The winner of today’s Democratic firehouse primary for a seat in the House of Delegates will run against Republican Mason Butler next month.
The Alexandria Republican City Committee canceled its party canvas and announced Butler’s candidacy over the weekend. Butler, an IT consultant who has lived in Alexandria for more than a decade, previously ran as an independent candidate for City Council in 2024.
Improving mental health across the city will be in focus in Alexandria’s next Community Health Improvement Plan.
Mental wellness is one of three topics that will be addressed in the city’s new CHIP, AHD announced last week. The topic was selected for further engagement after 47% of 2,020 respondents in the city’s 2025 Community Health Assessment survey selected “mental health” as their top community health issue.
The Alexandria Police Department and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are investigating the death of an Alexandria Sheriff’s Office inmate yesterday (Monday).
Ricardo Roberts, 60, died shortly after 5 a.m. yesterday “while being treated for chronic medical issues” at Inova Fairfax Hospital, the Sheriff’s Office announced yesterday. The investigations are required by law following an in-custody death.
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On Jan. 20, 1942, the Alexandria City Council authorized the purchase of an ambulance for first time. Alexandria’s first ambulance was acquired in the 1930s, but it had been paid for with donations, after members of the Potomac Truck and Engine Company, which had organized the first rescue squad in Alexandria, raised money to purchase one.” [Historic Alexandria]
Spanberger Sworn Into Office — “Amid a cold drizzle, Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sworn into office Saturday at the state Capitol as Virginia’s first female governor after centuries of men holding the state’s top office.” [Associated Press]
Voters in tomorrow’s Democratic firehouse primary will have four candidates to choose from after Fairfax County Public Schools teacher Gregory Darrall entered the race this weekend.
Darrall, a self-described “proud progressive,” is a special education teacher and vice president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers. His name will appear on District 5 voters’ ballots tomorrow alongside City Councilmember R. Kirk McPike, former School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera and defense attorney Chris Leibig.
Chris Leibig, a longtime criminal defense attorney and former public defender from Del Ray, is running for delegate in Tuesday’s Democratic firehouse primary.
Leibig served in the Alexandria Public Defender’s Office from 1996-2002 and practices law from his Old Town office. He is the third candidate to enter Tuesday’s race to replace outgoing Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, joining City Councilmember R. Kirk McPike and former Alexandria City School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera.
Good Friday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Jan 16, 2026.
Here are today’s most-read articles:
Since it’s Friday, we’ve also compiled a list of the most-read articles of the week, below.
Here is what’s going on Saturday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
Here are the events planned for Sunday:
Scattered snow showers will transition to rain showers between 10am and noon before the skies gradually clear up and become mostly sunny with a high of 47°F. A south wind of 8 to 10 mph and gusts up to 21 mph accompany a 50% chance of precipitation. On Saturday night, expect a chance of rain after 1am, mixing with snow after 4am, and a mostly cloudy sky with a low around 31°F. Light and variable winds will become northwest around 5 mph after midnight, with a 30% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
– Joshua J. Marine
We hope you have a great weekend, Alexandria!
Outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin doesn’t have many regrets as he prepares to leave office. But he named the inability to get an Alexandria arena deal done in 2024 as one lost opportunity.
The Washington Capitals and Wizards arena would have gone in Potomac Yard as part of an entertainment district. But in March 2024, the City of Alexandria announced that the proposal wouldn’t be moving forward.
The Virginia Department of Health has confirmed the state’s first flu-related pediatric death this season, as public health officials across Virginia continue to monitor increased flu activity.
Health officials yesterday (Thursday) said a preschool-aged child — between newborn age and 4 years old — died from flu-related complications. The child was from Virginia’s Eastern Region, which largely covers the Tidewater and Eastern Shore areas. The health department is not releasing additional information about the child to protect the family’s privacy.
Alexandria Democrats are in for deja vu as this month’s second Democratic firehouse primary will take place Tuesday to fulfill outgoing Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker’s seat, after her resignation announcement.
The firehouse primary is happening this Tuesday, Jan. 20, according to the Alexandria Democratic Committee. So far, two candidates have entered the race vying for Bennett-Parker’s 5th District seat: City Councilmember R. Kirk McPike and former Alexandria City School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera.
Alexandria honored the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with song, dance and poetry, as well as a thorough rebuke of political violence and societal divisions under the Trump administration last night (Thursday).
The 53rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Program began with an impassioned invocation from the Rev. Quardricos Bernard Driskell of Beulah Baptist Church, who said King is remembered as “a prophet who named America’s sins and paid his life for it.” Driskell denounced current approaches to immigration enforcement, military spending and “taking over sovereign nations for profit, power and greed.”
