Well, we’ve reached the end of another year in Alexandria. ALXnow launched back in late 2019 and it’s been a wild ride so far.
The biggest stories were Alexandria’s small intersection with national politics as Del Ray residents had a very Del Ray fight with Vice President-elect JD Vance over the neighborhoods’ Jude Lowe Neighborhood Park.
A new pilot program (item 4) will allow street venting along Mount Vernon Avenue in the Arlandria-Chirilagua neighborhood, though the staff report said the plan is to create a legal pathway for something already occurring in the neighborhood.
A new one year pilot program is headed to the Planning Commission for review on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Put the car keys away, because there’s a number of free transportation options for partiers this New Year’s Eve in Alexandria.
Metro trains and buses throughout the region are operating fare-free from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Alexandria kids with new smart watches won’t be able to wear them when they get back to school from winter break.
The School Board recently approved tightened guidelines on the use of wireless connected personal mobile devices within schools. The Board essentially banned cell phone and tablet use at the beginning of this school year, and the new regulations align more closely with a July executive order from Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!
⛈️ Today’s weather: Expect showers and thunderstorms from 1pm to 4pm, followed by possible thunderstorms after 4pm, with a high near 58. Morning east winds will shift southeast at 6-11 mph, gusting up to 20 mph. An 80% chance of precipitation brings less than 0.1 inches of rain, with higher amounts in thunderstorms. Tuesday night sees storms before 10pm, a slight chance of showers until 1am, a low of 42, and west winds at 9 mph. New Year’s Day will be mostly sunny with a high of 48, breezy west winds at 11-20 mph, and gusts up to 34 mph.
Abyssinia Market, a cafe at 720 Jefferson Street that closed this past June, is being replaced with a new location from Old Town’s Cafe du Soleil.
In a new special use permit filing, Cafe du Soleil owners stated the new location will be a coffee house much like the current location at 215 South Union Street with light breakfast foods like egg sandwiches, avocado toast and other breakfast items like crepes.
Some streets around the former Landmark Mall site, most notable a stretch of Duke Street, could see some closures starting today and running through next August.
The City of Alexandria said the street closures are tied to construction of infrastructure at the WestEnd project.
Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: The weather will be mostly sunny with temperatures reaching a high near 57 degrees, accompanied by a west wind at 8 to 11 mph, gusting up to 21 mph. For Monday night, expect mostly clear skies and a low temperature around 38 degrees. The southwest wind, about 5 mph, will become calm in the evening.
It’s been an interesting workweek in Alexandria, even with Christmas landing on Wednesday this year.
The week was still full of news.
Alexandria’s new Police Chief Tarrick McGuire will host a town hall meeting in Arlandria on Friday (Dec. 27).
The effort is part of McGuire’s 100-day action plan to get input from the community on “urgent matters that need immediate attention,” which will result in the Alexandria Police Department’s creation of a “change management roadmap to better align the agency and establish key priorities.”
Good Friday morning, Alexandria!
🌤️ Today’s weather: Expect partly sunny skies and a high near 44 today, with light variable wind increasing to southeast at 5 mph in the afternoon. Tonight, rain is likely to begin after 1am, with a low around 38 and southeast winds at 5 mph easing off after midnight. There’s an 80% chance of precipitation, and rainfall amounts may range between a tenth and a quarter of an inch.
