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.
Arlandria music venue The Birchmere has a jam-packed schedule for the holiday season, with a few notable big names and old favorites returning.
Coming up later this week is musician Chris Isaak, best known for his 1989 single Wicked Game.
Metro to keep reduced service through Dec. 31 — “Metro will continue offering reduced rail service through the end of the year, WMATA announced Monday.” [NBC4]
Bun Papa opens third location in Bradlee Shopping Center — “The newest Bun Papa location operates out of the future BeeLiner Diner which will open in Bradlee Shopping Center early next year.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
A series of daily events starting later this week will have the dual benefit of helping out local businesses and Alexandrians looking to get some Christmas shopping done.
The ‘Shop Small Week’ started as a mostly digital event last year to help local businesses slammed by the pandemic. The retail events, put together by Visit Alexandria, start on Friday, Nov. 26, with “Plaid Friday” followed by a Small Business Saturday event on Nov. 27.
After COVID shut it down last year, the annual Alexandria Turkey Trot is gobbling up parts of Del Ray later this week.
The Turkey Trot is scheduled for Thanksgiving Morning (Thursday, Nov. 25) at 9 a.m. The event is put together by DC Road Runners and the Del Ray Business Association. The five-mile run/walk is scheduled to take trotters through Del Ray, starting and ending at George Washington Middle school. Dogs and strollers are allowed and will have their own starting area separate from the runners.
In a meeting with the Transportation Commission, city staff said earlier reporting about the city axing the city-wide feedback form for the Complete Streets program sounded “scary”, emphasizing instead that the city will be focusing on feedback more local to the affected areas.
Quick refresher: Complete Streets is an Alexandria program that aims to redesign roadways for the benefit of all users, with pedestrians and cyclists in mind along with motorists. The program stirred up some local controversy over plans to reduce travel lanes on Seminary Road in favor of bike lanes.
This weekend, Cameron Run Regional Park reopened Winter Village, an annual transformation of the water park into a winter-themed experience complete with ice skating.
The theme for Winter Village this year is ‘Ice and Lights‘, with various lit-up displays around the village for gawking and taking photos.
On Friday, a three-alarm fire ravaged a duplex in Del Ray and displaced two families. The next morning, neighbors started to mount an effort to help them recover.
Within two days, the Del Ray Citizens Association set up a GoFundMe that has raised $29,464 of a $30,000 total goal to help the families start putting their lives back together. The Del Ray Citizens Association said on the GoFundMe page that the families lost nearly everything they owned in the fire.
Local consignment shop helps after Del Ray fire — “If you’d like to help this family get back on their feet, Bellies & Babies, a consignment boutique located at 1913 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, will act as a drop-off point.” [ABC7]
Alexandria goes backward in its count of single-family units — “The city of Alexandria rarely sees big changes year-over-year in its single-family housing stock, but in fiscal 2021, it went backward.” [Washington Business Journal]
This week was a mix of big plans for the future in Alexandria and concerns about public feedback on city projects.
The top story this week was on Sunday, when a driver struck and killed local resident Roy Saravia Alvarez. The driver, Fredy Ortiz-Dominguez of Hyattsville, Maryland, was arrested last night and charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The Torpedo Factory plan took a direct hit from the Waterfront Commission as Commissioners criticized staff for a rushed timeline that gives little room for public and commission feedback.
Plans are in the works to potentially overhaul the structure of the Torpedo Factory, with options like new cafe space on the first floor or artistic changes like a new glassblowing studio all being considered. But at a Waterfront Commission meeting earlier this week, the group unanimously voted to sent a letter to the City Council warning about the inadequate time given to considering public feedback at the end of the process.
Animal rescue organization Lucky Dog is hosting a puppy adoption event this Saturday (Nov. 20) at the Potomac Yard PetSmart (3351 Richmond Highway).
The event is scheduled to run from noon to 2 p.m. and will give local prospective adopters a chance to meet some local dogs looking for homes.
