Two flashes of light and loud booms were seen and heard across Northern Virginia last night (Thursday), including in parts of Arlington.
Home surveillance video shared with ARLnow by a local resident captured the flashes and booms just before 9:30 p.m.
Good Friday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Sep 18, 2026.
Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.
Here is what’s going on Saturday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Here are the events planned for Sunday:
Expect partly sunny skies with a high near 79 and northeast winds at 7 to 9 mph. Saturday night will be mostly cloudy with a low around 68, accompanied by southeast winds at 6 to 8 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”
– Henry David Thoreau
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
We hope you have a great weekend, Arlington! If you have something to say about an issue of local note not covered today, feel free to discuss it on our new Disqus-powered community message board. 👋
A 31-year-old Arlington woman is behind bars after an unusual home break-in in the Cherrydale neighborhood last night.
Police received a 911 call just before 11 p.m. for a report of a woman wearing nothing but a bra and underwear shattering the back door of a house and going to its top floor. A man inside the home saw the woman expose herself, police said. Responding officers were told that he was sheltering inside with his wife and child.
This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].
Question: I am debating whether to sell my home or hold onto it as a rental property, do you have any advice?
Answer: Homes are spending more time on the market right now, especially condos, giving homeowners more time to ponder whether or not they should remain on the path to sell or whether they should flip to a rental. I’ll share some tips and advice for anyone in the fortunate position to decide between selling or renting their primary residence.
Start with the Capital Gains Tax Exemption
Spouses filing jointly are exempt from paying taxes on up to $500,000 in capital gains and individuals are exempt from $250,000 if your home has been your primary residence for at least two of five years prior to the sale. In simple terms, assuming you’ve lived in your home for at least two years, if you decide to rent it out for more than three years, you lose your capital gains tax exemption.
Capital gains are calculated by the amount you sell for less your original purchase price less any transaction costs and capital improvements during your ownership, and any depreciation recapture, if it was ever a rental. It is not based on your mortgage balance.
For those with significant capital gains, this exemption is worth a lot of money so in a rent vs sell decision, make sure that if you rent, you are renting for long enough to generate enough value to offset the lost tax benefit.
I generally do not recommend renting for two years and then selling before the three-year mark because there’s risk, cost, and effort involved in renting that usually is not worth two years of rental value.
Don’t Confuse a Capital Gains Exemption with a 1031 Exchange
People often confuse the capital gains tax exemptions with a 1031 exchange. The capital gains exemption is a full tax exemption, up to $250k/$500k, on the sale of a primary residence. A 1031 exchange is the deferral of taxes on the sale of an investment property, only if the proceeds of that sale are used towards the purchase of another “like-kind” investment property. A 1031 exchange does not apply to a sale or purchase involving a primary residence.
Questions to Ask Yourself
There are a series of questions and thought exercises I recommend when making a rent vs sell decision for your home, including:
What will you do with the money? If you are using sale proceeds to buy a long-term primary residence or significantly improve your life (e.g. early retirement), selling tends to make overwhelming sense. If you are simply investing the money, the decision is primarily a comparison of different investment vehicles/assets.
What does the rest of your investment portfolio look like? Will it benefit from the diversification of a real estate asset? Real estate assets are unique in that they can create income and value growth (appreciation) at once, sort of like a growth stock with good dividends, which is a unicorn in the investment world.
A young woman from Prince George’s County has been missing since Tuesday after last being seen at the Pentagon Metro station.
Family members of Esube “Izzy” Wondwossen, 22, were passing out flyers in the area today and encouraging businesses to check their surveillance cameras, according to a spokesperson for the Hyattsville-based Black and Missing Foundation, which is trying to raise awareness of her disappearance.
When I moved back to Northern Virginia after several years in New York, most of my old friends had moved away. I found myself rebuilding a social circle from scratch.
I had plenty of people I could connect with online, but that wasn’t translating into anyone to grab a beer with after work, play trivia with, or text when I wanted to get out of the house. Making new friends as an adult required far more deliberate effort than I remembered.
The third time was the charm for golfer Logan Reilly over the summer when it came to two of the biggest golf tournaments the world has to offer.
First, the 2025 Bishop O’Connell High School graduate and current sophomore player at Auburn University qualified for the U.S. Open, played in June at the famed Shinnecock Hills Golf Club course in Southampton, N.Y.
🍂 Fall is here — and so is FOSH Fall Fest!
For twelve years, Friends of the Soldiers Home has kicked off autumn the right way — and we're not stopping now.
Corso Italian has abandoned plans to reopen after closing its doors last month due to flooding.
The Italian restaurant, which closed indefinitely on Aug. 2 following water damage to its dining room and basement, announced in an email to customers yesterday (Thursday) that it will not be reopening.
The U.S. Navy recently honored the memory of Cpl. Barry Foust, an Arlington police officer who died from cancer related to his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The USS Arlington, a San Antonio-class amphibious assault ship named in honor of the county’s response to the attack on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, flew a U.S. flag over the ship in honor of Foust.
As cooler weather approaches, Arlington’s ramen restaurants offer an ideal place to warm up or chill out with a comforting bowl of noodles.
Here are the nominees for “Best Ramen Spot in Arlington” as part of our ARLnow Readers’ Choice awards.
Did we miss your favorite spot? Write it in!
Voting will close on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
Voting for Best Park in Arlington is still taking place. Be sure to cast your vote before voting closes next Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
Two weeks ago, we voted on the Best New Restaurant in Arlington. The results are now official:
Arch Harms ‘Cannot Be Avoided’ — “Federal officials acknowledge that President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch will unavoidably harm historic sites if built as planned, but they say the project must move forward.” The Park Service wants local preservationists to sign an agreement on the Memorial Circle project by Monday. [Washington Post]
Drone Halts DCA Flights — “Airline pilots reported seeing a drone flying over the runway and taxiway of Reagan National Airport, prompting delays for travelers.” A traveler posted about a ground stop just after 8 p.m. Wednesday. [ABC News, Justin Wolffing/X]
Yellow Line Down This Weekend — “Metro announced Yellow Line service will be shut down Saturday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Sept. 20. That’s due to planned bridge and track rehabilitation, according to the transit agency.” No stations will close, and the shutdown repeats next weekend. [ALXnow]
Silver Status for EV Charging — Arlington received Silver designation from the national Charging Smart program for adopting policies that expand EV infrastructure. The county now has 51 Level 2 charging ports at nine locations. [Arlington County]
Judge Blocks Surprise Demolition — “A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it as President Donald Trump has threatened.” The order followed photos of Trump examining a printout seemingly headed “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.” [Associated Press, Washington Post]
Anguish Over Kennedy Center — From arts critic Philip Kennicott: “Trump hasn’t just destroyed a building, or an arts center. He has dispersed a community… multiple communities who discovered each other every night, when the big modernist marble box came alive with lights, people, bustle and art.” [Washington Post]
Merger Sweetened for Virginia — Dominion Energy and NextEra, seeking approval to merge, have pledged 600 new jobs and a doubling of residential bill credits in Virginia. “Both companies share the mindset that data centers need to pay their own way,” NextEra CEO John Ketchum said. [FFXnow]
Top Democrat Blasts Data Centers — Virginia Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas (D) said she will push sweeping new regulations on data centers. “For God’s sake, this is unconscionable. I don’t know how we let it get this far out of hand,” Lucas said. [NBC 4]
Drought Watch Resumes — The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin restarted daily drought monitoring this week after river flows at Point of Rocks, Md., fell as low as 1,506 cubic feet per second, the lowest reading in more than a month. [Capital Weather]
It’s Friday — Expect partly sunny skies today with a high near 85 and a north wind around 8 mph. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 64. [NWS]
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A blueprint for an expanded network of bus rapid transit (BRT) in Northern Virginia includes three lines passing through Falls Church.
The city was the last stop on a three-month tour for Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) CEO Monica Backmon, where she has been explaining the BRT master plan and how area governments can support it.
