(Updated at 2:20 p.m.) Firefighters are on scene of a fire investigation at Arlington County’s Water Pollution Control Plant.
Initial reports suggest that smoke is coming from a portion of the sewage plant along the 3200 block of S. Eads Street, near Crystal City. The fire department is trying to determine the source of the smoke.
Police have been dispatched to the scene to shut down a portion of S. Eads Street.
During the investigation, a firefighter on scene suffered a medical emergency and is expected to be transported to the hospital via ambulance, according to scanner traffic.
As of 2:15 p.m., the fire department was starting to scale the operation back. The fire was reported to be the result of solid waste that caught fire within one of the plant’s systems.
Anabelle Lombard poses in front of the Supreme Court (courtesy of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards)
Local activist Anabelle Lombard was awarded $36,000 for her leadership work with Generation Ratify, a youth organization aiming to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
The prize comes from the Helen Diller Family Foundation, which awards the prize annually to 15 Jewish teens who have made outstanding contributions through service and leadership.
In an interview with ARLnow, Lombard said receiving the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award is “monumental and also just so encouraging.”
“Getting that recognition now and saying that, yes, young people can make change, and we have supporters from who aren’t just young people, that’s really very encouraging,” the Wakefield High School graduate said.
Lombard started Generation Ratify with a group of friends in 2019 after learning that Virginia was the last state needed to approve the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The ERA, introduced in 1923, would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex. Since its founding, Lombard’s organization — which calls itself “the young people’s feminist movement” — has expanded from Arlington to all 50 states.
In January 2020, Virginia voted to ratify the amendment, thus crossing the three-quarters threshold necessary to pass an amendment.
“After Virginia did become the final state necessary to ratify, we moved towards the national struggle to finalize the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment, and enshrine gender equality for all people in the Constitution,” Lombard said.
The effort hit a snag, however.
The vote came nearly 40 years after the 1982 ratification deadline imposed by Congress. The U.S. Department of Justice held that it could not become part of the Constitution, even with Virginia’s vote.
Now, Lombard and Generation Ratify are on a mission to lobby for bills that would extend the deadline and make it possible to pass the 28th Amendment.
Doing so requires education and advocacy, she says.
“There’s not a ton of people talking about the ERA,” she said. “I think that’s the first struggle, is that most people think that we actually have the ERA or some version of it.”
To raise awareness and put political pressure on lawmakers, Generation Ratify has hosted virtual workshops to teach young activists about the amendment and shut down Constitution Avenue to demand the ERA’s addition to the Constitution.
Lombard and her peers have organized lobbying days, walkouts and filed two Amicus briefs.
Anabelle Lombard (courtesy of the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards)
Lombard emphasized that Generation Ratify represents a new era of young activists from all backgrounds.
“Before we started to get involved, the ERA activism world was not diverse at all,” she said. “It’s a lot of older white women, really, and they often push queer liberation and reproductive healthcare to the side when talking about the ERA to really appeal to a wider crowd.”
The young activist contends these issues are “pivotal” to how intersectional this amendment could be. She says Generation Ratify is the only ERA-specific organization that is vocal about involving the LGBTQ+ community, and that inclusivity was on display at the ERA Centennial Convention in Seneca Falls, New York on July 21.
Generation Ratify partnered with two other ERA organizations to put on the event, which celebrated those who have fought for the ERA for 100 years and are finalizing the federal ERA and launching the grassroots fight for a New York state ballot initiative.
That members of Generation Ratify now number more than 13,000, and that the organization co-hosted a national event in the historical home of women’s rights activism, is a far cry from its humble origins.
“It’s really grown from a couple of kids in Arlington, so that’s pretty amazing,” Lombard said.
Jail entrance at the Arlington County Detention Facility (file photo)
Prosecutors secured felony convictions earlier this month against two men in separate sexual battery cases.
In one case, a man was convicted of secually abusing “a mentally incapacitated or physically helpless individual” in a public park in Arlington in July 2020.
In the other case, a man was found guilty of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in her Arlington home in November 2019.
More on the convictions, below, via a press release from the Arlington and Falls Church Commonwealth’s Attorney Office.
On July 13, 2023, an Arlington County jury found Matthew Coble guilty of Aggravated Sexual Battery of a mentally incapacitated or physically helpless individual. The evidence presented at trial proved that Mr. Coble sexually abused the victim at a public park in Arlington County on July 24, 2020. The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2023. The statutory range of punishment in Virginia for Aggravated Sexual Battery is a period of incarceration between one and twenty years and a fine of up to $100,000.
On July 25, 2023, an Arlington County jury found Dylan Veitch guilty of Aggravated Sexual Battery of a minor under the age of 13 years old. The evidence presented at trial proved that Mr. Veitch sexually abused the twelve-year-old victim at her home in Arlington County in November of 2019. The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2023. Following the guilty verdict, a motion by the Commonwealth to revoke Mr. Veitch’s bond was granted by The Honorable Daniel S. Fiore, II. The statutory range of punishment in Virginia for Aggravated Sexual Battery is a period of incarceration between one and twenty years and a fine of up to $100,000.
Both cases were prosecuted by Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Nassir Aboreden. The Commonwealth’s Attorney Office would like to thank all members of the participating juries for their thoughtful consideration of the facts, evidence, and the law in each of these cases. The verdicts in each case provide the victims with a level of closure. Our thoughts are with the victims as they embark on their healing journey.
Metal table in tree in Courthouse (photo courtesy Rachel G.)
Metal table in tree in Courthouse (photo courtesy Rachel G.)
Tree down onto house near Lacey Woods Park (photo courtesy Joshua Folb)
Tree down onto house near Lacey Woods Park (photo courtesy Joshua Folb)
County-recognized “notable” tree down at 7th and N. Nelson Street (photo courtesy anonymous)
(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) The herculean effort to clean up from Saturday’s storms and restore power to tens of thousands is continuing Monday morning.
The GW Parkway remains closed to most traffic between Spout Run Parkway and the Beltway — and is expected to remain closed until later this week, as crews work to clear a large number of downed trees and branches.
The southbound lanes of Spout Run Parkway, where at least one car was damaged by a fallen tree Saturday, also remain closed.
From a press release issued Monday afternoon:
The George Washington Memorial Parkway is currently experiencing closures due to the aftermath of Saturday’s storm. Crews are diligently working to clear fallen trees from the roadway, and these closures are expected to last for the next few days.
To enhance and expedite the restoration process, George Washington Memorial Parkway has deployed a total of five crews, including its own team, assistance from the National Capital Parks-East (NACE), and three additional emergency contracting crews.
The North Parkway, from Spout Run Parkway to I-495, remains closed, except for the northbound lanes from Route 123 to I-495. Additionally, the southbound lanes of the Spout Run Parkway are also closed.
These closures are necessary to ensure the removal of hazardous trees, including those that have fallen across the roadway and broken limbs that pose a risk to travel lanes. The recovery work is estimated to be completed within three to four days.
Round-the-clock power restoration work whittled down the peak of more than 34,000 without electricity in Arlington — half that of the 2012 derecho — to 3,154 as of 11:15 a.m. Monday, according to Dominion’s website.
The remaining small outages are scattered throughout the county, though most are concentrated in north-central Arlington — between Route 50 and Langston Blvd — including the Orange Line corridor, which was particularly hard hit.
Throughout Northern Virginia, 4,732 Dominion customers remained in the dark this morning, according to the power company. Crews have been working long shifts and overnight to restore power, with much of that effort happening in Arlington.
As of 4 p.m., the outages were down to 2,029 in Arlington and 2,338 throughout Northern Virginia.
More storm stories are emerging as the cleanup continues.
In Courthouse, a heavy metal table was blown off a condo patio during the storm’s intense winds and is now stuck high in a tree, above a sidewalk.
“The tree is right across the street from the entrance of the Palatine apartment building,” a tipster told ARLnow on Sunday. By Monday morning, however, the table had been removed by a tree maintenance crew, the tipster said.
Trees came down throughout Arlington, taking down utility lines, blocking roads, and in at least eight known cases falling onto houses. One unlucky family was on their way to Walt Disney World in Orlando when a huge tree smashed into their stately brick house near Lacey Woods Park, we’re told.
For those on the go, it’s not just drivers who have to deal with fallen trees and other debris. A trail cleanup is planned for 5:30 p.m. today on the Mount Vernon Trail near Rosslyn, which “got hit particularly hard,” according to a social media post.
The MVT got hit hard yesterday particularly near @rosslynva. Join us for a post storm cleanup at the southern end of Trollheim Bridge/Bridge 31. We will be removing branches and debris.
— Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail (@MtVernonFriends) July 30, 2023
Additionally, numerous trees are reported to be down on the Custis Trail and at least one park is closed due to storm damage.
“Rocky Run Park is closed for maintenance due to damages caused by the July 29 storms,” said Arlington’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation. “Please do not go onto the park grounds.”
Arlington National Cemetery, meanwhile, is also closed today except for funerals amid widespread tree damage at the nation’s most hallowed ground.
⚠️UPDATE: ANC closed to visitors and pass holders on Monday, July 31 ⚠️
Funerals will still be conducted as scheduled and open to attendees.
Our crew needs a little more time to return ANC to its proper condition before we welcome visitors. We apologize for the inconvenience. pic.twitter.com/3uPTMDjLI5
— Arlington National Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) July 30, 2023
More storm damage photos from social media, below.
Following the July 29 storms, there are many downed trees on the County’s trails (like these images from the Custis Trail). We appreciate your patience as crews work to survey and address these areas. Please use caution when using the trails as cleanup will take some time. pic.twitter.com/s8WXxxYIPU
