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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Fort Ward project update coming this month ahead of construction scheduled this summer/fall

By Vernon Miles
A man walks a dog at Fort Ward Park (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The City of Alexandria is gearing up for an overhaul to the storied Fort Ward Park.

Since early 2015, the City has been working on plans to revitalize Fort Ward and make the park more accessible. Planned changes include a new and more accessible playground, picnic shelters on a new pathway, and more memorialization/preservation of burial sites used by the Black community that settled at the fort after the Civil War.

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Months after going silent, planned Heritage project in Old Town could be saved by new bond funding

By Vernon Miles
Rendering of Block 1 of the Heritage Project, via City of Alexandria

A stalled development project in Old Town, called The Heritage, could be getting a boost from the city’s housing authority to get it over the finish line.

The City Council is docketed to consider a resolution “authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds by the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) for the Heritage at Old Town Redevelopment Project.”

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Alexandria leadership considering salary increase for incoming City Council

By Vernon Miles
The Alexandria City Council at it's March 12, 2024 meeting (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria City Council and mayor could be getting a pay increase, though the pay in Alexandria is still dramatically less than other Northern Virginia jurisdictions.

Currently Alexandria’s mayor earns $41,500 annually, while council members and the vice mayor earns $37,500. Despite how busy the City Council jobs are, most members of council still keep other full-time jobs. Mayor Justin Wilson, for example, is also the senior director of supplier management at Amtrak.

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News

Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued for Alexandria and neighboring localities

By Vernon Miles
Scenes from Old Town as a storm front bringing rain and high winds moves through the region in 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria is under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued by the National Weather Service today until 9 p.m. tonight.

While skies are mostly clear as of 2:30 p.m., the forecast calls for a thunderstorm sometime before 5 p.m. and a chance of showers and thunderstorms continuing afterwards.

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Alexandria ranks highly as a place for college grads to start their careers

By Vernon Miles
The Old Town Alexandria waterfront (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Coming in just behind neighboring Arlington, Alexandria was ranked as the second best mid-sized cities for starting a post-college career, according to site CoworkingCafe.

The ranking looks at a variety of factors, from population with a bachelor’s degree, jobs for recent grads, and the local unemployment rate. On the financial side, the ranking includes median graduate income, cost of living vs national average, and what percent of jobs have employer-based health insurance coverage.

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Planning Commission endorses Parker-Gray rezoning over objections from neighbors

By Vernon Miles
711 Pendleton Street (image via Google Maps)

The shop at 709 and 711 Pendleton Street has been a commercial space since WWII, but neighbors argued the removal of a proffer requiring its use as an office puts their neighborhood at risk.

Parker-Gray residents spoke at a Planning Commission meeting yesterday (Tuesday) sharing fears that a new coffee shop development would damage their residential neighborhood, but Commissioners fired back that those concerns just reflect the reality of living in a city.

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Alexandria and neighbors under Flood Watch ahead of rainy afternoon

By Vernon Miles
Cloudy skies over ALXnow editor's apartment (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

This afternoon could see several rounds of rain showers and thunderstorms — enough that the National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for Alexandria and neighboring localities.

Alexandria, along with Fairfax, Arlington and other part of the region, are under a Flood Watch scheduled to start at noon today and continue through this evening.

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News

Construction starting this month on Rosemont flood mitigation project

By Vernon Miles
Oakland Terrace-Timber Branch Channel Wall (image via City of Alexandria)

Alexandria’s worked on some high-tech flood mitigation projects, but sometimes the old ways are best.

The city is starting work this month on a project to replace a concrete retaining wall in Rosemont with a reinforced vegetated wall, a replacement that should not only benefit the local ecosystem, but help protect a nearby sewer line.

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News

Port City Brewing Company hosting Pride market and drag show next weekend

By Vernon Miles
Priday Market at Port City (image via Port City Brewing Company)

Other than Halloween and maybe the winter holidays, Pride Month is maybe the holiday season Alexandria goes most all-out for.

Local favorite Port City Brewing Company is getting in on the action too with Priday Market and Drag Show next weekend.

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News

Alexandria rolls out Juneteenth celebrations this month

By Vernon Miles
Alexandria City Hall was lit up for the weekend of Juneteenth 2021. (photo via Carol Jean Stalun Photography for Visit Alexandria)

Along with Pride Month celebrations, the City of Alexandria is also hosting a series of events celebrating Juneteenth, the annual holiday on June 19 that observes the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and officially proclaimed freedom for the remaining enslaved people in the state.

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Alexandria plants 100 new trees to celebrate city’s birthday

By Vernon Miles
Map of planned tree plantings in Alexandria for the birthday project (image via City of Alexandria)

If you haven’t heard, this is the city’s 275th birthday, and the city is giving itself 275 new trees to celebrate.

One of the projects from the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services Stormwater Management Division aims to plant 275 new trees throughout the city to celebrate that birthday. This weekend, the city hit a milestone with the planting of the 100th tree.

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