26 Square Miles - An Arlington Podcast

Frank O'Leary served as Treasurer of Arlington County for more than three decades and has seen it all. During his time in office, O'Leary brought the tax delinquency rate down from 9 percent to less than 1 percent, but somehow managed to win friends in the process. O'Leary, 74, is retired but still avidly follows and offers predictions about about Arlington elections. We talked to him about his time in office, whether names like Jefferson Davis Highway and Washington-Lee High School need to change, his predictions for the upcoming November elections, and why restaurants are among the hardest businesses from which to collect taxes, among other topics.

Bridget Reed Morawski joined ARLnow as our new assistant managing editor earlier this month. Morawski and ARLnow editor-in-chief Scott Brodbeck had a free-wheeling discussion about Arlington, the website and what's next for both.

On this week's 26 Square Miles podcast, Arlington Economic Development director Victor Hoskins discussed the county's amazon bid, the office vacancy rate and more.

Rosslyn BID CEO Mary-Claire Burick on the neighborhood's growth, development including Central Place and other construction projects, as well as the move of Nestle's corporate headquarters. Burick also discussed the future of Rosslyn and the work of the BID to make it a vibrant, fun place to be.

Local Dels. Rip Sullivan and Alfonso Lopez (D) were at the forefront of last November’s wave of Democratic victories, from the governor’s race to the Virginia House of Delegates, where the party is near parity with the Republicans. The pair reflected on a momentous 2017 for Virginia Democrats, and looked ahead to 2018 and the new legislative session.

We talked with outgoing County Board chair Jay Fisette about his 20 years in office, his achievements and regrets, and his advice to his remaining colleagues.

Arts organizations in Arlington need additional support from Arlington residents, says Janet Kopenhaver, founder and chair of Embracing Arlington Arts.

We spoke with County Board member John Vihstadt about last week's elections in Virginia, his reelection bid next year and various issues facing Arlington County, including budget pressures and development. We also asked about the possibility of Arlington landing Amazon's second corporate headquarters.

Joel McHale is coming to Arlington. The actor and comedian, best known for hosting The Soup on E! and for his starring role on Community, is performing four stand-up comedy shows at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike) this coming Friday and Saturday, Nov. 17 and 18, 2017. McHale, who also recently starred on CBS's The Great Indoors and Fox's The X-Files reboot, spoke with ARLnow.com for our 26 Square Miles podcast on Wednesday. He talked about hosting the 2014 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, told us what we can expect at his upcoming stand-up shows, and gave a candid answer about why The Soup was cancelled and whether it is in line for a revival.

As part of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce's Secrets to Success live podcast series, we interviewed Alex Villanueva, the founder and CEO of Arlington-based free ride service Sprynt. We asked Alex about his startup and its business model, and how he got his start. This podcast was recorded live at 1776 in Crystal City.

At this debate, hosted by the Arlington Committee of 100, the six candidates for County Board and School Board in the 2017 general election clashed on a range of issues, from how to engage more millennials in county government to closing the achievement gap in Arlington Public Schools.

Scott Parker is part of a group of partners who together have built something of a nightlife empire in Arlington. A-Town Bar and Grill, Don Tito and Barley Mac have all been hits along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. And now Scott and his partners are getting ready to open the G.O.A.T., a new sports bar right across from the Clarendon Metro station in the former Hard Times Cafe space. Scott has helped to build this empire based on Sunday Fundays and happy hour drink specials all while having a somewhat unique personal background for a bar impresario: he does not drink. We sat down with Scott to discuss all of that and the Arlington bar and restaurant scene in general on this week's 26 Square Miles podcast.

Okay so the Arlington connection is tenuous, but this week on the podcast we shot the breeze with a fellow independent online publisher from D.C.: PoPville owner Dan Silverman. A local blogging legend, Dan has been tirelessly chronicling community news, happenings and minutia for more than a decade. We asked him about how he started the site, his approach to PoPville's coverage and about the parallels (and partnership) between PoP and ARLnow.

Indivisible Arlington describes itself as part of a "grassroots movement... to resist the Trump agenda." We talked with two of its members, Gayle Fleming and Clara Bridges, about the organization, the events in Charlottesville this past weekend, the words and actions of President Trump, and about where the movement goes from here.

We sat down with two of our summer interns, Brooke and Kalina, to talk about why the heck they're pursuing a career in journalism, what they think of media coverage of the Millennial generation, and what it's like to grow up and go to school in Arlington.

On Monday, July 17, we sat down with Pinkie Dent Mayfield of Rosslyn-based Graham Holdings to talk about her path to success in the business world. The event was held at 1776 in Crystal City and organized by the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, as part of a new "Secrets to Success" live podcast series with ARLnow.

Former Mad Rose Tavern general manager Giovanni Quintana talks about the fundraiser he's holding in Clarendon to help pay for experimental surgery that will allow his daughter Arianna to hear.

Christian Dorsey joined the County Board in 2016 and now also represents Arlington on the WMATA Board. We talked to Dorsey about whether SafeTrack and new train cars are improving Metro. We also talked about schools, parks, land use, issues with the Arlington Way, development, the Shirlington Dog park controversy, gentrification, affordable housing, and a proposed pedestrian walk from Crystal City to Reagan Nat'l Airport.

Monique O'Grady describes herself as just a "regular Arlington resident." But this regular resident just beat out several candidates, including incumbent James Lander, in the Democratic school board endorsement caucus. O'Grady, a mother of one current Arlington Public Schools student and two APS graduates (one of whom happens to be a well-known actress), says she wants to make a difference on the school board and help APS navigate its current period of rapid student enrollment growth. We asked O'Grady about herself, her family and the various issues facing APS in this week's 26 Square Miles podcast.

Candidates for County Board Audrey Clement, Kim Klingler, Peter Fallon and Erik Gutshall participated in this year's Arlington Chamber of Commerce County Board candidate forum. ARLnow.com's Scott Brodbeck moderated and asked the candidates about issues of particular importance to the local business community.