News

The Alexandria City Council on Tuesday night (Sept. 22) deferred a plan to restrict public behavior in Council Chambers.

City Council took the advice of City Attorney Cheran Ivery to defer the plan, which states that Mayor Alyia Gaskins can oust any public speaker who makes “personal attacks” against City Council members, makes “off-topic” comments or participates in political campaigning. Other amended rules limit the size of signs residents can bring to City Council meetings and ban selfie sticks.


News

It’s time to dig the pink dress or suit out of the closet, because tickets are still available for the third annual ALX Pink Gala.

The ALX Pink Gala will return to the ALX Community Atrium at 277 S. Washington Street in Old Town on Friday, Sept. 25. Tickets cost $125 apiece, and $175 to attend a rooftop VIP reception. Proceeds will benefit the Breast Cancer Collective, an Alexandria-based nonprofit that helps women in underserved communities get access to breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment.


News

Staffers at a restaurant in the Potomac Yard area recently fought off a knife-wielding attempted robber and are telling their story.

On the night of Sept. 1, manager Merve McDonald was behind the counter at Omar’s Pitas & Platters (3100 Richmond Highway) and turned his back momentarily when the commotion started.


News

Washington Commanders players helped pack 500 bags of food for students at Mount Vernon Community School in Del Ray on Tuesday (Sept. 22).

Hundreds of students welcomed wide receiver Jaylin Lane, cornerback Rasul Douglas and mascot Major Tuddy in a pep rally in the school auditorium. This was the Commanders’ third annual visit to MVCS in collaboration with the nonprofit Blessings in a Backpack.


News

An Alexandria man is being held without bond on charges of abduction, robbery and violating a protective order against a woman he was dating.

The suspect has been held without bond since his arrest on Monday, May 18. On the previous evening, Sunday, May 17, the victim told police the suspect physically assaulted her and stole $1,500, her iPhone and her car, according to a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit.


News

Employees at a local business fought off a knife-wielding robber at a restaurant near Potomac Yard on Sept. 1, and the 64-year-old suspect is being held without bond after police found him hiding under his mother’s bed.

Around 11:15 p.m., the suspect allegedly walked into the restaurant in the 3100 block of Richmond Highway holding a large hunting knife. Staff reported that he jumped on the front counter and demanded they open the register. Instead, the three employees threw things at the suspect and injured him with a large grill scraper, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.


News

Alexandria’s City Council, on Saturday (Sept. 19), deferred a plan to convert a vacant lot and a one-story barbershop in the Parker-Gray Historic District into five four-story townhomes.

If approved, the plan would convert 724, 726 and 728 N. Patrick Street into five four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom homes with one-car garages and roof decks. City Council decided to defer the item to its public hearing on Oct. 17, during which time the city will talk with the property owner about keeping neighborhood-serving commercial businesses on the site.


News

As it weighs the city’s future with automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology, Alexandria City Council got an earful from residents on the subject at Saturday’s public hearing.

One speaker peered at City Council through binoculars and asked how they liked being watched.


News

An alleged sexual assault in a bathroom at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus (3775 W. Braddock Road) last year is still an open investigation, according to the Alexandria Police Department.

On the day of the incident — March 15, 2025 — the 15-year-old victim told police that she was pushed against her will by a male student into a unisex bathroom at the school. The victim said she was prevented from escaping and told the suspect to stop several times. An ACHS security officer heard them inside the bathroom and intervened, according to a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit.


Around Town

A new Olympic weightlifting gym is opening its doors in Alexandria’s West End on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Gym owner Brian Leung is opening Monument Weightlifting at 614 S. Pickett Street. The 6,800-square-foot gym will teach clients that want to learn Olympic lifts, or to continue developing their training.


News

Two restaurants are still temporarily closed and without power since a delivery truck driver hit a power line behind the Shoppes at Foxchase on Tuesday night, Aug. 25.

That’s more than three weeks ago. The fire that destroyed a pickup truck, two dumpsters and fencing has also shuttered La Casa Restaurant (4551 Duke Street) and Hong Kong Express (4545 Duke Street).


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