Get ready to loosen your belts, because Benny Diforza’s Pizza is planning to open this year in Del Ray.
The restaurant will open at 1504-B Mount Vernon Avenue, the former home to Sicilian Pizza. Their claims to fame are 28-inch pies that go for $5 to $6.50 per slice.
The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail have done a lot of work on the eponymous trail, and now the group is offering a unique new way of experiencing it.
The group is hosting a “Fireflies and Bats Walk” on Saturday, June 24, from 8:45-9:45 p.m. The tour is free but attendees can get tickets and make an optional $10 donation online. The tour starts at 615 Slaters Lane.
A 27-year-old man, Leon Solomon Jackson, is being held without bond after allegedly abducting a woman, threatening her with a knife, stealing her credit card and car earlier this month.
The victim reported the incident to police on June 8 that the incident occurred the previous day with a man she’d recently met at a convenience store in the 300 block of N. Ripley Street, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!
🌧️ Today’s weather: Showers likely, mainly after 2pm. Patchy fog after noon. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 72. Northeast wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. At night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Patchy fog before 3am. Low around 62. Northeast wind 15 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
(Updated 3 p.m.) After taking a beating at the Planning Commission, Arlandria bar Hops ‘N Shine (3410 Mount Vernon Avenue) came out of a City Council meeting a little better off.
The bar faced some intense criticism from the Planning Commission over racking up violations of the bar’s zoning conditions, mainly for allegedly continuing to utilize outdoor spaces for trivia nights even after being told to stop by the city.
Del Ray pizza hangout Piece Out will be closed for most of the summer.
“Sorry,” reads a note posted on the front door. “Closed for renovation. Be back in a few months.”
Tropical Smoothie Cafe could soon be coming to Alexandria’s West End.
Owner Oubab Khalil filed a special use permit (SUP) on June 12 to run the restaurant at the space at 424 S. Pickett Street. The final day for public comments is July 6 before it goes to the Planning Commission and then City Council.
An event space just off the Mount Vernon Trail at Canal Center is looking to undergo a small expansion to make the Old Town North location a little more exciting.
Chalkboard Canal Center LLC, is proposing to add two temporary trailers to the event as well as a permit for live music to create a venue called The Bike Club.
Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!
⛅️ Today’s weather: A slight chance of showers after 11am. Cloudy, with a high near 81. East wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. At night: A chance of showers, mainly before 2am. Cloudy, with a low around 66. East wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
It’s been an interesting week in Alexandria, with a preview of new Alexandria City Public Schools’ leadership and an announcement earlier today of another principal’s departure.
Two candidates are squaring off to fill the sizable shoes left in Alexandria City High School by the departing Principal Peter Balas. Alexander Duncan III, the Minnie Howard Campus administrator, and Marcia Rice, principal at Meadowbrook High School, answered a variety of questions Monday night in a Zoom meet-and-greet moderated by former ACHS principal John Porter.
Mount Vernon Community School Principal Liza Burrell-Aldana announced her resignation today via email. Burrell-Aldana was named the Washington Post’s 2023 Principal of the Year in April, and her last day is June 30.
Burrell-Aldana, MVCS principal since 2017 and vice principal for three years before that, didn’t specify why she’s leaving, but wrote that she made the announcement with mixed emotions.
