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After nearly two years of dining and shopping in parking spaces outside of local businesses, Alexandria wants to start charging rent.

City Council will review a staff proposal on Tuesday (March 8) to start charging annual rent to business owners for their use of parklets — converted parking spaces that have been used for outdoor dining, fitness classes and retail.


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Alexandria nonprofit ALIVE! will conduct six free food distributions throughout the city this month.

No identification is required to pick up the groceries, produce, chicken, eggs and bread.


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After more than 10 years in development, the high-capacity Duke Street Transitway is getting the show on the road.

The Alexandria City Council, at its meeting March 8, will vote on authorizing the city manager to appoint an Ad Hoc Duke Street Transitway Advisory Group. The nine-person body will spend the next year providing recommendations for corridor design alternatives, and will endorse a preferred alternative by spring 2023.


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After missing quarterly reporting deadlines on school safety, Alexandria City Public Schools says it will deliver a report this week.

In a joint City Council/School Board work session on Wednesday night, some Council members were not pleased that ACPS has not delivered quarterly performance reviews on the school resource officer program. At the meeting, ACPS staff announced that the Board will soon receive a report on school safety data and the proposed school law enforcement partnership (SLEP) advisory group. The report has not yet been made public, and should be posted today (March 3) or tomorrow as an agenda item for the upcoming meeting.


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After two years in limbo, the Alexandria Seaport Foundation’s request to open a second floating Seaport Center on the waterfront is going back to City Council for approval next week.

The project was supposed to go to the Planning Commission in April 2020, but got sidelined by the pandemic. On Tuesday, March 8, Council will vote on the second center, which would be adjacent to its current location — the 1,200-square-foot McIlhenny Seaport Center at 0 Thompsons Alley.


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(Updated at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 3) Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon wants to be able to reduce speed limits from 25 miles per hour to 15 mph in business and residential districts.

The proposal is part of the city’s efforts to pilot slow zones in residence districts, and goes before City Council on Tuesday, March 8. The City Manager already has the authority to reduce the speed limit, just not to 15 mph.


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The hour-long presentation at Alexandria City High School focused on new programs to offer free associate degrees to Alexandria City High School graduates, improving graduation rates for Hispanic males and sticking to the ACPS 2025 Equity For All Strategic Plan. The speech did not focus on more controversial issues, such as Covid-related mandates or public safety issues within the school system.

“Our strategic plan takes us through 2025 and I know it sounds like it’s far away, but we’re already in 2022,” Hutchings said. “And we will still have much to accomplish to fulfill all of these accomplishments.”


News

Wegmans Food Markets will officially open in Carlyle on May 11, and the grocery store is still hiring hundreds of employees.

Recruiting started in September for the new 81,300 square-foot space at 150 Stovall Street. The store is part of the massive mixed-use Carlyle Crossing development, and will employ upward of 450 employees.


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Fans of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series have another treat on Sunday (March 6) in Old Town. In addition to the season 6 premier on Sunday, there will also be an Outlandish Tour of the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum.

The Apothecary Museum is known for incorporating popular culture into their work. For years, their Harry Potter tours have been popular for potions-masters-in-the-making.


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Alexandria City Public Schools told students in today’s morning announcements to respect the decisions of their peers who choose to not wear face masks in schools or on buses.

Senate Bill 739 went into effect today, allowing for Virginia parents to elect to opt their children out of mask wearing — reversing course on a rule that has been in effect since the beginning days of the pandemic in 2020.


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