Vernon Miles | ALXnow

Royal Restaurant in Old Town North converting parking to outdoor seating

Published November 13, 2023 at 2:45PM

Royal Restaurant (image via Google Maps)

Royal Restaurant (730 N. St Asaph Street) in Old Town North could swap some parking spots for 90 new outdoor seats.

In an application filed to the City of Alexandria, applicant ARP Royal OPCO LLC said the plan is to convert 10 parking spaces to the west and south of the building into 60 outdoor seats, with another 30 added to an alley on the west side of the building.

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Police investigating robbery at the Bradlee Shopping Center

By Vernon Miles

Published November 13, 2023 at 10:20AM

Alexandria Police at night (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a robbery at the Bradlee Shopping Center this morning just before 9 a.m. that left one victim injured.

According to scanner traffic, the victim was bleeding from the face after being punched near the McDonalds on the 3600 block of King Street. Scanner traffic said the suspect may have taken the victim’s shoes and wallet.

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Alexandria making a snow plow ‘dry run’ around the city today

By Vernon Miles

Published November 13, 2023 at 9:30AM

A snow plow on King Street in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

There’s not a speck of snow on the forecast, but Alexandrians might see snow plows making the rounds across the city today.

The city’s Department of Transportation & Environmental Services (T&ES) is doing a practice run today for potential wintery conditions.

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What’s open and closed around Alexandria for Veterans Day

By Vernon Miles

Published November 9, 2023 at 3:45PM

Veterans at a Friends of Rocky Versace memorial (photo via Friends of Rocky Versace/Facebook)

Veterans Day is this upcoming Saturday, but the holiday is also observed on Friday, so the mix of what’s open and closed around Alexandria is a little more muddled than it usually is on a holiday.

For Alexandria City Public Schools, for example, it’s a school day as usual.

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Alexandria T&ES says Holmes Run might look different today after nearby water main break

By Vernon Miles

Published November 9, 2023 at 1:45PM

Holmes Run (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Anyone noticing that the water in Holmes Run looks different today: you’re not crazy: it’s because of a nearby water main break.

Alexandria Transportation & Environmental Services said though a water main break this morning (Thursday) at the 1100 block of Anderson Street has been cleared up, water in Holmes Run may “remain cloudy for the remainder of the day.”

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Notes: Alexandria Film Festival kicking off this weekend with heists, documentaries and more

By Vernon Miles

Published November 9, 2023 at 8:35AM

Scene from Art Thief, a movie showing at the Alexandria Film Festival (image via Art Thief/Facebook)

Good Thursday morning, Alexandria!

☀️ Today’s weather: Isolated showers after 1 p.m. Increasing clouds, with a high near 81. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Rain is also likely tomorrow before 1 p.m.

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Writing group at Alexandria Library can help locals hit their NaNoWriMo goals

By Vernon Miles

Published November 3, 2023 at 2:30PM

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

If you’re an aspiring writer working through National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), there’s a workshop at the Alexandria Library for you.

There’s a Writers Group meeting at the Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central library twice a month. The next meeting is this Sunday, Nov. 5, from 1-4:30 p.m.

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George Mason Elementary School modernization takes center stage in new ACPS budget

By Vernon Miles

Published November 3, 2023 at 11:10AM

The first day at school at George Mason Elementary School, August 21, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) says school modernization and upgrades are the big focal point of the upcoming Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget, particularly at George Mason Elementary School.

In a release, Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said the priority of the FY 2025 CIP Budget is modernization projects to meet projected capacity needs.

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Alexandria locations swept up in regional property management lawsuit over artificially inflated rent

By Vernon Miles

Published November 3, 2023 at 9:50AM

The Blake apartments (via The Blake/Facebook)

A lawsuit filed by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb over alleged artificial rent inflation will hit some of the region’s biggest landlords, including companies with properties in Alexandria, DCist first reported.

Schwalb’s lawsuit alleges the landlords of acting as a rent-setting cartel that use Texas-based property management software company RealPage to artificially drive up rent prices around the region.

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Alexandria sees third highest rent increase in the region for ‘Class A’ apartments

By Vernon Miles

Published November 2, 2023 at 2:50PM

Rendering of Reese, an apartment building in the Carlyle Crossing development, courtesy Stonebridge

Alexandria renting units in Class A apartments — newer, high-rise buildings — have seen their rent increase by an average of 4.7% over the last year, real estate website UrbanTurf reported.

Those Class A units comprise the majority of new construction around the region and are generally developments built after 1991 and featuring amenities. The effective rent per month in one of those units in Alexandria, which includes a mix of studios, one and two-bedroom rentals, is $2,475 per month.

News

UPDATED: Power restored after widespread outage from Seminary Hill to Del Ray

By Vernon Miles

Published November 2, 2023 at 12:00PM | Updated November 2, 2023 at 12:21PM

Power outage in Alexandria on 11/2 (image via Dominion Energy)

(Updated 12:20 p.m.) Over 4,000 Dominion Energy customers were without power earlier today in a large outage covering a swath of central Alexandria, from Seminary Hill to Del Ray.

Dominion estimated 4,365 customers were impacted by the outage.