The Virginia Department of Health has partially lifted its recreational water advisory for a portion of the Potomac River as repairs continue from January’s massive sewage spill.
The advisory, first issued Feb. 13, has now been lifted for a stretch of the river including Alexandria’s waterfront. The cleared area starts south at the Route 120 Chain Bridge and ends at the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge in King George County, according to a VDH announcement this afternoon (Thursday).
Alexandria’s professional employees have officially voted to unionize.
On Tuesday, the city’s professional employees voted 155-1 in favor of unionizing with AFSCME Council 20, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. With significant support, the vote “marks 5 of 5 eligible Alexandria bargaining units to file and win their union representation elections since 2021,” according to a release from AFSCME Council 20.
Alexandria City Public Schools saw a 40% reduction in the number of incidents requiring a police response during the first two quarters of this school year compared to last year, according to a school safety report recently presented to the Alexandria City School Board.
During the first semester this year, ACPS reported 167 total incidents requiring a police response across the school system and 27 student referrals or arrests. The recent incident count represents a 40% drop from the first semester last school year, which saw 279 reported incidents.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On March 5, 1910, sidewalks were being installed on Prince Street. A contractor laid out granolithic pavement on the north side of Prince between Lee and Fairfax streets.” [Historic Alexandria]
Landmark I-395 Meeting Tonight — “You are invited to learn about construction planned to modify the ramp leading from I-395 North to eastbound Duke Street at a pre-construction meeting hosted by the City of Alexandria’s project team. These modifications will provide access to the future Inova Hospital campus at the former Landmark Mall site.” [City of Alexandria]
Good Wednesday 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 — Mar 4, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Here is what’s going on Thursday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
There’s a 20% chance of rain before 10am and after 4pm, with patchy fog expected before noon. The cloudy weather will slowly turn mostly sunny, reaching a high of 63°F. Calm winds will shift southeast at 6 mph in the afternoon. Rain is likely on Thursday night, mainly after 7pm, with a 60% chance of precipitation. The night will be mostly cloudy, with temperatures dropping to around 51°F and winds remaining eastward. New precipitation amounts could total under a tenth of an inch. See more from Weather.gov.
“Dream big and dare to fail.”
– Norman Vaughan
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A student “may have brought a loaded firearm” to Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School yesterday (Tuesday), according to an Alexandria City Public Schools message sent to the school’s community today.
The Alexandria Police Department recovered a firearm inside an 8-year-old child’s backpack yesterday in a Child Protective Services office at 4850 Mark Center Drive, the department told ALXnow. No injuries were reported, and officers are investigating the cause of the incident.
An accelerator program to support new tech startups is launching in the city, the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership announced today (Wednesday).
The program will provide mentorship, coaching, technical support, capital connections and structured founder engagement for up to 15 startups over four to six months. It will serve startups in high-growth sectors such as robotics, aerospace, quantum, artificial intelligence (AI), energy tech, computer services, cybersecurity and defense.
Just before snowflakes fell on Monday afternoon, a class of third graders at Patrick Henry K-8 School were outside in the school basketball court learning how to ride bikes.
For three weeks every school year, all third graders at Alexandria City Public Schools are fitted with Trek bikes and taught bicycle safety and riding by volunteers and staff working with the Alexandria Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee‘s (BPAC) Bicycling in the Schools initiative. This school year, 1,266 students are in the program, which is currently seeking more volunteers.
The Alexandria Health Department is advising residents to be cautious around wildlife after two people reported being bitten by a raccoon in Old Town yesterday (Tuesday).
According to AHD, two people said they were bitten by a raccoon near N. Henry Street, N. Patrick Street and Cameron Street in Old Town. It’s unclear if the bites came from the same raccoon, “but the incidents happened close together in time,” according to an AHD announcement this afternoon.
A 33-year-old Alexandria man is facing a felony charge after allegedly shooting a gun in his Landmark area apartment last month.
The man was arrested Feb. 13 and charged with unlawfully discharging a firearm in an occupied building, in connection to an overnight incident reported at his residence in the 100 block of S. Van Dorn Street.
A section of the Mount Vernon Trail just north of Old Town will be closed for five to six weeks, starting this Friday.
During that time, contractors with the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration project will conduct shoreline embankment repair work. The project will shut down the trail between north of E. Abingdon Drive and 3rd Street, and trail users will be redirected to an alternate trail on E. Abingdon Drive.
