A man is under arrest after allegedly brandishing a knife and assaulting another man near the Alexandria courthouse in Old Town today (Monday).
The Alexandria Police Department was notified around 2:30 p.m. that a man in a camouflage T-shirt and khaki pants assaulted another man and was walking around the 500 block of King Street with an open knife. ALXnow observed APD tell the suspect that he was under arrest for a number of charges, including assault and battery.
A 29-year-old Alexandria man faces hundreds of charges tied to alleged thefts from unlocked vehicles parked outside of fitness centers in Fairfax County and Falls Church.
Kumneger Ayalsew was arrested in Alexandria on June 26 and is currently being held at the Arlington County jail. He faces hundreds of charges for similar alleged crimes in Fairfax County and Falls Church, according to a release from the Fairfax County Police Department.
A hazardous materials spill onto Duke Street in the West End prompted a partial road closure and police and fire presence Monday morning.
Around 8:07 a.m., the Alexandria Police Department and Alexandria Fire Department responded to a call in the 5300 block of Duke Street about white powder substance falling from a truck.
With about four months to go until the City of Alexandria completely bans the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, the city government will hold a meeting Tuesday on specifics of the ban.
Residents, business owners, property owners and landscapers are invited to the meeting on the ban from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, July 21. There are options to attend in person at the Charles Houston Recreation Center in the preschool activity room or virtually through Zoom (meeting ID 972 6916 1416 and passcode 575982).
Wildfire Smoke Outbreak Named Among Worst in Modern History — “A thick, pungent plume of wildfire smoke swept into the region Thursday night behind a cold front and lingered into at least Saturday morning. It was reminiscent of the historic smoke outbreaks of June 2023, when many in the region first experienced air pollution of this magnitude.” [Capital Weather]
Taylor Run Stabilization Project Meeting Today — “Join the City of Alexandria for the upcoming Taylor Run Infrastructure Stabilization Project meeting on Monday, July 20, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. During the meeting, City staff will present the 60% design plans and discuss the proposed improvements intended to protect vulnerable infrastructure along sections of Taylor Run while minimizing impacts on the surrounding environment.” [City of Alexandria]
Good Friday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Jul 17, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.
Here is what’s going on Saturday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
Here are the events planned for Sunday:
Expect showers and thunderstorms throughout the day, with potential smoke before noon and a high around 94, feeling like 103 due to the heat index. Winds will be from the south at 6 to 11 mph, gusting up to 22 mph. The chance of precipitation is 70%, with rainfall between a tenth and a quarter inch, possibly higher in storms. Saturday night, showers, and thunderstorms are likely before 2am, with cloudy skies and a low near 74. The southwest wind will be around 7 mph, with a 60% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
– George Eliot
We hope you have a great weekend, Alexandria!
Nearly three months after a woman was killed crossing the street in Old Town North, a Lorton man has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and failure to yield to a pedestrian causing death.
Tekaligne Shirko, 46, surrendered to the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office after a grand jury indictment on July 15, according to a release from the Alexandria Police Department.
Roy Priest, the former longtime CEO of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, has been named the interim CEO until a permanent successor is chosen, the organization announced this week.
Priest was CEO of Alexandria’s public housing authority from 2006 to 2017, and his temporary reinstatement follows last month’s resignation of interim CEO Rickie Maddox. Priest started work on July 7 and will act as interim CEO for five or six months until the ARHA Board fills the permanent CEO position, ARHA Board Chair Mark Jinks told ALXnow in an email.
A man was injured when he accidentally discharged his gun Friday morning (July 17) inside a home in Old Town.
The 66-year-old man called 911 around 6:15 a.m. to report that he was alone at home in the 300 block of Wilkes Street when he shot himself in his left hand with a handgun, according to Alexandria Police Department radio dispatches.
The intestinal illness spreading in parts of the U.S. has been raising food safety concerns, but health authorities in Alexandria say there’s little cause for alarm locally.
Cyclosporiasis is an infection caused by a parasite believed to be linked to some types of imported fresh produce. The illness is most often associated with watery diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can last a few days to upward of a month, but some people do not show symptoms.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On July 17, 1946 the City of Alexandria designated the Old and Historic Alexandria District, nicknamed at the time the “Charleston Ordinance” after the City of Charleston, South Carolina which had earlier extended the police powers of its zoning code to regulate changes to the exterior appearance of buildings within a designated area. Zoning laws in the United States were first upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1916 in the famous Euclid vs. Ambler case, but that issue dealt specifically with land uses and not aesthetic appearance. Alexandria’s new historic district was the third in the United States including the “Vieux Carre” area of New Orleans. Historic District zoning codes went unchallenged for over two decades until the Supreme Court case Penn Central vs. City of New York upheld that city’s action to denied an application to build a skyscraper atop the historic Grand Central Station.” [Historic Alexandria]
Code Red Air Quality Alert Today — “The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) has forecast a Code Red air day in the metropolitan Washington region tomorrow, July 17, due to smoke from Canada wildfires.” [Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments/X]
