News

Arlington’s Vaccination Rate Now Higher Than N. Va. Neighbors

By ARLnow.com

After lagging neighboring Alexandria and Fairfax County for part of the year, one measure of Arlington’s vaccination rate is now the highest among major Northern Virginia jurisdictions.

More than 180,000 vaccination doses have been administered in Arlington, as of this morning, and more than 75,000 people have been fully vaccinated. According to Virginia Dept. of Health data, 48.8% of Arlington’s population has received at least one vaccination dose.

That’s higher than Alexandria (44.5%), Fairfax County (48.6%), Loudoun County (48.3%) and Prince William County (42.8%). Two smaller jurisdictions — the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax — have rates of 52.7% and 52% respectively.

Yesterday, President Biden set a goal of having 70% of the American adults vaccinated with at least one shot by July 4. In Arlington, 115,626 people have received at least one vaccine dose, which is nearly 60% of the adult population.

At 31.7%, Arlington still trails Fairfax (32.3%) and Loudoun (31.9%) counties in terms of percentage of the population that’s fully vaccinated. The VDH figures do not include doses administered by federal agencies, which have been vaccinating military members and essential federal workers.

An average of just over 2,300 vaccination doses have been administered each day in Arlington over the past week. The county is currently accepting walk-ins at vaccination sites in Crystal City and near Columbia Pike, through Friday.

The rate of new COVID-19 cases in Arlington, meanwhile, continues to decline.

Arlington broke its streak of two consecutive days of single-digit new cases, with 21 new cases reported this morning, but the trailing seven-day total still dropped to 111, the lowest point so far in 2021. Arlington’s test positivity rate currently stands at 3%.

Since Sunday, two new Covid-related deaths and two hospitalizations have been recorded, according to VDH.

JUST IN: ACFD Battling House Fire in Penrose

By ARLnow.com

A large fire department response is on scene of a house fire in Arlington’s Penrose neighborhood.

The blaze broke out shortly after 9 a.m. on the 400 block of S. Barton Street, not far from one of the entrances to Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.

Initial reports suggest that firefighters arriving on scene found a relatively small but smoky fire in the basement of a home. Firefighters are now working to ensure that the fire has been completely extinguished and everyone made it out of the house okay.

So far no injuries have been reported.

File photo

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Free Cinco de Mayo Rides — “Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the 2021 Cinco de Mayo SoberRide program will be in operation beginning at 4:00 pm this Wednesday, May 5, 2021 (Cinco de Mayo) and operate until 2:00 am on Thursday, May 6, 2021 as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk holiday.” [Press Release]

Extra ACPD Traffic Enforcement — From the Arlington County Police Department: “As part of the regional Council of Governments StreetSmart campaign, officers conducted high visibility speed enforcement along Lee Highway today. With warmer weather upon us, there is increased pedestrian and cyclist traffic in the County. Remember to slow down, obey posted speed limits and remain alert for other travelers.” [Facebook]

School Board Hopefuls On Math Controversy — “With the Virginia Department of Education under attack – fairly or unfairly – for what critics say is an attempt to dumb down math instruction across the commonwealth, the two candidates for the Democratic endorsement for Arlington School Board gave state officials neither a rousing endorsement nor a ringing denunciation in a recent forum.” [Sun Gazette]

Critic Praises Local Restaurant — “Every once in a while, a restaurant comes along that checks off so many boxes, you wonder if it had taken a poll of diners’ wishes. Right now, that restaurant is a place in Arlington that combines a warm welcome with good food in a spot that locals might recall as a former paint store or a chocolate factory… Ruthie’s All-Day.” [Washington Post]

Covid Concerns for Local With India Ties — “Singh, a 28-year-old consultant, walked her dog in her Arlington, Va., neighborhood where people lined up to get inside a rooftop tiki bar and a group pedaled by on a party bike, drinking beer. She returned to her apartment and stayed up until 2 a.m. scouring Instagram for phone numbers of Indians who might have oxygen and getting no replies to a flurry of messages. Singh is among thousands of Americans struggling to help Indian relatives survive a catastrophic coronavirus surge that has caused the health care system to collapse.” [New India Times]

Nearby: Fairfax Co. Lowers Tax Rate — “Fairfax County adopted a budget Tuesday that lowers the residential property tax rate… the tax rate drops by a penny to $1.14 per $100 of assessed value. Prince William County officials also recently shaved a penny from their tax rate, now at $1.115 per $100 of assessed value. Loudoun County lowered its rate by 5 .5 cents, to $0.98 per $100 of assessed value, while Arlington County froze its rate at $1.013 per $100 of assessed value.” [Washington Post]

Developer Stanley Westreich’s Legacy Casts Large Shadow in Rosslyn

By Matt Blitz
1/12

The legacy of Stanley Westreich, the developer who built modern Rosslyn from the ground up, will always cast a large shadow in the neighborhood he helped establish, his son tells ARLnow.

Westreich died at the age of 84 last month at his home in San Diego. For decades, however, he lived in the D.C. area and had an outsized influence on the growth of Rosslyn.

His son, Anthony Westreich, remembers his father for being more than just a well-known developer.

“I think the adjectives that best describe my father are fair, honest, transparent, tough and kind,” Westreich told ARLnow in an email interview. “Everyone, whether it was contractors, brokers or lawyers, wanted to transact with my father. They always knew what they were getting from him.”

Beginning in the 1960s, his company Westfield Realty developed ten buildings in Rosslyn. Perhaps none were more iconic than the former USA Today/Gannett buildings at 1000 and 1100 Wilson Blvd, also known as the Rosslyn Twin Towers. When built in 1981, they were the tallest buildings in the D.C. metro area. Current occupants include WJLA-TV and Politico.

Part of what Westreich’s big bet on Rosslyn work was seeing an opportunity to the leverage its proximity to the District and its relative underdevelopment.

“He saw an opportunity to convert [an] excessive and unused parking structure into office space for government tenants,” Anthony writes. “He knew that unlike many of the great cities of the world, Washington, D.C. did not have development on both sides of its river.”

A native New Yorker, Westreich served in the Coast Guard and graduated from New York University law school. He moved to Rosslyn in 1959, said Anthony, with his family owning an interest in Rosslyn’s only federal housing project.

“In 1959, the only development in Rosslyn was that FHA project,” wrote Anthony. “Unfortunately, that investment was losing money as the project was ill-conceived.”

Westreich bought a big chunk of land and began to build office buildings, turning Rosslyn into a thriving commuter community.

“That vision [was] an immediate financial success for our family and provided my father with a long-term vision for Rosslyn,” wrote Anthony.

Those early but pivotal developments include 1400 Key Blvd — the parking garage of which was where Mark “Deep Throat” Felt met up with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward to expose the Watergate scandal — as well as 1501 Wilson Blvd, 1515 Wilson Blvd, and 1815 N. Fort Myer Drive.

In 2005, Westreich sold his 2.5 million square foot Rosslyn portfolio to Beacon Capital Partners for nearly $1 billion. A year earlier, Anthony followed in his father’s footsteps when he established New York-based Monday Properties, which built a property portfolio that made it Rosslyn’s preeminent property owner.

The building on N. Fort Myer Drive was torn down more than a decade ago and the site is now home to 1812 N. Moore Street, Nestlé’s U.S. headquarters.

“Interestingly 1812 sits on the exact same site as the first building my father developed in 1961,” wrote Anthony, who himself made a big bet on Rosslyn by building 1812 N. Moore Street — then the tallest office building in the area — “on spec” without any signed tenants.

After years of vacancy, the bet finally paid off in 2017 with Nestlé’s announcement.

(more…)

More People Parking in Arlington as COVID-19 Cases Decline

By Jo DeVoe

With COVID-19 cases declining and 31% of the local population fully vaccinated, more people appear to be out and about in Arlington, according to recent county parking data.

Arlington County logged more than 266,500 and 263,000 parking meter transactions in March and April, respectively — the highest these numbers have been since October when cases started mounting for the second time in 2020.

The figures are one indication that Arlington has returned to a level of activity last seen in Arlington late last summer when case numbers were low and the state lifted many of the restrictions on daily life.

While parking numbers have recovered from the second and larger wave of coronavirus, the road to pre-pandemic parking levels may still be a long one. The transactions this spring are roughly 40% lower than they were in the spring of 2019.

The parking transaction trends appear to be the inverse of COVID-19 cases in Arlington.

Parking transactions dropped dramatically between October to November, during which time coronavirus cases started rising. Parking transactions bounced back in March and remained at similar levels in April; meanwhile, COVID-19 cases have reached their lowest point since October.

Today, the Virginia Dept. of Health reported only five new cases in Arlington, after nine new cases were reported yesterday — the first two-day stretch of single-digit new cases in the county since Sept. 1-2.

Arlington’s recently-adopted budget projects parking revenue getting close to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the 2022 fiscal year, “but there is a lot of uncertainty about that assumption,” parking manager Stephen Crim said.

The county has a long way to go to recover lost parking revenue, which plummeted from a 2019 peak of nearly 500,000 transactions in August to fewer than 60,000 transactions in April 2020.

If the revenue trends from April continue into May and June, however, parking revenue for the second quarter of 2021 could surpass the $1.4 million that the county logged through March, county officials say.

“A return to pre-pandemic levels will depend not only on how quickly jurisdictions lift restrictions on places like restaurants but also on how comfortable people feel going back to their usual activities,” Crim said. “Also, there may be medium- or long-term changes to the way people shop, socialize and conduct business meetings, which could affect parking in Arlington, just like everywhere else.”

In February, Gov. Ralph Northam rolled back a 10 p.m. alcohol curfew for restaurants to midnight, and by mid-May, he is expected to raise the caps on venue capacity and social gatherings, while lifting the curfew on liquor sales. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared Americans to be outside without a mask in most situations. Soon after, Virginia followed suit.

Although transactions levels are lower, the overall patterns of where people park are generally similar to pre-pandemic patterns, Crim said.

“A quick look at some of our meter data indicates that areas that were popular pre-pandemic remain popular today and areas that were less popular are still less popular,” he said.

He did not indicate whether the county expects a new pilot program that prices parking by demand along Metro corridors — approved by the County Board in December — will impact parking transaction rates.

Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services will be conducting the performance parking pilot to improve parking management, “regardless of the overall number of people who want to park in Arlington,” Crim said.

“We started planning for this pilot well before the pandemic struck and we don’t see the pilot as an opportunity to shore up revenue,” he said.

Charts compiled by ARLnow using data from Arlington County and Virginia Department of Health  

Beyer Requests Federal Funding for Arlington Park Projects, Mental Health Initiative

By Jo DeVoe

(Updated 03/11/22) Rep. Don Beyer announced yesterday that he has requested federal funds to go toward a health initiative and two parks projects in Arlington County.

If approved, the funding would fund repaving a section of the Bluemont Junction Trail and repairing replacing a key pedestrian bridge in Glencarlyn Park. It would also purchase vehicles needed by a mobile response team that would respond to behavioral health crises rather than police.

The money would come from the Fiscal Year 2022 Community Project Funding Program, which provides targeted funding for local projects nationwide. Representatives were able to submit requests for up to 10 projects but there is no guarantee of approval. Beyer also requested money for projects benefiting the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church as well as Fairfax County.

“The infrastructure requests would enhance pedestrian routes in the region, support [electric vehicles] and other environmentally friendly initiatives, fund mental health resources, and support a pilot program for the deployment of body-worn cameras for the Alexandria Police Department,” Beyer said. “These are worthy projects deserving of federal funding.”

For the Bluemont Junction Trail, Beyer requested $325,000 to repave a segment of the trail and adjacent connector paths, improvements that the county identified during a 2018 trails assessment.

“The current trail pavement and connectors are in deteriorating condition with limited or poor access from adjacent and intersecting streets,” the announcement said.

Separately, the county is using capital funding to improve where the trail intersects with N. Kensington Street, N. Emerson Street and N. Buchanan Street.

Beyer requested $800,000 to replace the Glencarlyn Park pedestrian bridge lost during the July 2019 flash flooding. The Glencarlyn bridge was also included in Arlington’s adopted 2021 Capital Improvements Plan. (This article incorrectly said the Lubber Run bridge had been replaced. At the time, funding had been secured for its replacement. The project to replace one of the park’s two destroyed bridges is now in its design phase.) 

“Of the six pedestrian bridges lost in the flooding event, the most important one for connectivity is the bridge in Glencarlyn Park,” Beyer’s announcement said. “This bridge connects the main park area, dog exercise area and neighboring communities to the west of Four Mile Run to the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. The bridge connection is important as both a commuter connection and for recreation and leisure walks on the W&OD Trail.”

On behalf of Arlington County, Beyer requested $390,000 to purchase two medically-equipped vehicles to be used by a team tasked with responding to mental health crises. Arlington’s Police Practices Group recently recommended that the county transition from dispatching police to such incidents to sending out a specialized mobile crisis response unit.

“The requested funds will support a ‘Help not Handcuffs’ approach to ensure that persons in behavioral health crises receive the most appropriate assistance needed when and where they need it,” Beyer’s announcement said. “A behavioral health response vs. a law enforcement response will increase community-based mental health care, decrease emergency department use, reduce inpatient admissions, divert from the criminal justice system and supports racial justice.”

In its lengthy report, the Police Practices Group also recommended procuring specialized vehicles or retrofitting existing ones for the mobile crisis unit.

The vehicles would supplement $574,000 in the county’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget to support an enhanced mental health crisis response program in the Department of Human Services. That allocation would fund a physician’s assistant, nurse, clinician, transport van and operating supplies.

Photo via Flickr pool user Tom Mockler

Police: Erratic, Armed Driver Arrested

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:05 a.m.) Arlington County police were able to defuse a tense situation in which a driver pulled over for a traffic stop allegedly had a gun pointed at officers.

The incident happened Friday afternoon along Washington Blvd at I-395.

“At approximately 3:11 p.m. on April 30, officers conducted a traffic stop after observing the driver operating erratically, shifting lanes and [braking] repeatedly before stopping abruptly on the shoulder of the roadway,” said an Arlington County Police Department crime report. “Upon approaching the vehicle, the officer observed a firearm on the driver’s lap which was halfway out of the holster and facing towards him.”

“The officer gave the driver commands and took possession of the firearm,” the crime report continues. “The driver had a suspended license and the vehicle was displaying improper tags.”

The crime report does not indicate whether the gun was intentionally pointed at police.

A 26-year-old Alexandria man was arrested and charged with Brandishing a Firearm and Assault on Law Enforcement Officer, according to ACPD. Traffic tickets were also issued for Suspended License, Improper Registration, Failure to Maintain Lane, Following too Closely and Failure to Wear Seatbelt, police said.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Park Plaque to Honor Gutshall — “A memorial plaque honoring the life and contributions of the late Arlington County Board member Erik Gutshall soon will be a part of the neighborhood he called home… when it is in place near the North Highland Street side of Zitkala-Sa Park, the memorial will be situated within sight of Gutshall’s longtime home.” [Sun Gazette]

Ballston Local Now Open — “A casual new neighborhood bar serving New York-style pizza, smash burgers, cheesy crab fries, and generous “Vegas-style” portions of chicken Parm opened in Arlington, Virginia, over the weekend. Ballston Local (900 N. Glebe Road) comes from Jason Johnston, the opening executive chef at MGM National Harbor, and business partner Jonah Troth. Opening day was Saturday, May 1.” [Eater]

Arlington Unemployment Ticks Down — “Although it continues to report improvements, the latest unemployment date shows Arlington’s jobless rate remains more than twice what it was at the onset of the pandemic… the county’s jobless rate in March was 4 percent, according to figures reported April 28 by the Virginia Employment Commission. That’s down a tick from the rate of 4.1 percent reported in February, but remains well above the 1.8-percent rate of March 2020.” [Sun Gazette]

New Trails May Provide Economic Boost — “A proposal to add more than 400 miles to the region’s existing trail network could create more than 16,000 jobs and generate more than $1 billion a year in revenue from construction and local spending, according to a new report.” [Washington Post]

ACFD Gives Monumental Assist to Flag Atop Iwo Jima Memorial

By ARLnow.com
1/4

Arlington County firefighters answer the call when someone is in need of help in Arlington. This weekend they provided an assist to a group of legendary Rosslyn area residents cast in bronze.

Friday’s windstorm tangled the flag atop the Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima memorial. To help fix it, the fire department at neary Fort Myer requested the assistance of ACFD and its extra-long ladder truck.

“Captain Shawn Pendo, officer in charge of Tower 104, was called on Sunday morning by the Fort Myer Fire Department requesting assistance to fix the flag at the Marine Corps Memorial in Rosslyn,” fire department spokesman Taylor Blunt tells ARLnow. “Captain Pendo quickly rounded up his crew for the special mission.”

“Once they arrived, Firefighter Kristin Pardiny positioned the bucket for her crew to disentangle and inspect the flag’s halyard,” Blunt continued. “The operation was done in under 30 minutes with no damage found.”

It’s not the first time ACFD has been called upon for such a task. But it’s never routine and always an honor, Blunt said.

“Captain Pendo recalled only one other time that Tower 104 was requested to assist with the flag,” said Blunt. “[Pendo] and his crew were honored to fix our nation’s colors at such a hallowed landmark.”

BREAKING: Police Investigating Bomb Threat in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) The “all clear” has been given after a bomb threat in the Crystal City/Potomac Yard area.

The investigation took place on the 3500 block of S. Clark Street, a block that includes the U.S. headquarters of grocery chain Lidl and an LA Fitness location.

An Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman declined to specify who or what received the bomb threat, but did note that several nearby businesses were evacuated during the investigation.

Arlington County firefighters and other law enforcement agencies are assisting with the investigation, said ACPD’s Ashley Savage. Assistance was provided by the explosives detection K-9 units of Virginia State Police, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, Amtrak, and and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, she said.

The large police presence and road closures prompted delays for some buses, Metro said earlier via social media.

https://twitter.com/barefootboomer/status/1389289231869169665

Photo courtesy anonymous

Coronavirus Cases and Vaccinations Both Down in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Coronavirus cases in Arlington are down, today hitting the lowest rate of new cases since early October.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the pace of vaccinations is also trending down.

Overnight only nine new COVID-19 cases were reported in Arlington by the Virginia Dept. of Health, the first single-digit daily case count since Oct 1. The seven-day trailing total of new cases currently stands at 123, the lowest point since Oct. 7.

The county’s cumulative case count since March 2020 is now 15,130.

Fewer cases are leading to fewer hospitalizations and deaths, but the virus is nonetheless still spreading and causing serious illness. Overnight VDH reported one new Covid-related hospitalization and one new death in Arlington, bringing the pandemic totals to 830 hospitalizations and 253 deaths.

Since April 1, 25 new hospitalizations and seven deaths have been reported in the county.

Daily vaccinations, meanwhile, appear to have peaked and are trending down.

The Virginia Dept. of Health only reported 354 vaccine doses administered in Arlington in its latest daily figures this morning. That brings the seven-day trailing average down to 2,441 doses administered, the lowest point since April 9.

The seven-day average peaked at 3,516 on April 27.

So far, a total of 177,107 doses have been administered in Arlington and 48.1% of the population has received at least one dose. In all, 73,641 people have been fully vaccinated, or 31.1% of the population.

The slowing rate of vaccinations in Arlington, despite the county having one of the highest rates of vaccine interest in the nation (92%), seems to be part of a national trend that is increasingly concerning to public health officials.

The New York Times reported today that “there is widespread consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold [for COVID-19 in the U.S.] is not attainable — at least not in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not ever,” contradicting earlier hopes that widespread vaccinations may one day relegate the virus to being relatively rare.

Officials instead “are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers,” the Times reported.

Other experts are a bit more optimistic in tone, suggesting that slower but steady vaccination rates over the summer can result in a relatively quiet fall, echoing the experience of Israel and the U.K., which have each at least partially vaccinated 50-60% of the population, compared with just under 44% of the U.S. population.

Faced with declining vaccination rates, Arlington County announced over the weekend that it would start conducting walk-in vaccinations for the first time, after months of only accepting appointments.

Walk-in vaccinations are being offered this week at Walter Reed Community Center (2909 16th Street S.) and Crystal City (2100 Crystal Drive), according to a county press release.

View More Stories