The clash came to a head last night (Wednesday) when delegates to the federation of civic groups voted 75-32 for a resolution, introduced by some former CivFed presidents, that included harsh criticism of county processes.
The NAACP had proposed a milder substitute resolution, focused on improving public engagement.
The tussle is downstream of two shifts in Arlington. The first occurred amid the racial reckoning of 2020, which resulted in CivFed pledging to be more diverse. The second occurred as Missing Middle, the proposal to allow greater density in single-family home neighborhoods, laid bare issues many residents say pervade civic engagement.
“A few years ago, the NAACP joined CivFed in a good faith attempt to assist the organization evolve, transform and grow; however, our organizational mission, vision, and values don’t seem to align well,” NAACP President Mike Hemminger said in an email shared with ARLnow. “We wish the CivFed the very best in the future.”
He said the NAACP has appreciated the chance to engage with members in recent years.
“Our sincere prayer is that your organization will one day accomplish the diversity, equity, inclusion and sense of belonging that so many are craving from leader organizations in the community,” he said.
CivFed President John Ford said he was disappointed to learn of the NAACP’s decision last night, especially after 98% of members voted for its admission to the federation in 2020.
“CivFed and NAACP continue to share many goals, and the many associations and warm, respectful relationships we have built with our NAACP colleagues will endure,” he said in a statement. “We hope they may seek to rejoin us in the future. And I am certain that the two organizations will continue to collaborate in many areas for the benefit of all Arlingtonians.”
While there is one overt reference to Missing Middle, long-standing criticisms of this zoning amendment permeate the text and its 100-plus footnotes, including one resolution.
It urges the County Board to adopt a policy “preventing implementation of plans, policies or projects (new major initiatives or revisions) in the absence of a thorough and data-supported analysis of the potential and cumulative impacts.”
The NAACP instead urged the county to invest “more resources in comprehensive planning and developing a more sophisticated, data-driven toolkit for anticipating, addressing, and communicating likely impacts from County policies.”
The original resolution ruffled feathers of other community groups, too, including YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, a group advocating for more housing that has been vocal in the push for Missing Middle housing in Arlington.
In its own statement, the group said an appendix to CivFed’s motion is a “100-page laundry list of personal attacks, vague accusations of dismissiveness by County staff and Board members, unfounded insinuations of conflicts of interest by Advisory Group appointees, plus multiple direct attacks on YIMBYs of Northern Virginia.”
Police close Fairfax Drive in Ballston due to large gas line rupture (staff photo)
Gas crews on scene, repairing ruptured line (staff photo)
Police close Fairfax Drive in Ballston due to large gas line rupture (staff photo)
Gas crews on scene, repairing ruptured line
Fire department on scene where a large gas line was ruptured
Construction crew on scene where a large gas line was ruptured
Fire department on scene where a large gas line was ruptured
Construction crew on scene where a large gas line was ruptured
(Updated at 9:15 p.m.) A busy set of highway ramps were shut down in Ballston due to a construction mishap.
A construction crew accidentally ruptured a large, 6-inch gas line along the 4600 block of Fairfax Drive, in front of the Holiday Inn hotel.
The fire department quickly requested that Arlington County police and Virginia State Police shut down all of Fairfax Drive between N. Glebe Road and I-66, including the ramp from the highway.
Firefighters also evaluated whether they should evacuate the hotel and surrounding buildings, but no evacuations were ultimately reported.
As of 3:15 p.m., the leak was still active, according to the fire department, despite Washington Gas crews having been on scene for about an hour, and the odor of natural gas was spreading throughout the area.
“Odor can be smelled throughout Ballston,” ACFD said on social media. “This will be an extended operation with impacts for an unknown duration.”
Firefighters were dispatched to at least one location outside of Ballston, in the nearby Bluemont neighborhood, after a caller reported a concerningly strong smell of gas.
As of 7:15 p.m., the roadway and the ramps reopened, though lane closures remain on Fairfax Drive.
🚨Traffic Advisory 🚨for those traveling I-66 in Arlington County this afternoon (3/15/23): https://t.co/f1ugfG0um8
#UPDATE: @washingtongas on scene. Leak is still active. Odor can be smelled throughout Ballston. Air readings in surrounding buildings are normal. This will be an extended operation with impacts for an unknown duration. No evacuations required currently.
(Updated at 12:45 p.m.) Arlington County police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire near Columbia Pike last night.
The incident happened around 11 p.m. Tuesday on the 1000 block of S. Wayne Street, near several high-rise apartment and condo buildings.
Initial reports suggest that multiple shots were fired, possibly in a parking garage, where arriving officers found a dissipating cloud of smoke. Callers also reported seeing several people running from the scene, according to scanner traffic.
John Antonelli, who lives in one of the residential towers nearby, described hearing “automatic weapons fire,” followed by someone driving away at a high rate of speed and, shortly thereafter, “a lot of cops” arriving on scene.
On Twitter, others also reported hearing between 8 and 11 shots fired in rapid succession, followed by a car speeding off.
There were no initial report of injuries.
The investigation was quickly moved to an encrypted police channel. An Arlington County Police Department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an ARLnow inquiry sent last night, but provided the following from the department’s crime report early Wednesday afternoon.
SHOTS FIRED, 2023-03140266, 1000 block of S. Wayne Street. At approximately 10:58 p.m. on March 14, police were dispatched to the report of shots heard. Responding officers recovered evidence in the area of S. Courthouse Road at 12th Street S. confirming shots were fired. During the course of the investigation, officers established a perimeter, processed the scene and spoke with potential witnesses who reported observing several individuals flee the area on foot following the shots. No property damage or injuries were reported. There are no suspect descriptions. The investigation is ongoing.
This is just the latest gunfire incident in Arlington. On Jan. 29, two separate shots fired calls drew a police response to the Green Valley and Arlington Mill neighborhoods. On Jan. 30, gunfire between two vehicles speeding down Columbia Pike resulted in bullet holes in the front windows of Bob & Edith’s Diner, a block from last night’s incident. On Feb. 20, more shots were fired between two vehicles in the Virginia Square area.
(Updated at 11 a.m.) The namesake of Maury Park in Virginia Square is Matthew Fontaine Maury, a pioneer of oceanography and a Confederate commander during the Civil War.
The park’s name could change, however, if renaming is included in a planning and renovation process slated to begin at the end of 2023.
“It is likely that the renaming of Maury Park may be considered during its upcoming master planning process, similar to other park renaming efforts,” Jerry Solomon, a spokeswoman for the Arlington Dept. of Parks and Recreation, tells ARLnow.
References to Maury have been removed over the last few years, prompted by the racial reckoning catalyzed by the murder of George Floyd by police officers. Last week, the U.S. Navy announced it will rename the oceanographic survey ship USNS Maury.
In July 2020, a statue of Maury in Richmond was removed after the mayor ordered the removal of all Confederate statues on city property.
Maury Park (3550 Wilson Blvd), a small green space behind the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, formerly the Arlington Arts Center, may be next. The old school building that has housed the arts center since 1977 was renamed in 1944 to honor Maury.
Arlington does not currently have a process for surveying all county structures for potential renamings, but DPR considers name changes as parks and facilities come up in the renovation cycle, Solomon said.
Through the renovation process, the county renamed Henry Clay Park to Zitkala-Ša Park — at the suggestion of the Lyon Park Citizens Association — “in order to honor the prominent author and activist from the indigenous community as opposed to a known owner of slaves,” Solomon said.
Maury Park is one of three urban parks in the Virginia Square Planning Area and in the Ashton Heights Civic Association, including Herselle Milliken Park and Gum Ball Park, set for upgrades in the near future.
“The project will master plan all three parks simultaneously to identify community needs and priorities while taking into consideration that the parks are located in close proximity and should have complementary rather than duplicative features,” per the Capital Improvement Plan.
Citing the county’s renaming policy, Solomon said, “renaming will be considered if a valid justification for the renaming is provided, the name change will not cause undue confusion with the community, and an appropriate level of community support exists.”
There are no plans to officially rename the building, according to Cynthia Liccese-Torres, the coordinator for Arlington County’s historic preservation program. The school is known interchangeably as the Clarendon School and the Maury School, though it has long been identified by the Arlington Arts Center, now the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington.
Signage referring to Maury was replaced with signage for the Arlington Arts Center before 2008 during building renovations, she said.
Born in 1806 in Fredericksburg, Maury joined the U.S. Navy in 1821 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1836, according to a county webpage for the Arlington Arts Center building, which it calls the Clarendon (Maury) School. He served as superintendent of the Navy Department’s Depot of Charts and Instruments from 1842 to 1855 and from 1858 to 1861.
In the 1850s, he worked on a project to “resettle slaves from the U.S. to the Brazilian Amazon as a way to gradually phase-out slavery in the U.S.,” an effort that “ultimately went nowhere,” according to a blog post by the Library of Congress.
“Maury was neither a slave-owner nor a proponent of slavery,” the post said. “Nevertheless, in declining to fight against his native Virginia, Maury resigned his post and joined the Confederate Navy, initially to direct coastal and river defenses and develop naval mine technologies to use against the Union.”
He ended up spending most of the war abroad, “hoping to persuade Europeans to support the Confederate cause and bring the war to a quick end,” the Library of Congress post said.
According to Arlington County, Maury served as commander in the Confederate Navy and later as its secretary.
Following the end of the war, Maury remained abroad for several years before taking a professorship in meteorology at the Virginia Military Institute, in Lexington, where he would teach until his death in 1873.
Viewing Columbia Pike from inside Acme Pie Co. (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Retired Arlington K9 Dies — “ACPD and the K9 Unit are deeply saddened to announce the passing of retired K9 Hugo. K9 Hugo retired along with his handler, MPO Tom Binckley, in February, after 11 years of dedicated service to the Arlington community as a dual-purpose patrol and explosive detection canine. Over his career, K9 Hugo helped ensure the safety of our community through patrol work and numerous explosive detection sweeps at large events, such as the Marine Corps Marathon and July 4th celebrations. K9 Hugo passed away peacefully on March 9th with his handler by his side.” [Twitter]
FAA Investigating DCA Incident — “The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that it is investigating after a regional jet made a wrong turn last week and crossed a runway at Reagan National Airport as a United Airlines flight was preparing to take off. The incident took place about 8:30 a.m. March 7. It’s the latest of several incidents at U.S. airports in recent weeks to catch the attention of regulators, lawmakers and the airline industry.” [Washington Post]
Local March Madness Viewing Options — “The cherry blossoms are blooming, the birds are chirping and the NCAA basketball tournament is about to begin. March Madness runs March 14-April 3, so get those brackets ready and start scoping out prime spots to watch the games. Visit these establishments to score great deals on drinks and bar food while catching the action on giant flat-screen TVs and projector walls.” [Arlington Magazine]
Women of Vision Honorees Announced — “Three recipients have been announced for the 2023 ‘Women of Vision’ awards, presented annually by the county government’s Commission on the Status of Women. Honorees include Krysta Jones, who will be saluted in the non-profit category for her work across the community as ‘a leader, mentor and connector, raising and amplifying women’s voices.'” [Gazette Leader]
Cardiac Arrest on Highway — An elderly woman reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest while aboard a small bus on southbound I-395 yesterday afternoon. CPR was performed and she was rushed to a local hospital, per scanner traffic. [Twitter]
No Fungal Zombies, Health Dept. Says — From the Virginia Dept. of Health: “DYK? Cordyceps, the fungus seen in #TheLastOfUs, does NOT make people sick. It evolved over millions of years to ONLY infect ants. Even though cordyceps doesn’t make people sick, humans — especially those with weakened immune systems — can be infected by other fungi.” [Twitter]
It’s Wednesday — Clear throughout the day but still breezy. High of 47 and low of 30. Sunrise at 7:21 am and sunset at 7:16 pm. [Weather.gov]
Chris Johnson speaks with ABC News’ Ryan Smith (via ABC News/Twitter)
Chris Johnson speaks during “The Confession?” an episode of ABC’s true-crime show “20/20” (via ABC News/Twitter)
This past Friday, ABC true-crime show “20/20” threw a spotlight on the 1998 homicide of an Arlington woman and the acquittal of a major suspect, her then-fiancé, last year.
In “The Confession?” ABC went on a deep dive into the death of Andrea Cincotta in her Arlington apartment.
It explained how a confession 20 years later kicked off a special grand jury investigation into the person who confessed, convicted felon Bobby Joe Leonard, and his alleged accomplice, Cincotta’s fiancé James Christopher Johnson. It concludes with their indictment in 2021 and a murder trial in 2022.
Johnson, who was a primary suspect, he says he discovered Cincotta dead in the closet of the apartment they shared back in August 1998. Prosecutors alleged Johnson had hired Leonard to kill Cincotta for $5,000. Last fall, Leonard pleaded guilty and a trial jury acquitted Johnson, who had maintained his innocence.
The trial happened during the tenure of Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti. As the race to elect the next Commonwealth’s Attorney heats up, candidate Josh Katcher blasted Dehghani-Tafti — who was elected on a justice reform platform — in a statement highlighting the 20/20 episode.
“My opponent once described herself as an innocence protection attorney,” he said. “It is entirely beyond me how you square that statement with this prosecution.”
For the report, Johnson gave exclusive interviews to ABC, describing how his life changed the day he says he discovered Cincotta, dead, in a closet.
“Something like this… You’re never going to be the same,” Johnson told ABC. “I used to be a lot more trusting. I trusted everyone, trusted the police, and now my eyes have been opened.”
A criminal genius, or an innocent man who confessed to a murder he didn’t commit? Watch the exclusive 20/20 interview you won’t hear anywhere else. The all-new 20/20 with @RyanSmithTV drops TONIGHT at 9/8c on ABC. Stream on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/JQBUfbcTPB
Dehghani-Tafti told ARLnow her office prosecuted the case after Leonard — already in prison for kidnapping, raping and attempting to kill a 13-year-old girl — confessed to killing Cincotta.
When someone is killed and we have evidence we believe is credible, it’s our job to stand up for them and for the community. We knew this was going to be a tough case and we took it to the community in the form of an investigative grand jury, the community investigated and brought back indictments for both Mr. Leonard and Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Leonard pleaded guilty and received a life sentence. We litigated Mr. Johnson’s case in the most transparent, fair way we could, giving them all the evidence we had and all the evidence they needed to defend their client. We don’t run away from hard cases and hard cases are the ones that go to trial. The system worked the way it was designed to work and I respect the jury’s verdict.
The episode walks through procedural and substantive missteps Johnson and his attorneys say Arlington County Police Department made investigating the crime in 1998 — and the prosecution made bringing the case to trial in 2022.
It says police processed the crime in a way that made it harder to find fingerprints on Cincotta’s throat. They questioned Johnson for 28 hours before he broke down and said he had a “vision” of harming Cincotta. He wrote this down, didn’t ask for an attorney, and was released, as the description of what he said he did did not match Cincotta’s autopsy.
Chris Johnson during an interrogation by Arlington County Police Department (via ABC News/Twitter)
“From the onset of the investigation, the Arlington County Police Department has remained committed to pursuing justice on behalf of Andrea Cincotta and her family,” ACPD said in a statement to ARLnow. “The court proceedings are the official release of information in this case and we’ll defer to the court records for additional information presented in this case.”
Two decades after the marathon interrogation, prosecutors used the “vision” statement to show the jury that Johnson lied to throw police off. Arlington Circuit Court Judge Judith Wheat ruled the statement was admissible, the Washington Post’s Tom Jackman, who was interviewed by ABC, reported last year.
The “20/20” episode cast doubt on the validity of this evidence.
“How did this case get charged? As a lawyer, I don’t get it,” a member of the defense team, Frank Salvato, told ABC. “I think prosecutors brought this case hoping they could catch lightning in a bottle.”
Jurors, meanwhile, did not buy the argument that the men knew each other.
“You don’t hire someone to kill someone whom you’ve never met,” jury foreman Chen Ling told ABC. “And, out of all the Bobby Joe Leonard testimony, he never claimed that they met. I feel like that was, for me, the important detail that gave reasonable doubt.”
They were wary of deals struck with Leonard to hear his confession and coax him onto the stand. In exchange to confessing to Arlington cold case Detective Rosa Ortiz in 2018 — when Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos was still in charge — Leonard asked prosecutors not to seek the death penalty. Then, before he took the stand in 2022, he requested to be moved to a lower-security prison.
“We were aware that Bobby Joe Leonard was offered certain things in exchange for his testimony,” said a juror named Chris, who requested ABC withhold his last name. “It seemed to me the police were just hammering home what they took to be the case.”
But the special grand jury that initially investigated Johnson believed there was enough evidence to go to trial, points out Edward Ungvarsky, an Alexandria-based private criminal defense lawyer.
Ungvarsky tells ARLnow that this case is an example of the system working and credited Dehghani-Tafti for bringing the case to the special grand jury and sharing exculpatory information with the defense.
Prosecutors will convene special grand juries “if they are going to give the community, which is the people who comprise the grand jury, the opportunity and power to decide whether to bring charges and what charges to bring and to investigate the case,” Ungvarsky noted. “Using a special grand jury increases community empowerment and accountability in the charging, and provides greater transparency and fairness to the defendant and the defense.”
In addition, special grand juries often have higher standards than regular grand juries, which are more commonly used to indict someone. This process is transcribed and copies are given to defense lawyers before trial. Witnesses testify and jurors can ask questions.
The grand jury “was advantageous for the defense,” Ungvarsky said, adding that they also benefited from the prosecution making available to them a local expert in false confessions, former D.C. police Detective James Trainum.
Trainum said Johnson’s confession was false and advised the prosecution not to use it. Prosecutors shared his information with Johnson’s attorneys, Ungvarsky and one of Johnson’s defense attorney confirmed to ARLnow.
“In this case, there was… lots of favorable information to help the defendant help defend himself at trial, and I think that really needs to be recognize,” Ungvarsky said. “It’s proper to do so because it’s exculpatory, favorable evidence.”
Not providing favorable information, called a “Brady disclosure,” is more common, he says.
Commonwealth’s Attorney candidate Katcher, however, was more pessimistic in his reading. He says the case belies his opponent’s lack of experience.
Katcher’s full statement is below.
Real justice means only engaging in just prosecutions. The 20/20 exposé on my opponent’s decision to prosecute an innocent man for murder, highlights exactly why relevant experience matters when it comes to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
This is not about trying ‘tough cases.’ This was about making a tough decision, and my opponent failed. Mr. Johnson will forever live as someone accused of murder.
My opponent once described herself as an innocence protection attorney. It is entirely beyond me how you square that statement with this prosecution.
The foreperson of the jury in the Johnson case asked, “Why did [the prosecution] even bother to bring the case?” My opponent owes an answer to Mr. Johnson and this community.
Puffy clouds and peeks of blue sky over Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Pentagon City Project May Be Back On — “Brookfield Properties’ plans to redevelop the old Transportation Security Administration headquarters in Pentagon City, which that developer paused in 2020, look like they’re underway again. Affiliates of Toronto-based Brookfield own the two parcels at 601 and 701 S. 12th St. — dubbed 12th Street Landing, nearly five acres in all.” [Washington Business Journal]
Security Boost for Shirlington Bus Station — “Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz has proposed spending an additional $115,000 in the coming fiscal year to address safety issues at the Shirlington bus-transfer station. ‘We’ve had some issues with break-ins after hours and safety concerns raised from our bus drivers,’ said Greg Emanuel, who heads the county government’s Department of Environmental Services, at a recent budget work session with the Arlington County Board.” [Gazette Leader]
Updated Peak Bloom Projection — “Because the buds are so far along so soon, we need to bump our peak bloom forecast forward by several days. We now predict peak bloom will occur between March 19 and 23, instead of between March 25 and 29. Our initial forecast was based on computer model projections for more intense and enduring cold weather than we’re actually experiencing.” [Capital Weather Gang]
Arlington GOP Chair Stepping Down — “Lori Urban, who has led the Arlington County Republican Committee since December 2021, announced on March 13 she would be stepping down at the end of the month… In her note, Urban said she would support party communications chair Matthew Hurtt, should he opt to run for the spot.” [Gazette Leader]
New Grants for Arlington Orgs — Several Arlington nonprofits are getting six-figure state grants, part of a statewide round of funding to address homelessness. From a press release: “Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced more than $12 million in Virginia Housing Trust Fund Homeless Reduction Grants for 68 projects across the Commonwealth. The funding will advance targeted efforts to reduce homelessness for 2,669 individuals and families through 25 permanent supportive housing, 34 rapid rehousing and nine underserved populations innovation projects.” [Virginia DHCD]
Arlington Has Priciest Local Homes — “It was neck and neck, but Arlington edged out neighboring Alexandria when it came to the highest average single-family-home price in February. The typical Arlington detached property sold for $1,354,642, according to figures reported March 10… That was just a hair above the city of Alexandria, where the average sales price stood at $1,353,600.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Pi Day — Partly cloudy in the morning, then becoming breezy. High of 43 and low of 33. Sunrise at 7:23 am and sunset at 7:15 pm. [Weather.gov]
Arlington County police are investigating an early morning carjacking that happened near Ballston over the weekend.
Police say three male suspects, at least one of whom was armed with a gun, approached a male victim who was parked on the 4100 block of N. Henderson Road. That’s just south of Ballston, in the Buckingham neighborhood.
“At approximately 3:15 a.m. on March 12, police were dispatched to the report of an armed robbery,” said today’s ACPD crime report. “Upon arrival, it was determined the victim was in his parked vehicle when three unknown male suspects approached his car, brandished a firearm and demanded the keys to the vehicle. The suspects then fled the scene in the stolen vehicle.”
“No injuries were reported,” the crime report continued. “The victim’s vehicle is described as a white Chrysler with Virginia license plate VTH1366. Officers canvassed the area for the suspects yielding negative results.”
The last reported carjacking in Arlington happened three days earlier, in Pentagon City. This is at least the ninth carjacking in Arlington so far this year. A total of 14 were reported in all of 2022, according to ACPD stats.
Also in this week’s crime report, four vehicles were broken into last week in the Pentagon City area, in a mini airbag theft spree.
More from ACPD:
LARCENY FROM AUTO (Series) (Late), 2023-03100073/03100074, 1400 block of S. Joyce Street/1100 block of Army Navy Drive. At approximately 7:28 a.m. on March 10, police were dispatched to the late report of multiple larcenies from auto. The investigation determined between approximately 9:30 p.m. on March 9 and 7:30 a.m. on March 10, the unknown suspect(s) shattered the driver’s side window to four vehicles, stealing airbags from three of them. Tires were stolen from two additional vehicles. The vehicles are described as Honda and Toyota models.
The ramps and medians at the intersection of S. Glebe Road and 9th Street S. (via Arlington County).
A pedestrian crosses S. Glebe Road at the 9th Street S. intersection without using a crosswalk (via Arlington County)
A photo of a deteriorating ramp and faded pavement markings (via Arlington County)
‘Overgrown vegetation’ at the S. Glebe Road and 9th Street S. intersection (via Arlington County)
A utility pole and retaining wall along S. Glebe Road (via Arlington County)
The intersection of S. Glebe Road and 9th Street S. (via Google Maps)
A high-traffic intersection one block north of Columbia Pike could get some safety upgrades, including a traffic signal.
Arlington County is embarking on a project to develop plans to upgrade the intersection of S. Glebe Road and 9th Street S., located between the Alcova Heights and Arlington Heights neighborhoods.
In addition to replacing a rapid-flash beacon with a traffic signal, the county says changes, in collaboration with the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, could include extending the curbs, updating the crosswalks and refuge medians, and fixing deteriorating ramps that do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The forthcoming project responds to community feedback, a 2022 safety audit of Glebe Road — a VDOT-maintained artery — and a 2020 analysis of “crash hot spots,” according to a county webpage. The latter two reports include data, photos and community comments describing unsafe conditions for pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers.
“Glebe Road from 14th Street N. to Columbia Pike is part of Arlington County’s High Injury Network,” the county says. “These corridors experience high concentrations of critical crashes compared to other corridors in Arlington.”
Per the safety audit, the intersection saw two pedestrian crashes and five left-turn vehicle crashes between January 2018 and February 2021. It also found that many people drive over the speed limit by at least 5 mph between 8th Street S. and 9th Street S., going an average of 38 mph.
“Community feedback received as part of the Vision Zero Action Plan development identified Glebe Road and 9th Street S. as an unsafe crossing,” the county said.
Arlington is working toward eliminating traffic-related serious injuries and deaths by 2030 as part of its initiative known as Vision Zero. Transportation advocates and the Arlington County Board called for swift action to realize plan goals and make roads safer after a rash of crashes involving pedestrians last year.
Some residents heralded the project on Twitter as sorely needed and a long time in coming.
Back in 2018, cyclists who participated in a “protest ride” to advocate for better cycling conditions, called specifically for improvements to 9th Street S., which is part of the Columbia Pike Bike Boulevards, a bicycle route parallel to the Pike.
This spring, there will be a public engagement opportunity in which the county will solicit feedback on existing conditions, including site constraints such as utility poles that block parts of the sidewalk.
County staff are preparing engagement materials, and “when that’s ready, the engagement will open,” Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Claudia Pors said.
The engagement will first ask people to share how they currently use these streets as well as any ideas or concerns they have.
“This input will be used to refine to goals and develop concept options,” the webpage says.
This spring and summer, county staff will again request feedback on a concept plan, which will be incorporated into a final design plan that the county anticipates can be prepared this fall.
Arlington County has completed, started or has planned other transportation upgrades along Glebe Road, per the 2022 audit, including new or re-programmed traffic signals and new ramps.
Other projects on Glebe Road (via Arlington County)
More than 150 weeks have passed since Dr. Mike Silverman, the emergency department chair at VHC Health, started his Friday night posts about the Covid pandemic.
The public Facebook posts have helped provide medical context and clarity, but in layman’s terms, to those seeking a better understanding of the disease and the response to it. ARLnow has regularly quoted Silverman’s posts in our coronavirus coverage.
Now, three years after Silverman’s first pandemic post from the ER, he’s wrapping up the weekly series. While not ruling out occasional updates, Silverman says now seems like a good time to conclude his Friday writing routine. By Silverman’s count, he has produced more than 195,000 words of updates on the local prevalence of Covid, as seen at the hospital, and the latest medical research on the virus and its treatments.
“Stopping on the second Friday in March three years later seems like a good run,” he wrote last month when announcing the decision.
When Silverman published his first Facebook update on March 13, 2020, only five Arlington cases had been confirmed, local grocery stores were being picked clean and Arlington Public Schools had just announced the closure of schools through spring break in April. The first confirmed case in the county had been announced just four days earlier.
Today, with vaccines and three years of exposure to the virus, it is still deadly and debilitating for some, but not nearly to the extent of earlier, when it was still a novel outbreak. As of last week, cases in Arlington were down to an average of just 11 per day, the lowest point since mid-2021, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data.
Covid cases in Arlington as of 3/13/23 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)
The last confirmed Covid-related death in Arlington was reported during the final week of 2022.
“Coronavirus is not quite done with us yet though we’ve learned to live with it,” Silverman wrote on Friday.
It’s been another good week when it comes to the number of COVID cases we’re diagnosing in the ER. Our symptomatic positives are way down, with only a handful of positive cases and a 3% positivity rate this past week (6 week running average 10.3%). This is the second week in a row that is notably less than the previous weeks. Our general screening population (in theory asymptomatic patients or those we think COVID is unlikely) is also below 4% for the second week in a row (6 week average about 6%). The numbers for all comers this week show a 3.7% positivity rate and the last two weeks each had about half the number of cases we saw in the weeks beforehand. These numbers are consistent with other periods of time after surges. The number of hospitalized patients with COVID also dropped about 20% since last week. Hospitalizations climb in the weeks following a surge and are a lagging indicator of when the surge is over. I suspect we’ll continue to see a drop in the number of patients hospitalized with COVID over the next few weeks as well. However, I do anticipate that taking care of COVID patients in the ER and in the hospital will be part of our world for a long time to come.
A cold rain falls on tree buds in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Silicon Valley Bank Failure Hits Home — “Banking regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank Friday morning in a stunningly swift collapse of a financial institution entwined in the D.C. region’s startup ecosystem… Based in Santa Clara, California, Silicon Valley Bank operated an office in Rosslyn… Arlington restaurant software platform company MarginEdge, like many tech startups, maintained a deposit account at Silicon Valley Bank but moved the ‘lion’s share’ of its funds to a different financial institution on Thursday, co-founder and CEO Bo Davis told the Washington Business Journal in an email.” [Washington Business Journal]
Substance Abuse Discussion Tonight — “Arlington H.S.-wide substance abuse crisis panel March 13 at TJ [Middle School] — this event is hosted in part by W-L, Wakefield and Yorktown high schools. Speakers from DEA, DHS, Arlington PD/Fire.” [Twitter]
New Opening Estimate for Four Courts — “As we’re inching closer to St. Patrick’s Day, folks in the Arlington, Va. community are probably wondering when the popular Irish pub Ireland’s Four Courts will reopen. 7News learned that construction is underway and the managing partner of the pub said they’re hoping to reopen by early August.” [WJLA]
Another Gun Caught at DCA — “An Alexandria man was stopped from bringing a loaded handgun onto his flight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Thursday morning, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The 9mm caliber gun, loaded with 15 bullets, was found in the man’s carry-on bag as he went through a security checkpoint at the airport.” [Patch]
ART Ridership Remains Lower — “An ongoing dearth of riders on the Arlington Transit (ART) bus service is one reason why taxpayers are likely to have to cover the vast majority of the cost for every trip taken on the bus system in the coming year, according to new data. As part of developing the government’s fiscal 2024 budget, officials are projecting cost recovery of 12 percent for the fiscal year that begins in July. That’s up from pandemic years, when ridership fell off a cliff, but is well below pre-pandemic levels.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Monday — Light rain in the morning and afternoon. High of 47 and low of 39. Sunrise at 7:24 am and sunset at 7:14 pm. [Weather.gov]
