Ralph Northam

BREAKING: N. Va. Expected to Reopen, Masks Required on Friday

By ARLnow.com

Arlington and Northern Virginia are expected to begin a phased reopening on Friday.

“That’s the plan,” Gov. Ralph Northam said of the partial reopening during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. The region will be joining much of the rest of the state, which started its “Phase 1” reopening on May 15.

The first phase of the reopening will see non-essential businesses — salons, barber shops, restaurants, gyms, etc. — reopen with additional cleaning, safety precautions and social distancing. Among Virginia’s Phase 1 guidelines are:

  • “Retail establishments may operate at 50% capacity”
  • “Restaurant and beverage establishments may offer outdoor dining at 50% occupancy”
  • “Personal grooming services may operate with one patron per service provider”
  • “Fitness centers may offer outdoor exercise services”

In a letter to Northam sent over the holiday weekend, Northern Virginia leaders wrote that four key health metrics were pointing in a positive direction, making a reopening possible. Northam said today that statewide numbers were likewise looking good, though he emphasized that the coronavirus is continuing to infect people, making it necessary to continue taking steps to mitigate the spread.

“The virus is clearly still here, but the numbers are trending in the right direction,” Northam said.

The governor announced Tuesday that masks will be made mandatory in indoor public spaces, including businesses, starting Friday. The state’s mask requirement will have some exceptions, including for eating, children under 10, and those with health conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask.

“Science shows us that the virus spreads less easily when wearing a face covering,” Northam said. “I’m asking people to do the right thing, to respect one another.”

Enforcement of the mask requirement will done by the Virginia Dept. of Health, not police, the governor said.

“This is not a criminal matter… it won’t be enforced by law enforcement,” he said. Northam’s chief of staff said having police enforce the mask requirement could cause “tremendous equity issues,” adding that the governor is hoping that a special session of the General Assembly over the summer could approve a civil fine for noncompliance.

The state health department will have the ability to take action against “grossly negligent actors” — businesses that refuse to enforce the requirement. First would come a warning, then the state health department could seek a court order to rescind the business license.

Northam said the universal wearing of masks protects everyone, including workers, who “are especially vulnerable.” A mask could be something as simple as a bandana or “a piece of cloth and some rubber bands,” the governor said.

Arlington County is planning to distribute free masks in the coming weeks.

The efficacy of wearing masks was discussed by Virginia Hospital Center emergency room chief Mike Silverman, in a public Facebook post on Friday.

“We follow the CDC guidelines at work with masking both parties (provider/RN and patients when they can) and we’ve had a remarkably low rate of staff getting sick. Masks work… and work better when everyone is wearing them,” Silverman write. “Be smart. Social distance. Wash your hands. Wear a mask. And stay inside and away from others if you’re sick.”

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

No Word Yet on N. Va. Reopening — “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday he has not decided whether Northern Virginia can enter Phase One of reopening on May 29. Northam last week delayed the region’s entry into the first phase of easing restrictions designed to slow the spread of coronavirus until at least midnight on May 28. Most of the rest of the state began easing restrictions on Friday, May 15.” [InsideNova]

Nam-Viet Back Open — Long-time Clarendon restaurant Nam-Viet is back open, starting today, for takeout. “The last two months have been the most challenging time for our restaurant since we first opened our doors 34 years ago,” Nam-Viet said on social media. [Facebook]

County to Restart Commission Meetings — “The Arlington County government’s ability to jumpstart its board and commission process in a social-distancing environment remains, in part, at the mercy of technological and scheduling challenges… The Arlington government has dozens of advisory panels on subject areas ranging from aging and the arts to historic preservation and sports.” [InsideNova]

DCA Passenger Volume Plummets — “DCA overall is registering barely 1,500 passengers a day. The slowest day since the coronavirus outbreak brought just 641, Potter said… Overall, passenger volume at Reagan and Dulles is down 97%.” [Washington Business Journal]

Dumpster Fire at Grocery Store — “Scanner: Firefighters working to extinguish a dumpster fire behind the Giant at the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center (2901 S. Glebe Road).” [@ARLnowDOTcom/Twitter]

JUST IN: Governor Allowing N. Va. to Reopen After Memorial Day

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Arlington and other Northern Virginia locales will be allowed to delay reopening until May 28, after Memorial Day, following a new executive order from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

The announcement follows pushback from local officials concerned that a potential reopening this Friday would be too soon. Arlington and neighboring localities have seen higher rates of coronavirus cases than less populous parts of the state, with 72% of new cases reported over the past 24 hours coming from the Northern Virginia region.

Initially, in announcing a plan for a phased reopening, Northam talked about the importance of the entire Commonwealth starting to reopen at the same time. This morning’s announcement is a change from that, but does not go as far as permitting local governments to delay reopening indefinitely.

Arlington officials have previously said that the county will not begin its reopening until a number of key metrics — including a ramp up in testing and a sustained reduction in hospitalizations — are met.

More from a press release from the governor’s office:

Governor Ralph Northam today issued Executive Order Sixty-Two, allowing specific localities in Northern Virginia to delay entering Phase One of the “Forward Virginia” plan to ease restrictions on certain business operations that were put in place in response to the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Governor Northam has said that Virginia as a whole may enter Phase One on Friday, May 15, as outlined in Executive Order Sixty-One, based on achieving certain health metrics. Executive Order Sixty-Two allows the Northern Virginia localities to delay implementation of Phase One until midnight on Thursday, May 28, to allow those localities more time to meet the health metrics.

In conjunction with this executive order, Governor Northam and State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA also issued Order of Public Health Emergency Number Four.

“As I have said, it’s important that the Commonwealth as a whole can meet key health metrics before moving into Phase One,” said Governor Northam. “The Phase One policies are a floor, not a ceiling. While the data show Virginia as a whole is are ready to slowly and deliberately ease some restrictions, it is too soon for Northern Virginia. I support the request from localities in this region to delay implementation of Phase One to protect public health.”

Governor Northam had directed jurisdictions to formally request approval to remain in Phase Zero. Executive Order Sixty-Two allows the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park; and the towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Leesburg, and Vienna (Northern Virginia Region) to remain in Phase Zero, as requested by officials in those localities.

Data show that Northern Virginia is substantially higher than the rest of the Commonwealth in percentage of positive tests for COVID-19, for example. The Northern Virginia Region has about a 25 percent positivity rate, while the rest of the Commonwealth is closer to 10 percent. Further, in the last 24 hours, the Northern Virginia Region reported over 700 cases, while the rest of the Commonwealth reported approximately 270. On any given day, 70 percent of the Commonwealth’s positive cases are attributable to the Northern Virginia Region.

Arlington Asks for Pause on N. Va. Reopening Amid One-Week Slowdown in New Cases

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County has seen a slight, week-long slowdown in new coronavirus cases, but is pushing back on Gov. Ralph Northam’s plan to partially reopen statewide by the end of the week.

As of Monday morning, there were 1,399 known coronavirus cases in Arlington, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. That brings the trailing 7-day rise in cases to 293, down from a peak of 349 on May 4.

The state health department is also reporting 60 deaths and 286 hospitalizations in Arlington, up from 57 deaths and 227 hospitalizations on Friday.

Statewide, 25,070 cases have been reported, along with 3,300 hospitalizations, 850 deaths and 167,758 total tests.

According to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, 1,504 confirmed and potential COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized statewide, while 3,273 have been hospitalized and subsequently discharged. There are 4,647 hospital beds available statewide and 21% of ventilators in Virginia are currently in use.

Over the weekend, Gov. Northam released more details about his “Forward Virginia” plan to reopen the state, which could happen as early as Friday. From a press release:

Under Phase One, the Commonwealth will move to a Safer at Home strategy, which continues the ban on social gatherings of more than 10 people and maintains recommendations for social distancing, teleworking, and wearing face coverings. All businesses should make modifications to maintain six feet of physical distancing, increase cleaning and sanitization of high contact surfaces, and provide enhanced workplace safety measures.

Retail establishments will be allowed to operate at 50 percent occupancy, restaurant and beverage establishments may offer outdoor dining at 50 percent occupancy, personal grooming services may begin operating with one patron per service provider, and fitness centers may offer outdoor exercise services. Campgrounds may also begin taking reservations for short-term stays.

Places of worship have had a 10-person limit and have been allowed to hold drive-in services allowed. In Phase One, drive-in services may continue, and services may be held inside at 50 percent capacity. Specific guidelines for religious services can be found here.

Many of the restrictions put in place by Executive Order Fifty-Three will remain in place in Phase One. Entertainment and public amusement venues will remain closed and beaches will continue to be open only for exercise and fishing. Childcare centers remain open for children of working families. Overnight summer camps will remain closed in Phase One.

Arlington County and other Northern Virginia governments, however, are asking for the ability to delay its implementation. The county released the following statement Friday evening.

Arlington County supports Governor Northam’s detailed framework for “Forward Virginia,” and appreciates the Commonwealth’s acknowledgement that the Northern Virginia region faces challenges that differ in number and scale from the Commonwealth as a whole. Over half of the cases and hospitalizations and nearly half of the COVID -19 deaths are here in Northern Virginia — despite our constituting a little more than a quarter of the state’s population; and we continue to see a rise in hospitalizations. Arlington is working closely with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, which comprises other localities in the region, to coordinate with the Governor’s office to determine the safest path forward, with an extended timeframe for entering Phase One.

Arlington County’s top priority is to ensure the safety of the entire community; and we believe we must meet the criteria for entering Phase One. At this point, based on the data for our region as well as Arlington specifically, the most responsible path forward is maintaining our current operating status until these criteria are met.

That message was echoed by County Board member Katie Cristol, in an interview on WAMU Friday. She was asked by host Kojo Nnamdi about potentially opening up on Friday, May 8.

“I think that is going to be a timeline that works for some part of Virginia. And we are grateful that, in recent days, it is recognized that that is not a timeline that is likely going to make sense here in Northern Virginia,” she said.

“Generally, we are coalescing around more or less the same criteria,” she said, “downward trend in positive tests, downward trend in hospitalizations, testing, tracing PPE, and so forth.”

Cristol also revealed a bit of news in the interview: Arlington County is planning to distribute cloth face coverings, as a way to further encourage their use.

“We recently put in a pretty significant order for cloth face coverings that were intended to be distributed around the county,” she told Nnamdi. “And we’ll have more details on that, we hope, in the next week or so. So, I suppose a carrot, not a stick approach on that one.”

“It makes more sense to make masks available and distribute those to whomever needs them, rather than trying to, for example, give tickets to those who aren’t wearing them,” she added.

Governor: Easing of Business Closures May Be in Sight

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 5:20 p.m.) You might be able to get a haircut in Virginia by mid-month.

Gov. Ralph Northam held a press conference this afternoon in which he announced that “Phase 1” of the Commonwealth’s easing of restrictions is likely to start on Friday, May 15 — in about a week and a half. In the meantime, Northam extended the closure of non-essential businesses through May 14, and said his stay-at-home order will become a “safer at home” recommendation.

Coronavirus cases in the state continue to rise, but Northam said that the worst has been averted.

“Everyone in Virginia made sacrifices, but everything you have done has truly made a difference,” he said. Virginia has “flattened the curve, hospitals have not been overwhelmed… [and] now we can start to move into a new phase of our response.”

Phase 1 of the state’s reopening would see businesses open with additional cleaning, safety precautions and social distancing. Virginia will be publishing guidelines for industries like restaurants, retail, fitness, personal care and grooming, and entertainment, Northam said.

“You’ll be able to get your hair cut, but you’ll need an appointment and will see new safety measures,” said the governor. “Restaurants will spread people out, employees will wear face coverings and do more cleanings.”

The gradual reopening — there will be three phases, each expected to last around three weeks — does not mean that the coast is clear, Northam said.

“This virus is still here, it has not gone away and it will not go away until we have a vaccination, and that may be hopefully at the end of this year, or another year or two,” he said. “All of our efforts have slowed the spread, but it has not cured the disease.”

“Even when we ease some restrictions, we must continue to behave more cautiously than before. We must not relax our vigilance or think that the risk has passed,” Northam continued, encouraging continued social distancing and the use of face coverings while out and about.

“You’ll still be safer at home,” Northam added. “Large gatherings are a bad idea.”

The May 15 date is not set in stone, the governor said, and could get pushed back if the state data does not show a sustained improvement in data points like the test positivity rate and hospitalizations.

Northam said the continuation of his executive order “gives us an additional two weeks to watch the data and determine if we are meeting the metrics we need to see to enter Phase 1.”

More from the governor’s office:

Governor Ralph Northam outlined a three-phase plan to ease restrictions on businesses and gatherings, when health data supports doing so.

Governor Northam said he will extend key provisions of Executive Order 53, which places restrictions on businesses and gatherings of more than 10 people, at least through next Thursday, May 14, at midnight. The Northam administration will continue to monitor health data to ensure that trends of positive cases are going downward, that hospital capacity remains steady, that testing is increased, and that hospitals and medical facilities have necessary supplies of PPE. For more information on key metrics, please see here.

Phase I of easing restrictions would continue social distancing, teleworking, recommendations that people wear face coverings in public, and the ban on social gatherings of more than 10 people. It would ease some limits on business and faith communities, and would transition the stay at home directive to a “safer at home” guideline, especially for those in vulnerable populations.

It is expected that Phase I would last two to four weeks, as would the two subsequent phases, depending on health metrics.

More specific guidance on each phase will be available in the coming days. Slides from the Governor’s briefing are available here.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Northam Announces COVID Changes — Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesdays that, starting today, Virginia residents can start having nonemergency surgeries and dental procedures again. The governor also announced that the state Dept. of Health will soon start releasing ZIP code-level coronavirus case data. [WTOP, @kamamasters/Twitter]

County Announces New Housing Director — “Arlington County has selected Anne Venezia to be the County’s new Housing Director… She most recently served six months as the Acting Housing Director and was the Housing Finance Manager for four years prior. Venezia joined Arlington County in 2008.” [Arlington County]

Arlington Pushing for More Census Participation — “Arlington government officials say the county’s census-response rate has passed 60 percent, and local efforts will now be made to reach out to low-response hotspots across the community… the 2010 response rate of 74 percent [was] slightly below the overall Virginia average that year.” [InsideNova]

County’s Memorial Page for Erik Gutshall — Arlington County has established a “Remembering Erik” page on its website, memorializing the late County Board member Erik Gutshall, who passed away earlier this month from brain cancer. [Arlington County]

Library Seeks Material for New Archive — “Arlington Public Library announces the COVID-19 Archives project, designed to create a comprehensive picture of Arlington during an extraordinary period in our history. The Center for Local History (CLH) seeks donations of journals, photos, and objects to help document this time of difficulty and struggle, but also of resilience and hope.” [Arlington County]

Overnight Crash on Carlin Springs Road — Updated at 9:10 a.m. — “Video appears to show a car crash took down electric lines on Carlin Springs Rd near 7th St. S.” [@statter911/Twitter]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

County Board Candidates So Far — “Announced Arlington County Board special election (to replace Erik Gutshall, who sadly was forced to resign while being treated for brain cancer) Democratic candidates… so far are: Barbara Kanninen; Chanda Choun; Nicole Merlene.” [Blue Virginia]

Arlington Allocates $300k for Emergency Help — “Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz has allocated $300,000 from the FY 2020 budget to meet increased demand for emergency financial assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money will be provided from the FY 2020 budget contingency fund to Arlington Thrive, a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to County residents who experience sudden crisis.” [Arlington County]

Gov. Northam’s Reopening Conditions — “Gov. Ralph Northam offered what he called a ‘blueprint’ Friday for easing business restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lifting of restrictions will include a phased approach based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Beyond a steady decline in new cases, the state will also have to increase testing and contact tracing, while ensuring hospitals have the necessary capacity, Northam said.” [InsideNova]

Group Urges Northam to Take More Action — “We respectfully request that you immediately implement the following low-cost, high-impact actions: Empower local governments… Maximize social distancing… Expand mask usage… Deploy approaches that have worked elsewhere to cheaply scale up testing… Leverage volunteers to cheaply scale up contact tracing… Convert unused college dormitories into voluntary isolation facilities… Implement ‘safe travel’ rules to prevent importation of new cases.” [EndCoronavirus.org, Google Docs]

Arlington History Jigsaw Puzzles — “In Arlington County there are locally-designated historic districts, which provide the greatest protection for our historic resources… In order to celebrate these locally designated districts AND to provide some relief during the COVID-19 quarantine/stay-at-home order from our local and state governments, Preservation Arlington has put together two collections of online puzzles.” [Preservation Arlington, Jigsaw Planet]

History of Arlington Meteor Caper — A dull black meteorite, found in Murray, Kentucky, in 1950, had gone missing from a Vanderbilt observatory display case, replaced by a suspicious-looking black-painted papier-mache rock… law enforcement sleuths had found fingerprints traced to former observatory employee and student Hugh Heefner Howard, 24. The perpetrator had brought it to his Arlington River House apartment at 1111 Army-Navy Dr., where our cops arrested him for grand larceny.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Governor Extends Business Closures — “Governor Ralph Northam today announced that he will extend Executive Order Fifty-Three for two weeks, through Friday, May 8, 2020. Executive Order Fifty-Three originally signed on March 24, bans crowds of more than 10 people; closes recreation, entertainment, and personal care businesses; and limits restaurants to offering takeout and delivery services only.” [Gov. Ralph Northam]

Wi-Fi Available in Two Library Parking Lots — “Arlington residents who lack reliable internet service at home during the COVID-19 pandemic can now benefit from two new free County Wi-Fi hotspots. Access to the ArlingtonWireless network is now available at the Central Library and Columbia Pike Library parking lots.” [Arlington County]

Lane Closures on I-66 This Weekend — “Extended lane closures will occur this weekend beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 17, on I-66 East between the Dulles Connector Road and Sycamore Street for bridge work and other construction for the I-66 Eastbound Widening Project.” [Press Release]

Buses to Toot Horns in Unison — “[Today] at 3 p.m., ART buses will join transit agencies around the country in honking their horns to honor transportation and other essential workers. Thank you to the ART bus drivers and staff, and all essential workers, for your work!” [Twitter]

Police Warn of Coronavirus Scams — “FRAUD ALERT: Be aware of COVID-related scams and know how to protect yourself. ACPD reminds you that the IRS will not call, text, email you or contact you via social media to request money or personal information related to economic impact payments.” [Twitter]

Disastrous Debut for Fairfax Distance Learning — While Arlington Public Schools catches flak for deciding not to teach new material until the fall, Fairfax County public schools have cancelled online classes for the rest of the week after the school system’s distance learning technology suffered a series of major failures. [Fairfax County Public Schools, Washington Post]

Op-Ed: Virginia Democrats Delivered on Gun Violence Prevention

By ARLnow.com

The following op-ed was written by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), chair of Virginia House Public Safety Committee, following Gov. Ralph Northam signing several gun violence prevention measures into law.

Knocking on doors last summer and fall, I asked Arlington voters their top legislative concerns. The largest response, by far, was for the General Assembly to take action to reduce gun violence.

That same sentiment has been growing across the commonwealth for years due to the lack of response to tragedies, such as, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Columbine, and more recently, Virginia Beach. But the gun violence prevention movement is not just about the mass shootings you see and hear about in the media. It’s the daily acts of gun violence — over 100 a day — occurring in our communities and firearm suicides that you don’t hear about.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017 there were 1,041 gun deaths in Virginia. The Virginia firearm suicide rate has increased by 15% over the last decade and the firearm homicide rate increased 45%. Of all the suicides, nearly two-thirds are by firearm. Thirty-two children die by firearm every year in Virginia. Year after year, advocates from Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, the Brady Campaign, Giffords, and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence come to Richmond to lobby for commonsense solutions only to be rejected.

But the 2020 legislative session would be different. I could tell gun violence prevention was going to be a rallying point for voters ever since Governor Ralph Northam, who called for a July 9 special session following a mass shooting in Virginia Beach, had his call to action thwarted by Republicans who immediately adjourned the session without taking any action. Virginia Democrats made gun violence prevention a central campaign theme in the 2019 election. Legislators finally listened to the voices of voters and we delivered.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn tapped me to chair the House Public Safety Committee to oversee the passage of one of the House Democrats highest priorities: gun violence prevention. Those items that passed and recently signed by the Governor include:

  • Universal background checks on all firearm sales;
  • Reinstate the law allowing the purchase of only one handgun within a 30-day period;
  • Requiring lost or stolen firearms be reported to law enforcement within 48 hours;
  • Create an Extreme Risk Protective Order that would allow a court to order the temporary separation of firearms from an individual determined to be danger to self or others (this bill was patroned by Del. Rip Sullivan);
  • Prohibiting the person the subject of a protective order from possessing a firearm (this bill was patroned by Sen. Janet Howell);
  • Enhancing the penalty for recklessly allowing child access to a loaded firearm;
  • Allowing localities, such as Arlington, to prohibit firearms in County buildings, parks, or recreation centers.

These laws will save lives.

Other bills that passed include the requirement for a person to receive a concealed handgun permit to demonstrate competence in-person (patroned by Del. Alfonso Lopez); creation of a Virginia Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund; adding child day centers to the list of schools where firearms are not allowed; prohibiting the possession/sale of bump stocks; and my bill to clarify school boards are prohibited from arming untrained personnel for school protection; and another to require family day homes to lock up firearms during operating hours.

The House passed a bill to ban military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines but, unfortunately, the bill was defeated in a Senate Committee. This bill was patroned by Del. Mark Levine.

Critics say the House moved too fast. It may seem that way if you are used to doing nothing or preferred we did nothing. In my view, however, we struck the right balance acting only on measures that have been proven to save lives. Many of these bills have been introduced, studied, and debated for years. It was time to be responsive to Virginia voters and act.

Why does this issue mean so much to me and so many others? Kris Brown, Arlington resident and President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, summed it up best when she recently tweeted: “There are too many children living in constant fear in their schools, in their homes, and in their neighborhoods. We owe them all a better future.” As the father of three children, I couldn’t have said it better.

Arlington Restaurants Embrace Newfound Ability to Deliver Cocktails

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 5 p.m.) A day after Gov. Ralph Northam issued an order allowing Virginia restaurants to offer mixed-beverages for takeout and delivery, a number of Arlington eateries are gearing up to serve cocktails to go.

Many restaurant in Arlington are still updating their menus before the order takes effect tonight at 11:59 p.m.

“We will be offering take out cocktails at Rhodeside Grill (1836 Wilson Blvd) as well as our sister restaurants, Ragtime (1345 N. Courthouse Road) and William Jeffrey’s Tavern (2301 Columbia Pike) in Arlington,” said Chris Lefbom, co-owner of Vintage Restaurants.

Renee Rojural, a brand and community manager for the Metropolitan Hospitality Group, said CIRCA at Clarendon (3010 Clarendon Blvd) and Open Road Rosslyn (1201 Wilson Blvd) will have cocktail menus to go sometime in the next few days.

Some, however, already have their new to-go cocktails planned and ready to sell.

“[We’ll have] curb-side and to-go custom cocktails,” a representative of Ms. Peacock’s Champagne Lounge (929 N. Garfield Street) said in a Facebook message. “32 oz jars filled with nothing but your favorites from our mixology team. Just add ice and enjoy!”

The Clarendon watering hole is also planning to offer 16 oz variants along with various bourbon mixes and a signature margarita.

An order by Northam last month allowed restaurants to offer beer and wine to go.

The Virginia ABC issued the following guidance on restaurants selling mixed drinks to go:

In order to maintain public safety, there will be restrictions placed on the service of mixed beverages in this fashion. Below are the highlights of the temporary regulation adjustment.

  • Distillery licensees are limited to a maximum of two mixed drinks per delivery or takeout order that contain 1½ ounces or less of spirits per drink.
  • Mixed beverage restaurants and limited mixed beverage restaurants are limited to four cocktails for each delivery or take out sale. Each order for delivery or takeout of cocktails must include a meal for every two cocktails purchased.
  • Cocktails shall be packaged in a glass, paper or plastic container (or similar disposable container) or in a single original metal can with a secure lid or cap designed to prevent consumption without removal of the lid or cap (lids with sipping holes or openings for straws are prohibited).
  • All recipients of delivery orders must be at least 21 years of age.

Photo via Dave B/Flickr

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Governor Urges Va. Residents to Wear Masks — “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday urged all residents to wear a cloth mask if they must leave their home… In light of the state’s prohibition of wearing masks law, Northam said Friday that “no law enforcement will be bothering anybody because they have a covering on their face.” [Patch]

One-Day Donation Drive Results — Arlington County collected 3,484 food items, 269 boxes of N95 masks, 323 boxes of surgical masks and 740 homemade masks during a one-day donation drive on Friday. [Arlington County, NBC 4]

VHC Gets Mask Donations — “We continue to be amazed by the generosity of our community! Shout out to all of the individuals and businesses who have donated food and supplies to our team on the front lines of COVID-19.” [Instagram]

Pub Owner Now Working As Cop — Mark Kirwin, the Irish-born owner of Samuel Beckett’s in Shirlington and Kirwin’s on the Wharf in D.C., has closed both pubs during the coronavirus outbreak and is instead spending his days working as a reserve police office in the District. [RTE]

AM Water Main Break in Courthouse — Updated at 9:35 a.m. — “NB & SB N Courthouse Rd closed between 13th St N & 14th St N until further notice for emergency repairs. Seek an alternative route.” [Twitter]

View More Stories