Vernon Miles | ALXnow

Alexandria cemetery tour this weekend explores tales of local duels, cavalry battles and more

Published April 24, 2024 at 9:45AM

The base of the Appomattox statue is now located at Bethel Cemetery in the Wilkes Cemetery Complex (staff photo by James Cullum)

The historic cemetery tour: it’s the one locals are dying to get into.

A tour coming up this Saturday (April 27) will reacquaint Alexandrians with some of their post-mortem neighbors and hear buried histories of duels, cavalry battles and more in the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex (1475-1501 Wilkes Street).

News

Old Town cafe and corner store Foxtrot closed as national chain implodes

By Vernon Miles

Published April 23, 2024 at 1:40PM

Foxtrot in Old Town, photo via Foxtrot/Facebook

A little over two years after it opened, Foxtrot in Old Town is closed — swept up in a series of closures affecting all locations in the Washington D.C. area.

The shop was a more upscale version of the typical corner store and cafe. The first D.C. location opened in 2021 and it quickly spread around the region before imploding today.

News

King Street named one of the ‘most charming main streets’

By Vernon Miles

Published April 23, 2024 at 9:55AM

Musician King Street Sax performing on lower King Street in Old Town. Find out more at kingstreetsaxmusic.com. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

A new poll ranked Alexandria’s King Street as one of the best ‘main streets’ in America, though it got beat out by Alexandria’s travel destination rival.

The poll of 3,000 travelers by photo book site Mixbook put Alexandria’s King Street at #7 on the list of America’s Most Charming Main Streets.

News

Agenda Alexandria tackles ‘cannabis market in limbo’ Monday night

By Vernon Miles

Published April 22, 2024 at 3:50PM

Marijuana (photo via Wesley Gibbs/Unsplash)

Everything seemed rolled up tight for a legal retail market for cannabis, but a veto from Gov. Glenn Youngkin set those plans ablaze.

Panel program Agenda: Alexandria is meeting tonight (Monday) to discuss the current state of the cannabis market with speakers including Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter and the owner of a dispensary network.

News

Alexandria seeking community feedback on bike lanes and other changes to West End street

By Vernon Miles

Published April 22, 2024 at 9:55AM

S Pickett Street project scope (image via City of Alexandria)

Alexandria is seeking community feedback on a series of changes to South Pickett Street in the West End, including new pedestrian safety measures and protected bike lanes.

The project would cover S. Pickett Street from Duke Street down to Edsall Road. That route along the West End Village shopping center, Hillwood Condominiums, and ends near Samuel Tucker Elementary School.

News

New report says Alexandria’s service request hotline is gradually getting more responsive

By Vernon Miles

Published April 19, 2024 at 10:50AM

(photo via Alex311/Facebook)

Over time, Alexandria’s Alex311 service hotline has been getting better at responding to requests from locals.

The City of Alexandria usually gets a little over 30,000 requests through the Alex311 hotline. Those range from reports of missed trash collection to questions about trees and potholes.

Opinion

Poll: Should Alexandria adopt a ward system for City Council elections?

By Vernon Miles

Published April 18, 2024 at 2:30PM

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

A new advocacy group called the Communities for Accountable City Council (CACC) is pushing for Alexandria to return to a wards/district system for City Council elections.

Currently, all members of Alexandria’s City Council are elected at-large. A ward or district system would, like the School Board, have City Council members elected from and represent certain neighborhoods.

News

Festival featuring fast and exotic cars returning to Old Town next month

By Vernon Miles

Published April 17, 2024 at 1:30PM

Checking out a 2956 Austin-Healey 100 BN2 at the Old Town Festival of Speed and Style on May 22, 2022. (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Old Town Festival of Speed and Style is set to cruise back into Alexandria next month.

The annual festival is returning for the fifth year in a row on Sunday, May 19, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

News

Pair of lane closures planned around Braddock and North Ridge this weekend

By Vernon Miles

Published April 17, 2024 at 10:45AM

N. Henry and Pendleton intersection (photo via Google Maps)

Drivers traveling near Shirlington and North Ridge or the Braddock neighborhood this weekend might want to plan ahead for some upcoming lane closures.

The first one is a planned lane closure on the Shirlington Circle south rotary bridge over I-395 — connecting Arlington and Alexandria.

News

Local organization forms to push Alexandria back to district/ward elections

By Vernon Miles

Published April 16, 2024 at 3:30PM

Anti-Zoning for Housing sign in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

A new advocacy group has formed in hopes of returning Alexandria to a district/wards election system.

The Communities for Accountable City Council (CACC) describes itself as a non-partisan group of Alexandria residents “exasperated with the intransigent Alexandria City Council that is unaccountable to communities and neighborhoods because of Alexandria’s At-Large election system.”

News

One-third of Alexandria’s workforce works from home

By Vernon Miles

Published April 16, 2024 at 10:45AM

ALXnow editor's work from home setup (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Of the 96,993 working Alexandrians, 30% of them work from home (30,015 people), according to the US Census.

United States Census data collected from 2022 provides a detailed breakdown of how Alexandrians travel to work.