Vernon Miles | ALXnow

Alexandria asks waterfront visitors not to touch or collect collision wreckage

Published January 30, 2025 at 1:15PM

Recovery crews at work near the scene of the mid-air collision (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The City of Alexandria is asking residents and visitors that spot wreckage from the mid-air collision last night near National Airport not to touch it.

“We understand the curiosity and concerns residents may have,” the City of Alexandria said. “We strongly encourage visitors to the waterfront to not touch or collect anything you believe may be related to this incident.”

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New salad restaurant coming to Del Ray with French Toast food truck in the back

By Vernon Miles

Published January 30, 2025 at 11:45AM

French Toast food truck at 1506 Mount Vernon Avenue (image via City of Alexandria)

Next week the Planning Commission is scheduled to review a special use permit that could bring the French Toast food truck and a new salad restaurant Salad Topia to Del ray.

The special use permit is for 1506 Mount Vernon Avenue. the restaurant would be inside the building while French Toast would operate from trailers behind the building.

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Alexandria City Council could leave historic chambers as part of City Hall renovation

By Vernon Miles

Published January 29, 2025 at 3:55PM

Proposed new City Council chambers (image via City of Alexandria)

As Alexandria’s City Council mulls over an expensive revamp of City Hall, one of the major changes could be a move away from the current historic chambers into a more accessible first-floor room.

The City of Alexandria is working through a year of public engagement that could reshape not only City Hall but Market Square outside the building. The proposal will come back to the City Council for a vote in July.

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Alexandria launches tool to find local historic signs (like the cryptid Goosepig marker)

By Vernon Miles

Published January 29, 2025 at 8:30AM

Goosepigs sign, staff photo by Vernon Miles

A new tool launched by the City of Alexandria will help locals access some of the city’s fascinating historical markers virtually

Some markers not items of historic significance, like the Marshall House where Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth was murdered in one of the events building up to the Civil War. Others are more fantastical, like the spot in Old Town North that was reportedly home to one of Alexandria’s local cryptids: the infamous Goosepigs.

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Beyer blasts federal funding freeze as illegal and unconstitutional

By Vernon Miles

Published January 28, 2025 at 3:40PM

Rep. Don Beyer, of Virginia's 8th District, speaks to supporters on election night at Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray, Nov. 8, 2022 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Last night the Trump administration announced a halt on federal grants and loans, a move 8th district Rep. Don Beyer called “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional.”

The White House clarified that the new order would “clamp down on foreign aid and funding for diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. Washington Post reported that states have had issues accessing Medicaid and Head Start funding.

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What could the return-to-office mandate mean for Alexandria?

By Vernon Miles

Published January 28, 2025 at 1:50PM | Updated January 29, 2025 at 10:20AM

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria's Carlyle neighborhood (staff photo by James Cullum)

Update 1/29: A memo rescinding telework and remote work specifically notes that it does not apply to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

A new executive order mandating federal employees end telework and return to offices could be a boon to the local markets, though a local expert warned not to expect a return to the pre-Covid office market.

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Alexandria Superintendent spells out ways ACPS can and can’t protect students from ICE

By Vernon Miles

Published January 28, 2025 at 11:40AM | Updated February 11, 2025 at 4:02PM

ACPS Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt delivers her fiscal year 2026 Combined Funds Budget to the Alexandria School Board, Jan. 23, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

With President Donald Trump removing restrictions preventing Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from raiding schools, Alexandria Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt laid out the ways Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) are protected from ICE but also exceptions families should be aware of.

The message comes after a full-throated rebuke of ICE activities at school to the fullest extent allowable by law by Fairfax County Public Schools leadership. Kay-Wyatt’s message similarly noted that the schools can help shield children to an extent, but reaffirmed that ACPS “is obligated to comply with all lawful orders and warrants from any law enforcement entity, including ICE.

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New Japanese restaurant files permit to replace troubled Yates Pizza Palace space on Duke Street

By Vernon Miles

Published January 27, 2025 at 3:00PM | Updated January 27, 2025 at 7:26PM

3006 Duke Street on Jan. 27, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Japanese restaurant Umiya could be opening in a location previously haunted by a ghost kitchen and the pizza palace that never was.

Umiya Alexandria Inc. filed a permit to open a full service restaurant at 3006 Duke Street, offering Japanese sushi, seafood and grilled food.

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Ting Internet says it ‘has temporarily paused fiber deployment’ in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published January 27, 2025 at 1:15PM

Ting Internet team on-site in Alexandria, Virginia (image courtesy Ting Internet)

Ting Internet, once seen as a possible competitor to the stranglehold of companies like Comcast on Alexandria customers, has told ALXnow it has “temporarily paused fiber deployment” in Alexandria.

Ting Internet was one of two companies, along with Lumos, approved by the City Council to piggyback off broadband internet service cables the City was laying down for a new municipal network. The goal was to offer more competition to Comcast. While Lumos’ Alexandria plans didn’t take off, Ting started offering fiber internet in March 2023 in the Del Ray, Beverly Hills, North Ridge, and Lynhaven.

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Alexandria Superintendent proposes budget with higher pay for school staff and more security

By Vernon Miles

Published January 24, 2025 at 11:45AM | Updated January 24, 2025 at 5:43PM

ACPS Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt delivers her fiscal year 2026 Combined Funds Budget to the Alexandria School Board, Jan. 23, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools’ (ACPS) new proposed budget comes with a raise for school district employees and more security for the schools.

At a budget presentation last night, Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt proposed a budget that’s a 4% increase over the current fiscal year’s budget. That increase includes a full-step increase for all eligible staff at the beginning of the contract year and an additional step increase to increase maximum pay, though ACPS staff on a Facebook page for school faculty noted that this doesn’t come with a cost of living adjustment.

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Jefferson-Houston community rails against middle school conversion plans at School Board meeting

By Vernon Miles

Published January 23, 2025 at 9:10PM

Jefferson-Houston community member Sujata Mitra at a School Board meeting on Jan. 23 (staff photo by James Cullum)

At a School Board meeting tonight (Thursday), parents and other community members from Jefferson-Houston voiced strong opposition to plans to convert Jefferson-Houston and Patrick Henry, both K-8 schools, into a middle school and elementary school respectively.

The goal of the plan is to relieve overcrowding at Alexandria’s middle schools, though the conversions aren’t expected to take place until 2030 and 2032.