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

Calling all amateur historians: Alexandria apothecary museum needs tour guides

By Vernon Miles
A few products on display at the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Old Town’s Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (105-107 S. Fairfax Street) is a fascinating place, and the Office of Historic Alexandria is looking for volunteers to help show it to visitors.

The museum contains a collection of medicinal herbs, shop furnishings, apothecary pottles and more that are largely original to the 141-year-old family business. The museum tells the story of medicine and business as they evolved in Alexandria. The museum has a collection of journals, letters, diaries and more — including a note from Martha Washington.

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Opinion

Poll: Are you excited about the potential ice skating rink at the Landmark Mall redevelopment?

By Vernon Miles
Proposed ice rink in Landmark Mall redevelopment plans (image via Oculus/City of Alexandria)

Plans submitted for the West End development replacing Landmark Mall include a potential ice rink, but reception to those plans seemed mixed.

The plans, submitted by Foulger-Pratty Development, indicate the seasonal rink could be located on a park in the middle of a mixed-use development adjacent to the planned Inova Hospital campus.

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News

ACHS teacher raising funds to help students and teachers make better social media content

By Vernon Miles
The Alexandria City High School marquee (staff photo by James Cullum)

A grassroots social media page at Alexandria City High School, run by students and teachers, is looking for some funding to help make better content for the school.

Alexandria City High School teacher Gabriel Elias was the example in a Washington Post story and a White House briefing in 2020 of teachers adapting to virtual classrooms and connecting with students digitally. Since then, Elias has been working with a volunteer team of students and teachers to make a positive social media hub at the school. Now he’s looking for some help to take the project to the next level.

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News

New ARHA program helps residents access Alexandria history and college credits

By Vernon Miles
Professor Elizabeth Clark-Lewis leading a class (photo courtesy Mike Johnson)

A new program is helping Alexandria Redevelopment & Housing Authority (ARHA) residents get access to college classes.

ARHA has a new partnership with the Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) and the Social Responsibility Group (SRG) that’s allowed a group of 15 ARHA residents to enroll in classes and start getting credits for an associate degree.

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News

King Street intersection improvements kicking off next month

By Vernon Miles
Traffic near the George Washington Masonic Memorial during a storm (staff photo by James Cullum)

The overhaul of a busy intersection on King Street near the George Washington Masonic Memorial is scheduled to kick off next month.

The project will mean periodic lane closures at the King/Callahan/Russel intersection over the next few months, but when it’s over, there should be improvements to the roadway — particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.

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News

Power plant redeveloper breaks down the break down of the Old Town North industrial site

By Vernon Miles
A cyclist along a path in Old Town North near the old power plant (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

As developer Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP) heads into the ambitious redevelopment of the GenOn Power Plant, the developer laid out some of their plans for the complex process of breaking the site apart.

Representatives of the developer spoke last week to the Alexandria Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) — full disclosure, this reporter is on the LEPC — about how the developers plans for abatement, remediation and deconstruction. The discussion was a follow-up to a previous LEPC meeting with Deputy Director for Infrastructure and Environmental Quality Bill Skrabak.

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News

City of Alexandria says over 50 committed affordable units at Southern Towers need residents

By Vernon Miles
Southern Towers (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

While Southern Towers has been the center of a multi-year battle over housing costs and evictions from market-rate units, the City of Alexandria’s Office of Housing said there are still over 50 committed affordable units at the project in need of residents.

Southern Towers is one of the last bastions of market-affordable housing in Alexandria — which means housing that is considered affordable to Alexandria residents making less than 60% of the area’s median income.

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News

Alexandria library needs help for a two-hour race to finish a 1,000 piece puzzle celebrating the Moon Landing

By Vernon Miles
The nearly full Strawberry Moon in June 2021 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated 7/19) Celebrating the 54th anniversary of the moon landing, the Alexandria Library is also attempting a seemingly impossible feat: putting together a 1,000-piece puzzle of the moon in under two hours.

The James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library at 2501 Commonwealth Avenue is hosting an all-ages race to put the puzzle together. The race is scheduled to run from 3-5 p.m. on Thursday, July 20.

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News

New Landmark Mall development plans include an ice skating rink

By Vernon Miles
Proposed ice rink in Landmark Mall redevelopment plans (image via Oculus/City of Alexandria)

Development plans for the mixed-use development replacing Landmark Mall have been pretty standard so far — commercial tenants on the ground floor, residential and some office above — but a new feature could be a major draw.

The project, confusingly called West End development, is a massive project attached to the construction of a new Inova Hospital campus.

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News

The Art League may have found a new home on Slaters Lane

By Vernon Miles

The Art League is one of several Old Town North tenants being displaced by new development at Montgomery Center (300 Montgomery Street), but a permit filed with the City of Alexandria indicated the arts-focused non-profit could be moving to the former ABC Imaging location at 800 Slaters Lane.

A Special Use Permit has been filed to open new studio spaces in the former printing shop. The Art League also said classes will be held inside the building.

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News

Alexandria School Board holding new leadership elections thanks to policy change

By Vernon Miles
School Board Chair Meagan Alderton tells Board members that they need to focus at the March 10 meeting. (Via ACPS)

(Updated 7/18) School Board Chair Meagan Alderton was reelected back on Jan. 5, but seven months into a one-year term, the Chair and Vice-Chair positions are up for election again.

Earlier this year, the School Board voted to change the timetable for Board elections to July rather than at the first meeting of the year in January. The new election is scheduled for Thursday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) central office (1340 Braddock Place).

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