News

Prank call leads Alexandria Police into Old Town home with ballistic shields

By James Cullum
A prank call prompted significant police response on Sunday to the 200 block of Buchanan Street in Old Town (via Google Maps)

The Alexandria Police Department swarmed an Old Town home Sunday after getting a prank call that a 15-year-old male was tired of his parents, was armed with his father’s AR-15 rifle and was going to kill them and himself.

Police received the emergency call from a private number at around 11:30 a.m., and a dispatcher reported that the voice making the call was panting, as if they were out of breath. The caller also allegedly told police that there were a total of four people in the home and that he would shoot any police that approached, according to APD dispatches.

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Notes: It’s the last week of school in Alexandria

By ALXnow.com

Good Monday morning, Alexandria!

⛈️ Today’s weather: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 8am. High near 79. South wind 11 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. At night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers between 11pm and 2am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 60. Northwest wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

The biggest news throughout the region was the smoke from the Canadian wildfires that descended on Wednesday and stayed through yesterday. Air quality reached dire levels and the City of Alexandria urged locals to stay inside as much as possible. Alexandria City Public Schools brought all outdoor activities inside and canceled outdoor field trips.

Despite the unexpected hazard, Greater Greater Washington released a report this week showing that overall air quality has improved dramatically in the region over the last ten years, thanks in part to the closure of the GenOn Power Plant in 2012.

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Southern Towers gets a visit from the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency

By James Cullum
A protest at Southern Towers in the West End on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 (Staff photo by James Cullum)

The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency visited Southern Towers in the West End this week, signalling to housing advocates that years of protests against rent hikes and evictions are finally paying off.

On Wednesday, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson toured the 2,261-unit Southern Towers complex at 4901 Seminary Road. The tour was hosted by the People’s Actions Homes Guarantee campaign and African Communities Together (ACT), and the groups say that affordable housing residents are at the mercy of a major private equity landlord that only cares about profit. The groups say that since buying the property at the height of the pandemic in 2020, California-based owner CIM Group has evicted more than 250 residents, and that many of them endured uninhabitable conditions and rent increases.

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UPDATED: Police activity shut down Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge earlier today

By Vernon Miles
Police activity on Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge (staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated 1:15 p.m.) The Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge was closed to traffic due to police activity, though as of 1:15 p.m. is has reopened.

A foot pursuit across the Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge ended with one suspect in custody. An ambulance was also dispatched to the scene.

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ACPS: George Mason Elementary students and teachers could change schools mid-year

By Vernon Miles
Swing space at 1703 N. Beauregard Street, via Google Maps

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is working through plans to utilize an office building as school swing space during modernization projects, but that could involve students and teachers changing locations mid-year.

At a meeting earlier this week, ACPS staff laid out the occasionally complicated plans to use the building at 1703 N. Beauregard Street as a temporary school while other schools are being demolished and rebuilt. Those plans involve new protocols on what adults are allowed into the building and how the building can be locked down in an emergency.

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Notes: Despite smokey conditions, new report shows dramatic gains in air quality for the region

By ALXnow.com
GenOn Power Plant (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Good Friday morning, Alexandria!

⛈️ Today’s weather: Isolated showers between noon and 2pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Widespread haze. Areas of smoke before 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. Northwest wind 6 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. At night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 8pm. Widespread haze before 1am. Patchy smoke between 8pm and 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. West wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

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Village Brauhaus in Old Town is being rebranded

By James Cullum
Village Brauhaus at 710 King Street (staff photo by James Cullum)

Big changes are coming to Village Brauhaus at 710 King Street in Old Town.

The new owners will close the doors of the restaurant for three weeks starting Tuesday, June 20, and will hold a grand reopening on Thursday, July 13, in a newly renovated and renamed Alexandria Bier Garden, managing partner Fito Garcia tells ALXnow.

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Man robbed of cash at gunpoint early yesterday morning in Del Ray

By James Cullum
A man was robbed of cash at gunpoint in the area of E. Braddock Road and Commonwealth Avenue on the morning of June 7, 2023 (via Google Maps)

(Updated 1:35 p.m.) A man was robbed at gunpoint yesterday morning in the area of E. Braddock Road and Commonwealth Avenue in Del Ray.

The victim called police from his car and reported that he was robbed of $947 in cash by two masked men in dark clothing, according to dispatch reports. No one was injured in the incident.

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Alexandria City Public Schools announce new precautions due to smoke

By Vernon Miles

The region has hit air quality level Code Maroon and Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) has announced some new precautions for today to minimize exposure to hazardous conditions.

In a release, ACPS said that schools will continue normal operations, but all physical education classes and recess will be held inside. All outdoor field trips have also been rescheduled.

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