Most Arlingtonians recall their whereabouts on July 8, 2019, when the flash floods came. (I was walking in the rain along Fairfax Drive toward Central Library when I was astonished to see a manhole cover bobbing up and down from water pressure.) Among the hardest hit was Westover, where an […]

For most local residents, pets are part of their family.  The Covid-19 pandemic reinforced the therapeutic effect of pets.  Animals can help ease stress and loneliness, and most neighborhoods saw an increase in people walking their pets along local streets.  Sadly, elderly residents who live in nursing homes became even […]

Transatlantic plaudits to the Arlington Heights Civic Association, for forging new ties with historical allies in the United Kingdom. The “Friendship Community Relationship”—not as elaborate as the larger sister city program but still fun—was just announced by association delegate Mark Murawski. The goal is to “open the lines of communication” […]

Volunteers are not paid – not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless!  Fairfax County has 10 elected members of the Board of Supervisors and a large, experienced, and pro-active staff to provide services to the million-plus residents who call Fairfax County home.  Some of those residents also […]

In Thornton Wilder’s powerful 1938 Pulitzer Prize winning play about small-town America, the narrator’s introduction showing the audience around a small New England town in 1901 includes the following: “In those days our newspaper came out twice a week—the Grover’s Corners Sentinel—and this is Editor Webb’s house.” The Sentinel, Editor […]

Reader, please tolerate a surplus of numbers. They represent a deficit of meals for local compatriots. “Food Insecurity,” as examined Jan. 11 at the Arlington Committee of 100, has worsened in our pandemic times. But a coalition of county, school, and nonprofit professionals and volunteers has new plans for spreading […]

January 11th marked the start of my 10th General Assembly Session. The day before the session, on January 10th, Holly Seibold and Aaron Rouse won in the 35th House District and the 7th Senate District seat, respectively. Aaron Rouse’s victory expands the Democratic majority in the Senate and assures a […]

The overriding theme of this year’s larger than usual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day events in Falls Church were not simply racial justice in a more generic sense, but a ringing endorsement of the current initiatives toward what is called “restorative justice.” It is a central theme of our […]

The tacked-up signs in the Courthouse neighborhood near the Innovation School displayed slogans: “No School Overcrowding,” “Don’t Displace Our Seniors,” “More Trees, Less Flooding.”  The Jan. 8 “Realty Check” rally, organized by Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future and Arlingtonians for Upzoning Transparency, drew several hundred to the school multi-purpose room […]

Once again this Monday, compassionate pro-civil rights citizen activists will respond to a call for a “day of service” in honor of the annual celebration of the nation’s most powerful civil rights advocate, the martyred Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., As the lead story in this week’s News-Press reports, that […]