A 56-year-old Alexandria woman was sentenced to 41 months in prison for ordering more than $600,000 in cell phones through her former employer, the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, and keeping the money.

The former office manager at YMCA-DC was sentenced Thursday, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice. According to court documents, she worked at YMCA-DC from 2007 until her termination in May 2019.


It’s been a busy week in Alexandria.

City Council unanimously approved City Manager Jim Parajon’s $884.3 million fiscal year 2024 budget, funding citywide pay increases, a fully funded school system and collective bargaining agreements with the police and fire departments.


An increase in crime has resulted in the Giant Food store at 3131 Duke Street locking one of its two front doors, as staff say that shoplifting has become a daily occurrence.

“It’s kids, grownups, everybody,” store manager Zaina Calo told ALXnow. “They try to steal fish, and from the whole meat and seafood department, wine. It doesn’t matter. Anything, really.”


Melanie Kay-Wyatt can take the “interim” off her job title: the School Board announced tonight (Thursday) that Kay-Wyatt will be the full superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS).

At the meeting, School Board leaders said the decision is a historic one and will hopefully break ACPS run of rapid superintendent turnover.


The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a shots fired incident on the 700 block of N. Fayette Street near the Braddock Road Metro station.

Multiple gunshots were overheard at the intersection of North Fayette Street and Madison Street, according to scanner traffic. The first call came in around 3:26 p.m.


Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon’s $884.3 million fiscal year 2024 budget was unanimously approved by City Council Wednesday night (May 4), backing citywide pay increases, a fully funded school system and collective bargaining agreements with the police and fire departments.

While the real estate tax rate remains unchanged at $1.11 per $100 of assessed value, city residents will have to pay $308.70 annually for the stormwater utility fee — an increase from $294 last year. The budget, which goes into effect July 1, is an increase of 5.4% over last year’s $839.2 million budget. About 47% of it ($398 million) is dedicated to paying the salaries of 2,765 city employees.


After a request from the Del Ray Citizens Association, Alexandria is leaning toward extending a public comment period by two months after it releases its controversial zoning for housing plan later this year.

The massive plan would upend a number of zoning ordinances. One of them is a bonus height amendment that would incentivize developers to add affordable housing to projects in exchange for two additional stories of construction in areas where height limits are 45 feet or more.


The Alexandria Fire Department suspects arson after a fire at an unoccupied house used for police and fire department training in the West End, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.

The fire at 5173 Seminary Road was reported by a passerby at around 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday, April 19, according to AFD. Firefighters arrived to find the boards used to secure the front windows of the vacant house were on fire, and the blaze spread into the interior of the building, according to the search warrant affidavit.


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