News

A 27-year-old Alexandria man was arrested and charged with brandishing or pointing a firearm during what police are describing as a road rage incident in the West End.

Around 11:40 p.m. on Friday, April 24, the Alexandria Police Department responded to the Wendy’s restaurant at 229 S. Van Dorn Street to investigate a report of a brandished firearm, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit. In the parking lot, the victim told police that the suspect — who was in a silver Toyota in the Wendy’s drive-thru when police arrived — had pointed a handgun at him while they were across the street in the parking lot of the Van Dorn Plaza.


News

The Education Association of Alexandria’s upcoming officer elections were postponed this week due to alleged campaign or election violations, according to the union’s communications to members.

The EAA broadly cited campaign or election violations in a Sunday (May 17) email update to its members on officer elections. Andrea Hill, chair of the EAA Credentials/Election Committee, told members the virtual elections — originally scheduled from Monday (May 18) to Wednesday (May 20) — would be postponed to Thursday (May 21) and Friday (May 22). Hill said an investigation into the allegations had taken place.


News

Plans to redevelop the shuttered Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North are heading to the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council next month.

The Planning Commission will get the first crack at the massive proposal to convert the 18-acre site at 1300 N. Royal Street into a mixed-use development at its meeting on Tuesday, June 2, followed by a City Council public hearing June 13. City Council will also be presented with a $135 million financing deal for the project June 9 (Tuesday), which property owner HRP Group says will catalyze more than $2 billion in private investment into the site. City Council will hold a public hearing for the financing agreement on Saturday, June 13.


News

Alexandria’s Amy Decker can’t say exactly what happens in her upcoming appearance on Food Network’s new show “100 Cooks.” Still, she felt comfortable enough to say that she didn’t win the $250,000 final prize but told ALXnow, “I got pretty damn far.”

Decker lives in Old Town with her husband and started cooking in 2020 while working as a staff operations officer for the CIA’s director of operations. She says she learned everything from cookbooks and that same year started Decker Delights, creating how-to videos for people stuck at home during the pandemic. That same year, she applied to be on a Food Network show hosted by Valerie Bertinelli, but it didn’t get picked up.


News

The student population in Alexandria City Public Schools is projected to drop steadily over the next decade, driven mainly by residents having less kids.

That’s according to data from the Virginia Department of Health presented to the Joint City Council/School Board Subcommittee’s monthly meeting Monday night (May 18). The number of ACPS students is projected to increase slightly from 15,928 this year to 15,958 in 2027 before dropping to 15,415 by 2036 — a 3.4% decline from 2027.


News

Alexandria nonprofit Community Lodgings has won a $73,000 grant from D.C.-based philanthropic organization Many Hands, Inc.

After a months-long application process that included an in-person presentation from applicants, Many Hands awarded $73,000 each to Community Lodgings, AfriThrive Inc., and DC Greens. It also awarded $100,000 to the D.C.-based School Justice Project, for $319,000 in total donations. There were 88 applicants for the organization’s annual grants.


Around Town

Two local businesses in Del Ray held ribbon cuttings at their new storefronts Saturday (May 16).

The Del Ray Business Association hosted the ribbon cuttings for Lifestyle & Performance Fitness (202 E. Custis Avenue) and the Department of Beer and Wine (2805 Mount Vernon Avenue). The events were attended by City Council Members John Taylor Chapman and Sandy Marks, along with DRBA president Lauren Fisher and board member Gayle Reuter.


News

After an 11-hour public hearing with more than 100 speakers Saturday (May 16), a divided City Council upheld the Traffic and Parking Board’s decision to redesign a 0.8-mile section of Braddock Road in Alexandria’s Rosemont and Del Ray neighborhoods.

The 4-3 decision means city staff will continue designing the project into 2027. In 2028, parking will be removed on Braddock Road between Mount Vernon Avenue and Russell Road to make way for new bike lanes. Braddock Road will also be reduced from two lanes to one in each direction between West Street and Mount Vernon Avenue, creating two-way bicycle lanes on one side and a commercial delivery loading zone on the other.


News

A fatal officer-involved shooting followed the suspect’s fatal shooting of a female victim in Alexandria early Monday (May 18), according to police.

Around 4:05 a.m., the Alexandria Police Department responded to a report of a female victim who had been shot at an apartment complex (27 Canterbury Square) in the West End. Two relatives had left the apartment, leaving the suspect barricaded inside a room with the victim.


News

Two candidates for the open principal position at Alexandria City High School were introduced at an online meeting Thursday (May 14).

The candidates are Michael Burch, the ACHS lead administrator for operations and student support, and Anthony McWright, the executive principal at Denver School of the Arts and president of the Arts Schools Network. The meet-and-greet was moderated by former ACHS principal John Porter, who said Alexandria City Public Schools will conduct the final candidate interview next week before the finalist’s name goes to the School Board for consideration on May 28.


Around Town

Alexandria’s world champion whistler Chris Ullman has his sights — and lips — set on whistling at an NFL game and before the Pope.

Ullman, the subject of a recent Wall Street Journal profile, sat down with ALXnow to talk about being a four-time national and international whistling champion (1994, 1996, 1999 and 2000) and the author of the memoir “Find Your Whistle.” Ullman has whistled for President George W. Bush and top administration officials in the oval office, on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and “The Today Show” with Katie Couric, at Major League Baseball games, college basketball games, with jazz bands and symphony orchestras, and even a funeral.


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