Staying home is a good defense against Covid, but what if your home is full of mold? The Alexandria Health Department is recruiting 50 city residents with respiratory issues to participate in a free air quality pilot study, and is offering them $100 in gift cards.
The Alexandria Air Cleaning Evaluation for Healthier Homes pilot is based on the premise that many residents in underserved areas live in conditions that “actively harm their well-being.”
There’s been some drama around the future of the Torpedo Factory, but applications are opening next month for local artists looking to get in ahead of those changes.
“The City of Alexandria will be accepting resident artist applications for studio space at the Torpedo Factory Art Center (105 N. Union Street) beginning March 1,” the city said in a press release. “Individuals or groups of up to four artists are invited to apply for the studio jury for a three-year lease in one of the available studios. The deadline to apply is April 19.”
Like big dogs? This weekend (Feb. 18 to Feb. 21) the Animal Welfare League has waved adoption fees on all pets weighing more than 30 pounds.
One of those big pooches is Mars, a 56-pound three-year-old fawn-colored terrier mix.
Masks have been an ever-present feature of schools since students returned to in-person learning last year, but new state legislation is forcing Alexandria City Public Schools to prepare for mask-less students and faculty.
A new meeting announced via email indicates the Alexandria City School Board will be taking up the discussion of the current mask requirement.
The former GenOn power plant is a closed-off stretch of urban decay, but new plans headed to the City Council paint a picture of the area as a new mixed-use community.
The plans show around 2.1 million square feet of new development at the site with a mix of residential, retails, arts spaces and more. The new development is also positioned as the crown jewel of an Arts and Cultural District in Old Town North approved in 2018.
George Washington birthday parade returning on Monday — “Celebrate Presidents’ Day and the first president’s 290th birthday at the George Washington Birthday Parade on Monday.” [Alexandria Times]
Study: coastal flooding to increase as seas rise 1 foot by 2050 — “Several areas in and around Alexandria are vulnerable, according to an updated interactive tool.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Alexandria could be converting another block of King Street to a pedestrian-only zone this spring.
At a meeting of the Waterfront Commission earlier this week, city staff presented both plans for a pilot to close the waterfront end of King Street and examined the future of the 100 block of King Street, which has been permanently closed and converted into a pedestrian zone.
The City of Alexandria may have landed on agreements with two internet service providers to run broadband networks and open up the competition with the current internet monopoly: Comcast.
In January, the city announced that four companies had been shortlisted to operate a broadband internet service on cables the city was laying down alongside the new municipal network. An update scheduled for the Tuesday, Feb. 22, will as the City Council to approve right-of-way franchises to Lumos Telephone, Inc. and Ting, Inc.
A 30-year-old Alexandria man held without bond in the city jail is wanted across the country for at stealing at least luxury vehicles with fake identifications around the country.
Serge Ahmed Zeba, a native of Burkina Faso, West Africa, was arrested in the parking lot of the Extended Stay Hotel in the Landmark area on Jan. 26, and was charged with possessing a fictitious identification or license, possession of a stolen vehicle, unauthorized use of a stolen vehicle and providing a false identity to law enforcement.
Alexandria Police are investigating a robbery committed by five people at the Home Depot at 400 S. Pickett Street in the West End.
A Home Depot employee followed five people out of the store on Jan. 17, after they walked past the point of sale and out the exit with a shopping cart full of hand tools, gardening tools, and electric and gas-powered tools, according to a search warrant.
Sneak Peek: The Landing, luxe living for seniors, opens soon in Alexandria — “The Landing offers an opulent ambiance for four levels of senior living, opening next month in Alexandria.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Alexandria’s unique role in a bizarre Presidential story — “On the afternoon of Feb. 28, 1844, President John Tyler and about 400 guests were steaming down the Potomac River on the new warship USS Princeton, enjoying cocktails and music, when the world’s biggest naval gun, the ‘Peacemaker,’ exploded onboard. It came close to costing the nation its leader.” [Washington Post]
