The City of Alexandria has fully transitioned from gas-powered to electric leaf blowers as it prepares to implement a citywide ban on the gas devices later this year.
The city reported this week that it has completed the transition to electric devices for city maintenance and operations. The May 17 phase-out came one year after City Council approved the ban, which made Alexandria the first locality in Virginia to approve such a measure.
The Education Association of Alexandria’s upcoming officer elections were postponed this week due to alleged campaign or election violations, according to the union’s communications to members.
The EAA broadly cited campaign or election violations in a Sunday (May 17) email update to its members on officer elections. Andrea Hill, chair of the EAA Credentials/Election Committee, told members the virtual elections — originally scheduled from Monday (May 18) to Wednesday (May 20) — would be postponed to Thursday (May 21) and Friday (May 22). Hill said an investigation into the allegations had taken place.
Plans to redevelop the shuttered Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North are heading to the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council next month.
The Planning Commission will get the first crack at the massive proposal to convert the 18-acre site at 1300 N. Royal Street into a mixed-use development at its meeting on Tuesday, June 2, followed by a City Council public hearing June 13. City Council will also be presented with a $135 million financing deal for the project June 9 (Tuesday), which property owner HRP Group says will catalyze more than $2 billion in private investment into the site. City Council will hold a public hearing for the financing agreement on Saturday, June 13.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On May 20, 1809 the ‘Long Bridge,’ built just north of Alexandria opened, connecting Virginia with the new capital city of Washington, D.C. across the Potomac River. During this time, Alexandria’s 18th century isolation and dependence on waterways for regional travel was being reduced as new highways were extended from Alexandria’s dead end street grid southward from Henry Street across Great Hunting Creek to Richmond, and northward from North Washington Street to Washington, D.C. along what is now Powhatan Street.” [Historic Alexandria]
Spanberger Vetoes Marijuana Retail Market Bills — “Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has vetoed legislation that would have created a legalized marijuana marketplace but is vowing to work with elected officials to resume work on plan ahead of the next General Assembly session. In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Spanberger said the plan, as is, would have created a retail market without the ‘timeline, structure or resources to be successfully implemented.'” [WTOP]
Alexandria’s Amy Decker can’t say exactly what happens in her upcoming appearance on Food Network’s new show “100 Cooks.” Still, she felt comfortable enough to say that she didn’t win the $250,000 final prize but told ALXnow, “I got pretty damn far.”
Decker lives in Old Town with her husband and started cooking in 2020 while working as a staff operations officer for the CIA’s director of operations. She says she learned everything from cookbooks and that same year started Decker Delights, creating how-to videos for people stuck at home during the pandemic. That same year, she applied to be on a Food Network show hosted by Valerie Bertinelli, but it didn’t get picked up.
The student population in Alexandria City Public Schools is projected to drop steadily over the next decade, driven mainly by residents having less kids.
That’s according to data from the Virginia Department of Health presented to the Joint City Council/School Board Subcommittee’s monthly meeting Monday night (May 18). The number of ACPS students is projected to increase slightly from 15,928 this year to 15,958 in 2027 before dropping to 15,415 by 2036 — a 3.4% decline from 2027.
The City of Alexandria and other agencies serving the city have announced closures and other schedule changes for the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
All City of Alexandria government offices will be closed Memorial Day (Monday, May 25). The city will co-host a Memorial Day ceremony with the Friends of Rocky Versace at the Captain Rocky Versace Plaza & Vietnam Veterans Memorial outside the Mount Vernon Recreation Center (2701 Commonwealth Avenue). The ceremony runs from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. and honor Versace, a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient, 68 Alexandrians who died in the Vietnam War, and others who have served in the military or are missing in action.
Alexandria nonprofit Community Lodgings has won a $73,000 grant from D.C.-based philanthropic organization Many Hands, Inc.
After a months-long application process that included an in-person presentation from applicants, Many Hands awarded $73,000 each to Community Lodgings, AfriThrive Inc., and DC Greens. It also awarded $100,000 to the D.C.-based School Justice Project, for $319,000 in total donations. There were 88 applicants for the organization’s annual grants.
As planning efforts move eastward toward Alexandria, the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) has embarked on a new round of community engagement in its Envision Route 7 effort to upgrade transit options.
Both in-person and online opportunities will be available over the next month, focused on the eastern portions of what will become a 14-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) line running from Tysons to Alexandria’s Mark Center.
Numerous Alexandria elected officials have thrown their support behind Rep. Don Beyer (D-8) in his reelection bid, his campaign announced Monday (May 18).
The endorsements include Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins; Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley; City Council Members Canek Aguirre, John Chapman, Jacinta Greene, and Sandy Marks; Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter; Clerk of Court Greg Parks; Sheriff Sean Casey; School Board Chair Michelle Rief; School Board Vice Chair Christopher Harris; and School Board Members Abdulahi Abdalla, Tim Beaty, Kelly Carmichael Booz, Alexander Crider Scioscia, Donna Kenley, Ashley Simpson Baird, and Ryan Reyna. Former Mayors Bill Euille, Allison Silberberg and Justin Wilson also endorsed Beyer.
Trial in 6-Year-Old’s Shooting of Virginia Teacher — “Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a former assistant principal in Virginia accused of ignoring warnings that a 6-year-old student brought a loaded gun to school that was later used to shoot his first grade teacher. Ebony Parker is charged with eight counts of felony child neglect, one for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Richneck Elementary schoolteacher Abby Zwerner ‘s classroom in Newport News in January 2023, prosecutors have said.” [NBC Washington/AP]
Energy Bills Backed by Dominion Energy Signed — “Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Thursday signed legislation that directs regulators to assign electricity costs to data centers and allows Dominion Energy to spend $900,000 a mile burying local distribution lines. The bills from Senate President Pro Tem Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, and Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling, D-Henrico, could have also required data centers to cover the costs of buying electricity from the capacity market through PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator for Virginia, 12 other states and the District of Columbia. But that requirement was removed by Spanberger and replaced with more regulatory authority to allocate costs.” [Inside Climate News]
