If you’re looking to stay busy for a good cause, there are dozens of available volunteer opportunities in Alexandria.
Here’s Volunteer Alexandria’s list of new and upcoming opportunities.
News
Alexandria is moving forward with a proposal to make it easier to build housing that allows several unrelated adults to share amenities. While that sounds an awful lot like “having roommates” — which is allowed, in case you’re renting an apartment in Alexandria and started to panic — city staff outlined some of the distinctions in the new policy at a Planning Commission meeting earlier this month.
According to a city report, a co-living unit is defined as:
Alexandria seeks input on phase II revision of noise ordinance — “On May 15, the Alexandria City Council adopted phase I technical revisions of the City’s noise ordinance. The City is now seeking public input on a phase II revision that would address policy issues associated with land use, noise levels and changes with noise sources. The objective is to finalize this revision for Council consideration by the end of 2021.” [City of Alexandria]
Alexandria author writes book on 19th century Scottish migrant — “First-time author Ellen Hamilton has spent years working on the story of William Gregory, who settled here in Alexandria in 1807. Now, her first book, ‘A Scottish Migration to Alexandria’, is going into print.” [Alexandria Living]
|
(Updated 5:15 p.m.) Police are currently investigating a shooting that occurred around 3:45 p.m. today (Tuesday) just a few blocks from Alexandria City High School.
According to an alert put out by the Alexandria Police Department, the incident started with a fight involving juveniles at the Bradlee Shopping Center (3600 King Street).
One person was injured after shots were fired in the West End on Tuesday afternoon (September 21).
The incident occurred at around 1:15 p.m. in the 200 block of S. Reynolds Street.
For more than a month, Alexandria has experienced high COVID-19 transmission levels, but that isn’t stopping public events from happening.
Last week, the City Council unanimously voted to extend the state of emergency until January 31, 2022. Just days later, there was a large gathering for the unveiling of Friday night lights at Alexandria City High School, followed the next day by an art festival in Carlyle and Irish festival at Waterfront Park in Old Town. Residents are encouraged to wear face masks at the events, although it is not required.
There is lots of new development coming to North Old Town, and for locals interested in getting to know the area more, the North Old Town Independent Citizens Association (NOTICe) is planning a tour of what’s coming up.
The tour is scheduled to run from 5:30-7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23, followed by a social hour at the North Old Town location for St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub (529 Montgomery Street) from 7-8 p.m. The tour is self-guided but representatives will be on-hand at each of the locations to provide information on what’s planned.
No one was injured after shots were fired in the West End on Monday night (September 20).
Alexandria Police tweeted that they investigated a shots fired call for service in the 5400 block of Richenbacher Avenue at around 8 p.m.
Lena’s Wood-Fired Pizza and Tap named in top 100 restaurants in U.S. — “Lena’s Wood-Fired Pizza and Tap, owned by the Yates family of Alexandria, was just placed on OpenTable’s list of the 100 Best Neighborhood Gems in America for 2021.”[Zebra]
Retiring City Manager talks to Agenda Alexandria — “Retiring #AlexandriaVA City Manager Mark Jinks talks about his career in @ArlingtonVA and @AlexandriaVAGov, including everything from redeveloping Landmark Mall to building the Potomac Yard @wmata station @agendalexandria #AgendaAlexandria” [Twitter]
|
Update 9/21 p.m. — A previous version of the article had a typo in Division Chief Carrie Beach’s quote
Housing preservation is a central pillar of the plan to save Arlandria-Chirilagua from the anticipated gentrification stemming from Amazon’s HQ2. Last week, city staff told the Planning Commission that effort will likely require at least $100 million from public and private sources to preserve or expand affordable options in the area.
The Fort Ward Museum is planning to reopen next weekend with a live cannon fire demonstration to kick things off.
While many of Alexandria’s museums and historic have reopened over the last few months, Fort Ward remained closed for renovations to the museum.