Vernon Miles | ALXnow

Poll: Do You Plan on Trick-or-Treating?

Published October 27, 2020 at 5:30PM

Door-to-door greeting and candy distribution is a classic staple of Halloween night, but the City of Alexandria and health officials warn it might be one of the worst activities to do amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The City of Alexandria proposed celebrating with alternatives, like scavenger hunts around the home or Halloween movie night with the family. A classic Del Ray celebration has already committed to going virtual. Others have proposed maintaining trick-or-treating but with modifications to encourage distancing.

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City Warns Drivers to be Mindful of Increased Pedestrian Traffic This Weekend

By Vernon Miles

Published October 27, 2020 at 2:30PM

A pedestrian tries to cross Duke St. at N. Jordan St. (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria is asking local drivers to be particularly mindful of safe driving this week as children, who may not adhere as closely to regulations as adults, take to the streets to trick or treat.

While traditional trick or treating has been discouraged this year in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it’s still likely that this weekend will see a noticeable uptick of children on city streets. City Council declared this week as “Pedestrian Safety Awareness Week” in early October in light of the potential risk.

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BREAKING: Virginia State Police Seek Alexandria Man After Police Shootout

By Vernon Miles

Published October 26, 2020 at 8:20AM | Updated October 26, 2020 at 11:13PM

The Holiday Inn & Suites at 625 First Street in Old Town. (Photo via Taylor Brown)

(Updated at 11:10 p.m.) At least three Alexandria Police officers are on routine administrative leave after a shootout that left one suspect dead near the intersection of N. Fairfax and Montgomery Streets.

At 5 a.m., police responded to a call for shots fired inside the Holiday Inn & Suites (625 First Street) in north Old Town, according to police spokesman Lt. Courtney Ballantine. Once at the scene, police were told by witnesses that a robbery occurred in the lobby of the hotel and that multiple shots were fired.

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Planning Commission Approves New MacArthur Elementary

By Vernon Miles

Published September 8, 2020 at 2:40PM

Not long after approving a new school zoning change, the Alexandria Planning Commission unanimously approved the design for the new Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.

Much of the discussion and debate about added density was focused around the density concerns at the start of the meeting, but several neighbors spoke up with concerns raised throughout the process about how the larger school and facilities could impact the surrounding neighborhoods.

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Gas Usage in Alexandria and Surrounding Localities Drops Dramatically

By Vernon Miles

Published September 4, 2020 at 12:15PM

A regional gas tax usually goes to supporting the capital funding for WMATA, but data presented at the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission meeting last night showed that regional gas spending has taken a nosedive in the last few months.

Starting in March, gas tax revenue started to dip below $3 million. While the gas tax revenue has fallen to $2 million in March in years past, by June it had plummeted far below that. For the entire region, roughly $500,000 was collected in gas tax revenue, compared to over $3 million in February.

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Personal Space is a Foreign Concept for this Local Cat Looking for a New Home

By Vernon Miles

Published September 3, 2020 at 3:30PM

Alex, a tabby up for adoption at the AWLA (photo courtesy AWLA)

Cats have a reputation for being somewhat aloof, but nobody has told that to Alex yet.

The five-year-old tabby up for adoption at the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria (AWLA) is desperate for attention and affection.

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Planning Commission Approves Density Compromise Despite Outrage from Civic Associations

By Vernon Miles

Published September 3, 2020 at 2:45PM

Alexandria’s civic associations came out in force to speak against a loosening of zoning restrictions at public school properties. While the Planning Commission ultimately pushed forward a modified version of the zoning change, there was widespread agreement that the public outreach could have been handled better.

The change had been proposed in 2019 and was docketed for meetings earlier this year, but had disappeared as the pandemic led to those meetings being cancelled until it quietly resurfaced for the Sept. 1 meeting.

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Local Methodist Church Offers to Bless Chromebooks Before School Starts

By Vernon Miles

Published September 3, 2020 at 11:45AM

A local church is offering the ultimate tech support: a divine blessing for local students’ laptops.

This Sunday, Sept. 6, at 5:30 p.m.,Trinity United Methodist Church (2911 Cameron Mills Road) is planning to host an Outdoor Blessing of the Chromebooks & Ice Cream Social (Social Distanced Edition).

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Beatley Central Library Closed Until Further Notice Due to ‘Emergency Conditions’

By Vernon Miles

Published September 2, 2020 at 4:15PM | Updated September 2, 2020 at 5:41PM

The Charles Beatley library in Alexandria (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Updated 5:40 p.m. — According to Anton Murray, spokesman for Alexandria Libraries:

Due to an incidence of COVID-19 with a staff member at the Beatley Library, the Library has been closed for 1-3 days for deep cleaning. The nature of that staff member’s role in the library requires little to no significant direct contact with the public or other staff. Based on investigation to date (including contact tracing) by the Health Department no quarantine recommendations were needed for other staff or the public.

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Alexandria’s 7.8% July Unemployment a Slight Improvement Over June

By Vernon Miles

Published September 2, 2020 at 2:30PM

Data put out today by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) shows that nearly 8% of the city was unemployed in July, only a fraction improvement over June’s figures.

The VEC data showed that the city had a civilian labor force of 100,938 in July. Of that, 93,084 remained employed while 7,854 had filed for unemployment.

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DASH Announces Restored Weekday Bus Service in Two Weeks

By Vernon Miles

Published September 2, 2020 at 1:30PM

In an update to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, Alexandria bus service DASH said it will resuming increased increased levels of service starting on Sunday, Sept. 13.

“DASH will increase service levels in Alexandria to approximately 80% of pre-COVID service on September 13,” the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission said in materials for an upcoming meeting. “Weekday service will be restored on several routes and limited service will resume on most routes that were discontinued in March.”