Author: Emily Leayman

Emily Leayman is the editor of ALXnow and contributes reporting to ARLnow and FFXnow. She was previously a field editor covering parts of Northern Virginia for Patch for more than eight years. A native of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, she lives in Northern Virginia.

News

Three ACPS naming ceremonies scheduled for September and October

By Emily Leayman
The Parker-Gray Stadium Field at Alexandria City High School King Street Campus (via ACPS)

Three Alexandria City Public Schools facilities that the School Board voted to rename will be dedicated in the next two months.

The Alexandria City School Board voted in December 2025 to name Keith Burns Field at Alexandria City High School’s Parker-Gray Memorial Stadium after a 1990 T.C. Williams High School graduate who had an NFL career. The athletic field complex at the high school’s Minnie Howard Campus will be named after the late Alexandria Mayor Kerry Donley, and a media center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School will be named after Jean Reid, who taught at various ACPS schools.

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News

Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar travels on Metro from King Street station this morning

By Emily Leayman
A sign for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix is seen on the National Mall, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

An IndyCar in the Freedom 250 Grand Prix will be making its way from the King Street Metro station in Alexandria this morning (Aug. 20).

Metro said the IndyCar will make its way through the Yellow Line between the King Street Metro and D.C.’s Mount Vernon Square. The trip will happen between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., and there will be brief stops at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and L’Enfant Plaza stations. A return trip from Mount Vernon Square is expected to end by 12 p.m.

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News

Alexandria nonprofits receive support from regional Builders for Babies diaper drive

By Emily Leayman
The 2026 Builders for Babies diaper drive (via HomeAid National Capital Region)

Alexandria nonprofits were among the 52 nonprofit recipients of nearly 1.3 million diapers and wipes from HomeAid National Capital Region’s latest donation drive.

HomeAid, which builds housing and programming space for nonprofits serving the homeless, organized the 2026 Builders for Babies diaper drive to benefit organizations serving families in the D.C. region and Richmond. Builders, trade partners, suppliers, community collection sites and donors helped HomeAid distribute a record 1,292,097 diapers.

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Around Town

Alexandria’s Hypergoat Coffee Roasters is expanding with a second location in Del Ray

By Emily Leayman
storefront with large glass windows along a brick building on a sunny street; a person walks away on the sidewalk.
Hypergoat Coffee at 2423B Mount Vernon Avenue (staff photo by James Cullum)

Hypergoat Coffee Roasters, an Alexandria-founded coffee shop, is planning a second location in Del Ray.

Co-owner and head roaster Rodrigo Ramos confirmed to ALXnow the second Hypergoat location is in the works. The 3,051-square-foot location at 2423B Mount Vernon Avenue and the adjacent, vacant 2423A Mount Vernon Avenue used to be home to First Agape Baptist Community of Faith and were converted into two tenant spaces.

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News

Residents pack Beatley Library forum on Plaza 500 data center plans near Alexandria

By Emily Leayman
Audience seated in a conference room facing a panel at the front with a projector screen displaying slides.
A packed room at Beatley Library for the Alexandria People’s Assembly forum on the Plaza 500 data center project (via Alexandria People’s Assembly)

Residents from eight ZIP codes packed a room in Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library Saturday (Aug. 15) to discuss concerns with the Plaza 500 data center plans just outside Alexandria city limits.

The Alexandria People’s Assembly, an advocacy group formerly known as PLTI of Alexandria that seeks to support marginalized people, organized the community forum.

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News

National Symphony Orchestra to utilize Alexandria venue amid Kennedy Center shutdown plans

By Emily Leayman and The Associated Press
Conductor in black shirt using a baton to cue an orchestra on a dim stage.
Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Gianandrea Noseda conducts the orchestra during a rehearsal at Milan’s La Scala theatre, Italy, on Feb. 26, 2024. (via Antonio Calanni/Associated Press file)

Alexandria’s Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center will be among the landing places for the National Symphony Orchestra amid the Kennedy Center’s planned shutdown for renovations.

Forced from the Kennedy Center following approval of a reconstruction project by allies of President Donald Trump, the NSO will split its 2026-27 season among six venues in Washington, D.C., and the capital’s suburbs.

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Around Town

Delivery robot service expanded in Alexandria to Wonder food hall

By Emily Leayman
Serve Robotics has expanded its on-demand robotic delivery service to Alexandria (via Serve Robotics/Instagram)

The deployment of autonomous sidewalk delivery robots is expanding further in Alexandria.

Serve Robotics announced today (Monday) that the Wonder food hall at 3615 Richmond Highway will offer robot deliveries. The New York City-based Wonder, which has been rapidly expanding in the D.C. region and beyond, opened the Potomac Yard location in January.

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News

Speed cameras to resume enforcement as school year begins in Alexandria

By Emily Leayman
School zone sign indicating 15 mph speed limit when flashing, with traffic light and street scene in the background.
A school zone speed limit sign near the Minnie Howard Campus (via Google Maps)

Alexandria City Public Schools will be returning to school on Monday, Aug. 24, and that means speed cameras will also be reactivated to enforce school zone speeding violations.

The City of Alexandria said enforcement of school zone speed cameras will begin on the first day of school following testing of the school zone flashers and camera systems on Aug. 21. The cameras will automatically issue tickets for speeding violations when school zone signs are flashing.

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News

JUST IN: Thousands without power along Quaker Lane in Alexandria

By Emily Leayman
Map showing a beige polygon outlining a neighborhood boundary around N Quaker Ln and W Braddock Rd near Fairlington, VA.
Outages reported in Alexandria on Aug. 17 (via Dominion Energy)

Thousands of Dominion Energy customers in a portion of Alexandria are experiencing power outages this afternoon (Monday).

Dominion Energy’s outage map shows 2,160 outages around the Taylor Run, Seminary Hill and Fairlington neighborhoods with small extensions into North Ridge and Rosemont.

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Around Town

Horror and sci-fi bookstore Long Dark House to hold grand opening in early September

By Emily Leayman and James Cullum
Woman walking on brick sidewalk past a storefront with a green awning labeled 1510, carrying shopping bags.
The upcoming location of Long Dark House at 1510 King Street (staff photo by James Cullum)

Long Dark House, a bookstore dedicated to horror, science fiction and other dark titles, will open its doors at the start of September.

The independent bookstore will open at 1510 King Street at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1. A grand opening from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5 will include special activities all day. Author Lisa Jones Gentry will be at the opening to sign copies of “A Dead Man Speaks,” which can be preordered through Long Dark House. The grand opening will also have specially themed matcha drinks from Whisked Away Cafe, chocolates and gifts from Madame Coco’s Emporium, raffle prizes, music and more.

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