News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Looking up in Ballston (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Reminder: Back to School Today — From an Arlington County Police Department spokesperson: “Our Special Operations Section will be conducting traffic education and enforcement efforts in and around school zones to remind everyone of safe practices as they travel to and from their destinations during Back to School.” [ARLnow]

Senior Facility Plan Revised — “McLean-based Artis Senior Living, the assemblage’s owner and contract seller, planned to raze the site to make way for a six-story, roughly 163,000-square-foot 175-unit assisted living facility with a partially below-grade parking garage. McCaffery’s application proposes increasing the building size by about 6,400 square feet and adding an independent living component to the assisted living and memory care uses previously approved.” [Washington Business Journal]

Bike Advocates Looking to 2024 — “Bicycle advocates in Arlington are hoping they come away with more from the 2024 General Assembly session than they garnered in 2023. ‘We didn’t get anything accomplished last year,’ said Gillian Burgess, a member of the county’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, speaking at an Aug. 21 meeting.” [Gazette Leader]

Boston is Top DCA Destination — “Boston is now surpassing [Atlanta] as the No. 1 destination of travelers from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to updated federal data. For the 12-month period ending May 31, about 812,000 passengers traveled from Reagan National to Boston’s Logan Airport.” [Gazette Leader]

WETA Host Dies — “We are heartbroken to announce that If You Lived Here co-host and our beloved WETA colleague John Begeny passed away peacefully in his sleep early this morning, with his dog Charlie by his side, after a brief but valiant battle with cancer.” [Facebook]

School Board Pay Process — “Arlington School Board members are starting the process of considering potential changes to their compensation and benefits. Staff are ‘beginning the revision process,’ according to an Aug. 18 memo from Superintendent Francisco Durán to School Board members. The matter will be discussed at the Aug. 30 meeting of the School Board’s policy subcommittee.” [Gazette Leader]

Crash Caught on Camera — From Dave Statter: “A crash yesterday afternoon on Langston Boulevard at the intersection with Kirkwood & Spout Run. @ArlingtonVaFD & @ArlingtonVaPD handled.” [Twitter]

ICYMI: Friday Storm Photos — A vivid double rainbow could be seen after a brief but potent bout of heavy rain and wind whipped through Arlington Friday evening. [Twitter, Twitter, Twitter]

It’s Monday — There is a 40% chance of showers, mostly in the afternoon, with mostly cloudy skies and a high temperature near 78°F. For Monday night, expect a 50% chance of showers, mostly cloudy skies, a low around 69°F, and an east wind of 5-7 mph. [Weather.gov]

News

NEW: Another inmate has died at the Arlington County jail

By ARLnow.com
Jail entrance at the Arlington County Detention Facility (file photo)

A 73-year-old woman died this morning at the Arlington County jail.

Abonesh Woldegeorges was found unresponsive in her cell around 7 a.m. and, despite resuscitation efforts, later pronounced dead, according to Arlington County police.

Per scanner traffic, she was found bleeding on the floor of the cell, potentially after falling out of bed.

Woldegeorges was in jail after being arrested for trespassing by Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police on Aug. 13. She “was being held at the Arlington County Detention Center awaiting transport to Loudoun County, Virginia for a Failure to Appear charge in relation to a prior Trespassing incident with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office,” ACPD said.

“Ms. Woldegeorges’ family was notified of her passing,” said a police press release. “Our condolences go out to her family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

“The Arlington County Police Department is conducting a death investigation and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine cause and manner of death,” the press release said. “Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).”

Woldegeorges is the eighth person to die in the Arlington County jail over the past eight years. Her death comes despite heightened attention on jail deaths and efforts to update health check protocols at the county lockup.

Prior to today, the last death at the jail happened on Feb. 1, 2022. Including Woldegeorges, all but one of the people to die at the jail over the past eight years have been Black.

Last year the Arlington branch of the NAACP called for a federal investigation into the ongoing series of deaths. In a statement Sunday night, the organization renewed its call for an investigation.

The Arlington Branch of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, responds to the news of a Black woman detained at the Arlington County Detention Center.

We are devastated and saddened to learn that another loss of life has occurred at our county jail and we send our most heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones. In recent years, 8 people have lost their lives at the county detention center. All of them have been people of color. It is well-established that Black people are policed and arrested at significantly higher rates than their peers in Arlington, Virginia.

While Arlington is only 9% Black, the jail population on any given day is over 65% Black. “It’s unimaginable that a 73-year-old woman being held on trespassing charges would ultimately lose her life while in custody. Unfortunately, we have seen a pattern and practice of blatant disregard for basic care at the Arlington county jail and it is leading to deaths at an alarming rate,” said Michael Hemminger, President of the NAACP Arlington Branch.

After the seventh death in seven years, a $10M wrongful death suit was filed in Arlington County and the NAACP Arlington Branch called for a Department of Justice Investigation into the detention center. The Branch has reached out to government officials to discuss this incident and is currently awaiting a response. “Arlington County Sheriff’s Office and other county leaders have, again, failed to properly address the root problem, and another person has tragically lost her life,” said Hemminger. The NAACP will ensure a thorough and proper investigation is completed, and the organization will ensure that any civil rights violations are met with due accountability and justice.

The jail has been under new leadership since January, when long-time Arlington County Sheriff Beth Arthur stepped down and Chief Deputy Sheriff Jose Quiroz became the interim Sheriff. Quiroz won the Democratic primary for Sheriff in June, after running on a pledge of improving inmate well-being, and will be the sole candidate on the ballot in November.

Sponsored

Halls Hill native recalls making history with Civil Rights-era lawsuit over voting in Arlington

By Scott McCaffrey

As a 23-year-old voter in still-segregated 1960s Virginia, Portia Haskins was convinced she had followed all the rules in order to cast a ballot in Arlington.

Election officials disagreed, saying she had failed to pay the appropriate poll tax still required in the Old Dominion, maintained in part to disenfranchise Black voters.

Haskins took the county, and state, to court. She won, with her case ultimately being folded into the landmark 1966 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Haskins was an unusual legal combatant, committed to seeking unity.

“I’m the type of person who wants to bring everyone together,” the Halls Hill native said at a weekend presentation sponsored by the county library system and hosted by the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.

After her efforts to vote were rejected at the local level, Haskins enlisted support from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to challenge the ruling. She traveled several times to the U.S. District Court in Richmond, then watched as the case and others like it moved to the Supreme Court.

Her reaction at the final outcome? “I was so happy,” she said.

The 6-3 ruling in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections effectively outlawed requiring poll taxes for state elections in those few states, like Virginia, that retained them. The poll-tax requirement for federal elections had been eliminated with ratification of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1964.

Lessons from the struggle are still valuable today, said Haskins, now 83.

“Everybody has to come together and fight” when they see injustice, she said. “You have to get together.”

Historical photo of Portia Haskins (via Black Heritage Museum of Arlington)

Haskins is among the Arlingtonians profiled in the “From Barriers to Ballots,” an exhibition marking the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Several versions of the exhibition are on display across Northern Virginia, with one at Central Library running through Nov. 4.

The Arlington Historical Society partnered on the exhibition, and was excited about the Haskins presentation, former president David Pearson said.

“She is someone we really wanted to learn about,” he said, pointing to a renewed effort to “really get out the stories of the complete history of Arlington.”

Haskins has been a member of Mount Salvation Baptist Church near the Glebewood neighborhood since 1951, and in the community she has promoted “the spirit of community and empowerment,” said Scott Taylor, president of the Black Heritage Museum.

Haskins lamented that much of the history of the civil-rights movement is being lost in the public consciousness.

“We went through a lot, but people today don’t know,” she said. Young people in particular, she said, “don’t care because they don’t know.”

Her request to today’s youth? “Let everybody know how you feel” and use the ballot box to create change.

“Voting is important. That’s what everybody really needs to do,” Haskins said.

News

UPDATED: Large group of bikers swarm Arlington roads

By ARLnow.com
Group of bikers in the Rosslyn area (photo courtesy Corey Inganamort)

(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) A large group of motorcycle and dirt bike riders cruised through Arlington tonight.

Police first started tracking the group on Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn just before 7:30 p.m. At least 50-100 riders were “recklessly driving all over the road,” in the words of one officer.

Police followed the group as they made their way over to Ballston and then down to the Pentagon City and Crystal City area before exiting Arlington.

As the group made their way south to the Beltway, gunshots rang out and multiple people were wounded at a pair of gas stations near Old Town Alexandria.

Around Town

ARLnow Daily Debrief for Aug 25, 2023

By ARLnow.com

Good Friday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Aug 25, 2023.

Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.

  1. UPDATED: Power being restored after 10,000 in dark around Pentagon City and Crystal City (70778 views)
  2. Suspects armed with ‘AK-47’ rob man after rear-end crash (15864 views)
  3. Police: Man sleeping in car fends off carjacking attempt (6695 views)
  4. An acoustic fence is coming to Walter Reed pickleball courts — a couple of years ahead of schedule (6543 views)
  5. Plans for DCA pedestrian bridge take shape, as more public input sought (6223 views)
  6. Police respond to attempted kidnapping of Ronald McDonald (5418 views)
  7. A poster ribbing ARLnow commenters won a ribbon at the Arlington County Fair (5232 views)
  8. Police investigating burglary at Clarendon gun store (5002 views)
  9. Panera Bread looks to replace former Cosi in Ballston after three-year vacancy (3717 views)

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.

Here are the events planned for Sunday:

⛅️ Saturday’s forecast

There is a 20% chance of brief showers later in the afternoon with a high temperature near 89°F and a north wind at 8 mph. For Saturday night, expect partly cloudy skies with a low around 69°F and a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am, accompanied by a northeast wind at 6 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
– Lao Tzu

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! Feel free to discuss the most-read stories of the week, the upcoming weekend events or anything else of local interest in the comments. 👋

Announcement

Rent vs. Buy Virtual Happy Hour

By Century 21 Redwood

Have you found your quarantine oasis? Are you tired of paying down someone else’s mortgage? Please join us for a Rent vs. Buy Happy Hour on Wednesday, March 31 at 6 p.m. via zoom (link to be provided upon RSVP).

Sip on your drink of choice and learn from Washingtonian and Northern Virginia Magazine top producing agents on how you can get $1,500 towards your closing costs immediately! We will discuss the Home Buying Process and Rent vs. Buy cost savings. Please RSVP by clicking on the link by March 30. Call/text Manavi at 703-869-6698 with any questions!

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