cicadas

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

‘Click It or Ticket’ Campaign Underway — ” The Arlington County Police Department is reminding drivers about the lifesaving benefits of wearing a seat belt, during the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) national Click It or Ticket campaign. The high-visibility national seat belt campaign, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday, runs from May 24 to June 6.” [Arlington County]

Historic Home on Lee Highway for Sale — “Arlington County has less than 50 locally designated historic districts. Of those, 13 are single-family houses and only 10 of them are privately owned. Recently one of the privately owned historic houses came on the market for the first time in 25 years. The Eastman-Fenwick House is a Victorian frame house in the Queen Anne style that was designed by and built for Albert Prescott Eastman in 1876.” [Washington Post]

Local Company Growing Fast — “A dual-headquartered tech startup known for helping brands optimize their sales on Amazon is celebrating a significant growth milestone this week as it enters its 11th year in business. Amify, which is co-headquartered in Cincinnati and Arlington, Va., has reached an annual run rate of $100 million in gross merchandise value, or GMV, for its customers in terms of goods sold, officials said in a Thursday release. That represents a 600% increase in GMV under management over the past year.” [Cincy Inno]

Cemetery Lifting Some Covid Restrictions — “The leaders of Arlington National Cemetery announced that starting Monday, they will no longer limit the number of people gathered at a gravesite. The change comes as the D.C. region lifted many COVID-19 restrictions this weekend.” [Fox 5]

For Some Locals, Cicadas are Free Snacks — “Since the protein-rich cicadas aren’t poisonous, adventurous humans can eat them as well. A cookbook called Cicada-Licious includes recipes for cicada pizza, tacos and cookies. Brian Schwatken in Arlington, Virginia, fried some cicada nymphs with butter, garlic and onions. ‘They are tender, have kind of a nutty taste and are really good,’ he said.” [Voice of America]

Ready or Not, the Cicadas Are Here

By ARLnow.com
1/2

Enjoy the relative quiet outside while you can.

Two weeks ago, only about 13% of ARLnow poll respondents reported having seen a cicada so far this spring. That’s rapidly changing.

All around Arlington, locals are reporting cicada sightings. From Fairlington to Columbia Pike to Ballston to Westover to Lyon Village to the Rosslyn area, members of Brood X are emerging from their dirt homes of the past 17 years in rising numbers.

According to the Capital Weather Gang, the awakening is suddenly happening throughout the D.C. area. And there’s a lot more to come.

On Capital Weather Gang’s Twitter feed, we’ve received dozens of reports of the insects in Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District.

Monday morning brought a sudden increase in sightings after only isolated reports of early cicadas in the past one to two weeks. The emergence was somewhat unexpected given the lower-than-normal temperatures since Friday.

Despite the surge of reports, the insects haven’t crawled out of their holes everywhere, and a more massive swarm still awaits.

Below are some of the cicada sightings reported to ARLnow on social media.

(more…)

Morning Poll: Have You Seen Any Cicadas Yet?

By ARLnow.com

Get ready: the massive, every-seventeen-year generation of cicadas known as Brood X is about to emerge from the soil in Arlington and the D.C. area.

According to the Capital Weather Gang, the emergence is expected to kick into high gear over the next two weeks.

We’ve analyzed soil temperatures and the weather projections and, in our first-ever cicada forecast, predict a noticeable emergence of cicadas next week, starting as soon as between May 3 and 6. Then they should arrive in large numbers by the beginning of the following week, between May 10 and 12.

The swarm and the attendant cacophony of buzzy mating calls is expected to stretch into June.

Though the real action is predicted to start next week, there are already reports of cicadas sightings around the area.

Soon enough, cicada encounters will be unavoidable. But today we’re wondering how many readers have spotted the early birds.

Photo courtesy Fred Cochard

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Feds: Comfort Inn Hosted Gun Cache — “Members of the Oath Keepers paramilitary group likely stored weapons at a hotel in Arlington, Virginia, as part of their plan to have an armed rapid-response force during the January 6 insurrection, federal prosecutors said. The new details flesh out previous accusations from prosecutors that members of the Oath Keepers assembled a ‘quick reaction force,’ or QRF, in Virginia that could deploy into the nation’s capital if needed.” [CNN, Politico]

Nature Centers Reopen — “Another sign things are returning to a semblance of normalcy, albeit slowly (this is Arlington, after all): The Gulf Branch and Long Branch nature centers, operated by the county government, have reopened. Hours and exhibitions are limited, but this marks the first time in nearly 13 months that Arlington residents have had consistent access to the nature centers.” [Sun Gazette]

Shirlington’s Past and Present — “This pet-friendly community five miles southwest of the District and adjacent to Highway 395 started off as a 27-acre former shopping center. Shirlington was one of the first strip malls in the country when it opened in 1944. For a while, it had the largest shopping center in the area and originally was named Chernerville, after automobile dealer Joseph Cherner, but the name didn’t stick. Instead, it was renamed Shirlington, a blending of Shirley Highway (395) and Arlington.” [Washington Post]

Amazon Not Abandoning Office Work — “As vaccines become more available, most companies may start to expect their workers back in the office and allow for just one or two days of teleworking a week — and Amazon is likely to be among them… That’s good news for many of the businesses and jurisdictions expected to benefit from the 25,000 to 37,850 employees Amazon has said it will bring to the D.C. region as it continues to build out its HQ2 campus in Arlington.” [Washington Business Journal]

Local Company Donates to African School — “Washington Workplace, an award-winning commercial office furniture dealer in Arlington, teamed up with Business Furniture Installations and a nonprofit alumni association to donate unused office furniture to Pioneer Middle School in Senegal, in West Africa.” [Press Release]

Letter Writer: Don’t Hate on the Cicadas — “The message of the havoc wreaked on young trees and shrubs, and the month of constant shrill buzzing has sent home an idea of impending doom… Although the ominous message of cicada arrival is likely still in your head – and I can’t argue that cicadas aren’t a nuisance – I ask you to remember that they do have a role in our ecosystem and a purpose on our planet.” [Sun Gazette]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Future of Fairlington Fire Station — “A community process to determine the future of Fairlington’s 1940s-era, one-bay fire station has been on hold during the COVID crisis, but may be tackled later in the year, a top community leader says. The Arlington government in late 2018 closed Fire Station #7 over concerns about the structural integrity of its flooring.” [Sun Gazette]

Arlington’s Affordable Housing Effort — “Some jurisdictions are building more homes than others. Of 10 localities analyzed by HAND’s Housing Indicator Tool, D.C. and Arlington County are closest to meeting some affordable housing targets recommended by the Urban Institute… For its part, Arlington County has excelled at adding more homes for low-middle-income households, but has built virtually none for the most vulnerable households in the last two years.” [DCist]

Women in Stolen Car Arrested Near Crystal City — “An officer observed the vehicle enter Arlington County on I-395 NB. With the assistance of additional units, a traffic stop was initiated. The occupants of the vehicle were initially noncompliant and were observed reaching around the vehicle and storing items on their persons, but were detained without incident. During the course of the investigation, the vehicle was confirmed as stolen; distribution quantities of marijuana were located and determined to be associated with the driver of the vehicle.” [ACPD]

Cicada Swarm Coming Soon — “They’ve been buried — alive — for 17 years. And now, Brood X, one of the world’s largest swarms of giant fly-like bugs called cicadas, is ready to rise. When the ground warms to 64 degrees, they’ll stop gnawing on tree roots and start scratching toward the surface by the hundreds of billions.” [Washington Post]

Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Rosslyn Redevelopment Approved — “The Arlington County Board today approved a mixed-use redevelopment that will add 740 new housing units, including on-site affordable housing, to the Rosslyn neighborhood. The Board approved developer Snell Properties’ plan to build two residential towers with ground-floor retail and office/retail flex space at 1820 and 1830 Fort Myer Drive in Rosslyn.” [Arlington County]

Inova Cancels Vaccine Appointments, Too — “COVID-19 vaccine supply shortages have forced Inova Health System to cancel first-dose appointments for people in Northern Virginia’s Group 1B starting Tuesday, a group that includes employees of Fairfax County Public Schools. The news comes as elected leaders appeal directly to the governor for more doses.” [NBC 4]

Virginia Ranks Last in U.S. for Vaccinations — New data ranks Virginia dead last in terms of percentage of COVID-19 vaccines administered. That has prompted bipartisan criticism and questions for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. [Becker’s Hospital Review, Twitter, Twitter]

UK Coronavirus Variant Found in N. Va. — “A variant of the COVID-19 virus first found in the United Kingdom last year has been found in Virginia, in the state’s first case, officials say. A Northern Virginia resident with no reported recent travel history tested positive for the variant, the Virginia Department of Health announced in a statement Monday afternoon.” [NBC 4]

Cases Still Growing in Virginia — “A new report paints a grim picture of Virginia’s coronavirus response. New York Times data shows new cases in the Commonwealth have risen 12 percent in the past 14 days ending Saturday, making Virginia the ‘only state reporting significant increases in new cases.'” [Fox 5]

Coming Soon: Lots of Cicadas — “Gazillions of insects that have been underground since Britney married K-Fed will tunnel through the earth this spring. When they emerge, they’ll ruin young trees, delight food-motivated dogs, and just generally gross out a high percentage of the population. Yes, the cicadas of Brood X… are due back in the DC area (and most of the East Coast) this spring, possibly around late April or mid-May.” [Washingtonian]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Cicadas Emerge in Droves — Cicadas are making an unexpected appearance in Arlington, the D.C. area and other parts of the eastern U.S. The insects emerged from the ground around trees earlier this month, evidence of which could be seen in the form of holes in the ground crunched carcases on nearby sidewalks. It’s believed that the cicadas may be early arrivals from a brood that was expected to swarm the area in 2021. [WTOP, WJLA, Cicada Mania]

Heat and Poor Air Quality Today — Near-record heat is expected today and tomorrow, with temperatures in the lower-to-mid 90s. The D.C. area is under a Code Orange Air Quality Alert, meaning that “air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups” like children, asthma sufferers and the elderly. [Capital Weather Gang, Weather Channel]

Photo courtesy Fred Cochard