Families are decrying new walk zones for Alexandria City Public Schools, saying the changes force their children off school buses to walk along unsafe roadways.
A number of parents denounced the walk zones during the public comment period at the Alexandria City School Board meeting on Thursday night (Aug. 27). ACPS provides bus transportation for students living more than a mile from their elementary schools and more than a mile-and-a-half from Alexandria City High School.
Late-night drivers on the Capital Beltway may encounter a traffic stoppage on the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge early Saturday (Aug. 29).
The drawbridge will open for a boat crossing between 1 a.m. and 1:20 a.m. Saturday, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. Drivers are asked to plan for delays and use alternate routes.
The Alexandria City School Board unanimously accepted $240,100 in donations to the city’s school system on Thursday night (Aug. 27).
Along with school supplies and donations for meal debt, the gifts include a $158,000 donation to buy phone pouches with magnetic locks for every student at Alexandria City High School. With more than 4,500 students getting accustomed to a new bell-to-bell phone ban, Principal Michael Burch told ALXnow that the donation will buy enough pouches to last the school for several years.
The Alexandria Health Department is informing residents of a measles exposure reported in the Northern Virginia region.
The Virginia Department of Health was notified about a confirmed measles case involving an out-of-state resident who traveled through Northern Virginia. The visit happened Sunday, Aug. 16 when the person was infectious. Health officials are working to identify people who might have been exposed.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “In August 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandrians recognized their increasing peril as the British juggernaut inched its way northward, up the Potomac … The Alexandria town and county militia were called out en masse in late August of 1814 and were ordered to cross the Potomac to take up a post between Piscataway and Fort Washington. They took with them nearly all the arms and artillery belonging to the town, leaving Alexandria defenseless. Thus, when the militia retreated to the Virginia countryside and Captain Dyson, commander of Fort Washington, blew up the fortress, Alexandria’s fate was sealed. On the morning of August 28, 1814, a committee led by Alexandria Mayor Charles Simms rowed south to meet the British Captain Gordon and request terms of surrender. Refusing to give conditions, Gordon and his fleet arrived at Alexandria’s waterfront in the evening. The next morning, the British lined up their gunboats (two frigates, the 38-gun Sea Horse and the 36-gun Euryalus; a “rocket ship”; three bomb vessels of eight guns each; and a two-gun schooner).” [Historic Alexandria]
Benjamin Thomas Memorial Event Planned This Evening — “The hour long event [7-8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28] is being held on the same day in 1899 that more than 600 people gathered at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church on Duke Street to memorialize Thomas and protest his and all lynchings. The program will also feature music by Charles E. Miller and Mayor Gaskins will give remarks.” [City of Alexandria]
Good Thursday 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 — Aug 27, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Here is what’s going on Friday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
After 2pm, expect a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, with patchy fog between 7am and 8am. Otherwise, it will be partly sunny with a high of about 87°F, and calm winds becoming north at around 6 mph. The chance of precipitation is 20%. Friday night will have a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, and then a slight chance of showers until 2am. The night will be mostly cloudy with a low of around 69°F and a light north wind, with a 20% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
– Nelson Mandela
Thanks for reading!
As a number of undocumented immigrants have been arrested in Alexandria this month, nonprofit affordable housing developer Housing Alexandria recently advised its residents to stay indoors due to ICE activity.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on Wednesday (Aug. 26), announced 1,328 “illegal alien offenders” were arrested throughout Virginia and Maryland between Aug. 1 and Aug. 14. Those arrested as part of ICE’s Operation Safe Community include at least four people in Alexandria. ICE said of the 1,328, nearly 400 had faced charges or been convicted.
An Alexandria man pleaded guilty Wednesday (Aug. 26) to transmission of national defense information to a foreign government.
Nathan Vilas Laatsch, 29, an IT specialist in the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Insider Threat Division, was arrested on May 29, 2025, after making a dead drop at a prearranged location. The Federal Bureau of Investigation started its investigation into Laatsch in March 2025, after he sent an email decrying the Trump administration and offering to give classified information to a “friendly foreign government,” according to court records.
Members of Alexandria City Council and the Alexandria City School Board appointed to a special committee found some common ground as they met for the first time Tuesday (Aug. 25) to discuss School Board election reforms.
On Tuesday, the committee shared some agreement on increasing term lengths from three to four years. While there wasn’t any initial consensus on staggering terms, members will continue discussions at the next meeting and will also start dialogue on board size.
An Alexandria man was among nine men arrested last month as part of an online child exploitation sting by the Fairfax County Police Department.
Henry Flores Herrera, 39, was arrested on July 16 and charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution and using a computer to solicit a minor after allegedly soliciting a detective posing as a juvenile online. Herrera and other suspects believed they were going to meet a juvenile and instead met officers from the department’s Child Exploitation Unit in Fairfax County and were arrested, according to FCPD.
Alexandria city officials are taking aggressive action to attract and retain businesses large and small, the city’s mayor said at an Aug. 26 gathering of regional officials.
“We want to be a city where businesses feel their ideas are heard and implemented,” Mayor Alyia Gaskins said at the 11th annual Northern Virginia Regional Elected Leaders Summit.
