An upcoming pub crawl in Old Town North will teach participants a little bit of Alexandria history.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the North Old Town Independent Citizens Association (NOTICe) is hosting Canal Watering Holes: Alexandria Canal History and Pub Crawl. Tickets for the event, which runs from 1 to 4 p.m., cost $35 for individuals and $60 for couples.
A program teaching Afghan youth living in Alexandria has expanded to a West End school and is seeking tutors for the 2025-26 school year.
Northern Virginia Resettling Afghan Families Together (NoVA RAFT) launched in 2021 after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The nonprofit has helped move refugees into new homes and taught English to hundreds of children and adults at William Ramsay Recreation Center (5650 Sanger Avenue). NoVA RAFT now needs tutors after announcing a “dynamic partnership” with the Fresh Start Refugee Assistance Center, student leaders at Alexandria City High School, and George Mason University’s Afghan Refugee Mentorship Program to provide tutoring at Francis C. Hammond Middle School (4646 Seminary Road).
Good morning, Alexandria! Today is Thursday, Aug. 21, the 233rd day of 2025. There are 132 days left in the year.
🌧️ Today’s weather: Isolated showers before 8 a.m. Cloudy, with a high near 76. Northeast wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Five African-American youths staged America’s first deliberate and planned sit-in at the segregated Alexandria Library on Queen St. on Aug. 21, 1939 — more than two decades before the tactic would become the trademark of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, according to Historic Alexandria.
The protest had its roots in earlier efforts by attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker and retired Army Sgt. George Wilson, who on March 17, 1939, had walked through the doors of the whites-only library and requested applications for library cards. Library policy prohibited issuing cards to “persons of the colored race.”
Rep. Don Beyer and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton plan to reintroduce legislation requiring federal police officers to use body and dashboard cameras when Congress returns in September.
The announcement on Wednesday comes after federal law enforcement officers were filmed in Washington using excessive force, obscuring their faces with masks, and refusing to identify their agencies.
A Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 8th Congressional District has accused Alexandria Sheriff’s Office deputies of wrongfully arresting him during an eviction Monday morning, despite having what he claims was a pending appeal with the Virginia Court of Appeals.
Frank Ferreira, one of three Democrats challenging five-term incumbent Rep. Don Beyer in the primary, issued a press release early Tuesday morning detailing his arrest at 409 N. Pitt St. on Aug. 18. According to Ferreira’s account, he was arrested for obstruction after requesting to speak with Sheriff Sean Casey during the eviction process.
Alexandria Poet Laureate Cristi Donoso says that her future work will focus on the immigrant experience in the city.
Donoso has lived in Alexandria for more than a decade and has so far written four poems as poet laureate. Her work, which includes the city’s birthday poem that she read onstage to thousands last month, can be seen on the Office of the Arts website and her personal website.
Former Alexandria City Councilman Mo Seifeldein‘s decision to wear an Alexandria City Council polo shirt while participating in a housing protest Tuesday has drawn questions from residents about the appropriate use of city-branded clothing by former officials and potential voter confusion.
Seifeldein, who served on the City Council from 2019 to 2021 and is running for Congress, wore the official city polo while positioning himself as a mediator during a demonstration outside the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority headquarters on Wythe Street. More than a dozen current and former ARHA tenants protested poor living conditions and delayed repairs.
A member of the Alexandria City Council has called for an immediate investigation into how Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) CEO Erik Johnson lived in a public housing property with his family in Old Town.
Johnson confirmed Wednesday that he moved into a property on Cook Street in July and is in the process of moving out. Johnson said that he was alerted that it was an issue by an ARHA Board member. Johnson was hired a year ago and started work in Sept. 2024.
More than a dozen current and former Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) tenants protested unfair treatment from their landlord at ARHA headquarters (401 Wythe Street) Wednesday, Aug. 20.
The protestors held signs and shouted at ARHA CEO Erik Johnson and his staff. Johnson, who made a statement addressing resident concerns last week, told ALXnow that he inherited the organization’s problems when he started the job 11 months ago. He also acknowledged that residents have faced challenges, including delayed rental payments from ARHA to landlords, paperwork backlogs, caseworker abandonment, and more.
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge will open at midnight tonight to allow a vessel to pass through, causing traffic stoppages of 15 to 20 minutes, the Virginia Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.
The agency’s Northern Virginia district shared the traffic alert on social media Wednesday morning, advising drivers to expect delays on the span that carries Interstate 95 and the Interstate 495 Capital Beltway between Alexandria and Oxon Hill, Md.
