News

Roof Work Underway at Febrey-Lothrop House

By ARLnow.com
1/3

Workers are removing roof shingles from the Febrey-Lothrop house in Dominion Hills.

The 114-year-old home, which preservationists have been trying to save against the wishes of the current owners, currently has a demolition permit application pending with the county, after having a sewer cap permit approved.

While the demolition permit has yet to be issued, what might be prep work was underway this afternoon, ahead of expected rain tonight. A worker in a full protective suit and ventilator could be seen removing roof shingles — potentially asbestos shingles.

That has prompted alarm among some of the local preservationists hoping to pressure the county to somehow stop the demolition. An online petition calling for the demolition permit to be denied, despite county officials suggesting that would be illegal if all the paperwork was otherwise in order, is currently up to about 875 signatures.

The home sits on a 9+ acre estate most recently owned by sportsman Randy Rouse, who passed away in 2017. Local activists have been pushing Arlington officials to buy the property, preserve the house, and use the rest of the property for a park or other public uses — something they say is a “generational” opportunity, given the lack of large, open privately-owned parcels in the county.

The county is set to study the property, to determine whether it should be given a historic district designation that would restrict changes, but the owners appear to be moving forward with a demolition project before that could be put into place.

An accountant representing the trust that owns the property did not respond to an earlier request for comment from ARLnow.

BREAKING: Arlington Residential Property Values Soar

By ARLnow.com

The value of homes in Arlington County has soared during the pandemic.

Residential property values in Arlington are up 5.6%, while commercial property values slumped 1.4% from last year, according to newly-released stats. Arlington County is starting the process of mailing the new assessments out to homeowners and commercial property owners.

“Arlington’s overall property tax base grew modestly from last year due to continued residential growth despite a slowdown in some commercial sectors due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the county is saying in a letter to property owners. “Property values increased 2.2% overall in Calendar Year (CY) 2021 compared to 4.6% growth in CY 2020. New construction contributed to 1% of the 2.2 % overall property assessment growth.”

The sharp rise in residential property assessments shows “the continued attractiveness of our Arlington community, even as our businesses and residents face the burdens and challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said County Manager Mark Schwartz. The average value of existing residential properties is now $724,400, up from $658,600 two years ago.

The average value of hotels, meanwhile, plummeted amid the pandemic, while apartment and office buildings increased in value — with the latter propped up by the arrival of Amazon.

“Overall commercial property assessments decreased by 1.4% over the previous year, mainly driven by a double-digit decrease in the hotel sector where operations have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the county said. “Apartment and general commercial (malls, retail stores, gas stations, commercial condos, etc.) property values saw small decreases offset by new construction. After strong growth in CY 2020, apartment property assessments increased by 0.8% overall in CY 2021. General commercial property assessments increased by 0.1% overall.”

“While many office property assessments decreased due to increases in vacancy rates and changing demand for office space, total office property values increased by 0.8% over last year,” the county added. “The overall office market tax base increased, in part, due to the increased presence of Amazon and the related development activity.”

Last year, assessments rose 4.6% on average — 4.9% for commercial properties and 4.3% for residential properties. The big rise in 2021 residential assessments will likely result in another effective tax hike for homeowners.

Last year, Arlington’s property tax rate — $1.026 per $100 in assessed value — was held steady despite the higher property values. This year, budget pressures brought on by the pandemic have prompted the county to warn of the likelihood of both budget cuts and tax rate hikes.

The height of Arlington’s budget season is set to kick off on Feb. 20, with the release of the County Manager’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget. The final budget is expected to be adopted on April 17. The county’s new fiscal year begins July 1.

“The County continues to feel the economic impacts on local revenues, including the slowdown in sales, meals and hotel taxes, as well as cost increases and additional costs related to the pandemic,” the county said in a press release today. “The projected budget shortfall remains at more than $40 million, excluding the needs of the Arlington Public Schools (APS).”

Arlington Restaurant Owners Eager for Access to New PPP Loans

By Jo DeVoe

At the start of the pandemic, Arlington Kabob co-owner Susan Clementi spent 20 hours a day trying to coronavirus-proof her restaurant. She did not have time, or the financial knowledge, to navigate the Paycheck Protection Program.

When she tried to hire legal help, the application fees amounted to $5,000. Clementi realized she had to do it herself.

Arlington Kabob was denied funding, but what frustrated Clementi the most was seeing restaurants that had a dozen locations receive loans.

“I felt very, very small,” she said.

Her experience during the first round of PPP played out across the nation.

The Small Business Administration and the banks issuing the loans were criticized for awarding funds first to bigger companies while overlooking smaller and minority-owned businesses. For round two, the SBA opened applications for small-scale, local lenders this week, and is expanding access to all eligible lenders next Tuesday.

ARLnow spoke with a handful of restaurant owners who are waiting for the green light to apply. All of them said that if they get relief, their first order of business will be paying staff.

“Sometimes I have to go into personal money to pay my employees,” said Vince Johnson, the owner of Mexican street corn stand Shuck Shack in the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall. “I didn’t sign up for that.”

Sloppy Mama’s BBQ owner Joe Neuman said he would use the funds to cover wages and pay bills that he may not be able to afford in three weeks.

“We’re just trying to minimize losses, knowing that another round of PPP would be coming through at some point,” he said.

Those who applied last year struggled to navigate the application forms and process. After Neuman’s wife spent 14 hours on it, their accountant took over and submitted it at 11 p.m. the night before funds ran out, the BBQ joint’s owner said.

“We got real lucky,” he said.

Jessica Yanez is in a different boat. She is preparing for the grand opening of Los Chamacos along Columbia Pike. For her, the PPP loan would help cover wages until the county issues the last permit.

“We’re trying to open as soon as we can,” Yanez said. “We have people working for us, that’s why [Arlington Economic Development] told me about the PPP program.”

Some restaurant owners benefited from the significant office population, and remote work has tanked their catering revenues. Clementi said her Lee Highway location is supporting her November 2019 expansion into Courthouse, which thrived briefly on office lunches. Meanwhile, Neuman said his restaurant’s dinner sales have increased and sustain the near-total hits to his lunch-friendly Ballston Quarter location and catering outfit.

Some owners are taking on risks in a risky time. Yanez said she and her husband, Benedicto, had an opportunity and “had to take it.”

One year after Johnson opened, he acquired a food truck to serve people who are out and about. He is still figuring out how to run a food truck, but so far, the business is not what he thought.

“We’re seeing more people in the malls. People are not really paying attention to COVID-19 anymore, sad as it is,” he said, adding that this will prolong economic instability for eateries.

Although they face many hardships, these Arlington restaurateurs are dedicated to their communities and their roots.

“We decided to open this restaurant because we know the neighborhood,” Yanez said. “It’s a good neighborhood.”

Johnson is trudging through an application and inspection process to bring his truck to military installations.

“Being a vet myself, it was part of my plan putting this together,” he said.

Clementi thanked her customers for their support and has been providing discounts and free meals to first responders.

“We have to make everyone feel stronger by being there for each other,” she said.

BREAKING: Police Release Surveillance Video of ‘Person of Interest’ in Ballston Murder

By ARLnow.com
Person of interest in Ballston murder case (courtesy of ACPD)

Police are releasing new photos, video and information in the year-old unsolved murder of a 24-year-old man in a Ballston apartment.

Scott Ratigan was founded bloodied and unresponsive in his bedroom, at the AVA Ballston Square apartment building (850 N. Randolph Street), around 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 17, 2020. Police now say he suffered “trauma to the upper body.”

ARLnow reported at the time that the 911 caller — now identified as a relative of Ratigan — reported a strong smell of bleach in the apartment. Police now say that “evidence recovered at the scene indicates the suspect(s) attempted to clean the crime scene prior to fleeing the residence.”

Today, ahead of the one-year anniversary of the crime, Arlington County police also released video and three surveillance images of a “person of interest” — seen leaving the area while wearing a mask, before that became commonplace during the pandemic.

“The individual is described as a White male, approximately 5’6″ – 5’8″ tall, weighing 150 – 175 lbs, dressed in all black, carrying a black backpack and walking with his feet turned inward, often referred to as a pigeon-toed gait,” ACPD said. “Detectives would like to identify and speak with this individual.”

Several months ago, an ARLnow reporter observed detectives holding large poles in the courtyard between the apartment building and Wilson Blvd, perhaps in an effort to ascertain the person’s height. Until this morning’s press release, police have steadfastly declined to divulge additional details about the case in response to numerous inquiries from ARLnow.

The Ratigan family is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the murder case.

The full ACPD press release and additional surveillance images are below.

The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is seeking the public’s assistance identifying a person of interest captured in surveillance video as they continue to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of 24-year-old Scott Ratigan one year ago. The Ratigan family has established a reward fund of $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) involved in Scott’s homicide.

At approximately 5:29 p.m. on January 17, 2020, police were dispatched to the 800 block of N. Randolph Street for the report of cardiac arrest. Upon arrival, it was determined a relative of the victim entered his bedroom after becoming concerned he had not recently been heard from. The adult male victim was located inside his bedroom suffering from trauma to the upper body and was pronounced deceased on scene by medics. An autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. Evidence recovered at the scene indicates the suspect(s) attempted to clean the crime scene prior to fleeing the residence.

Surveillance video recovered from an exterior camera shows a person of interest leaving the area around the suspected time of the homicide. The individual is described as a White male, approximately 5’6″ – 5’8″ tall, weighing 150 – 175 lbs, dressed in all black, carrying a black backpack and walking with his feet turned inward, often referred to as a pigeon-toed gait. Detectives would like to identify and speak with this individual.

To date, detectives have conducted an intensive investigation into this incident including collecting information, analyzing crime scene evidence, speaking with witnesses and canvasing the area near the crime scene. Detectives continue to actively follow investigative leads in this case but believe there is someone, somewhere with information that will allow us to solve this case and seek justice on behalf of the Ratigan family. If you have information in this case, no matter how insignificant you may feel it is, we implore you to come forward and speak with detectives.

Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit at 703-228-4180 or [email protected].

Expect an Increased Police Presence in Arlington On Inauguration Day

By Matt Blitz

There will be more police officers on Arlington’s streets on Inauguration Day and the days leading up to it.

Some officers will be easily spotted, said acting police chief Charles “Andy” Penn. Others, not so much.

“There will definitely be an increased police presence throughout Arlington,” Penn said in an interview with ARLnow. “Some visible, some not visible.”

ACPD “will deploy increased police resources,” but there are “no known threats to Arlington County as this time,” the department noted in a press release Thursday.

The current focus is on the public safety and protection of Arlington residents, Penn says. He didn’t comment on whether ACPD has received any mutual aid requests from D.C. police or the federal government as of yet, but did say the police department hasn’t agreed to anything.

“At this point, we’ve not committed to any mutual aid requests outside of… the Commonwealth,” he said.

Prior to the U.S. Capitol riots, ACPD did receive and agree to mutual aid requests from D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.

Arlington police officers were seen defending the U.S. Capitol from pro-Trump rioters and insurrectionists in a video from Jan 6. They helped to replace “hurt and tired D.C. officers on the front lines,” according to a new Washington Post account of the chaos.

As previously reported, no ACPD officers were seriously injured and Penn confirmed that this remains the case.

Penn says that the department had a “significant number” of officers assisting MPD over three days last week, but none are deployed in D.C. currently.

Two U.S. Capitol Police officers and one Anne Arundel County officer are currently under investigation for alleged actions during the insurrection. Penn says no such investigations are taking place in regards to Arlington officers.

“I am not aware of any allegation that any members of this agency were involved in any unlawful behavior, he says. “And if we become aware, it’s certainly something we would investigate.”

Penn reiterated that as inaugural preparations are underway, the situation remains “fluid” and plans are subject to change. They’ve had staff assigned to inauguration efforts for weeks now, he says, but the events of the last ten days have changed some previous plans.

Penn added that the county is in constant contact with regional, state, and federal agencies and Arlington is committed to sharing both intelligence and resources with those partners.

“Our goal, collectively, is to make sure that we’re ensuring the safety of this region and doing everything proactively that we can to be prepared for that, have good response plans, and have appropriate numbers of staff,” he says.”

That could mean road closures. As of right now, no road closures are planned but discussions are underway about the potential necessity of doing that.

Same for potentially implementing a curfew, like last Wednesday.

“I think the curfew would depend on the situation at the time. There has been some minimal conversation about that, but there’s no plan to do that at this point,” Penn says.

Travel options Arlington and the District will be limited between. D.C. has announced road closures and Metro has announced numerous downtown Metro closures. Heeding the advice of local officials, Arlington Democrats have arranged special inauguration events in Arlington, in lieu of heading to the District.

ACPD is encouraging anyone who spots suspicious activity on Inauguration Day or in the days leading up to it, particularly in areas where crowds gather — “shopping centers, restaurant districts, religious services, and public transportation hubs to name a few” — to report it immediately.

“The more we work collectively as a community, the safer we’re going to be,” Penn said. “We’re always better when we’re working as a large team in the Arlington community.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Local 911 Dispatchers Can Work Remotely — “On Wednesday, Jan. 13, the Arlington County Emergency Communications Center (ECC) became one of the first centers in the nation to implement capabilities that allow fire and emergency medical services (EMS) dispatchers and supervisors to deliver critical emergency communications services no matter where they are. Now, Arlington Fire-EMS dispatchers and supervisors are able work from a remote location, including from home.” [Arlington County]

Grocery Workers Unaware of Vaccine Availability — “Grocery store workers in Arlington can now sign up for Covid vaccine… But Arlington County is apparently not notifying grocery store workers about this option… At our local Arlington grocery store, a staff person in the management office indicated they were not aware of either option, when my wife and I called.” [Blue Virginia]

Apple Stores Temporarily Closing — Updated at 8:55 a.m. — “Apple is temporarily closing its Washington, D.C. retail stores ahead of the United States presidential inauguration. Five stores in the Washington metro area will close through at least January 21… Stores in Arlington, VA at Pentagon City and Clarendon, as well as in Maryland at Bethesda Row will close from Saturday.” [9to5Mac]

Beyer Wants Cameras for Federal Officers — “Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) announced today that they will reintroduce their Federal Police Camera and Accountability Act, which would require uniformed federal police officers, including U.S. Capitol Police, to wear body cameras and have dashboard cameras in police vehicles.” [Press Release]

Attempted Armed Robbery on Columbia Pike — “At approximately 8:18 p.m. on January 13, police were dispatched to the late report of an attempted armed robbery. Upon arrival, it was determined that at approximately 5:04 p.m., the suspect was inside a business when they approached the front of the store, threatened the victim with a knife and demanded they open the drawer to the cash register. The suspect then fled the business when the victim yelled and another employee ran to the front of the store.” [ACPD]

Water Main Repair on Carlin Springs Road — “Water main break… Tomorrow, Friday Jan. 15, from 7am to 5pm, the two center lanes on S Carlin Springs Rd from 1st St S to 3rd St S will be closed. A traffic detour will be in place.” [Twitter]

Pelosi Endorses McAuliffe — “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is endorsing Terry McAuliffe’s campaign in a very crowded Democratic primary that will winnow the field of those seeking to be the next governor of Virginia.” [Axios]

Construction Underway for Second of Two Residential Buildings at Pentagon Centre

By Jo DeVoe
1/9

The second of two residential towers at Pentagon Centre, in Pentagon City, is taking shape at 15th Street S. and S. Hayes Street.

This past spring, work began on The Milton, an 11-story building with 253 residential units and 15,541 square feet of ground-floor retail. It follows on the heels of a 26-story, 440-unit residential tower with 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail called The Witmer (710 12th Street S.), which opened in July 2019.

The Milton is set to be completed in 2023, said Geoffrey Glazer, the Senior Vice President for National Development of Kimco Realty, owner of the shopping center.

The County Board approved the buildings in 2015 as part of Kimco’s three-phase, 30-year development of Pentagon Centre. Phase one began with a parking garage near Costco. The project also includes a 9,000-square foot open space, according to a staff report.

Construction crews worked from spring to fall relocating utility lines for the new building, and the project is still on-schedule, Glazer said. Right now, they are doing preliminary foundation work and will eventually start digging.

“We’re very close to where we were [supposed to be] when we started that project,” he said. “We worked through most of the pandemic, and construction on the site work all kept moving forward.”

He does not anticipate the construction causing any disruptions to shopping at Costco, Nordstrom Rack or Marshalls.

“Access to our existing parking structures and fields will all be open and operational,” he said. “There will be additional signage for people to have clarity for how to move around.”

In later phases, scheduled out about two decades, leases will be up for the big-box stores, making way for public open space and new development.

“It’s out there,” Glazer said. “Everybody’s leases have lots more term.”

Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A and a Chase Bank branch are moving into the ground floor of The Witmer, joining Arlington’s second outpost of Wiseguy Pizza. The local D.C. pizza chain opened the Pentagon location in June.

Ultimately, as currently configured, the site will have 346,000 square feet of retail, 705,000 square feet of office space and a 200-room hotel. With the residential buildings, that brings the total project size to nearly 2 million square feet, according to Kimco.

APS Vaccination Effort Hits Tech Snag

By ARLnow.com

Arlington health officials are working to ramp up the pace of vaccinations, but the effort to vaccinate Arlington Public Schools staff has hit a snag.

School staff are set to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as part of Phase 1b of Virginia’s vaccination effort. But in a memo to APS employees this morning, Superintendent Francisco Durán acknowledged “frustration” over “technology issues [staff] encountered with the appointment process.”

“Arlington rolled out vaccine registration last night around 6 p.m.,” one APS staffer told ARLnow, describing what happened. “Two e-mails were sent and a response was required to both emails in order to set up an appointment.”

“Some staff, however, only received one email and couldn’t register. Some staff — including many assistants already working with students in Level One — didn’t receive either email,” the staffer continued. “And the staff who did believe they had registered last night received an email late last night informing them that the system had crashed and they might not really have an appointment.”

Another tipster told us: “Anecdotally, I only know a couple staff who DID receive the emails from [the health department]. The process is opaque, as we have only been told to expect an email, and we have no idea how scheduling will work.”

A county health department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment this afternoon.

Durán’s memo is below.

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday, the Arlington County Public Health Department released information about COVID-19 vaccinations and sent emails inviting you to schedule appointments for initial educator clinics being held this Saturday and Monday. I want you to know that we are aware of the technology issues they encountered with the appointment process. I am also aware that some staff may not have received one or both of the emails that were sent by the Health Department. All Arlington Public Schools employee information was provided to the Public Health Department in advance of this process.

I share in the frustration many of you are experiencing and have conveyed that to the Public Health Department as they work to address this issue. We have offered assistance to the Health Department to resolve this issue swiftly. You can expect additional next steps from the Health Department as they work through the system and ensure that all staff are able to make an appointment and get the vaccine.

If you do not receive a confirmed appointment on one of these two initial dates, you will have other opportunities to make appointments soon. There are additional events being planned soon to meet the high demand.

I am with you in this process and will continue to follow up to ensure it gets resolved.

Dr. Francisco Durán
Superintendent

Despite the problems, Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia said vaccinations “will begin this weekend.” (Neighboring Fairfax County is also planning to begin vaccinations for school staff this weekend.)

Some staff members who are already back in schools and working with students have voiced complaints about not being first in line to receive the vaccines. Bellavia said no APS employees are being given priority over others.

“Arlington Public Schools has a significant portion of positions that interface with students from food service to bus drivers to assistants to teachers,” he said. “All employees are provided the same priority since the majority of our employees are school-based and work directly with students.”

APS employees are set to return to school buildings starting later this month.

Arlington is Well Positioned for an Economic Recovery, Say Local Experts

By Matt Blitz

The pandemic has dealt a blow to Arlington’s economy, but the county may be well-positioned for a rebound rather quickly.

In a virtual panel discussion hosted by the Arlington Committee of 100 — the second of a two part series — local experts said that unlike past downturns that resulted in a lengthy recovery, this one is driven not by structural economic factors but by a virus.

As people are vaccinated and the pandemic recedes — whenever that may happen — expect a strong recovery.

“The economy right now is reacting to the health crisis and [that] is driving the recession,” said Jeanette Chapman, economist and director of the Stephen Fuller Institute at George Mason University. “This is not a normal recession.”

Due to the pandemic, consumer spending dropped significantly. Compared to this time last year, credit and debit card spending is down nearly a quarter in Arlington (less than D.C. comparably, which is down nearly 30%).

However, that is an improvement from early spring when spending overall was down about 50%.

As expected, the drop in spending was mostly concentrated in the transportation, apparel, hotel, and food service sectors. Grocery and food spending rose in 2020.

While job losses continues to be a concern, the Northern Virginia region is above the national average. Chapman says this is due to “mostly being a knowledge services economy and can send a bulk of workers home [to telework].” A big chunk of the job losses, as expected, are in the leisure and hospitality sector, accounting for nearly a third from November 2019 to November 2020.

“Leisure and hospitality jobs tend to have lower wage scales,” says Chapman. “Those jobs are hardest hit.”

In general, says Chapman, the losses regionally are skewed toward lower wage jobs. However, because this recession is due to a health crisis, Chapman says we can expect a near full recovery by 2022 due to the widespread availability of a vaccine.

Arlington’s small businesses, particularly those dependent on in-person interaction, are also being significantly impacted.

Telly Tucker, director of Arlington Economic Development, said that any business with fewer than 50 employees is defined as a “small business.” This encompasses about 90%, or 6,000, of the county’s businesses.

Over the last ten months, the county and the Commonwealth have implemented a variety of programs and grants. And it does seem to be helping, said Tucker.

Arlington’s small business emergency grant provided nearly 400 businesses with a combined $2.7 million. More than half of those businesses were woman and/or minority-owned.

As for bigger businesses, Tucker also spoke about how office building vacancy rates actually were decreasing going into 2020 from a high of over 20% in 2015.

While the vacancy rate has since risen and now sits at 16.3%, that remains below the office vacancy rates of the mid-2010s. Commercial real estate like office buildings are a major source of tax revenue for the county, Tucker noted.

What’s more, a number of large, multinational companies have made a home in Arlington over the last five years. This includes Microsoft, which made the announcement just last week that it would have a significant presence in Rosslyn.

The presence of Amazon and other major companies is likely to spur more job growth in Arlington, as is an expected rise in federal spending under the Biden administration.

The Arlington housing market, meanwhile, is doing well. Homes are typically selling for between 3% to 5% over listing price, noted Tucker, which is a positive sign.

(more…)

Expect to Hear Cannon Fire This Afternoon

By ARLnow.com

The D.C. area is a bit on edge, and the sounds of howitzers firing this afternoon probably won’t help. But it’s necessary to prep for next week’s inauguration.

Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall said today (Thursday) that the U.S. Army’s Presidential Salute Battery will be conducting “blank fire drills” this afternoon in preparation for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.

The cannon fire at Fort Myer often can, depending on weather conditions, be clearly heard in parts of Arlington and D.C.

The drills are held as practice for “ceremonies in honor of the President of the United States, for visiting foreign dignitaries, during official government ceremonies, regional celebrations… and while rendering honors during the funeral services of our nation’s fallen service members and veterans,” a base spokeswoman previously told ARLnow.

Photo by Sgt. Jose A. Torres Jr courtesy of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall

County Asks for Buildings to Be Lit, Church Bells to Ring In Memory of Lives Lost to COVID

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County will be participating in a national event “honoring the lives we have lost to COVID-19” next week.

The event is happening at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, in connection with the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. The county is encouraging churches to ring their bells, businesses to light their buildings, and residents to put a lighted candle in a window.

“Although the memorial is part of the inauguration event, we view it as a non-partisan effort to bring our nation together to honor those who have died, reflect on this challenging period in our history and commit to ending this pandemic,” County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti wrote to businesses today, encouraging their participation.

More than 380,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the U.S., including nearly 4,000 yesterday alone, according to the New York Times.

In Arlington, 82 new cases were reported overnight, bringing the seven-day trailing average of new daily cases down to 117. During the course of the pandemic, 187 people have died from COVID-19 in Arlington, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. One additional death was reported Wednesday.

More from a county press release:

The Arlington County Board today invited all Arlingtonians to participate on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in an event of national unity and remembrance honoring the lives we have lost to COVID-19.

“I hope that every Arlingtonian will join County Government in honoring those who have died, offering comfort to those they have left behind, and committing to defeating this pandemic and recovering,” Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said. “Amidst concerns for public safety around inaugural activities, this memorial event offers an opportunity for our community to make a powerful statement of unity while staying home and staying safe.”

Arlington will join communities across the nation in remembering the more than 380,000 people who have died in the United States from COVID-19. At 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, just as a pre-inauguration vigil begins at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in the District of Columbia, County Government has asked that church bells ring and that other houses of worship and Arlington businesses light their buildings, while residents place a lighted candle in a window.

“We ask all our residents, our business community, our faith community, and our non-profit organizations to join us in this powerful gesture of comfort, remembrance, and hope,” de Ferranti said.

View More Stories