News

Along with locations in Arlington, Tysons and the rest of the national chain, Papyrus in Old Town (721 King Street) is closing.

Signs in the window say everything in the shop is 40-60% off. The store remains about half stocked, with remaining cards and merchandise filling the front half of the store. Other items include journals, gift bags, and assorted stationery.


News

The start of spring is just over a month away, which means the arrival of Girl Scout cookies is here.

You could just hope to encounter a stand somewhere on your commute, or locate a co-worker with a kid in the Scouts, but if you want to be more strategic about it, the Girl Scouts website has a cookie tracker to find your nearest stand.


News

Sushi restaurant The Handover, which is replacing Eamonn’s Dublin Chipper at 728 King Street, is planning opening tomorrow, according to staff at the restaurant.

A sign in the window says the restaurant is focused on hand rolls called temaki.


News

With both the Virginia House and Senate approving legislation to allow localities to remove Confederate statues, it would seem the Appomattox statue’s days are numbered.

The statue sits in the center of the intersection of S. Washington Street and Prince Street, where it’s been occasionally struck by cars.


News

You may not be familiar with the city’s Historic Preservation Manager William “Al” Cox, but if you walked around Old Town you’re familiar with his work.

After 28 years of shaping the city’s policy on architecture and historic preservation and 10 years as the historic preservation manager, Cox is retiring.


News

A survey of Alexandria City Public Schools’ drinking water sources has come back with relatively high levels of copper and lead in George Washington Middle School (1005 Mount Vernon Avenue).

Many of the schools had no outlets or very few that tested above action levels — amounts that require equipment replacement — for copper or lead. The EPA’s action levels for copper are 1.3 mg/L and much lower for lead, 0.015 mg/L. At T.C. Williams High School, 259 samples were collected and only four tested above actionable levels.


News

Skip the expensive restaurant tabs, avoid the usual bar scene. If you want to take your date somewhere romantic and unique in Alexandria this Valentine’s Day (Friday), below are a few ideas for local outings.

On the more romantic side, there’s Ice & Lights, an ice skating running at Cameron Run (4001 Eisenhower Ave) through the end of February. Access to the rink is $8 and skate rentals are $4. There’s also a nearby retail area and a pizza shop called Slice & Ice.


News

One week after Lee-Jackson Day was nixed, the Union is preparing for its latest show of force at Alexandria’s Fort Ward.

The Fort Ward Museum — which covers the history of one of the best-preserved Union forts that formed the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the Civil War — is scheduling its annual “outfitting the men” program for next Saturday, Feb. 22, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.


News

Gadsby’s Tavern is one of Alexandria’s most notable historic landmarks, famous for hosting guests like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, but a new tour looks at the lives of slaves forced to work at the tavern.

A Complicated Hospitality Tour looks into the stories, experiences and archival records of the men and women enslaved by proprietor John Gadsby, according to an event description. While many depictions of slavery focus on the plantation system, this tour looks at the nuances of urban slavery and aims to explore how slaves lived in early Alexandria.


News

Holmes Run Trail through Eisenhower’s West End was fragmented by last year’s flooding, and city staff said it could remain that way for years to come.

Under normal circumstances, the Holmes Run Trail runs continuously northwest from Eisenhower Avenue to Columbia Pike with few, if any, interruptions. Flash floods from last year’s July 8 storms changed that.


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