News

UPDATED: President Trump Visits His Election HQ in Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/5

(Updated at 4:35 p.m.) President Donald Trump visited Arlington on Election Day.

The president is greeted campaign staff at his national reelection headquarters, located in an otherwise unremarkable Rosslyn office tower, as voters nationwide continue to head to the polls.

The presidential motorcade arrived around 12:15 p.m. A few dozen Trump supporters waved signs and flags across from the headquarters for the president’s arrival, as police blocked several streets in the area.

The president spoke to campaign personnel, in brief remarks that were aired on cable news. Afterward, just before 1:30 p.m., the motorcade departed.

The Trump headquarters — also referred to as the Republican National Committee annex — has generated some minor protests and local controversy over the course of the year.

Rep. Don Beyer and Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey, both Democrats, called on the campaign to enforce mask wearing after a reported COVID outbreak at the HQ, and a Trump speech at a conference in Pentagon City in which many attendees did not wear masks.

The president’s last reported appearance at the Rosslyn headquarters was a surprise visit in February.

Arlington, owing to its prime location near D.C. and the area’s base of political talent, has been home to a number of presidential campaigns, including:

  • John McCain 2008 (in Crystal City)
  • Hillary Clinton 2008 (in Ballston)
  • George W. Bush 2004 (in Courthouse)
  • Ronald Reagan 1980 (near Columbia Pike)
  • The campaigns of Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Joe Lieberman and Mike Gravel

Voting Underway in Arlington County

By ARLnow.com

It’s Election Day and across Arlington County thousands are voting at dozens of polling places staffed by hundreds of volunteers.

So far no issues have been reported at the polls, election officials tell ARLnow.

Turnout may be lighter than usual for a hotly-contested presidential election, on account of 63% of active voters in Arlington having already cast early and mail-in ballots. As of 9:30 a.m., the county elections office said that “an estimated 5% of remaining voters” had voted since the polls opened at 6 a.m.

“Polling places were busy early, but most are running smoothly now,” the elections office said.

On the ballot in Arlington this year is the presidential race — President Donald Trump (R) facing off against former Vice President Joe Biden (D), plus Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen — along with races for U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, County Board and School Board. There are also referenda for two proposed state constitutional amendments and five county bond issuances.

Polls will stay open tonight until 7 p.m.

More via Twitter:

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Polls Are Open — After a record-setting run-up to the 2020 presidential election, it’s Election Day and polls are now open. Polling places in Arlington are open until 7 p.m. County government is closed today so metered parking will not be enforced. There are two local races: Audrey Clement (I) challenging incumbent Libby Garvey (D) for Arlington County Board, and Cristina Diaz-Torres, David Priddy and Symone Walker vying for two open Schools Board seats. [Arlington County]

Other Races on the Ballot — Two of Arlington’s members of Congress — Democrats Rep. Don Beyer and Sen. Mark Warner — are facing Republican challengers: Jeff Jordan and, in the Senate race, Daniel Gade. Both Jordan and Gade are retired Army officers. Also on the ballot are a pair of proposed changes to the Virginia constitution, and five county bond referenda, including one facing some organized opposition. [Arlington County]

Changes to Potomac Yard Development — “Six months after pivoting from office to residential, ZMA Development is aiming to go slightly smaller at Potomac Yard. The latest plans filed with Arlington County have reduced the number of residential units from 620 to 488 units planned at the Landbay C-East site at Potomac Avenue between 29th and 33rd Streets S (map). The two-phase development, now dubbed Hazel National Landing, also has added a 50 foot-wide ‘pedestrian passageway.'” [UrbanTurf]

Marymount Adding Softball — “Dr. Irma Becerra, President of Marymount University, has announced the addition of softball as a varsity sport, with competition set to begin during the Spring 2022 semester.” [Press Release]

New Public Access TV Series — “Months after their senior year in high school did a 180 degree turn from what they envisioned nearly a year ago for senior year rites, a group of students from Arlington launched the Gen Z Diaries: Senior Edition.” [Press Release]

Nearby: A Woke Retirement Home — Residents of the Goodwin House senior living community in Bailey’s Crossroads, home to a number of former Arlingtonians who were engaged in civic activism, have been busy getting out the vote and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement during the pandemic. [Washingtonian]

Nearly 63% of Active Voters in Arlington Have Already Cast Ballots

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:50 p.m.) Almost two-thirds of active voters in Arlington have already voted.

That’s according to the latest totals released by Arlington County’s elections office, following the end of in-person early voting on Saturday.

As of Sunday, 104,988 votes had been cast in Arlington, according to the county: 45,108 via mail and 59,880 via in-person early voting. That represents about 63% of active voters, far exceeding the record-breaking, pre-Election Day turnout of the 2016 presidential election, during which 26,947 voted in-person early and about 10,000 cast mail-in ballots.

Although in-person early voting and supervised ballot drop-off has ended, those who still have outstanding mail-in ballots — nearly 6,000 residents, according to the county — can either place them in one of the Arlington’s 24-hour ballot drop boxes or drop them off at a local polling place on Election Day.

Polling places will be open from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. on Tuesday. All voters are being encouraged to wear a face covering.

To make sure things go smoothly at the polls, Arlington says it is deploying extra police patrols.

“The County is monitoring election-related activities to ensure that voters can get to the polls and exercise their right to vote in a safe and uninhibited manner,” the county said in a press release today. “[The] Arlington County Police Department will have increased patrols in the community, with polling place awareness, but will not have officers stationed at polling places.”

Arlington also reminded residents that Tuesday is an official county government holiday, meaning that metered parking will not be enforced.

Asked about possible delays in counting ballots on election night, Gretchen Reinemeyer, the county’s Director of Elections, suggested that the deluge of early and mail-in ballots shouldn’t slow things down here — as those ballots have already been counted.

“We consider a ballot is counted when it is read by a scanner. When you vote early, you insert your ballot into the scanner. It is counted at that point in time,” she told ARLnow today. “We’ve been processing mail ballots since early October.”

Reinemeyer noted, however, that election officials will not tabulate the results of the early votes until the polls close at 7 p.m.

Rate of New Coronavirus Cases Reaches Highest Point Since May

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:50 a.m.) The seven-day rate of new coronavirus cases in Arlington reached the highest point since May over the weekend.

Fifty new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the trailing seven-day total to 227. That’s the highest point since May 31, when Arlington’s spring epidemic was starting its rapid descent.

Only 14 new cases were reported overnight Monday, bringing the trailing seven-day total back down a bit. Meanwhile, the county’s test positivity rate has been rising in recent days and now stands at 4.2%, the highest point since early September.

No new COVID-related hospitalizations nor deaths were reported over the weekend in Arlington, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. But Mike Silverman, the ER chief for Virginia Hospital Center, said on Friday, in a weekly public Facebook post, that the emergency room “experienced an uptick in cases this week.”

“Our hospital census is noticeably increased, our percent positive rate on symptomatic ER patients and on asymptomatic testing is up, and the number of ER patients who meet our ‘enhanced isolation’ status increased a fair amount,” Silverman said. “This last one is particularly interesting and concerning to me. Those numbers of patients have been really steady for a couple of months. There was a little uptick last week but it was close enough to be considered normal variability. This week had a significant uptick compared to last month.”

Silverman went on recommend continued mask wearing, citing research that suggests that those wearing masks are less likely to wind up in the hospital for COVID-19.

Across the country, hospitalizations in most states increased over the course of October, while the rate of new coronavirus cases hit a new national record on Friday. Closer to home, Virginia hit another record for new cases over the weekend; case counts in Northern Virginia have also been increasing.

During a weekly COVID-19 virtual town hall with the County Board, held on Friday, Dr. Reuben K. Varghese, the public health director for Arlington, said that the earliest a vaccine could be expected would be between January and April. But not everyone will want it, he said.

“Everyone would say they want a vaccine right now,” Varghese said. “Once it seems like it’s available, the desire drops credibly.”

In administering a vaccine, the county will not be able to prioritize everyone equally, he said. Those living and working in long term care facilities and those working in hospitals will be first on the list.

Jo DeVoe contributed to this report

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Water Rescue Over Weekend — “Rescue units from Arlington County and D.C. had to save a person late Saturday afternoon that was in need of help on the Potomac River near the area of GW Parkway and Windy Run after being stuck on rocks. Arlington officials said in a Tweet that the person rescued was evaluated and transported to a trauma center with non life-threatening injuries.” [WUSA 9]

Election Specials at Bayou Bakery — “Chef David Guas will make a pair of election-themed sandwiches at his Arlington bakery on on November 2 and 3. A McDonald’s-esque ‘Filet-O-Catfish’ represents President Trump, with cheese and pickled jalapeño tartar sauce. For Joe Biden, Guas riffed on a sandwich from Delaware sub shop Capriotti’s, offering up the ‘Bobby 2.0’ with sliced roasted turkey, cajun cornbread stuffing, and cranberry vinaigrette.” [Eater]

Beyer Bill to Make Pandemic Preps — “Today, Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Chair of the House Aviation Subcommittee, and Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) introduced the National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act of 2020, legislation to require the development of a national aviation preparedness plan for future public health emergencies.” [Press Release]

Wizard’s House Still for Sale — “Longtime Washington Wizards player Martin Gortat has put his Arlington house on the market. Gortat was the team’s starting center from 2013 until 2018, when he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. He retired from the NBA in February. Since leaving Washington, he’s been using the Arlington house as a luxury rental property.” [Washingtonian, HomeSnap]

Eden Center is an Election Battleground — “At a Biden rally at the Eden Center in Falls Church, Va., it took minutes before Trump supporters showed up to heckle. Banh mi seller Quang Le says it’s ‘like the Jets and the Sharks.'” [DCist, Twitter]

Photo courtesy James Mahony

Arlington Cemetery Station Work to Prompt Commute Changes Next Year

By ARLnow.com
1/4

The Arlington Cemetery Metro station is “deteriorating” and Metro’s plan to fix it next year will cause some changes for commuters.

The platform reconstruction work is currently scheduled to take place from mid-February to May. During that time, those bound for D.C. and Maryland from the Pentagon and stations to the south will be served only by Yellow Line trains and the Yellow Line bridge.

The Arlington Cemetery station project is one of several capital projects Metro has planned for next year. More from WMATA:

Metro will rebuild deteriorating outdoor platforms at Arlington Cemetery, Addison Road, and four Green Line stations north of Fort Totten next year, continuing its robust capital program to keep the system safe and reliable for the next generation of riders. To date, Metro’s Platform Improvement Project has completed full platform replacements at 10 stations — six on the Blue and Yellow lines and four on the Orange Line. Construction activity is currently underway at Reagan National Airport Station marking the project’s halfway point, leaving nine stations to be completed in 2021 and 2022.

Arlington Cemetery and Addison Road stations will be closed for approximately three months for full platform replacement and station renovation. Silver Line trains will pass through the Addison Road construction site without stopping using a single track. Yellow Line trains will provide all trans-Potomac service for stations Pentagon and south.

“Metro will partner and work closely with local jurisdictions and transportation agencies to develop alternative travel options, including free shuttle buses and other mitigation plans,” Metro said. “Specific travel alternatives and rail service details will be announced in the coming months, along with public outreach to ensure awareness of the project.”

The Arlington Cemetery project is the only announced 2021 project affecting service in Arlington.

JUST IN: Rate of New Local Coronavirus Cases Reaches Fresh Five-Month High

By ARLnow.com

The average rate of new coronavirus cases in Arlington is the highest it’s been in nearly five months.

Overnight 39 new cases were reported in the county, bringing the seven-day trailing total to 198. The last time the number was that high was June 2, as the county’s spring epidemic was petering out. The seven-day peak was 316 cases on May 3.

The cumulative total of cases in the county now stands at 4,686, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health.

Arlington’s test positivity rate is now 3.8%, up from 3.2% on Oct. 1, despite the number of PCR-based testing encounters increasing over the month of October. There were an average of 482 daily testing encounters on Oct. 1, compared to about 550 now.

Hospitalizations and deaths have continued to stay relatively low in Arlington. Four COVID-related deaths have been reported in October, compared to 10 in September. The current seven-day total of new reported hospitalizations stands at 10, down from 16 two days ago.

The rate of new cases statewide, meanwhile, has been increasing. The current seven-day trailing average of new daily cases in Virginia is 1,194, just four shy from the previous peak in August and one shy from the spring peak in May.

Northern Virginia topped 300 new COVID cases for the third straight day yesterday, while the U.S. recorded more than 90,000 cases, a single-day record for the country.

According to the Washington Post’s pandemic tracker, new cases, hospitalizations and deaths nationwide have risen 21.3%, 12.8% and 2.2%, respectively, over the past week.

Health experts say they’re concerned about the pandemic getting worse as the weather gets colder, perhaps mirroring the increasingly dire situation in Europe.

Police: Man Arrested for Following, Groping Women

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) A 23-year-old from Stafford, Virginia is behind bars after police say he followed and groped a woman on a trail and stalked two others in Clarendon and Courthouse.

The first incident happened around 10 a.m. on a Tuesday in September. A woman was walking on the Custis Trail when she noticed a man following her. The man then caught up to her and groped her, before fleeing, according to Arlington County police.

Then, on the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 9, the man followed two different women in Clarendon and Courthouse, even following them into businesses, prompting calls to police, according to ACPD.

Police announced this morning that they had arrested Lamar McCarthy of Stafford and charged him with sexual battery and two counts of felony stalking. He is currently being held in the county jail.

This is not the first time the 23-year-old has been accused of such crimes. From the Falls Church News-Press in May:

Falls Church police said they arrested the man responsible for a string of incidents over the past few weeks where he either followed or chased after women on both the W&OD Trail and through residential neighborhoods.

Lamar Dontae McCarthy, a 23- year-old from Stafford, was charged with assault for his latest instance on Saturday, authorities said.

McCarthy is facing an assault and battery charge in connection to the May incident, one of three such incidents in Falls Church this spring, according to the paper. He appears to have been released on bond after his May arrest.

Arlington police are now asking any other potential victims of McCarthy to step forward.

More from an ACPD press release:

The Arlington County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is announcing the arrest of a suspect charged after following three women walking in Arlington County. Lamar Dontae McCarthy, 23, of Stafford, VA was arrested and charged with sexual battery and two counts of felony stalking. He is being held in the Arlington County Detention Facility on no bond.

At approximately 9:58 a.m. on September 8, police were dispatched to the 3100 block of Lee Highway for the report of an assault just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined that the female victim was walking on the trail when she observed the suspect walking towards her from a distance. She subsequently turned around and began walking away from the suspect, who increased his pace, closing the distance between them. The suspect caught up to the victim, grabbed her hip, and touched her inappropriately. The victim yelled, prompting the suspect to flee on foot prior to police arrival.

At approximately 1:27 p.m. on October 9, police were dispatched to the 3000 block of Wilson Boulevard for the report of a suspicious person. Upon arrival, it was determined the victim was walking in the area when the suspect followed her into a business. The victim recognized the suspect from a previous encounter in April and contacted police.

At approximately 3:37 p.m. on October 9, police were dispatched to the 2300 block of Clarendon Boulevard for the report of a suspicious person. Upon arrival, it was determined the female victim was on a walk when she noticed the suspect following her. The victim attempted to evade the suspect by taking various routes, sitting in a park and entering a business. The suspect continued to follow, prompting her to contact police.

This remains an active criminal investigation. Anyone with past inappropriate encounters with the suspect or who has additional information related to this investigation is asked to contact Detective P. Peña at 703-228-4183 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Days Inn’s Days May Be Numbered — “An aging hotel along Route 50 in Arlington could be redeveloped… Arlington’s Planning Commission will study a roughly 2-acre site at 2201 Arlington Blvd., currently the home of the Days Inn by Wyndham hotel, to understand how it could accommodate new construction in the future. Shooshan is pitching a mix of apartments over retail, and perhaps some townhomes, for the property.” [Washington Business Journal]

Police Planning Halloween Parade — “In lieu of traditional trunk-or-treat events in the neighborhoods, the Arlington County Police Department’s Community Outreach Teams are dressing up their cruisers in creative costumes for a vehicle parade through the County” on Saturday afternoon. The parade will go through: “Lyon Village, Bluemont/Westover, Buckingham, Arlington Mill/West end of Columbia Pike, Green Valley, Aurora Hills, and Shirlington/Fairlington.” [ACPD]

Halloween Health Reminders — “While Halloween is not an official holiday, and is not regulated by the County, Arlington is asking everyone to continue to practice the behaviors we know slow the spread of COVID-19: avoid close contact with people not in your household, wear a mask and practice social distancing and frequent and proper hand washing. This may mean choosing not to participate in Halloween this year.” [Arlington County, @kcristol/Twitter, ARLnow]

W-L Grad Indicted for Philly Fire — “Ayoub Tabri, 24, of Arlington, VA, has been charged by Indictment for the arson of a Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) vehicle. Both incidents occurred during violent civil unrest in Philadelphia on May 30, 2020.” [Dept. of Justice, Philadelphia Inquirer, FBI]

MCM is Woman’s Arlington Farewell — “Since COVID, my husband and I, we found out we’re moving out west to Seattle, Washington,” outgoing Arlington resident Elizabeth Sloss told WTOP, about her upcoming virtual Marine Corps Marathon run. “I’m using this race as a farewell tour of D.C. to visit all my favorite places and important locations that have a lot of significant meaning to me.” [WTOP]

Bishop’s Statement on France Attacks — “In union with people of goodwill throughout the Diocese of Arlington, the people of France and around the world, I express my deep sorrow and offer fervent prayers for those impacted by the terror attack at the Notre Dame Basilica in Nice, France, this morning. My prayers are with the individuals killed and those injured, as well as their families and the larger community.” [Arlington Catholic Herald]

Widespread Power Outages in Arlington, McLean and Falls Church

By ARLnow.com

Update at 6:40 p.m. — Power appears to have been restored to all Arlington and most Fairfax County customers, according to Dominion’s website, after an issue with a transmission line.

Earlier: More than 1,600 Dominion customers are without power in Arlington due to a widespread power outage.

The outage is affecting parts of Arlington County, Fairfax County and the City of Falls Church, according to Dominion. A cause was not given on the company’s website, but the restoration time was estimated as between 5-10 p.m.

The outage is affecting North Arlington neighborhoods, including areas around Jamestown Elementary, Yorktown High School and Bishop O’Connell High School.

Wide swaths of McLean, Pimmit Hills and West Falls Church are also affected in Fairfax County, where more than 26,000 Dominion customers are reported to be in the dark.

Arlington County police are responding to several intersections where the traffic signals are inoperable, for traffic control.

The outage comes amid wet and breezy conditions, as the remnants of Hurricane Zeta exit the area. A Dominion spokeswoman said via social media that the outages stem from an issue with a transmission line.

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