Author: Vernon Miles

Vernon Miles is the ALXnow cofounder and editor. He's covered Alexandria since 2014 and has been with Local News Now since 2018. When he's not reporting, he can usually be found playing video games or Dungeons and Dragons with friends.

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D.C. man charged in armed robbery spree, including one shooting in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles
A clerk was shot in the leg during a robbery at the 7-ELeven at 3023 Duke Street on April 17, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

D.C. resident Shamell Joyner, 35, has been charged with a series of armed robberies, including one in Alexandria last month in which a clerk was shot, Patch first reported.

In April, a clerk at the 7-Eleven at 3023 Duke Street was reportedly shot in the leg after a bullet fired at the floor ricocheted. The Alexandria Police Department (APD) said the injuries were serious but non-life threatening.

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Alexandria Black History Museum director to lead city’s new African American History division

By Vernon Miles
Audrey Davis, executive director of the Alexandria Black History Museum, speaks at the Walk the Walk 2020 event at Alexandria's African American Heritage Park, August 27, 2020. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Audrey Davis, executive director of the Alexandria Black History Museum (902 Wythe Street), has been tapped to lead the city’s new African American History division of the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA).

Davis has been a leader in the city’s efforts to preserve Black history in Alexandria, starting as a part-time curator with the city in 1993. The city has made significant strides in recent years to better present the city’s Black history, from the opening of the Freedom House Museum to guided tours of the Parker-Gray neighborhood.

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Alexandria teens running community car wash today to raise awareness of fentanyl dangers

By Vernon Miles

Alexandria teens at the city’s Sheltercare facility are hosting a car wash today where they’ll discuss the fentanyl issues that have devastated Alexandria.

The community car wash is scheduled to run from 3-5 p.m. today (Tuesday) at Sheltercare (200 S. Whiting Street), a program administered by the Juvenile Detention Commission of Northern Virginia to “provide services and stabilization for youth.”

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JUST IN: Melanie Kay-Wyatt announced as Alexandria City Public Schools superintendent

By Vernon Miles
ACPS Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt speaks at an event for Noah and Josephus Lyles at Market Square, October 10, 2022. (staff photo by James Cullum)

Melanie Kay-Wyatt can take the “interim” off her job title: the School Board announced tonight (Thursday) that Kay-Wyatt will be the full superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS).

At the meeting, School Board leaders said the decision is a historic one and will hopefully break ACPS run of rapid superintendent turnover.

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JUST IN: Police investigating shots fired incident near Braddock Road Metro station

By Vernon Miles
North Fayette Street and Madison Street (image via Google Maps)

The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a shots fired incident on the 700 block of N. Fayette Street near the Braddock Road Metro station.

Multiple gunshots were overheard at the intersection of North Fayette Street and Madison Street, according to scanner traffic. The first call came in around 3:26 p.m.

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Fundraiser established for family of the ACHS student who died this week

By Vernon Miles
GoFundMe for ACHS student Yonathan Isaí Vasquez Méndez (image via GoFundMe)

(Updated 11:10 a.m.) After the death of Alexandria City High School student Yonathan Isaí Vasquez Méndez earlier this week, friends and family are raising funds to help cover funeral expenses and other costs.

While no cause of death has been officially announced, scanner traffic at the time indicated first responders were administering Narcan and later that day, the City of Alexandria issued a warning about fentanyl-laced drugs after “two recent suspected drug overdoses involving school-aged youth,” the Alexandria Times first reported.

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ACHS’ Theogony editors look back at a year of student journalism and activism

By Vernon Miles
2023 Theogony Editors. Front Row L to R: Zoe Sermons, James Libresco, Ermila Mazariegos, Casey Donahue. Back Row L to R: Chloe Yokitis and Yahney-Marie Sangare

With the 2022-2023 school year coming to a close next month, it’s been another banner year for Alexandria City High School (ACHS) student newspaper Theogony.

In recent years the student newspaper has been at the forefront of stories about ACHS, from breaking the story about former Superintendent Gregory Hutchins Jr. sending one of his children to a private school rather than ACHS to publishing a study about phosphorus levels in nearby Taylor Run.

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Mount Vernon Avenue closed near George Washington Middle School due to gas leak

By Vernon Miles
Police blocking off traffic at E. Braddock Road and Mount Vernon Avenue for a gas leak (staff photo by James Cullum)

A gas leak across from George Washington Middle School has shut down traffic along Mount Vernon Avenue.

Alexandria Fire Department spokesperson Raytevia Evans said there was a report of a gas leak on the 700 block of Mount Vernon Avenue. Scanner traffic indicated that the incident started around 1:30 p.m.

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New tool maps out income and racial inequality across Alexandria

By Vernon Miles
Alexandria's census tracts coded by the Equity Index Map. Areas of deeper purple represent places with higher levels of disparity (image via City of Alexandria)

The City of Alexandria has a new tool that highlights areas where income levels vary significantly by racial and ethnic groups.

The new Equity Index Map map isn’t a chart of levels of poverty across Alexandria, as some of the wealthiest and poorest communities across Alexandria have low levels of disparity. Instead, it highlights census tracts where race and indicators of economic inequality are closely linked.

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Upcoming free tour explores the hidden history of Alexandria’s Parker-Gray neighborhood

By Vernon Miles
Parker-Gray School (photo via City of Alexandria)

While Alexandria is known for its history, an upcoming free tour later this month will take locals into the underexplored stories of the city’s Parker-Gray neighborhood.

Parker-Gray native Michael Johnson, who recently won the Alexandria Historical Society’s T. Michael Miller award for his work raising awareness of issues with the Douglass Memorial Cemetery, is hosting a tour of the neighborhood on Saturday, May 20, from 10-11 a.m. Johnson will be accompanied by an 80-year-old Parker-Gray resident who can help tell some stories from the neighborhood’s history.

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