-specific” and “unconfirmed,” but said ACPD is “deploying increased police resources” this weekend.
“The Arlington County Police Department (ACPD) is aware of information circulating regarding an non-specific, unconfirmed threat to shopping centers,” said spokeswoman Ashley Savage. “There is no specific or identified threat to our region.”
“As always, the public is encouraged to remain attentive as you go about your normal routine, particularly in areas where large crowds of people typically gather such as shopping centers, restaurant districts, religious services, and public transportation hubs to name a few,” she continued. “If you observe suspicious behavior or situations, report for police investigation by calling the Emergency Communications Center at 703-558-2222 or 9-1-1 in an emergency.”
Savage said the department “is deploying increased police resources in Arlington County, to include both visible and non-visible assets, during the Halloween weekend and continues to work collaboratively with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners on information sharing.”
CBS News and Fox 5 have both reported that the threat may have been made by the terror group ISIS.
More via Twitter:
🚨Northern Virginia Halloween Weekend Mall Threat >> The threat, according to federal officials, was received earlier in the week, causing a *high* degree of concern.
Fairfax County’s police chief will speak at 1PM. The Department released the statement below: 2/ pic.twitter.com/4lqqEHOWup
Police are investigating gunshots that were fired near Tyrol Hill Park, in the Arlington Mill neighborhood.
The shots were heard last night around 9:20 p.m. There were no initial reports of anyone or anything being struck by the gunfire.
More from ACPD:
The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is investigating a shots fired incident which occurred in the Arlington Mill neighborhood on the evening of October 28, 2021.
At approximately 9:22 p.m. on October 28, police were dispatched to the report of shots heard in the area of the 5000 block of 7th Road S. Responding officers canvassed the area and recovered evidence confirming shots had been fired. At this time, no injuries or property damage have been reported.
Anyone with information or home surveillance that may assist with the investigation is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected]. Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
Emergency response (seen near the top of the screen) to kid struck by driver along Langston Blvd
Arlington County police are investigating a hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a kid who was riding a bike.
The crash happened around 8 a.m. at the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Langston Blvd, formerly known as Lee Highway.
“The driver of the striking vehicle fled the scene following the crash and responding officers located the unoccupied vehicle on Lee Highway,” ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow. “The bicyclist, a juvenile, was transported to an area hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.”
The crash and the emergency response shut down multiple lanes at the intersection for about an hour during the rainy morning rush hour.
LOCATION: Glebe Rd/Lee Hw INCIDENT: Traffic Collision IMPACT: Glebe Rd is blocked NB and SB, Lee Hw is blocked WB with one lane EB open. pic.twitter.com/dT0M9xN9qi
Metro Woes Extend into November — “Metrorail service will remain at the current reduced levels through at least November 15 as Metro continues to work with the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission on a plan to get 7000-series railcars safely back into service. Trains will continue operating every 15-20 minutes on the Red Line and every 30-40 minutes on all other lines.” [WMATA, Washington Post]
Confirmed: No Trump Visit — “Youngkin on Trump’s Virginia rally tease: ‘He’s not coming. And in fact, we’re campaigning as Virginians in Virginia with Virginians. And we’ve got another four days left on our bus tour and then we’ve gotta fly around and then we’ve gotta vote.'” [Twitter]
Advocates Push County to Cut ICE Ties — “A coalition of advocates focused on ending Arlington County police’s voluntary cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a detailed policy proposal on Thursday, outlining their plan for how Arlington County can cut all voluntary ties with the federal immigration enforcement agency.” [DCist]
Renovations at South Block — “Sign at Clarendon @SouthBlockCo noting that they’ll be closed for renovations as of next Monday.” [Twitter]
Va. Square Neighborhood Profiled — “Virginia Square is easily overlooked by Clarendon, its rowdier neighbor to the east, and Ballston, the shopping and dining hub to the west. Yet the neighborhood is a convenient compromise for residents wanting to be near dining and entertainment options but not necessarily living right above them. Plus, large, leafy Quincy Park offers a variety of playground equipment and an abundance of calm for residents seeking serenity.” [Washington Post]
Al’s Steak House Mulls Arlington Outpost — “Nelson Rodriguez, who also owns the Pan Am Family Restaurant in Vienna, says that nothing will change at Al’s… ‘The steak-and-cheese sandwich is the same as it has always been,’ he said. ‘We want to open another cheesesteak restaurant in Arlington sometime next year. It’s a very good business, cheesesteak subs, and I have a broker looking for locations.'” [ALXnow]
ARLnow in Apple News — Apple News just launched a new local news offering in the D.C. area. ARLnow is included in the new local news feed. [Apple]
It’s Friday — Rain before 2pm today, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm between 2pm and 5pm, then showers after 5pm. Areas of fog. High near 64. Breezy, with an east wind 16 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Rainfall amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible. Sunrise at 7:32 a.m. and sunset at 6:10 p.m. Tomorrow there’s a chance of showers. Otherwise it will be cloudy, with a high near 64.
Students at the inaugural session of the Dyslexic Edge Academy at Drew Elementary School (Photo courtesy of Krista Gauthier)
(Updated, 2:50 p.m.) A new, free literacy program has come to Drew Elementary School thanks to the local non-profit Sliding Doors, Virginia Tech, and the local NAACP branch.
The Dyslexic Edge Academy launched this week with 11 first graders at Drew Elementary in Green Valley. The goal is to help those students who struggle with reading by focusing on their strengths.
“People with dyslexia tend to gravitate to and be very good in STEM fields; science, technology, engineering and math,” Krista Gauthier, executive director of Merrifield-based Sliding Doors, tells ARLnow.”What we want to do is not only make sure that kids receive the evidence-based instruction that they need, but also play on their strengths. To us, confidence is as important as reading.”
The students meet with instructors after school in a group setting twice a week for 90 minutes. Half of the session is spent with one-on-one tutoring using the Orton-Gillingham approach, which breaks down reading and spelling using multisensory skills like sounds and hand motions. The other half of the session is spent on STEM-related projects.
“The STEM activities include everything from kitchen chemistry to rocketry to robotics to coding,” says Gauthier.
That could mean making slime, building model rockets, or operating an underwater robot, she says. It’s hoped that field trips to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the Smithsonian could be part of the curriculum in the future as well.
While the program is starting with 11 students, the expectation is that it will have 20 students by early next year. The pilot program will run until at least May 2023.
About 20% of the population has some form of dyslexia, according to statistics from the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. Yet, many school systems haven’t adapted to help these students and private tutoring can be prohibitively expensive, explains Symone Walker, co-chair of the Arlington Branch NAACP Education Committee.
She believes this is a big reason why there’s such an opportunity gap at some Arlington schools, including Drew Elementary.
“We really wanted to target a population that has been disproportionately impacted by the achievement gap,” says Walker. “We’re very familiar with how Drew has been historically passed over, looked over in the community, and we wanted to give back where we saw the greatest need.”
Both Walker and Gauthier say that the opportunity and achievement gaps that exist in county schools have a lot to do with reading scores and how schools are teaching literacy.
The Dyslexic Edge Academy will use the multisensory Orton-Gillingham approach to teach reading, as opposed to the balanced literacy approach that’s currently being taught in Arlington public schools.
“When we talk about multisensory, we’re talking about big motions,” says Gauthier. “We actually use something called ‘skywriting,’ which is as the child is actually forming the letter in the air… they’re actually saying the letter, repeating the letter, attaching the sound to the letter.”
What’s more, by bringing cool STEM-related projects into the learning, it helps students gain confidence.
“They really begin to associate something they struggle with, with something they love,” says Gauthier. “It really actually plays into them wanting to read as well.”
As Walker points out, a lot of NASA employees have some form of dyslexia. In fact, that includes more than half of NASA employees, according to the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.
“We want to produce more Arlingtonians who work for NASA,” she said.
Bike lanes on Army Navy Drive are visible in this 2021 rendering of Amazon’s HQ2 Phase 2 campus (via NBBJ/Amazon)
Architectural changes to PenPlace (via NBBJ/Amazon)
One of the office buildings in Amazon’s redesigned HQ2 Phase 2 campus (via NBBJ/Amazon)
A retail pavilion in Amazon’s redesigned HQ2 Phase 2 campus (via NBBJ/Amazon)
A retail pavilion in Amazon’s redesigned PenPlace campus (via NBBJ/Amazon)
Amazon has made changes to its plan for the second phase of the company’s HQ2 in Pentagon City.
For the last eight months, Amazon has been hammering out the details of the planned second phase, on the PenPlace site at the corner of S. Eads Street and 12th Street S. Today (Thursday) it unveiled some significant tweaks it has made in response to local feedback.
Members from the community have weighed in on everything from transportation to sustainability to architecture, suggesting changes that would make the office campus more walking- and biking-friendly, more verdant and more architecturally interesting.
“We appreciate the ideas and have made changes to enhance the overall connectivity of the site. We also incorporated additional sustainable elements and more greenery into the design, and diversified the architecture within PenPlace,” wrote Joe Chapman, Amazon’s director of global real estate and facilities, in a blog post published this morning.
“These updates make the entire project even better, benefitting our neighbors and all those that will visit HQ2,” he continued.
PenPlace is situated on an 11-acre site near the Pentagon City Metro station, bordered by Army Navy Drive, S. Eads Street, 12rd Street S. and S. Fern Street. It will be anchored by a lush, futuristic building, dubbed “The Helix,” and feature three, 22-story office buildings, retail pavilions, a childcare center and a permanent home for Arlington Community High School. A park drawing inspiration from local waterways will run north-south through the site.
But residents were critical of the multimodal transportation planning Amazon offered at first.
In response, Amazon changed some circulation patterns surrounding and running through the site, widened the paths running east to west to accommodate more pedestrians and cyclists and widened certain sidewalks where the heaviest pedestrian traffic is anticipated.
Transit options around PenPlace (via Arlington County)
It also added protected bike lanes along S. Eads Street and S. Fern Street to connect PenPlace to the county’s surrounding local bike transit plan.
“All of these adjustments will create more direct, wider pathways through the site and make traversing PenPlace even safer,” Chapman said. “It will also make the public Central Green and urban forest at the center of PenPlace even more accessible for everyone to enjoy.”
At least one transit advocate welcomed the change, but said a protected bike lane along 12th Street S. would further improve circulation.
Per an Amazon blog post, residents who weighed in on the planning process told Amazon to add even more green space and native plant species to its campus. In turn, the tech and ecommerce giant expanded the planted area by 5,500 square feet and reduced the amount of impermeable surfaces, such as paving.
“We are excited to be able to deliver 2.5 acres of public open space for everyone to enjoy at PenPlace,” Chapman said.
Amazon increased the plantings within PenPlace in response to community feedback (via Arlington County)
This potential relocation has been under consideration since at last year, when the fair board first notified the county of its interest in the park, home to the recently finished aquatics center. Last fall, the county convened a committee to study whether Long Bridge Park or six other locations could meet the fair’s needs.
In all, committee members considered Thomas Jefferson, Long Bridge Park, Quincy Park, Virginia Highlands Park, the county’s large surface parking lot in Courthouse, Drew Elementary School and Gunston and Kenmore middle schools. The fair board, meanwhile, has only expressed interest in Long Bridge Park.
“The work of the site review committee was just exploratory,” Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Susan Kalish said. “While the Fair asked to move to Long Bridge, we wanted to see what all the options were on public land.”
Arlington County Fair leaders did not respond to requests for comment about the decision to move, the location it has chosen and whether it considered other locations.
Earlier this year, Kalish said the fair’s current location or Long Bridge Park — but not inside the aquatics facility — were the most feasible options in terms of location size, parking and community impact.
Here’s how a few options stack up to the preferred alternatives, per an internal planning document shared with ARLnow.
At 20 acres, Virginia Highlands Park could accommodate all the rides, games, vendors and competitive exhibits outdoors, and it would have auxiliary parking at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City and space for storage and performers at the Aurora Hills Community Center. In addition to Long Bridge Park and Thomas Jefferson, this park was the only additional location that came recommended by DPR.
Centrally located in Virginia Square, Quincy Park has four acres of park space, is well-served by transit and backs up to — and could make use of — Washington-Liberty High School and Central Library facilities for competitive exhibits, performer changing areas and storage. Like Virginia Highlands Park, Quincy Park is easily Metro-accessible and adjacent to a major commercial corricor.
At the end of the day, there are no good takes because neither is a particularly good location. I would love more detail on why Quincy Park didn't fit the bill and whether having it spill from QP onto the W-L campus was considered. https://t.co/CPYOADvK4rhttps://t.co/nE5g1V2pMf
Committee members also noted that Kenmore — near the county’s western border, along Route 50 — would be a “good alternative to TJ” because of its similar size and layout.
But after walking through each site’s amenities, the committee noted the following reasons the other locations may not work.
Quincy Park “will get pushback from W-L [High School] — it will be hard to access the facilities the last couple weeks of August,” before school starts, the planning document notes.
Additionally, the fair would have to “work with Libraries to use their indoor space and parking” for the weekend, it says.
Meanwhile, members said Virginia Highlands is “difficult for emergency resource[s] to get access,” despite being adjacent to a fire station, and noted that the park itself only has 60 parking spaces, though the expansive mall parking garage is across the street.
Located near the Fairfax County border, Kenmore is less accessible, the committee noted. It would cause traffic issues on S. Carlin Springs Road and comes with security concerns, as there’s woods nearby, members said.
Having narrowed down the options to Thomas Jefferson and Long Bridge as the preferred options, Arlington County and the fair board are still reviewing feedback from the community engagement earlier this year, Kalish said.
An online feedback form generated more than 1,500 responses “that yielded a lot of interest in the [current] Thomas Jefferson Park and Community Center location,” she added.
“This information will help inform the location decision, with the final decision also considering the needs of the Arlington County Fair Board, public safety and the Fair’s impact to the community at large,” she said.
DPR should have more information after mid-November, she said.
“Once the Fair gets back to us we can dig deeper into the options for more data to support a thoughtful determination,” she said.
Early voters check in at Madison Community Center on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021 (Staff photo by David Taube)
In the first gubernatorial race since Virginia implemented an array of voting reforms, one thing remains the same: early voter turnout in Arlington continues to surpass regional and state levels.
It’s a trend that Arlington’s general registrar and election director Gretchen Reinemeyer says she has seen since she started working with the county in 2008 as a seasonal employee with the Voting and Elections Office.
As of yesterday (Wednesday), over 27,000 early ballots in Arlington County were cast, consisting of nearly 10,000 mail-in ballots and over 17,000 in-person votes.
Thus far, Arlington’s early voting rate is nearly 18%, higher than Northern Virginia’s rate of roughly 16% rate and the Commonwealth’s 14.4% turnout, according to the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project
Arlington held its first Sunday voting ever on Oct. 24, with 1,454 voters casting ballots in four hours, according to the county. As of July 1, the state permitted the general registrars or electoral boards of jurisdictions to decide if they want to provide voting on Sundays.
“I thought [it] was a very successful inaugural Sunday voting event,” said Matt Weinstein, chair of the county’s three-member Electoral Board, adding that he’d like to see the county do it again.
Arlington’s elevated early voter turnout rate may not be a new phenomenon, but there are a few new changes Gov. Ralph Northam signed into law last year to improve voter participation.
One law dropped the requirement of voters providing an approved reason for absentee voting as of last year’s presidential election. Another law automatically registers people to vote (unless they decline) when they get a driver’s license or make other changes with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
While early voting may increase access to the polls, it does make the job of election outcome predicting more difficult, according to former Arlington County Treasurer and local amateur election prognosticator Frank O’Leary.
“In the past, it was possible to estimate absentee turnout, as Election Day approached, and from that statistic estimate total turnout,” he said. “Unfortunately, ‘absentee voting’ (which was relatively restrictive) has been supplanted by early voting… Thus, all my prior statistics of absentee voting are rendered null and void, which reduces me to ‘guesstimating’ Arlington’s turnout and by inference that of all Virginia.”
This year, he estimates a voter turnout of 56.7% or about 87,000 people for Arlington County, compared to the county’s turnout for the last gubernatorial race in 2017 of 59.4% or 85,382 votes.
Grand Opening for Big Rosslyn Development — “Real estate developer Penzance welcomed Arlington County officials to the grand opening of The Highlands, a mixed-use project in Rosslyn at the top of the hill on Wilson Boulevard. The Highlands, a 1.2-million-square-foot development, consists of three high-rise residences — named Pierce, Aubrey and Evo — with views of the D.C. area and several amenities. ‘We’re proud to be here today welcoming these 890 new residences, exciting retailers, Fire Station 10 and the beautiful Rosslyn Highlands Park.'” [Patch]
Reward Boosted in Ballston Murder Case — “The Ratigan family is announcing an increase in their reward fund from $25,000 to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) responsible for Scott Ratigan’s homicide on January 17, 2020. Detectives continue to follow-up on any and all investigative leads in this case and remind the public that any information, regardless of how small it may seem, could be the tip that leads to justice on behalf of Scott and the Ratigan family.” [ACPD]
Retired Police K-9 Dies — “With great sadness, ACPD announces the passing of retired K9 Drago, a 14 year-old old German Shepard, Belgian Malinois mix. He loyally served Arlington from 2008 to 2019 as a patrol and narcotics detection K9. We kindly ask that you keep him and his handler in your thoughts.” [Twitter]
APS Getting Ready for Kid Vax Approval — “APS continues to work with the County on plans for rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine to students ages 5-11 once it is approved, which we anticipate very soon. Once approved, we will inform the community about the availability of doses and how to schedule appointments. Arlington County Public Health anticipates holding clinics and scheduling vaccinations by appointment, hopefully by mid-November. We will keep families informed as new information is received.” [Arlington Public Schools]
Man Seen Stealing GOP Signs — “We’ve received reports of stolen yard signs, and — while we appreciate your updates — almost none of those are actionable because the tipsters don’t provide us any physical/visual evidence. But kudos to one resourceful sleuth, who provided us with these fairly clear photos of a guy taking down Youngkin signs in Arlington last night.” [Arlington GOP, Twitter]
In Defense of Audrey’s Age Answer — “Apparently what happened is that the paper wanted candidates to fill out online questionnaires, and the computerized program didn’t allow respondents to skip the ‘age’ question. So Clement wrote in a younger figure as something of a protest in requiring candidates to answer a question she feels is inappropriate. From this, the Post tried to make a big deal. Turns out the Posties, as is often the case, missed the context. Clement wasn’t lying to them, as they contend. She was f*cking with them. A big difference.” [Sun Gazette]
Arlington Artist Performs on NPR — From National Public Radio: “The Tiny Desk is back… sort of. The first concert recorded at Bob Boilen’s desk since March 2020 is 2021 Tiny Desk Contest winner Neffy!” [Twitter]
It’s Thursday — Today will be partly sunny, with a high near 65, getting progressively cloudier throughout the day. Sunrise at 7:31 a.m. and sunset at 6:11 p.m. Tomorrow (Friday) will be rainy and windy, with storms and flooding possible. Expect a high near 63.
