On This Day in Alexandria History — “In August 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandrians recognized their increasing peril as the British juggernaut inched its way northward, up the Potomac … The Alexandria town and county militia were called out en masse in late August of 1814 and were ordered to cross the Potomac to take up a post between Piscataway and Fort Washington. They took with them nearly all the arms and artillery belonging to the town, leaving Alexandria defenseless. Thus, when the militia retreated to the Virginia countryside and Captain Dyson, commander of Fort Washington, blew up the fortress, Alexandria’s fate was sealed. On the morning of August 28, 1814, a committee led by Alexandria Mayor Charles Simms rowed south to meet the British Captain Gordon and request terms of surrender. Refusing to give conditions, Gordon and his fleet arrived at Alexandria’s waterfront in the evening. The next morning, the British lined up their gunboats (two frigates, the 38-gun Sea Horse and the 36-gun Euryalus; a “rocket ship”; three bomb vessels of eight guns each; and a two-gun schooner).” [Historic Alexandria]
Benjamin Thomas Memorial Event Planned This Evening — “The hour long event [7-8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28] is being held on the same day in 1899 that more than 600 people gathered at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church on Duke Street to memorialize Thomas and protest his and all lynchings. The program will also feature music by Charles E. Miller and Mayor Gaskins will give remarks.” [City of Alexandria]
Friday Night Football Returns to Alexandria — The Alexandria City High School Titan are taking on the Lake Braddock Bruins for a blackout game at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28 at Parker-Gray Stadium. Fans are encouraged to wear black. [AC Titans Athletics/Instagram]
Minnie Howard Field Dedication for Late Kerry Donley Set for Sept. 1 — “We invite our students, families, alumni, and community members to join us as we celebrate Kerry Donley and recognize his lasting impact and dedication to Alexandria.” [Alexandria City High School Athletics/X]
Wastewater Utility Continues to Tackle PFAS Issue — “For the last two years, AlexRenew has been monitoring its wastewater treatment system for PFAS. The main way AlexRenew has been tracking this issue is by comparing the PFAS present in its influent and effluent water as well as testing for PFAS in the biosolids which form as a result of processing sewage.” [Alexandria Times]
Bands & Brews Proceeds Presented to Scholarship Fund of Alexandria — “The Del Ray Business Association presented a $10,511 check to the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria on Wednesday, delivering proceeds from this month’s Bands & Brews summer bar crawl to a nonprofit that has awarded more than $24 million in scholarships since 1986.” [Alexandria Brief]
Electric Grid Operator Seeks New Power Supply Rule for Data Centers — “Part of the new proposed rule would put data centers that have not ‘brought their own power’ by paying directly for new energy capacity or having their capacity needs covered through backstop power purchases first in line to be moved onto back up generators or asked to reduce their loads on the hottest and coldest days of the year, when the grid is strained. The proposal would give states responsibility for implementing policies that direct large-load users to pay for energy projects and manage reliability.” [Virginia Mercury]
Two-Way 95 Express Lanes Explored in N. Va. — “If you’re a commuter in the D.C. region, you probably know that the Interstate 95 express lanes between Spotsylvania County and the Springfield interchange in Fairfax are one-way in the 45-mile stretch, with the direction changing depending on whether it’s the morning or afternoon rush. VDOT said it’s doing a feasibility study with Transurban, which builds and maintains the express lanes network in Northern Virginia, on adding lanes and transforming them into two-way operations, 24 hours a day.” [WTOP]
American Society of Civil Engineers Grades Virginia’s Water Systems — “Taking all states’ condition, resiliency and innovation of the commonwealth’s infrastructure into account, ASCE engineers gave Virginia’s infrastructure an overall grade of C based on the traditional A-F grading scale in schools. Drinking water, stormwater and wastewater received C+, C and D+ grades, respectively, after engineers cited signs of aging and deterioration across the state’s water systems.” [DC News Now]
ARLnow Reporter Shares Memories of Covering Dolly Parton — “Ms. Parton didn’t own Dollywood outright, but she was a partner in it, and made appearances each opening weekend in March and then occasionally throughout the year. The connection helped propel what once had been a small-time operation into one of the larger regional theme parks in the nation by the 1990s. I went, covered the opening, took some photos and had a good time having breakfast with rotund funnyman Dom DeLuise and actress Sandra Dee, who had been recruited to attend the opening.” [ARLnow]
It’s Friday — After 2pm, expect a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, with patchy fog between 7am and 8am. Otherwise, it will be partly sunny with a high of about 87°F, and calm winds becoming north at around 6 mph. The chance of precipitation is 20%. Friday night will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, and then a slight chance of showers until 2am. The night will be mostly cloudy with a low of around 69°F and a light north wind, with a 20% chance of precipitation. [NWS]
