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ARLnow Daily Update: August 3, 2026 · ARLnow Daily Update

• 0:00
  It's Monday, August 3rd. This is the ArlNow Daily Update. We start with the death of one of Virginia's most powerful legislators. State Senator Janet Howell died Sunday at age 82.
• 0:11
  Howell served 32 years in the Virginia Senate, winning eight straight elections starting in 1991, and she represented parts of Arlington during two separate stretches.
• 0:21
  She was the first woman to sit on the Senate's Appropriations Committee, and later, the first woman to chair it. Tributes came from both parties.
• 0:29
  Governor Abigail Spanberger said Howell set a powerful example for the women who followed her into Virginia politics. Funeral arrangements and a full obituary are pending.
• 0:39
  A late Labor Day gives Arlington Public School students until August 31st before class starts, and changes are waiting for them. A two-year pilot to cut back iPad use begins at six elementary schools.
• 0:52
  Preschool and kindergarten students at those schools will have no iPads at all, and older elementary grades will share carts instead of personal devices.
• 1:01
  School Board Chair Miranda Turner told ArlNow there isn't much evidence that instructional technology beats analog teaching for basic learning, and she pointed to concerns about screen time and attention spans.
• 1:13
  Middle schools will start shifting to laptops, and phone pouches stay required in high schools.
• 1:19
  Two buildings also open, the new Grace Hopper Center at the Arlington Career Center, and Arlington Community High School inside Amazon's HQ2 campus.
• 1:29
  Construction is roughly on schedule at the former Macy's in Ballston, where a 553 unit apartment building expects its first move-ins in the third quarter of 2027.
• 1:40
  Developer Insight Property Group told ArlNow that concrete pours continue and facade work has started. There's still no word on which grocer will fill the site's planned organic grocery space.
• 1:52
  A government contractor has outgrown its co-working space.
• 1:56
  Synnovative moved from an industrious location in Ballston into its own office two blocks away in Virginia Square, months after landing a $1.1 million research contract from DARPA.
• 2:08
  Arlington Economic Development calls that kind of step up a healthy sign for the county's startup ecosystem.
• 2:15
  In Falls Church, residents and one council member are pressing city staff to be more open about a major affordable housing plan.
• 2:24
  Speakers told City Manager Wyatt Shields last week that staff haven't communicated well as documents on the Virginia Village project have changed. Council member Erin Flynn said public trust issues have arisen.
• 2:37
  Shields said he had spoken with staff and reaffirmed their commitment to transparency. Council members take up zoning changes for the site in late October.
• 2:47
  Arlington's LGBTQIA Plus Advisory Committee is weighing how large a role it should play in Pride Month next June.
• 2:55
  Equality Arlington canceled a Pride Block Party planned for this past June, saying there wasn't enough time to raise the roughly $35,000 needed and secure permits.
• 3:07
  Its president asked the committee to lead planning for a 2027 event. Members were supportive, but questioned whether an advisory body should be running events and fundraising. They pushed the decision to October.
• 3:20
  Turning to the weekend, firefighters fought a house fire in the Country Club Hills neighborhood Sunday afternoon, reported just after 1:00 during heavy rain.
• 3:29
  Crews went to a second and then a third alarm, and a mayday was declared for a firefighter injured inside.
• 3:36
  He was quickly removed and taken to Virginia Hospital Center with what the fire department called non-life-threatening injuries. No residents were hurt, and fire marshals are investigating the cause.
• 3:47
  Also early Sunday, two people were critically hurt in a fiery two vehicle crash on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington around 1:00 in the morning.
• 3:57
  Initial reports indicate a US Park Police officer pulled one driver from a burning car and suffered burns. Park Police say both drivers were taken to a hospital, and the crash remains under investigation.
• 4:09
  It was the second serious fiery wreck on the parkway in Arlington in about two weeks. A growing Uyghur restaurant chain has opened in Crystal City.
• 4:18
  Dolan Uyghur soft opened on 23rd Street South about two weeks ago, its fifth location. The menu leans on hand pulled noodles, seasoned kebabs, and Turkish dishes, and the restaurant says everything it serves is halal.
• 4:33
  And one note from us. The ArlNow app is now available for iPhone and Android. It's free with no account required, customizable news alerts, the local forecast, and articles read aloud. That's all for today.
• 4:47
  Thank you for listening.