Spring plant sale returning — “On April 30, from 9 am to 2 pm, ten vendors from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and DC will gather to sell native plants, shrubs, and trees for sun or shade in the Church of St. Clement parking lot 1701 N. Quaker Lane.” [Zebra]
It’s Tuesday — Rain throughout the day. High of 60 and low of 48. Sunrise at 6:47 am and sunset at 7:37 pm. [Weather.gov]
Chanting and holding signs, a local environmental group protested Chase Bank and Wells Fargo with ‘die-ins’ at their Old Town branches.
On Monday afternoon (April 4), more than a dozen protestors from the group TH!RD ACT-VA walked into both banks and chanted “What do we want? Climate change! What do we need? System change!” and delivered letters to local branch managers to forward to Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Wells Fargo CEO Charles W. Scharf. The letters demand that the banks “divest from fossil fuels this year.”
Last week, Agenda Alexandria sat local Republicans and Democrats together at a table to hash things out and try to find a way forward.
The round table discussion featured former Delegate Mark Levine and Legislative Director Sarah Taylor voicing the more Democrat-aligned viewpoint. On the Republican side was The Family Foundation Director of External Relations Michael Leaser and Michael Ginsberg, vice president of CACI and leader of the Suburban Virginia Republican Coalition.
Nearly a year after Alexandria launched a flood mitigation program to reimburse projects on private properties, the city is apologizing for some delays with the program and said the process should be streamlined soon.
The Flood Mitigation Grant Program partially reimburses residents to install flood mitigation practices on their property. The pilot program launched last August and received over 175 applications. Applicants can receive a reimbursement of up to 50% of their project costs, up to $5,000. So far, the city has reimbursed nearly $300,000 worth of flood mitigation projects. Bill Skrabak, deputy director of Infrastructure & Environmental Quality, said the city was hopeful it would get some use but wasn’t prepared for the number of grant requests.
Spring gets into full swing in Alexandria this month, and there are dozens of events around the city to get you out of the house.
Visit Alexandria has compiled a list of events this month around town, including Easter egg hunts, book signings, a film screening and musical performances.
The City of Alexandria is hosting a community meeting for a plan to allow additional bonus height in new zones in exchange for affordable housing.
Currently, developers can only apply for bonus height in zones with height limits of 50 feet. The new ordinance would take that down to allow developers to apply for bonus height in zones with 45 foot high limits. It’s a relatively minor change on paper, but it opens new density options across the city as well as more opportunities for affordable housing.
Sheriff’s Office assessors want to hear from locals — “A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) is conducting an assessment of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office’s policies and procedures, management, operations, and support services.” [Zebra]
It’s Monday — Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 56 and low of 37. Sunrise at 6:49 am and sunset at 7:36 pm. [Weather.gov]
It’s been a big week for crime and public safety issues in Alexandria.
There were several arrests and a few notable cases where there weren’t arrests: like when a child was struck in a crash and no arrests made after another fatal crash.
Alexandria Police will be outfitted with body worn cameras starting this summer, but it won’t be until next year that all officers will be outfitted with the devices.
The $2.2 million program City Manager Jim Parajon presented to Council on Wednesday (March 30) is significantly scaled back cost-wise when compared to a $13 million proposal presented to City Council last year by then-Police Chief Michael Brown.
A Bad Ass Coffee Of Hawaii franchise will be opening in later summer in Carlyle, but an exact date has not yet been set.
The company website lists the location at 2466 Mandeville Lane as being in development.
Alexandria Police are still investigating a February 22 crash on Duke Street that resulted in the death of a driver and multiple injuries. No one has been arrested in connection to the crash, even though one of the drivers involved was found to be in possession of cocaine and number of other suspected drugs.
“The crash resulted in one fatality, one critical injury, one serious injury, and two minor injuries,” APD said in a release. “Preliminary investigation suggests speed may have been a contributing factor in this incident.”
