Alexandria’s City Council is looking to a federal grant to help relieve some of Alexandria Fire Department’s (AFD) chronic understaffing.

The city is applying for a grant for $6.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund 25 additional firefighter positions for AFD.


Alexandria is preparing to launch a massive overhaul of its housing zoning with a kickoff event later this month.

The Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative was announced late last year but has been in the works since 2020. The initiative is essentially a top-t0-bottom review of the city code to rewrite the city’s zoning code to emphasize affordability and equity.


The West Glebe Road bridge partially reopened yesterday, though pedestrian and bicycle traffic will have to wait to make use of the bridge.

The bridge was previously in a severely deteriorated state, necessitating partial closures over the years until the bridge fully closed last summer.


Chris Issak, John Waters and Judy Collins are just a few of the dozens of famous artists who petitioned the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council to approve The Birchmere‘s Special Use Permit request to keep up its flashy new 5-foot-by-2.5-foot digital sign along Mount Vernon Avenue in Arlandria.

The Planning Commission approved the request 7-0 on Tuesday, and it now goes to City Council. Planning Commission Chair Nathan Macek said that the letters with all of the supporting signatures would be “an excellent auction item.”


The former home of Landmark Mall is likely to soon get a new tenant. The 1.1 million-square-foot Inova at Landmark Project sailed through the Alexandria Planning Commission last night, with just one hurdle left before getting the green light to start construction.

With the 6-0 (Chair Nathan Macek recused himself) approval further bolstering Inova’s plan to move Alexandria Hospital to the West End site, the matter will now be presented to City Council at its public hearing on Saturday, March 18.


(Updated at 10:25 a.m.) An Arlington defense attorney has been arrested and charged with allegedly stealing credit cards from an Alexandria office building multiple times last year.

The attorney is charged with credit card theft and credit card fraud, both as felonies, and another credit card fraud misdemeanor charge.


Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!

🌤 Today’s weather: Clear throughout the day. High of 48 and low of 30.
🌤 Tomorrow: Clear throughout the day. High of 53 and low of 31. Sunrise at 6:30 am and sunset at 6:09 pm.


Del Ray residents were in for a rude awakening this morning as many discovered early this morning that power to the neighborhood was out.

As of 8:45 a.m., most of that power has been restored, but Dominion said 367 residents at the north end of the neighborhood still remain in the dark.


Alexandria’s Board of Architectural Review can be infamously picky about urban design, but the board unanimously voted to approve a large new project in Old Town with significant enthusiasm.

Applicant City House Old Town, LLC is applying to have the office building at 1101 King Street — currently a mostly vacant office space called the Tycon Building — changed into a residential development with 210 units.


A procession is planned this week to honor Deputy Chief Brian Hricik, who died late last month after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Hricik, who had been with the Alexandria Fire Department (AFD) since 1997, will be remembered at 1 p.m. at the Vienna Presbyterian Church (124 Park Street NE).


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