News

BREAKING: Street Closed in Ballston While Bomb Squad Investigates ‘Concerning Materials’

By ARLnow.com
1/10

(Updated at 9:15 p.m.) A residential street in Ballston has been blocked off by police while Arlington’s bomb squad investigates “concerning materials” found in a home.

The discovery was made by police while executing a search warrant on N. Stuart Street between 11th Street N. and Washington Blvd. The raid happened in response to a suspect making violent threats against an individual, said Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman Ashley Savage.

The suspect is in custody and residences immediately surrounding the house have been evacuated as a precaution, Savage said. The road closure is expected to remain in place for an extended period of time.

In addition to Arlington County police and firefighters, federal law enforcement could also be seen arriving on scene. Savage said ACPD requested the assistance of “federal partners” in the investigation.

The Arlington County Fire Department bomb squad truck arrived at the scene around 4:30 p.m. Later Tuesday night, the police department said that “evidence of bomb making materials were recovered” and that the street remained closed due to an “additional suspicious item” being found.

At 9:10 p.m., police said the all clear had been given and the road would reopen soon.

Power Outage Reported in Virginia Square Area

By ARLnow.com

Parts of Arlington County have been experiencing power problems this morning.

Currently, more than 1,200 power customers are reported to be in the dark in the Virginia Square, Cherrydale and Ballston neighborhoods, according to an outage map from Dominion Energy.

Some complication have been reported from that outage, including tripped fire alarms, smoke from generators starting up, non-functioning traffic signals and a potential power surge in a building.

Several traffic light issues were reported earlier this morning, in Clarendon and Ballston. It’s unclear if those problems are related to the current power outage.

https://twitter.com/WTOPtraffic/status/1374341756666384392

Update at 11:05 a.m. — The outage is down to about 350 Dominion customers, per the power company’s website.

Arlington Joins Neighbors in Asking for More Vaccine Supply

By ARLnow.com
A vial of the COVID-19 vaccine (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

Arlington County has the capacity to administer 14,000 vaccine doses per week, but has been getting at most 8,000 doses per week from the state.

That’s according to a letter sent to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, which represents Arlington and other local government in the region. The letter asks the governor to send Northern Virginia localities more doses to quicken the pace of vaccinations.

“We have assembled the capacity to administer many more doses of coronavirus vaccine than we are currently administering,” the commission’s letter says. “With additional doses allocated to our health districts immediately, we can put that capacity to work to quickly assist the Commonwealth in achieving its vaccination and equity goals.”

The letter notes that Arlington has over 28,000 people who meet current Virginia’s Phase 1A and 1B guidelines waiting for their vaccinations to be scheduled. Meanwhile, the state announced last week that some health districts — including less populated areas where there is less vaccine demand — would begin transitioning to Phase 1C.

“Each of our health districts have waiting lists for vaccines for individuals in the 1A and 1B categories that far outstrip the supply we have received to date,” the letter says. “We stand ready to meet your expectation that everyone, even those who have not yet registered, will have a place in line six weeks from now, but we will need more doses immediately to make that reality.”

As of Tuesday morning, 24,690 people in Arlington — 10.4% of the county’s population — have been fully vaccinated, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. In all, just under 67,000 doses have been administered in Arlington, at a trailing seven-day average rate of 1,372 doses per day. That figure includes doses administered by pharmacies and other private entities.

County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said the county is also seeking more autonomy from the state to make decisions about vaccination priorities.

“We hope that the Governor will respond to the NVRC’s request to increase Northern Virginia’s vaccine supply, and to allow our Health Directors greater discretion to make decisions about how we administer the vaccine to our residents going forward,” de Ferranti said in a statement. “We have the capacity and the demonstrated commitment to vaccinating our community as quickly and equitably as possible.”

Arlington’s Congressman, Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), also weighed in, tweeting his support Monday for more vaccine doses.

Police: Gun Drawn During Robbery in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

A man brandished a gun and stole cash during a robbery of a store in Pentagon City over the weekend.

The name of the store was not specified, but police say the robbery happened between 6-6:30 p.m. this past Saturday, on the 1100 block of S. Hayes Street — the same block as the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall.

The suspects had purchased items from the store an hour prior to the incident, and were trying to return them when a dispute over the return turned into a robbery, according to police. No one was hurt and two suspects remained at large as of Monday.

More from an Arlington County Police Department crime report:

ROBBERY, 2021-03200158, 1100 block of S. Hayes Street. At approximately 6:35 p.m. on March 20, police were dispatched to the report of an armed robbery. Upon arrival, it was determined that at approximately 5:07 p.m. the two suspects purchased items from a retail store and returned at approximately 6:00 p.m. to return the items previously purchased. A dispute ensued over the return during which Suspect One attempted unsuccessfully to reach over the counter and remove cash from the register. Suspect One then brandished a firearm and demanded cash from an employee. The suspects then fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash. Upon arrival, police canvased the area with negative results. No injuries were reported. Suspect One is described as a 25-30 year old Black male, light complexion, approximately 5’9″ and 200 lbs. He was wearing a black ski mask, gray hoodie and distressed blue jeans. Suspect Two is described as a 25-30 year old Black male, dark complexion, with short dreads. He was wearing a black jacket and glasses. The investigation is ongoing.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Statements of Support for AAPI Community — “Arlington Public Schools condemns racism and all expressions of hate, bias and discrimination. The horrific shootings in Atlanta earlier this week are a tragic reminder of the increase in violent attacks, hate speech and discrimination targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We grieve with the families of the victims of the shootings in Atlanta on March 16 and share the sorrow of all who stand against hate and discrimination.” [Arlington Public Schools, Press Release]

Opposition to Zoning Proposal — “The proposal has nevertheless attracted some pushback from Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, a community group that has begun organizing opposition to the county’s housing efforts on the grounds that Arlington hasn’t properly prepared for additional growth… Other affected neighborhoods, including Green Valley in South Arlington, also offered opposition.” [Washington Business Journal]

Citizen Group Wants Tree Update — “‘Don’t call us, but we promise we’ll call you’ appears to sum up the Arlington County government’s reaction to an Arlington County Civic Federation call for an expeditious effort to update an analysis of the county’s tree canopy… The Arlington government last conducted a tree inventory in 2016, reporting the findings in 2017. The roughly 750,000 trees in the county’s 26 square miles cover about 41 percent of the county’s ground area.” [Sun Gazette]

Chainsaw Art Coming to Lyon Park — “This summer, Mallon is scheduled to do chainsaw sculptures on three stumps trees near the community center in Arlington’s Lyon Park, a community-owned park in the county. Mallon, who grew up in Arlington, said he usually brings about five chainsaws to a project, depending on the level of detail of the work.” [Patch]

GOP Gov. Candidate in Arlington — Glenn Youngkin, a Republican candidate for governor, made a campaign appearance at the Crystal City Sports Pub over the weekend. The event was criticized by Democrats for its crowd of maskless supporters. [Twitter, Twitter]

Airport Passenger Volume Going Up — “TSA screened 1,543,115 people yesterday, Sunday, March 21. The last time checkpoint throughput topped 1.5 million was March 15, 2020.” [Twitter]

Video: Thieves Run Off With BLM Sign Taken from Home Near Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County police are investigating the theft of a Black Lives Matter sign from a home near Rosslyn.

The theft was reported Saturday on the 2000 block of 20th Road N., in Arlington’s North Highlands neighborhood.

“On March 20, police received an online report of a larceny,” according to an ACPD crime report. “The report stated that at approximately 12:18 a.m. on March 20, the unknown suspects entered the victim’s driveway and stole a Black Lives Matter sign from the front yard.”

The homeowner, Jennifer Herrera, tells ARLnow that the theft — which was caught on the home’s video surveillance system — is part of a recent pattern.

“[There have been] other instances from neighbors of signs being stolen,” she said. “Our next door neighbors had their sign stolen and their cars keyed. Another family walked by my house recently and their child pointed to my BLM sign and asked his mother if that was their sign and the mother replied ‘no, our sign was stolen.’ When I realized our sign was missing, I walked around the block and noticed houses that had a BLM sign in their yard the previous day, no longer had them.”

The county has also seen the repeated vandalism of Black Lives Matter and other racial justice signs at local churches.

Herrera points out that, in the video, one of the suspects asks “what’s the number?” while the other appears to read a street address from their phone. That, she said, seems to point to an organized effort to steal the signs.

“The most disturbing point of all of this is that it seems to be an organized, purposeful effort,” she told ARLnow. “A car was dropping off and picking up these individuals to steal the signs and possibly key cars in our neighborhood.”

Herrera said the pair appeared to be young adults. She hopes her video can help “uncover any organized, nefarious… activity happening in Arlington.”

Police provided an additional description of the suspects in the crime report.

“Suspect One is described as a white female, with average build and blond hair,” said ACPD. “Suspect Two is described as a white male, thin, approximately 6′ tall with dark hair. The investigation is ongoing.”

WireWheel Kicks Growth Into Next Gear with $20 Million in Funding

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups, founders, and other local technology news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1812 N. Moore Street in Rosslyn.

Courthouse-based startup WireWheel is gearing up to bring its software to more mid- and small-sized companies looking to comply with new data privacy laws being passed in the U.S.

And the startup, located at 1310 N. Courthouse Road, recently raised $20 million in funding, led by ForgePoint Capital, to make that expansion happen.

“We raised our financing with a terrific investor out of Silicon Valley that helps companies build out and sell products,” said co-founder and CEO Justin Antonipillai.

Founded in 2016, WireWheel provides companies with the infrastructure needed to show customers what data they collect on customers and how that data is used. These platforms also help customers access or delete this data or indicate they do not want their data sold.

“People are getting creeped out by the idea that you go to a website and then you start seeing ads everywhere,” Antonipillai said.

Antonipillai, the former Acting Undersecretary of Economic Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Barack Obama, predicts this infrastructure will become more crucial in the near-term. In the coming year, he said between five and 10 states are poised to pass laws on data privacy, following the lead of California and Virginia.

While each state’s law may look different, he said, they generally will require companies to be more transparent with users and potential auditors about the data they collect and whether and to whom they sell that sensitive information.

“Every company you know is worried about a simple problem: How do I make sure my marketing and website are complying with laws?” he said. “We help companies solve that problem.”

California rang in 2020 with the first major data privacy law and Virginia passed the second this year, he said. Arlington and Northern Virginia’s robust cybersecurity industries likely contributed to this push, he added.

WireWheel first targeted a handful of big-brand companies, and this year, made its essential offerings available to companies of all sizes, Antonipillai said. This includes a product that helps new companies weave law-abiding data privacy into their websites and platforms as they build them.

It recently launched a data privacy conference called Spokes that has quickly become the largest such conference in the world, attracting business and government leaders from Europe and the US, he said. That trans-Atlantic collaboration is important because Europe has considered shutting down data-sharing operations because the US had fewer regulations on data privacy, he said.

“You don’t really think of data as something that a group of countries could stop but the truth is that it can be,” he said.

Although data-sharing, with the lack of privacy regulations, poses problems now, it can be a powerful tool for good, he said. Antonipillai imagines WireWheel helping usher in a world in which consumers actually trust the government or a company to use data responsibly and delete their identifying information if they wish.

“If I felt more comfortable with that, I would let more companies and governments use my data to solve big problems,” he said.

One example is in healthcare, where patients could permit their information to be shared anonymously with researchers for further study or with organizations, such as cancer societies, so newly diagnosed individuals can learn more about their chances for survival and remission, and what lifestyle changes they can make to improve their chances.

“Those are the kinds of things where a lot of people want to help, but don’t trust healthcare data will be protected and used the right way,” he said.

County Board Approves Revised Plans for Crystal City Water Park

By Jo DeVoe
1/2

The County Board has unanimously approved plans to improve walking and cycling connections and add amenities to the Crystal City Water Park.

Water features and a food stand currently activate the privately-owned Crystal City Water Park at 1601 Crystal Drive. It also provides connections to the Mount Vernon Trail and Reagan National Airport, as well as the proposed Virginia Railway Express north entrance.

Park owner JBG Smith initially came to the board in January with plans to modify the Crystal City Connector path — which cuts through the site — and renovate the park. Members deferred the proposal over predictions that the developer’s plans for the pathway would lead to unsafe pedestrian and cyclist interactions.

On Saturday, County Board members signed off on revision to the project. The Crystal City Connector path will be turned into two paths accessing the Mount Vernon Trail and the new VRE entrance: one for pedestrians and the other focused on bicyclists.

JBG Smith will be “adding retail shops, cafes, and restaurants along the edges of the park, upgrading the existing water wall… adding a new water feature, [and] adding public art and an outdoor bar,” the county announced on Monday.

The additions include “nine (9) 300 square-foot retail structures positioned along Crystal Drive, a 1,415 square-foot retail structure along the northern edge, a 760 square-foot bar with a 2,069 square-foot terrace atop the water wall, a 409 square-foot performance platform to be used for the event lawn, and a 747 square-foot trailhead restroom facility,” per a county staff report.

“We’re proud to say that this project has evolved in response to the comments and we think gotten to a place that is better than we were a couple of months ago,” said Kedrick Whitmore, an attorney representing JBG Smith.

The staff report said the plan has been redesigned to minimize conflicts and support increasing number of pedestrians and bicyclists accessing the trail and the VRE station. Potential users testified in January that the initial proposed design, below, would lead to conflicts at the exit from the Mount Vernon Trail access tunnel, where visibility is low.

JBG Smith’s new plan removes the stairway that linked the pathways to the water park, located near a series of tunnels. It does not, however, remove an adjacent path between the Crystal City Connector path and the connection to the proposed VRE station, although some community members predicted it too would be unsafe.

“We think this is a really important area to maintain a connection,” Whitmore said. “Despite keeping the connection in place, we did hear loud and clear that there were safety concerns, and the use of paint, mirrors, signage and paving will help.”

The developer will also widen the sidewalk along Crystal Drive from eight to 10 feet and use landscaping, signage, striping and paving treatments near the tunnels and the connection to Crystal Drive to increase visibility and heighten awareness for all users, the report said.

Board members told County Manager Mark Schwartz that the county needs to increase the level of public engagement for similar projects going forward. Board members agreed with some speakers that more scrutiny from county commissions could have uncovered the safety concerns sooner and prevented the project’s deferral from earlier this year.

“Let’s not do this again,” said Pedestrian Advisory Committee secretary Pamela Van Hine, suggesting a smaller-scale version of the site plan review process for large projects. “We can help you but you have to ask us to help you.”

While the county classifies this project as a minor site plan amendment, Board member Katie Cristol said such amendments “may have a major impact on how people experience the site.”

Photos via Arlington County

County Board Approves Agreement with Alexandria To Dredge Four Mile Run

By Matt Blitz

The County Board voted this weekend on an agreement with the City of Alexandria to dredge Four Mile Run in order to help mitigate flooding.

The neighboring jurisdictions will split the costs related to permitting, designing, construction, and dredging Four Mile Run, from around I-395 to the Potomac River.

“It’s time for us to undertake a joint dredging project so we can project that part of the county from flooding to the maximum extent possible,” said Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti at Saturday’s Board meeting.

The dredging — which will remove built-up sediment and debris from the bottom of the waterway — is expected to cost about $3.6 million, with each jurisdiction paying about $1.8 million.

The project is expected to get under way in the late summer or early fall, and will take approximately four months, Aileen Winquist of Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services tells ARLnow.

The work comes after the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) most recent inspection report gave the state of Four Mile Run a rating of unacceptable. The Corps built a levee system along Four Mile Run in the 1970s and 80s to help with flood mitigation, after a series of devastating floods that inundated Alexandria’s Arlandria neighborhood.

The recent unacceptable rating from USACE was due to “excessive shoaling,” meaning the flood channel is too shallow and can lead to excessive flooding.

“Maintenance of the open channel of Four Mile Run includes clearing of debris, sediment, vegetation, and re-stabilizing stream banks as required by the USACE annual inspection program,” says Winquist. “This maintenance work helps to preserve the flood channel’s capacity and reduce flood risk in neighborhoods surrounding south Four Mile Run.”

The areas around Four Mile Run have flooded a number of times over the past decade, including in 2011, 2017, and in 2019. Flooding two years ago was historic and caused some $6 million in damage to county property alone.

The agreement would also put on paper a long-standing understanding about maintenance of Four Mile Run. The north side will be Arlington’s responsibility and the south side will be Alexandria’s responsibility.

The needed improvements for the Long Branch Tributary will remain the sole fianincal responsibility of Arlington, since it’s within county borders. The budget for the entire project is about $4.7 million with Arlington agreeing to pay $2.56 million and Alexandria paying $2.16 million.

File photo

EXCLUSIVE: Arlington County Police Encrypt More Radio Channels

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Police Department has quietly removed more of its radio channels from public monitoring.

Without a public announcement, ACPD started to encrypt two of its main radio channels for police communication earlier this month. A department spokesperson confirmed the move after inquiries from ARLnow, saying it’s part of a regional plan.

“As of March 1, 2021, Arlington County finalized adoption of the National Capital Region (NCR) Interoperable Encryption Plan,” said ACPD’s Ashley Savage. “In our primary radio zone, the adoption resulted in further encrypting the administrative channel, 1E, to protect the personal and confidential information of members of the public interacting with law enforcement as well [as] encrypting our last talk around channel, 1C, for tactical and operational security reasons.”

The “talk around” channel is used by officers at the scene of an incident to communicate with one another, and to relay updates to Arlington’s Emergency Communications Center. Monitoring it allowed hobbyists and news media to better understand what was happening during significant police incidents.

For the media, it also allowed more informed decisions about whether to send reporters and photographers to certain potential stories, and would sometimes help with formulating more targeted questions to ask of a police spokesperson or witnesses. Without it, reporters for broadcast stations and other outlets, including ARLnow, will be more dependent on official statements from police, which can lack key details, or accounts from witnesses, which can be hard to obtain and verify.

ACPD said that it will keep its main dispatch channel unencrypted, which will allow the public and media outlets to hear police dispatches and some initial communication between officers on scene and dispatchers. The department also highlighted the other official means by which it posts information, like a daily crime report on weekdays.

“The police department remains committed to transparency and our primary radio channel, 1A, where calls for service are dispatched, remains unencrypted,” said Savage. “The department also shares information related to criminal incidents through the Daily Crime Report, Online Crime Map, Open Data Portal and press releases. We also use Arlington Alert to provide emergency notifications in the event of a public safety threat to the community.”

ARLnow reported exclusively last summer — as a wave of protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd swept the country — that ACPD was considering encrypting more channels.

At the time, the local branch of the NAACP expressed concerns about police transparency. Since then, the department has implemented a body-worn camera system and participated in a county-run examination of police practices. The final police practices report made no mention of police radios or encryption.

File photo

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Major Courthouse Development Approved — “The Arlington County Board today approved Greystar Real Estate Partners’ plan to redevelop seven parcels that make up the Courthouse Landmark Block with a 423-unit apartment building. The developer has committed to providing extensive community benefits.” [Arlington County]

Zoning Proposal May Face Pushback — “Two potentially conflicting constituencies – advocates of affordable housing and residents of single-family neighborhoods – could end up colliding if Arlington County Board members next month move forward on a recommendation to allow much higher building heights in some transitional areas of the county. The proposal… calls for allowing (though not permitting by right) building heights higher by 60 feet than normally allowed in a number of zoning districts, if the buildings comprise 100-percent affordable housing.” [Sun Gazette]

APS Planning Summer School — “Arlington Public Schools plans to offer in-person and distance learning summer school for students. Summer School will take place from July 6-30 for elementary students and from July 6-Aug. 6 for secondary students.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Man Arrested for Bathroom Peeping — “1700 block of Fort Myer Drive. At approximately 3:25 a.m. on March 18, police were dispatched to the report of a peeping. Upon arrival, it was determined that the male victim was using the restroom when he observed a cell phone placed through the crack of the stall. The victim confronted the known suspect and alerted building security.” [Arlington County]

Arlington Startup Moving to D.C. — “Auto refinancing startup MotoRefi is moving its headquarters from Arlington to D.C. and beefing up its executive team, the company said in an announcement. The company has signed a 22,000-square-foot lease at 1717 Rhode Island Ave. NW, relocating to a larger space as its workforce continues to grow. It plans on opening the new office, in the same building as venture firm Revolution and Uber, later in 2021, it said.” [Washington Business Journal]

Why Elmo is on the County Manager’s Desk — County Board member Katie Cristol, in response to a question about an Elmo toy seen on County Manager Mark Schwartz’s desk during Saturday’s virtual Board meeting: “My Elmo-obsessed kid made an on camera appearance at Thursday’s 4.5 hour work session, and Mark, who is a real sweetheart, brought out his own Elmo on the videoconference, to no end of delight from my two-year old.” [Twitter]

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