The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners took decisive action Wednesday morning, voting to hire an independent law firm to investigate CEO Erik Johnson and placing him on probationary status with a final warning.
The board convened a special meeting at 8 a.m., one day after Mayor Alyia Gaskins sent a letter on behalf of City Council demanding a third-party investigation into Johnson’s residency in public housing.
Good morning, Alexandria! 👋 Today is Wednesday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2025. There are 126 days left in the year.
☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny, with a high near 78 degrees. Northwest wind 6 to 8 mph. Partly cloudy, with a low around 59 degrees. Northwest wind around 5 mph, becoming calm in the evening.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority will convene a special board meeting this morning at 8 a.m. to discuss a personnel matter in executive session, one day after Mayor Alyia Gaskins sent a letter on behalf of City Council demanding a third-party investigation into CEO Erik Johnson’s residency in public housing.
In a four-page letter sent Tuesday to ARHA Board Chair Anitra Androh, Gaskins called for an independent investigation into three specific areas: Johnson’s actions, ARHA’s compliance with all applicable laws related to properties the authority owns and manages, and ARHA’s finances, including an independent financial audit.
The General Services Administration has launched an official search for office space in Alexandria to relocate the National Science Foundation after the agency was displaced from its Eisenhower Avenue headquarters.
In a presolicitation notice posted to the federal contracting website SAM.gov on Thursday, GSA is seeking between 240,000 and 280,000 square feet of Class A office space for a 48-month lease term, with occupancy required by the end of November. The notice (ID 5VA0785) was first reported by Bisnow and then by the Washington Business Journal.
After years in development, The Art League will celebrate the opening of two new locations for art classes in Old Town North with a block party.
The free, family-friendly event will be held at the new Slaters Lane Annex (800 Slaters Lane) at 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, featuring art demonstrations, food, and ice cream bowls created by local artists, among other activities.
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a hit-and-run involving an overturned vehicle and a parked car in a parking lot in the 5400 block of Richenbacher Avenue.
The incident was called in at around 2:15 p.m., according to the police scanner. A Toyota Corolla with Virginia plates overturned after crashing into a parked Lexus IS 250 in the parking lot of an apartment complex. The caller told police that they saw two people running from the overturned Corolla. Police later said via dispatch that three occupants of the vehicle fled on foot.
A groundbreaking ceremony will be held next month for the construction of a memorial recognizing slave laborers who built Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS).
Black slave laborers built the seminary in the early 19th century, and for the last five years, the VTS Reparations Program has awarded millions to direct descendants of those workers. At 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, VTS will host a free gala at Coffield Refectory (3720 Bishop Walker Circle) celebrating the descendants with dinner, dancing, and a display of genealogical research compiled to date. The memorial groundbreaking ceremony will be held the following day, Sept. 6, at 12:30 p.m.
Alexandria-based BryceTech has been awarded three prime contracts worth approximately $70 million over five years to advance chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense capabilities for the U.S. Department of Defense, the company announced Tuesday.
The multi-year contracts support the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense and will see BryceTech deploy about 50 full-time professionals with acquisition, scientific, technical, and programmatic expertise.
The head of a major federal security agency warned Aug. 18 that a “perfect storm” of global threats is targeting the region’s defense contractors and classified government work.
David Cattler, director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, told security professionals that adversaries are increasingly viewing Northern Virginia’s intellectual property and defense workforce as “strategic terrain, as valuable as any battlefield,” according to a DCSA press release.
There’s a new Vietnamese coffee and bubble tea shop in Old Town.
Last month, Bloom Tea formally opened its doors to the public at 425 S. Washington Street. Getting city approval, renovating the space, and opening took more than two years.
A plea agreement is expected for Jeffrey Gary, the former Federal Communications Commission employee charged with sexually assaulting and attempting to abduct two women near Alexandria Metro stations in May.
Gary, 35, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Monday in Alexandria court, allowing three of the four charges against him to move forward to a grand jury, according to NBC4 Washington.
