The annual St. Patrick’s Day-themed race, sponsored by Ireland’s Four Courts and organized by Pacers, will shut down Wilson Blvd between N. Courthouse Road to N. Rhodes Street starting at 6 a.m. and, then, the rest of Wilson Blvd to Route 110 starting at 8:30 a.m.
Northbound Route 110 will also be closed from I-395 to I-66 starting at 8:30 a.m. Southbound Route 110 will remain open through the duration of the race. Metro buses will continue to operate, though detoured.
All the roads will reopen at 11 a.m.
Arlington County Police Department recommends using Route 50 to get to Courthouse Road and Langston Blvd to get through Rosslyn. Street parking will be limited in the area, so be on the lookout for “no parking” signs.
Runners and spectators are encouraged to use Metro or other forms of “multimodal transportation.”
Planned Four Courts Four Miler road closures (via ACPD)
The Four Courts Four Miler is one of a number of St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Arlington. The race was canceled in 2020 due to the emerging pandemic and was virtual last year. This year, it’s back to being in-person, though there remains a virtual option.
The race starts at 9 a.m. The first half of the course is downhill while the second half is uphill, notes the race information page.
After the run, the nearly-three-decade old Irish pub in Courthouse will host live music and Irish dancers all day, until last call at 1:30 a.m., per the pub’s website.
The 16-story apartment building Greystar proposes for the Wendy’s lot (via Arlington County)
The 16-story apartment building Greystar proposes for the Wendy’s lot (via Arlington County)
The 16-story apartment building Greystar proposes for the Wendy’s lot (via Arlington County)
The 16-story apartment building Greystar proposes for the Wendy’s lot (via Arlington County)
Final approvals could be imminent for a high-rise apartment building proposed for the long-vacant Wendy’s lot.
Plans to redevelop 2025 Clarendon Blvd are set for Planning Commission and County Board votes next month, beginning with the Planning Commission on March 7. The County Board is expected to review the plans during its Saturday meeting on March 19.
Greystar Real Estate Partners is proposing to turn the 0.57-acre lot about a block from the Courthouse Metro station into a 16-story apartment building, with 231 residential units and 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Residents will have 75 vehicle parking spaces and one bike parking spot for every unit.
As part of the project, Greystar is adding a public plaza at the tip of western edge of the site — where N. Courthouse Road and Wilson and Clarendon Blvd intersect — and an alley along the eastern edge.
The site languished for years after the Wendy’s and a bank were torn down to make room for a 12-story office building proposed by Carr Properties — which was never built because Carr couldn’t secure a tenant.
The lot has been used as a staging area for 2000 Clarendon, a condo project across the street, as the site changed hands and Greystar drafted new plans for apartments.
Last fall, most residents who participated in a public engagement process seemed to welcome the switch from office to residential use, although they were divided on the low parking ratio and the height, given the one-story retail and low-rise brick apartment buildings nearby.
But Greystar was able to nearly double the number of units it could pack onto the site and increase the building height by six stories through a 104,789 square foot transfer of development rights from Wakefield Manor, a small garden-apartment complex deemed to be historic, located less than a half-mile from the proposed development.
Before and after Greystar removed patios to decrease the massing proposed for 2025 Clarendon Blvd (via Arlington County)
Greystar did adjust the project a bit in response to community and staff feedback.
To make the building feel less bulky, it removed columns running along the ground of the public plaza as well as some patios on the upper stories, Walsh Colucci land use attorney Nick Cummings said during a November presentation.
During the same meeting, county planner Adam Watson said Arlington continues to work with Greystar to make the plaza more vibrant than a concrete slab, with more plantings, movable seating and diverse building materials.
“There’s a number of things we’re working on to get there,” he said.
Greystar removed columns on the ground to open up the plaza proposed for 2025 Clarendon Blvd (via Arlington County)
Greystar, meanwhile, is currently building new apartments a stone’s throw away in Courthouse on the “Landmark Block” (2050 Wilson Blvd). This project is poised to realize a significant portion of a 2015 vision to transform the neighborhood.
A few more county projects and private developments have to get underway, however, for the vision to be fully realized.
Spotted: Robot Dog in Courthouse — “Several people were standing outside one of the Colonial Place buildings today. I thought it was a fire drill at first, but they were too close to the building. Then I saw it.” [Twitter]
Yorktown High’s ‘Dull’ Scoreboard — “The scoreboard at Greenbrier field is not shattered, opaque or severely damaged, but it is dysfunctional and has been for some time. This is especially frustrating for athletes whose sports play in broad daylight, as the scoreboard’s bulbs are so dim they are nearly impossible to see. Parents of these athletes have voiced their complaints about the dull board, arguing that each of the other high schools in Arlington have modern, working scoreboards, while our school’s model has been in use since 2003.” [Yorktown Sentry]
TR Bridge Delays Could Get Even Worse — “Emergency repairs that will enable the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to safely support the weight of regular traffic will probably last through the summer and cost about $6 million, the District Department of Transportation said, becoming the latest hindrance to the Washington commute as more employees return to in-person work.” [Washington Post]
More Grants for Nat’l Landing Businesses — “A grant program to support restaurants and small businesses in the National Landing area of Arlington will return for a second year… This latest round of funding totals $100,000. Grants will support small businesses’ pay for workers and other operating expenses.” [Patch]
Wakefield Gymnast Going to States — “Gabby Watts will have her opportunity to participate in the girls state gymnastics meet. The Wakefield Warriors gymnast qualified for the Virginia High School League Class 6 competition by winning the balance beam with a 9.583 score at the 6D North Region championships.” [Sun Gazette]
Reminder: ARLnow’s Reader Survey — If you want to weigh in on some changes ARLnow might make this year, please take our annual, three-minute survey before it closes at the end of the month. [SurveyMonkey]
It’s Wednesday — Today will be mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 53. Sunrise at 6:57 a.m. and sunset at 5:47 p.m. Tomorrow there’s a slight chance of showers after 1 p.m., otherwise it will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 66 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph. [Weather.gov]
Pentagon City Plan Passes Unanimously — “The Arlington County Board adopted a new vision for a vibrant and livable Pentagon City, following an 18-month planning process. The Board voted 5-0 to approve the Pentagon City Sector Plan (PCSP) and its associated Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance amendments.” More than 110 people spoke at the Board’s meeting on Saturday, many of them opposed to a portion of the plan that would allow a significant increase in density on the RiverHouse property. [Arlington County]
Second HQ2 Phase Advancing — “PenPlace, the 3.2 million-square-foot second phase of Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters, has earned the key support of Arlington County staff as it heads into its final stretch of reviews. During the last Site Plan Review Committee meeting Thursday, Peter Schulz, a staffer with the Arlington planning division, said ‘staff has no major outstanding issues’ with regard to PenPlace’s architecture and landscape design.” [Washington Business Journal]
Chipotle Lists Clarendon Location on Website — Despite denying plans to open a Clarendon location, Chipotle has now listed the soon-to-open location at 3017 Clarendon Blvd on its website. [Chipotle]
Cookie Purveyor Coming to Courthouse — “Captain Cookie & The Milkman is opening across the river for the first time as a part of the local treat-yourself brand’s ongoing regional expansion. The shop should open at 2200 Clarendon Blvd. in Arlington’s Courthouse neighborhood this spring. The space was most recently a GNC. “It’s just a calcium supplement store now,” co-owner Kirk Francis jokes. The menu spans eight flavors of cookies that are baked on site, local milk from South Mountain Creamery, and Ice Cream Jubilee ice cream.” [Washington City Paper]
Metro Reducing Delays on Local Lines — “Additional weekday service improvements will start Monday, February 14, with customers seeing more trains, more often on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines, at least every 20 minutes. The change expands on earlier service improvements to the Red (every 12 minutes), Green and Yellow lines (every 20 minutes).” [WMATA]
Arlington Company Admits PPP Fraud — “Zen Solutions Inc., located in Arlington, Virginia, has agreed to pay approximately $31,000 in damages and civil penalties to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by obtaining more than one Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan in 2020. Zen Solutions also agreed to repay the duplicative PPP loan in full to its lender, relieving the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) of liability to the lender for the federal guaranty of approximately $192,000 on the improper loan.” [U.S. Attorney’s Office]
Vehicle Flips Along Washington Blvd — From Dave Statter on Saturday night: “Crash with a vehicle overturned at Washington Blvd & Brookside Dr (betw Rt 50 & Pershing).” [Twitter]
Icy Conditions Possible This Morning — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Road surface temperatures above freezing have meant no deployment of salt with today’s winter weather event. But be prepared for possible slick spots overnight into the morning. Crews will be on the lookout.” [Twitter]
It’s Valentine’s Day — Today will be mostly sunny, with a high near 33 and wind gusts up to 21 mph. Sunrise at 6:59 a.m. and sunset at 5:45 p.m. Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high near 41. [Weather.gov]
A former restaurant space along Wilson Blvd could be the site of a new daycare facility (staff photo)
A former restaurant space along Wilson Blvd could be the site of a new daycare facility (staff photo)
A former restaurant space along Wilson Blvd could be the site of a new daycare facility (staff photo)
A new childcare center could be coming to a gutted restaurant space between Clarendon and Courthouse.
Ladybug Academy LLC is requesting county approval to convert about 4,391 square feet of vacant, ground-floor restaurant space at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Cleveland Street into a daycare and preschool. The space at 2500 Wilson Blvd was home to Minh Vietnamese Restaurant until 2016.
“The use at this location will fill a ground-floor commercial space that has been vacant for a number of years and the site has sufficient space on-site to support outdoor play and parking requirements,” a county report said.
This is the second daycare company to request to take over the space. Last August, ARLnow reported a music-based Montessori preschool program had filed to open a franchise location in the same spot, but that appears to have fallen through.
Ladybug Academy plans to employ up to 14 staff to care for up to 76 children. Kids will have access to an outdoor play area at the back of the property’s frontage on N. Cleveland Street, the report said.
A proposed play area for Ladybug Daycare (via Arlington County)
The hours of operation would be Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Drop-off will occur between 7:30-10 a.m. each morning, and pick-up will occur from 4-6 p.m. each evening.
Eight parking spaces in the surface lot and adjacent garage would be provided for staff and parent use. On-street parking available is also available in the area.
The County Board is set to hear the request during its meeting this Saturday.
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Developer Greystar’s newest project in Courthouse, “The Commodore” apartment building (courtesy photo)
Developer Greystar’s newest project in Courthouse, “The Commodore” apartment building (courtesy photo)
An ongoing redevelopment project on the “Landmark Block” in Courthouse is poised to realize a significant portion of a 2015 vision to transform the neighborhood.
But beyond the “Landmark” project (2050 Wilson Blvd) by Greystar, there are no near-term private or public projects set to pick up wherever Greystar leaves off.
Over the next 20 years, Arlington County has plans to transform some of the mid-rise buildings, county facilities and the surface parking lot at the epicenter of the neighborhood into a vibrant area. Dubbed Courthouse Square, the area is bounded by Clarendon Blvd to the north, N. Courthouse Road to the east, 14th Street N. to the south and commercial buildings to the west.
The future Courthouse Square would feature a civic square for rallies and programs, new cultural and civic buildings, shared streets and a pedestrian promenade. Courthouse Square will be, visionaries said in a 2015 planning document, “where the revolution begins.”
Greystar is leading the charge with “The Commodore” apartments, which replace some brick buildings that housed Cosi, Boston Market, Jerry’s Subs and Summers Restaurant. But the revolution will only be fully realized after a few more county projects and private developments materialize.
“It’s a balance. The full vision will come together through public- and private-sector investment and actions,” says Anthony Fusarelli, Jr., the director of the county’s Department of Community, Housing and Development.
Part of the burden of redevelopment is on the county, which envisioned in 2015 building a new headquarters — after the county’s lease was set to end in 2028 — as well as up to two civic and cultural facilities. The then-looming end to the lease on the headquarters was the impetus for the 2015 Courthouse Square addendum, he said.
In 2018, Arlington County negotiated a lease extension until 2033, however, allowing the county to focus on renovations to its existing building and giving it an extra five years to start on new construction. The pandemic — and the changes it brought to the workplace — could mean a more modest approach instead of building a 400,000-square-foot building once envisioned in 2015.
“There’s been a massive forced experience about how people do work, whether they’re in a small business or a government agency,” Fusarelli said. “I think going forward in the immediate future, trying to pursue discrete development plans would be very challenging.”
A map of the blocks comprising Courthouse Square and their proposed uses, per the 2015 addendum (via Arlington County)
As for the cultural facilities, Arlington Cultural Affairs is still determining whether they’re needed after conducting an assessment in 2006.
“Informed also by the findings of our comprehensive 2017 Enriching Lives Arlington Arts and Culture Strategy, Arlington Cultural Affairs will continue to work with other County agencies to determine next steps,” the division said.
Meanwhile, of the privately owned sections, the Landmark Block is the only corner where a developer has expressed interest in redevelopment. (Across the street from Courthouse Square, Greystar is shepherding a 220-unit building on the vacant Wendy’s lot through county processes.)
“We worked hard to realize as many of the public benefits as we could through community benefits partly because we understood it may be some time, and there may be some uncertainty, [before] the next private development could come forward,” Fusarelli said.
Demolition almost complete on Central Methodist Central Church in Ballston (photo courtesy Dale Reisfield)
Water Main Break Repaired in Courthouse — A significant water main break on N. Courthouse Road, near Arlington police headquarters, was repaired in less than 24 hours by county crews over the weekend, after shutting down the road for an extended period of time. [Twitter, Twitter]
Pentagon City Apartment Building Sold — “The Millennium at Metropolitan Park — an apartment building located directly across from where Amazon.com Inc.’s first HQ2 buildings are under construction in Pentagon City — is under new ownership. Affiliates of D.C.’s The UIP Cos. Inc. and Hawthorne, New Jersey’s Churchill Living have purchased the 19-story, 300-unit building located at 1330 S. Fair St. from New York-based Clarion Partners LLC in a deal that closed Thursday.” [Washington Business Journal]
Driver Eludes ACPD on Four Flats — From Dave Statter: “Caught on video: An unusual @ArlingtonVaPD pursuit of a stolen car. While it was through heavy I-395 traffic it was low speed. The car had 4 flats thanks to police spikes.” [Twitter]
It’s Monday — Today will be mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Sunrise at 7:20 a.m. and sunset at 5:21 p.m. Tomorrow there is a slight chance of rain showers after 1 p.m., mixing with snow after 4 p.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy with a high near 43. [Weather.gov]
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A pedestrian stands near construction at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A pedestrian near construction at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Construction in January at the Landmark Block in Courthouse (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Developer Greystar’s newest project in Courthouse, “The Commodore” apartment building (courtesy photo)
Developer Greystar’s newest project in Courthouse, “The Commodore” apartment building (courtesy photo)
As a 20-story apartment building by Greystartakes shape in Courthouse, the developer is poised to agree to take on some county-identified transportation projects around the site.
This Saturday, the County Board is slated to approve an agreement delegating to Greystar the design and construction of light transportation improvements near the “Landmark Block” at 2050 Wilson Blvd. The county will reimburse the developer up to $2.5 million.
These projects add to the streetscape improvements and community benefits that Greystar will provide through its approved redevelopment plans. The “Landmark” site was previously home to brick buildings that housed a handful of restaurants, including Cosi, Boston Market, Jerry’s Subs and Summers Restaurant.
After the County Board approved the project in March, demolition began last summer and construction broke ground in October. Greystar intends to complete the apartment building in the fall of 2023.
The pending agreement would task Greystar with some street repaving, signal upgrades and utility work. County staff say it will be cheaper, easier and more efficient for Greystar to handle these projects concurrent with construction.
“These needed transportation improvements… are either adjacent to, above, or beneath the proposed site plan improvements, and dovetail with the improvements already approved as part of the site plan project’s package of community benefits,” the report said.
Specifically, Greystar would relocate existing — or install new — traffic signal poles, traffic signal cabinets and other traffic-related items in the public right-of-way at three intersections: Wilson and Clarendon Blvd and N. Courthouse Road; N. Courthouse Road and 15th Street N.; and N. Uhle Street and Clarendon Blvd.
It will also add a “bike island” at the intersection of 15th Street N. and Clarendon Blvd in the westbound direction and install about 250 feet of a new 12-inch water main within N. Courthouse Road.
As part of the approved project, Greystar agreed to make the following streetscape improvements along Clarendon Blvd, Wilson Blvd and N. Courthouse Road:
widen sidewalks and improve street crossings for pedestrians
widen or add protected or dedicated bike lanes
widen the center median for Wilson and Clarendon Blvd
relocate the county parking lot entrance from 15th Street N.
screen in or buffer the 15th Street N. frontage of the county parking lot
Greystar also agreed to build part of a pedestrian promenade along N. Uhle Street and a shared street along 15th Street N. These community benefits were envisioned seven years ago as part of an effort to plan the next 30 years of development in Courthouse.
Courthouse-based data visualization company Lovelytics is on a hiring spree.
The company, founded in 2018, helps clients gather their data in one place and organize, visualize and use the data. Last year, it moved from Rosslyn to Courthouse and doubled in size from 23 to around 50 employees. Founder and CEO Scott Love aims to end 2022 with upward of 100 staff.
“We’re growing quicker than we ever have,” said Love, who’s hired folks in Arlington, across the country and in Canada for Lovelytics’ Toronto outpost, founded in 2019.
In the last two months, a new partnership with data analytics platform Databricks has driven that growth, he says. Lovelytics helps clients who purchase Databricks figure out the best way to use it, which required Love to create and expand his machine learning, artificial intelligence and data engineering departments.
Lovelytics provides a similar service to clients who use the data visualization platform Tableau — and recently won an award for its work helping clients implement the software.
“It’s pretty exciting, since they have tons of partners, around 1,500,” Love said. “For us to win it, especially after only being in business four years at the time, it gives you good publicity, respect from clients you may potentially be working with and credibility.”
That’s not the only accolade the Courthouse startup earned in 2021. The Washington Business Journal recognized it as one of the best places to work in the D.C. area. Love says he tries to keep working for his company fun.
“For me, being a first time entrepreneur, it’s exciting to create a culture,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun to bring that to life.”
Up until this point, the company has made money without funding rounds, but Love said he’d consider fundraising if he wants to scale up the company faster than it’s growing today, or launch new products.
While Lovelytics is mostly a service-oriented company, last year, it launched its first product called InstantAnalytics, which helps companies centralize and organize the data that multiple sources are collecting.
“That’s really what our job is: being able to translate business problems into technical solutions,” he said.
But many of the companies that needed organizational help with their data when Lovelytics was founded are more mature now, Love says. He’s focused on hiring employees to help those clients obtain insights using their data to solve complex problems through machine learning, artificial intelligence and predictive models.
“When you start to gather that much information, you’re able to get these crazy predictive insights because you know what 10 million customer transactions have done,” he said.
Lovelytics team picture (courtesy photo)
The Courthouse startup has also taken on special projects, building an interactive map of California wildfires for Pacific Gas and Electric’s website and visualizing dense reports by the international non-governmental organization World Economic Forum.
“We can create these concise, consolidated visuals that look good… and you grab that attention of a casual person who may or may not be interested in the topic,” he said.
Ultimately, though, Love aims to give companies the tools their employees need to do their own deep-dives.
“The big thing is self-sufficiency. You have to be able to enable people to do their own analysis,” he said. “Those employees are able to do much better work if they’re not having to wait on the IT department because they’ve been enabled to build their own reports and do their own deep-dive insights.”
The parking lot near the Whole Foods in Clarendon eyed for redevelopment, where “ghost kitchens” currently operate (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
What a possible 17-story redevelopment in Clarendon, dubbed Courthouse West, would look like (via Arlington County)
What a possible 10-story redevelopment in Clarendon, dubbed Courthouse West, would look like (via Arlington County)
What a possible 6-story redevelopment in Clarendon, dubbed Courthouse West, would look like (via Arlington County)
What a possible 17-story redevelopment in Clarendon, dubbed Courthouse West, would look like (via Arlington County)
What a possible 10-story redevelopment in Clarendon, dubbed Courthouse West, would look like (via Arlington County)
What a possible 6-story redevelopment in Clarendon, dubbed Courthouse West, would look like (via Arlington County)
Side-by-side comparisons of varying heights for the potential Courthouse West development in Clarendon (via Arlington County)
Side-by-side comparisons of varying heights for the potential Courthouse West development in Clarendon (via Arlington County)
“Ghost kitchens” on the parking lot eyed for redevelopment near the Whole Foods in Clarendon (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Arlington County is soliciting public input on what the potential redevelopment of a Clarendon parking lot should look like.
The lot at 2636 Wilson Blvd, between the Clarendon Whole Foods and the PNC Bank, is currently occupied by “ghost kitchen” trailers. Property owner Ballston-based CRC Companies envisions rental housing and retail at the site on the Clarendon-Courthouse border.
Currently, the General Land Use Plan (GLUP) for the site only allows “service commercial” uses and buildings up to four stories tall. CRC Companies requested a change to the GLUP to allow for taller apartments and hotels, a change Arlington County is currently studying.
Now, the county is seeking public feedback on the study’s scope and the size of the potential redevelopment, which CRC Companies has named Courthouse West. Planners previously said this work will add clarity where existing Courthouse Sector Plan documents “lack sufficient planning guidance” to inform a County Board decision on the developer’s requested changes.
These documents do identify the lot — bounded by N. Danville Street, Clarendon Blvd, N. Cleveland Street and Wilson Blvd — as a “key redevelopment site,” since it mostly falls within a quarter-mile radius of the Courthouse Metro station, per a recent staff presentation.
ATTN RE: Courthouse West Special Land Use Study: We updated the feedback form. If you completed it before 8:30 a.m. today (Fri. Dec. 17), please fill it out again. If you haven’t provided feedback yet, please do so! https://t.co/yQXFhsp7Jp… *Form closes Sun. Jan. 9* pic.twitter.com/p9kCS8GTvx
Through Sunday, Jan. 9, survey respondents can choose one of three preliminary scenarios for an apartment building:
a 6-story, 70-foot tall building with 150 residential units and 11,000 square feet for commercial use
a 10-story, 110-foot tall building with 215 residential units and 16,000 square feet for commercial use
a 17-story, 180-foot tall building with 300 residential units and 16,000 square feet for commercial use
In all three scenarios, planners say they’re assuming parking would be underground and a tenth of the site would become some type of public space, likely along Clarendon Blvd, according to the staff presentation.
The survey asks participants to consider how the building’s architecture could transition into the shorter shopping areas and houses nearby.
Respondents can also indicate what additional topics the study should address, including:
Public space
Affordable housing
Improvements to vehicle access and loading
Parking
Streetscape, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements
Safety improvements
Stormwater improvements
Biophilic elements
Historic preservation
Public art
The Long Range Planning Committee is expected to hold a meeting on the results of the survey in January.
LRPC members are interested in “exploring higher density and height on the site” and seeing “residential uses, appropriate tapering and height, public space and affordable housing, and biking and pedestrian improvements,” county planner Tim Murphy said during the presentation.
Ballston Quarter’s outdoor Christmas tree (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Shot Fired in Buckingham — “At approximately 3:04 p.m., police were dispatched to the report of shots heard in the 4200 block of 2nd Road N. Upon arrival, it was determined that the male victim exited an apartment, encountered the two suspects in the hallway and confronted them. A physical altercation ensued, and one suspect produced a firearm. During the struggle, a shot was fired, causing damage to the door of an apartment. The suspects then fled the scene. Responding officers recovered the firearm.” [ACPD]
Driver Strikes Child in Falls Church — “At approximately 4:15 p.m., Falls Church Police and Arlington County Fire and Medical units were dispatched for a report of vehicular crash with injuries involving a pedestrian, approximately 3 to 4 years old. The victim was taken to Fairfax Hospital and is currently listed in critical condition. The driver of the striking vehicle remained on scene. The preliminary investigation is still underway with no additional details at this time.” [City of Falls Church, Twitter]
Huge Covid Testing Line Monday Evening — “The Court House Curative kiosk COVID-19 testing line is probably 100+ people long right now.” [Twitter, Twitter]
Fairlington Fire Station’s Future in Flux — “The Arlington government three years ago closed Fire Station #7 over concerns about the structural integrity of its flooring. It has since been determined that it would be too costly to upgrade the facility to resume its original function, but competing planning priorities coupled with the COVID crisis have left the building’s future unclear. 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 in early 2022.” [Sun Gazette]
Fire Departments Struggling With Staffing — From public safety watchdog Dave Statter “Alexandria isn’t alone. Area fire department staffing is impacting the number of fire & EMS units available at a time when Covid is surging. There’s also significant impact on EMS availability due to hospital staffing leaving ambulance crews stuck at EDs with patients.” [Twitter]
Local Scholarship Application Now Open — “Arlington Community Foundation (ACF) launched its 2022 scholarship application today, providing Arlington high school students with an opportunity to compete for more than 70 scholarships worth over $525,000 in student aid. A single, common application gives students an easy way to apply for an award from more than 55 individual scholarship funds.” [Press Release]
Marymount Now Requiring Booster Shot — “On Monday, Marymount University administrators shared with its community members an enhanced COVID-19 vaccination policy that will require a booster shot for all students, faculty and staff who will be physically present on campus during the upcoming semester, a precautionary measure designed to ensure the best possible protection against the virus.” [Press Release]
It’s Tuesday — Today will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Sunrise at 7:23 a.m. and sunset at 4:49 p.m. Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high near 48 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. [Weather.gov]
