On This Day in Alexandria History — “The advance on Alexandria from a British fleet in August 1814 was planned to draw the attention away from a planned attack on Washington from the north. But starting on August 20, Captain James Gordon’s ships were delayed for days, repeatedly grounding on the shoals of the Potomac. By the time the fleet reached Fort Washington (then called Fort Warburton), the attack and burning of the nation’s capital had already occurred a week earlier. After the self-destruction of the Maryland fort by American forces, Gordon soon turned his attention to Alexandria. Realizing the predicament of the now defenseless town, the town’s Common Council quickly decided not to oppose a British attack. On a Sunday morning, Mayor Charles Simms and an entourage rowed southward towards the advancing fleet, waving a white flag and requesting terms of surrender to prevent the destruction of the town. Due to its being the Sabbath, Gordon sent the officials back to Alexandria, with instructions to wait until the following day. By morning, his ships had arrived, with guns directed at the small frame houses of the town.” [Historic Alexandria]
Result of Mayor’s Back to School Hair Salon — “[Tuesday’s] Back to School Hair Salon 📚✏️ helped an incredible 3️⃣7️⃣ girls prepare for the first day of school! I’m so grateful the stylists who dedicated their time & our sponsors who helped make this event possible. Nothing but smiles all day long.” [Mayor Alyia Gaskins/X]
New Pedestrian Island Near High School Installed — “Back to school doesn’t have to mean island time is over. The new pedestrian median island at King St. and Radford St. means you can be on island time all year!” [City of Alexandria/Bluesky]
Input Period Continues After Taylor Run Stabilization Project Walking Tour — “Thank you to everyone who joined us [Tuesday] for a walking tour of the Taylor Run Infrastructure Stabilization Project site! It was great to connect with you – and don’t forget, the project comment form is open until 8/30!” [Alexandria T&ES/X]
Officials Condemn Alleged ICE Encounter Injuring Man — “Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti and Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti have all released statements on the case of José Mejía Hernandez. The Mexican immigrant has told multiple media outlets that immigration enforcement approached him on his way to a bus stop last week and shocked him with a stun gun when he tried to run.” [ARLnow]
E-Waste Campaign Provides Laptops to Alexandria Students — “AT&T and Human-I-T are providing 100 refurbished laptops to Alexandria area students and families who need connected devices. The event is part of AT&T’s back-to-school effort to distribute 1,000 laptops through its Retail E-waste Campaign, which turns customer electronics recycling into local community impact. Recipients were pre-selected by the organization before the event.” [AT&T release]
Spanberger Shares Optimism Caution in Fiscal Year End Budget — “Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Wednesday highlighted Virginia’s financial wins in the fiscal year that ended in July, touting a general revenue fund that increased by $2.1 billion, record investments in public services and a new energy consumption tax lawmakers levied on data centers that is projected to add $600 million to the commonwealth’s coffers in the next year. The state also saw significant impacts from federal shifts, the governor said, most notably a loss of 43,600 jobs, primarily in the federal government and professional and business services sectors.” [Virginia Mercury]
It’s Thursday — Expect showers and thunderstorms throughout the day, becoming more likely after 3pm, with a high near 87°F and increasing clouds. Winds will be calm, shifting to southwest at about 6 mph. There’s a 60% chance of rain, with potential rainfall between a tenth and a quarter of an inch, higher in storms. Thursday night will also see likely showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a chance of showers until 1am, with mostly cloudy skies and a low around 69°F. Light north winds are expected, with similar precipitation amounts as earlier. [NWS]
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