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Banks to the Rescue
Small businesses wait for banks to get federal money from the Paycheck Protection Program.
Like many business owners across Northern Virginia, Cyrille Brenac is still waiting to hear back from his bank about his application to the Paycheck Protection Program. That’s the $350 billion program that was part of the $2.2 trillion stimulus law designed to offer money to small businesses who can demonstrate they are keeping their employees. For Brenac, who lives in the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, the money would help him rehire about 50 employees of his two French restaurants he laid off when the economy abruptly shut down as the result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Great Resignation Hits the Classroom
Pay penalty for teachers in Virginia is the worst in the country.
The Great Resignation is hitting classrooms across Virginia, worrying school administrators about what happens when fall arrives and schools are forced to deal with a teacher shortage.
Fairfax Supervisors to Consider Even More Cuts to Library System
In the last four years, more than $5 million has been slashed from the library budget.
Walk into the Centreville Library and one is confronted with an institution in crisis.
Arlington Launches New Pilot to Clean Stormwater Runoff in Medians
Patrick Henry Drive is the first project; many will follow in coming months.
Drivers along Patrick Henry Drive can see the Arlington County’s latest attempt at combating pollution from stormwater runoff.
Hunting Towers Sold
New owners tell city leaders they will preserve affordable housing.
For years, people who live in the twin towers at the southern edge of Old Town have lived with a sense of dread.
Invasive Restrictions: Effort to Restrict Sale of Invasive Plants May Wilt in Richmond
Legislative delegation wary of running afoul of the free market.
They’re all over Mount Vernon — English ivy, Bradford pear, porcelainberry, oriental bittersweet and bamboo.
Decriminalizing Suicide
General Assembly to consider abolishing common-law crime of suicide.
Suicide is illegal in Virginia, one of the few states that has not yet abolished the English common-law tradition of criminalizing the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Horse Stable Could Be Closed to Protect Cemetery and Historic Plantation
Widening debate on Richmond Highway creates dilemma for Federal Highway Administration.
The hill where Woodlawn Baptist Church graveyard is located offers a commanding view of an area in the midst of drastic change.
Furloughed and Waiting
Uncertainty lingers as furloughed workers hope temporary layoffs come to an end.
When Joy Phansond was furloughed from her job as sales coordinator at the Holiday Inn in Old Town, the temporary layoff was initially supposed to last until April 5. Then it was extended to May 5. Then it was extended again until June 5. She suspects that it’ll be extended again until July at least because the hotel business in Alexandria has been slammed by the collapse of tourism, trade shows and conventions.
Progressive Prosecutors Lobby for Justice
Commonwealth’s Attorneys from Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax join forces to press for reform.
As lawmakers prepare to return to Richmond for a special session on criminal justice reform, this group of likeminded prosecutors known as the Progressive Prosecutors for Justice will be pushing for a package of criminal-justice reform bills that does not have the backing of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys.
The Fight for Paid Leave
After effort for paid sick days falters, lawmakers move toward paid quarantine leave.
The fight for paid sick days is on hold for now, and advocates have moved to a fallback position for the special session of the Virginia General Assembly: quarantine leave.
Absurd Leverage
Lawmakers to reconsider mandatory minimum for assaulting law enforcement
Earlier this year, lawmakers rejected a bill that would have ditched the mandatory minimum sentence for assaulting a law-enforcement officer. Now the General Assembly is about to consider the issue again.
Three Republicans Running for Virginia Governor Offer Dueling Tax Plans
Cut taxes or raise taxes? GOP primary debate offers an unusual array of options.
Student Shots Required and Available
All incoming sixth-graders are required to get immunized before the first day of school.
Student Shots Required and Available
Arlington and Alexandria Fighting for Limited Pool of Federal Funds
One wants federal money for Columbia Pike, the other wants funds for Potomac Yard.
Arlington County and the City of Alexandria are each vying for an increasingly limited amount of federal transportation funding, leading to a conflict between the neighboring jurisdictions.
Lawmakers Consider Effort to Increase Salary for Next Gunston Hall Director
Next museum leader could pull down more than $88,000 a year.
George Mason was one of the wealthiest Founding Fathers, and now the Virginia General Assembly may be moving to increase the salary of the director of the house where he once lived. Gunston Hall has been in a state of flux since the previous director was finally removed from office after more than a year of calls for his resignation.
County Executive Recommends More Cuts to Libraries
Walk into the Centreville Library and one is confronted with an institution in crisis. Attendance is up and demand has increased, even as the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors slashed $5 million out of the library system's budget in the past four years. Longtime Library Director Sam Clay says the library has had to make some difficult decisions in recent years, reducing staffing and hours throughout the 21-branch library system.
Marquee Tenant For Central Place
Corporate Executive Board to add 800 new jobs; building to be known as CEB Tower.
Right now, it's a temporary park — a placeholder at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and North Lynn Street. But when the soaring new building is constructed at Central Place, it will be known as the CEB Tower.
A Street Runs Through It
Effort to reduce stormwater runoff moves to the median.
Drivers along Patrick Henry Drive can see the Arlington County’s latest attempt at combating pollution from stormwater runoff. From the road, it may look like a few rocks and plants in the median. But county officials say the bioretention system is a “green streets” project aimed at absorbing and retaining pollutants rather than sending them into to Chesapeake Bay.
In Session
What happens if a jury finds a murderer guilty but comes to an impasse on sentencing?