Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!
⛈️ Today’s weather: Expect a mostly sunny day with temperatures reaching up to 88°F and a mild south wind at 5-7 mph. However, be prepared for a chance of showers and thunderstorms on Wednesday night, primarily between 8 pm and 2 am. The evening will be partly cloudy, with lows around 70°F and a gentle southern breeze at 3-6 mph. Precipitation chances stand at 40%.
Alexandria Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th) is doubling down on a push for new transparency standards after a controversy surrounding OpenAI and actress Scarlett Johansson.
OpenAI claimed its new ChatGPT assistant, which sounded eerily similar to Johansson, wasn’t based on Johansson despite the actress saying the company previously tried to hire her for the chatbot. Further adding to evidence that it was, in fact, based on Johannsson’s voice was OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posting a one-word reference to the 2013 movie Her, which notably features Johansson playing an AI.
After an extensive search with a K-9 officer, no arrest was made this morning after a man blocked the exit of an Arlandria apartment complex parking lot and allegedly brandished a firearm against two women who were trying to leave.
The incident occurred at around 12:45 a.m. in the 500 block of Four Mile Road. The victims called 911 to report that a Black man in a white tank top was holding a handgun and screaming for them to get out of their car.
The City of Alexandria will host an open house this Wednesday (May 22) to discuss one of the city’s largest flood mitigation projects.
The Commonwealth, Ashby, Glebe Flood Mitigation Project should provide flood mitigation for Lynhaven and the northern end of Del Ray.
Del Ray Boccato, a gelato spot at 2400 Mount Vernon Avenue that opened in 2020, is closing up shop next month.
In a message shared on social media and the front door of the shop, owner Cristian Velasco said the restaurant survived the pandemic and other challenges, but that it was time to move on.
A 22-year-old Alexandria man was shot in the chest after pretending to “clear rooms” with what he and his friend thought were his unloaded Glock handguns.
That’s according to a recently released search warrant affidavit detailing the shooting inside an apartment in the 4800 block of Kenmore Avenue on Saturday night, May 11.
Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Expect patchy fog in the early morning until 9am, followed by sunshine and a high around 82 degrees. There will be a mild south wind blowing at 3 to 7 mph. For Tuesday night, it will remain mostly clear with temperatures dropping to around 62 degrees and a steady south wind at 5 to 7 mph.
Can Republican Celianna Gunderson shake up the Alexandria City Council with a win this November?
While she’s still learning the issues, Gunderson says that she would not have voted to approve a recent 2.5-cent tax increase.
Alexandria Interim Fire Chief Jim Schwartz has put a departmental redeployment on hold that would have replaced fire engines with ambulances.
Former Alexandria Fire Department Chief Corey Smedley announced his AFD Forward plan in September. The plan would have replaced fire engines at Station 204 (900 Second Street) in Old Town North and Station 205 (1210 Cameron Street) in Rosemont. Using 2022 data, AFD found that 72% of their calls for service (out of more than 27,000 incidents) were medical and rescue-related, while just 15% were fire alarm and fire-related.
Alexandrians planning on driving this upcoming Memorial Day weekend may be relieved to hear that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is suspending highway work zones and lifting most lane closures for the upcoming weekend.
“VDOT will be suspending many highway work zones and lifting most lane closures on interstates and other major roads in Virginia from noon on Friday, May 24, until noon on Tuesday, May 28,” VDOT said in a release.
The City of Alexandria said there’s $7,000 in assistance available through a grant program to any qualifying local small business.
Eligible businesses can receive up to $7,000 in grants through the 2024 Small Business Resiliency (SBR) Grant program.
