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.
Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
🌦️ Today’s weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 79. Areas of fog after 5 a.m.. Otherwise, mostly clear tonight, with a low around 60.
It was quite a week in Alexandria.
Hungry? Our top story this week is about Del Ray’s Matt and Tony’s All Day Kitchen + Bar (1501 Mt. Vernon Avenue) making Yelp’s Top 100 Brunch Spots 2024.
Alexandria wants to know how residents beat the heat during the hottest months of the year.
The city is conducting a 30-question survey with George Mason University to “examine the impact of extreme heat on potentially vulnerable populations in urban areas,” according to a release.
Alexandria residents and businesses are facing a large increase in financial penalties for zoning violations.
On Saturday, City Council will consider a recommendation by City Manager Jim Parajon and the Department of Planning and Zoning to increase violations by hundreds, and, in some cases thousands of dollars.
The owner of The Purple Goose in Del Ray says that she’s going to keep the kids clothing boutique open for at least another 20 years.
The Purple Goose (2005 Mount Vernon Avenue) has something for everyone, and includes a balloon boutique and monogram business. The store carries clothing and shoes for young children, as well as toys, books, puzzles and thousands of accessories.
What qualities should the next chief of the Alexandria Police Department possess? The City of Alexandria is in the midst of its national search process and wants to know.
The police department has been led by interim Chief Raul Pedroso since February, when former Chief Don Hayes retired. Pedroso has made it no secret that he wants the job, and told ALXnow in an interview that he’s worked more than 30 years to reach this moment.
