Kevin Harris didn’t like the way the 2021 City Council primary went down and now he’s taking another shot.

Harris was edged out by just 750 votes, with Council Member Kirk McPike taking the sixth and last available Council spot. Now he faces 11 opponents in the upcoming June primary.


After years of planning, a new neighborhood was just approved to replace the former Vulcan Materials site in Alexandria’s West End.

City Council approved the proposal 5-1 at their Saturday public hearing, with City Council Member Canek Aguirre voting in opposition.


The Old Town Festival of Speed and Style is set to cruise back into Alexandria next month.

The annual festival is returning for the fifth year in a row on Sunday, May 19, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.


Drivers traveling near Shirlington and North Ridge or the Braddock neighborhood this weekend might want to plan ahead for some upcoming lane closures.

The first one is a planned lane closure on the Shirlington Circle south rotary bridge over I-395 — connecting Arlington and Alexandria.


There’s a new barbecue restaurant in an Old Town space that was previously home to… You guessed it — a barbecue restaurant.

Mystic BBQ & Grill formally opened this month at 220 N. Lee Street in the space previously occupied by Myron Mixon’s Pitmaster Barbeque, the Zebra first reported. Myron Mixon’s closed last Christmas Eve.


Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!

🌧️ Today’s weather: Expect showers between 9am and 3pm, with increasing clouds and a high near 72°F. South wind will be 6-8 mph and a 40% chance of precipitation. On Wednesday night, showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11pm, with a low around 59°F. Southeast wind around 6mph will become northwest after midnight, with a 60% chance of precipitation. New rainfall of less than a tenth of an inch is expected, while higher amounts are possible in thunderstorms.


A new advocacy group has formed in hopes of returning Alexandria to a district/wards election system.

The Communities for Accountable City Council (CACC) describes itself as a non-partisan group of Alexandria residents “exasperated with the intransigent Alexandria City Council that is unaccountable to communities and neighborhoods because of Alexandria’s At-Large election system.”


For all intents and purposes, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Conductor James Ross isn’t going anywhere.

Actually, this fall Ross is starting work as the director of orchestral studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He also just renewed his contract in Alexandria another three years. Ross says that his new contract in Philadelphia stipulates that he will be allowed to return to Alexandria the week before a symphonic performance in order to get the orchestra ready.


Alexandria City Council Member Alyia Gaskins has more than doubled the campaign contributions raised by her opponent Vice Mayor Amy Jackson and triple the amount raised by former real estate developer Steven Peterson.

As of March 31, Gaskins raised $149,107 with $69,425 on-hand. Jackson has raised $59,984 and has $22,682 on-hand, while Peterson has raised $44,700 with $14,019 on-hand.


A 41-year-old Maryland man is being held without bond after allegedly executing the family dog in a fit of rage, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

The incident occurred on Feb. 25 in an apartment in the 4300 block of Raleigh Avenue, which is near the Shoppes of Foxchase on Duke Street.


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