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.

News

Lost Dog Barks Back at Proposed City Noise Ordinance

By Vernon Miles

A new noise ordinance could impose Old Town’s decibel limits citywide, but one local restaurant isn’t taking the news lying down.

Lost Dog Cafe, a popular restaurant at 808 N. Henry Street near the Braddock Metro station and part of a regional franchise, expressed frustration at the proposed limits on Twitter.

Go to Lost Dog Barks Back at Proposed City Noise Ordinance Read more
News

Alexandria Halloween Events include Belly-Dancing Monsters and Communing With Deceased Pets

By Vernon Miles

If you’ve waited until the last minute to put together your Halloween plans, here’s your guide to events around the area.

The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Avenue) is planning it’s annual party called Raven’s Night on Saturday, Nov. 2. The “unique soirée” features belly dancing, live music and a pre-show carnival. This year’s theme is “Creature Feature,” an homage to classic iconic movie monsters. Tickets are $25. Doors for the show open at 5 p.m.

Go to Alexandria Halloween Events include Belly-Dancing Monsters and Communing With Deceased Pets Read more
News

School Board Works to Keep One T.C. Plan from Splitting in Two

By Vernon Miles

School officials are trying to ensure that early plans to expand T.C. Williams High School don’t result in increasing the inequities the plan was designed to thwart.

On Sept. 26, the School Board voted not to build a second high school, but to transform T.C. Williams High School as a campus with an expanded Minnie Howard satellite location a few blocks away. As the schools move into the earliest phases of developing what that expansion looks like, School Board members and school officials at a meeting last week expressed concerns that the current plan to add new facilities to Minnie Howard campus could result in students receiving unequal access to better educational opportunities — one of the chief criticisms of the two high school plan.

Go to School Board Works to Keep One T.C. Plan from Splitting in Two Read more
News

Lotus Blooms, Lingerie Shop in Old Town, Celebrates 10 Years in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles
Lotus Blooms at 1017 King Street (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Lotus Blooms has lingerie in the windows, but the store is about more than that. Owner Teal Dye says the store’s goal is to help people love their bodies and explore outside their comfort zones.

“Sex in our society is not something we talk about,” Dye said. “Since most people aren’t super comfortable having intimate conversations, it’s important to create that opportunity for people to do so, to [have a place] to have questions and ask them.”

Go to Lotus Blooms, Lingerie Shop in Old Town, Celebrates 10 Years in Alexandria Read more
News

City to Launch All-Digital Permitting System and Eliminate Trip to City Hall

By Vernon Miles
Alexandria City Hall sign (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

The City of Alexandria announced today that it will be launching APEX, a loftily-named new permitting and land use application system, early next month.

The goal of the new system is to take the complicated application system — which currently requires a trip to City Hall — and make it simpler and entirely digital. APEX is designed to handle everything from permits to add a new deck to a home to land use applications for larger projects, according to a promotional video for the new system.

Go to City to Launch All-Digital Permitting System and Eliminate Trip to City Hall Read more
News

Alexandria Considers Closing Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center

By Vernon Miles
Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Faced with declining utilization, the City of Alexandria is will decide whether or not to shutter the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center.

The facility, located at 200 S. Whiting Street, is a 70-bed detention center that takes in teenagers from Alexandria, Falls Church and Arlington County with a misdemeanor or felony offenses.

Go to Alexandria Considers Closing Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center Read more
News

New Hockey Rink in Seminary Hill to Open Tomorrow with Free Capitals Class

By Vernon Miles

The Washington Capitals are hosting a free street hockey class for children in Alexandria.

The class is planned for the Seminary Road Roller Rink at Francis C. Hammond Middle School (4646 Seminary Road) in Alexandria tomorrow (Wednesday). The class will run from 4:45-5:45 p.m. after a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Go to New Hockey Rink in Seminary Hill to Open Tomorrow with Free Capitals Class Read more
News

School Staff Recommends New Measures to Ease Traffic Concerns at Seminary Hill School Project

By Vernon Miles

(Updated 10/31/19) Alexandria City Public Schools are moving forward with plans to use Patrick Henry Elementary School as swing space with some new aspects that aim to ease concerns about traffic

By September 2020, ACPS plans to have to schools open on the lot where the former Patrick Henry Elementary School currently sits (4643 Taney Lane). The plan use the former Patrick Henry building for Douglas MacArthur students while the Douglas MacArthur school is under construction, with the new temporary school called Douglas MacArthur on Taney Avenue. The school will remain there until the new Douglas MacArthur opens in 2023.

Go to School Staff Recommends New Measures to Ease Traffic Concerns at Seminary Hill School Project Read more
News

Superintendent Hutchings Recognized With Leadership Award for Advocacy

By Vernon Miles

Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings Jr. was recognized with a leadership award from a non-profit promoting healthy living conditions for children in the D.C. area.

Hutchings was awarded the Tom Cookerly Exceptional School Superintendent Leadership Award 2019 earlier this month by the National Center for Children and Families, citing his “his success as an outstanding leader in education and as an advocate, role model and mentor for minority youth in schools,” according to a press release.

Go to Superintendent Hutchings Recognized With Leadership Award for Advocacy Read more
View More Stories