The Female Stranger-honoring Long Black Veil isn’t the only Halloween-themed beer from Port City Brewing Company: the Alexandria brewery announced a Tasting Room-only event this Friday for a new pumpkin ale.
The new beer is Optimal Witch, described as a “Belgian-style pumpkin ale brewed with spices”, and a play on the popular Optimal Wit.
After more than a dozen complaints of outdoor grills sending smoke into neighboring Del Ray homes, City Council on Saturday unanimously approved a modified plan to allow Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ to operate behind Evening Star Cafe.
The approval expands the concept’s hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. (previously 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.), more outdoor seating (from 50 seats to 124 seats), live outdoor music Wednesday to Saturday, as well as permission to cook food from two outdoor smoker grills and selling the food from a temporary food trailer.
While the plan is to eventually create a new transit hub in the Landmark Mall redevelopment, the city is looking for grant funding to make the key transfer point more bearable in the near term.
The Transportation Commission is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, Oct. 18, to endorse a grant application to the Department of Rail and Public Transportation for up to $544,000.
Alexandria police investigated multiple felony assault calls over the weekend.
Monday morning, around 4 a.m., police responded to a domestic dispute at 200 block of Bluestone Road. According to the scanner, a woman told police her boyfriend had attacked her.
Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
⛅️ Today’s weather: Expect scattered showers to begin around 2pm today, with partly sunny skies and a high temperature near 60°F. A northwest wind will be blowing at around 7 to 10 mph. There is a 20% chance of precipitation during the day. Tonight, isolated showers may continue until 2am, becoming mostly cloudy with a low of around 48°F. The northwest wind will decrease to around 6 mph, and there remains a 20% chance of precipitation.
It’s been a busy week in Alexandria.
Alexandria City Public Schools is facing a staffing crisis, with the school division struggling to fill basic instructional positions. The city is working on a solution that could help streamline the onboarding process.
Alexandria’s DASH bus network ridership is growing faster than bus networks in Arlington and Fairfax, though not as quickly as local rail ridership.
A report to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission showed that DASH had a 17% increase in ridership from August 2022 to August 2023.
There’s a new outlet to get your kicks in Old Town.
Atlas Muay Thai Gym opened two weeks ago in the former CrossFit gym at 215 N. Payne Street. The location is shared by The Link coworking office, and is owned by Muay Thai world champion Amine “The Lion” Ballafrikh.
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested by the Alexandria Police Department on charges related to an armed robbery and shooting in September that left one victim hospitalized.
On Sept. 22, a male victim, age 21, was seriously injured in an armed robbery on the 5500 block of Holmes Run Parkway. The Alexandria Police Department (APD) said the victim was left in serious but stable condition after being shot in the robbery — scanner traffic at the time indicated the man was shot in the shoulder and the back of the neck.
Just after the full list of potential new street names was revealed, the City of Alexandria said six public streets could be renamed as the opening of a 15-year process.
The city plans an open public hearing on Nov. 30 at 6 p.m. in Alexandria City Hall (301 King Street) to discuss the proposed names or potential alternatives.
This weekend marks the 105th anniversary of the Alexandria Torpedo Factory’s ironic origins.
As told in the Office of Historic Alexandria’s This Week in Historic Alexandria newsletter, the contract for constructing the U.S. Naval Torpedo Station was awarded on Oct. 14, 1918. The United States was embroiled in the First World War, but work on the building wouldn’t begin until the day after the war ended.
