(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.
The U.S. Department of Labor has filed an administrative complaint against a janitorial government contractor operating in Alexandria for discriminating against Black and white job applicants in favor of Hispanic applicants.
The Department of Labor filed the complaint against New York-based ABM Janitorial Services on September 15, although the investigation into the contractor began in 2015. Three compliance reviews were made at ABM locations — one in Baltimore, Maryland, and two in Alexandria in the 100 block of Claremont Avenue.
This weekend, the Alexandria City Council unanimously approved a new five-cent tax on plastic bags — though with some grumbling that Arlington had beat them to the punch by a few hours.
The tax will only be applied to grocery stores and convenience stores, not restaurants or other businesses, and is similar to taxes implemented in D.C. and other localities across the country. Groups collecting trash around the area reported a three-quarter decrease in the amount of plastic bags being picked up and overall decreased plastic bag use — though some of those results have been brought into question.
After more than 50 years of playing football early and in the dark, the Alexandria City High School Titans won their first game under lights at the newly renovated Parker-Gray Stadium.
After a years-long renovation project was completed, City and Alexandria City Public Schools leaders cut the ribbon on the stadium, bringing a close to generations of legal challenges that prevented the installation of the lights.
