After sailing through perilous economic waters, the Tall Ship Providence just shored up weekly tours until next spring.
The nonprofit is still tabulating the numbers, but expects that since launching in June 2020, thousands of visitors have been welcomed aboard the Tall Ship for tours and cruises. The Providence is a replica of the first naval warship commissioned by the Continental Congress in 1775, and visitors are welcomed aboard by an actor portraying Captain John Paul Jones.
A veritable who’s who in Alexandria will interview the final candidates looking to succeed retiring City Manager Mark Jinks.
On Tuesday night, City Council approved the formation of three advisory committees that will interview the final candidates selected after a five-month-long national search.
Two Alexandria men were arrested last month for shooting a gun from a vehicle in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood.
The incident occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8. Two Alexandria Police officers in an unmarked SUV observed a white Mercedes-Benz disregard a red light at the intersection of Russell Road and Mount Vernon Avenue, according to a search warrant affidavit. Police then began to follow the car.
The PT Blooms LLC development at 805 Columbus Street is returning to the Board of Architectural Review for a certificate of appropriateness after having its hand slapped earlier this year for being too Old Towny.
The proposed development — designed by the Penney Design Group — is a five-story building with 78 residential units built on what is currently a vacant lot in the heart of the Braddock/Parker-Gray neighborhood. While the building would tower over some of the nearby two-story homes, the application notes that it’s tapered at the upper levels of the building to shift the height away from the street. Even so, several pending five-story developments for the area indicate that this sort of building could be the norm in the area within a few years.
The story of Hybla Valley’s lost airport — “Every American with their own plane? Strangely enough, this was a widespread belief during most of the 1920s and ’30s — a motive which, at the time, led to the creation of Alexandria’s prestigious and unique Hybla Valley Airport.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
New sports field opens at Francis C. Hammond Middle School — “The new multipurpose futsal court at Francis C. Hammond Middle School was finally unveiled on Monday, Nov. 8.” [Zebra]
(Updated 5 p.m.) Alexandria has a long history of beer, from Port City to prohibition, and a new excavation on the waterfront is sifting through one of the city’s older breweries.
City archeologists are currently at work at the Roberdeau’s Wharf/Harborside site (400 South Union Street), where they recently found a brick furnace and a coal bin associated with the circa 1830s brewery, according to the Alexandria Archaeology Museum’s Twitter account.
(Updated 4:45 p.m.) At the start of a City Council retreat this weekend, acting Human Resources Director Jen Jenkins laid out some numbers behind the ongoing discussion over a pay increase for city employees.
City employees — first responders in particular — have criticized city leadership’s handling of employee pay and lamented that the city is, in some respects, lowest in regional pay. The city has laid out plans for a 1.5% pay increase, which unions representing first responders called an insulting lowball.
(Updated 1:50 a.m.) The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced some next steps as it works to transform the Samuel Madden Homes (921 N. Henry Street) in the Braddock neighborhood into a mixed-income, mixed-use rental community.
There are currently 66 public housing units in a neighborhood at the northern point of where Route 1 splits into N. Patrick and N. Henry streets. It’s an area overshadowed by the larger, higher-density developments to the east and west. A press release said the development would double the number of affordable units.
After a few years of somewhat jubilant legislative sessions, the City Council is moving into preparation for a legislative package with a more grim outlook.
The legislative package is an annual list of asks and recommendations from the city to the state government. These sorts of legislative packages are particularly important in Virginia where, as a Dillon Rule state, the authority of the city is limited to only those areas explicitly granted by the state. With Republicans winning control of much of the state government in last week’s election, the all-Democrat City Council’s days of “playing with house money” could be coming to an end.
Alexandria Police are investigating the extortion of thousands of dollars from a man claiming to be the victim of blackmail.
On September 1, the victim started a romantic relationship online with a Twitter user, whose account has since been suspended. The victim told police that he paid initially to be involved with the suspect by making multiple payments to the latter’s Cash App and Zelle accounts.
Hank’s Oyster Bar moving to Old Town North — “Award-winning Chef Jamie Leeds spoke up on a social media post this morning to confirm that yes, Hank’s Oyster Bar is moving to the Old Town North neighborhood, into the space formerly occupied by Hank & Mitzi’s, an Italian restaurant named after her parents, that she closed in June 2020.” [Zebra]
Safeway donates to ALIVE! — “This morning, [the] Safeway Foundation presented ALIVE! with a $9,159.38 grant to ensure children in the City of Alexandria, VA have access to a healthy breakfast this fall 2021. [ALIVE!/Twitter]
