U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), who represents the largest number of federal employees of any member of the U.S. House of Representatives, today hailed the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement of a new requirement a requirement that all federal employees and contractors receive COVID-19 vaccinations or be tested regularly.
Beyer said:
On July 26, Livability22202 and the Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture, with support from the National Landing BID and Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation, hosted an inauguration ceremony for the Highlands Urban Garden (HUG), the National Landing community’s demonstration urban garden.
Local residents, neighborhood leaders and stakeholders attended the ceremony, which thanked donors and volunteers and introduced HUG to the community. Arlington County Board Member Libby Garvey provided remarks and following the speakers, volunteers harvested the produce that was available for donation.
The Lee Highway Alliance (LHA) Board has unanimously voted to rename itself the Langston Boulevard Alliance (LBA), following the change in the name of the roadway itself that was approved by the Arlington County Board on July 17, 2021.
The renaming of both the Alliance and Lee Highway comes after nearly one year of community outreach, discussions, name vetting, and planning led by LBA’s Working Group. LBA is proud to bear the name of John Mercer Langston, the American abolitionist who became Virginia’s first Black Congressman in 1888, established Howard University’s School of Law and served as its Dean in the 1870s, and was the Inspector General of Arlington’s Freedman’s Bureau in the 1860s.
Arlington County is misusing taxpayer resources and county bandwidth to actively promote a partisan campaign rally. One-party rule in Arlington continues to produce a lack of accountability for our elected leaders and county officials. Not only are they actively promoting a political event, they also went a step further to link to the event RSVP page. Tens of thousands of Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, and Greens certainly object to this blatant misuse of taxpayer resources and county bandwidth. But it’s not surprising to see the Democratic Establishment once again put their finger on the scale for their preferred political outcome.
Arlington Republicans are working around the clock to turn out voters for Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin and our Republican candidates up and down the ballot. This desperate, coordinated attempt between County leaders and the Arlington Democrats to drive up Democratic votes in Arlington will only serve to drive Republicans to work harder to elect Glenn Youngkin and our entire Republican slate.
NAACP National challenged our over 2,200 units across America to advocate for meaningful civilian oversight boards with subpoena power. During the past 12 months, leaders of Arlington Branch NAACP, our allies, stakeholders, and citizens have worked diligently to ensure this Call to Action was accomplished. Despite the County Board’s recent adoption of a Community Oversight Board (COB) ordinance, we are disappointed that the County Board refused to adopt the General Assembly-approved authority for the COB to be truly independent and to make binding disciplinary determinations. Nevertheless, we will work with all parties to ensure that the process is equitable and transparent. Most striking to many was how during the County Board’s discussions, the wellness and morale of police officers under investigation outweighed the human rights of the most marginalized. The Board should have prioritized the concerns of communities of Color that are discriminated against and have been historically victimized by improper policing. The County Board’s failure to do so demonstrates their disconnect with the people they swore to serve.
What remains problematic to us is the failure of elected leaders to embrace the moment and fully adopt authorities granted in § 9.1-601. Law-enforcement civilian oversight bodies which authorizes the following:
The Arlington Professional Firefighters & Paramedics Association sent a letter on Monday to County Manager Mark Schwartz that constitutes its petition for an election to be the exclusive bargaining agent for the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Bargaining Unit as defined in legislation passed July 17.
The association urged the manager to hold an election at the earliest possible opportunity, opening the door to contract talks before the end of the year.
The Sycamore School (TSS) announced today that it has earned accreditation by Cognia™, a nonprofit organization that provides quality assurance for schools, school districts, and education service providers.
“After a detailed evaluation process, The Sycamore School is proud to receive accreditation from Cognia in our first year of eligibility,” said Dr. Karyn Ewart, Founder and Head of School at TSS. “It demonstrates our commitment to excellence and high standards, offering our students engaging and individualized learning opportunities that meet the needs of our community.”
Marymount University is joining 11 other higher education institutions within the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) in setting out across the state to understand where residents are most at risk during extreme heat waves.
Marymount faculty, staff, students and community volunteers will use specially designed thermal sensors to record air temperatures and humidity throughout the Northern Virginia area over three specific times this Thursday: 6 am, 3 pm and 7 pm. Previous campaigns conducted by the VFIC in Richmond, Norfolk and Roanoke revealed temperature differences as significant as 16°F between the coolest and hottest places.
Elements Massage® opens at Westpost (formerly Pentagon Row) on Monday, July 19th. As one of the nation’s leading massage therapy brands, Elements Massage differentiates itself by providing highly customized and therapeutic massage services to walk-in clients and through its industry-leading membership program, the Elements Wellness Program.
Founded by a massage therapist, the fundamental core of Elements Massage is to provide truly customized therapeutic massage services to every client, every session.
Virginia Hospital Center (VHC), a community-based hospital providing medical services to the Washington, DC metropolitan area for 75 years, has received a transformative gift of $5 million from long-time donor Lola C. Reinsch to promote the Hospital’s campus expansion efforts.
“We are honored to receive this gift and would like to thank Lola and the Reinsch Pierce family for their enduring commitment to Virginia Hospital Center,” said Tony Burchard, President of the Virginia Hospital Center Foundation. “This generous gift will have a tremendous impact on our efforts to expand the Hospital’s reach, helping to transform the healthcare we can provide to our community. Philanthropic commitments, and generous gifts such as these, are crucial in allowing VHC to continue to lead in innovation and patient care.”
Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $13,715,000 in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded to four airports across the Commonwealth to fund infrastructure improvements to the airports’ runways.
“We are pleased to see these federal dollars awarded to the Commonwealth to go toward updating four of Virginia’s airport runways,” said the Senators. “This funding will enable our airports to better support travelers and economic opportunities for the surrounding areas.”
