The long-vacant Victory Center (5001 Eisenhower Avenue) has found new, temporary life as a major vaccination hub for Inova Health System that will open by the end of March.
The new center is the end result of what officials described as a “Herculean effort” at collaboration between Fairfax County, the City of Alexandria and Inova.
Alexandria students on Monday asked City Council to reallocate funds intended for school resource officers at public schools.
Francis C. Hammond Middle School eighth grader Karen says school resource officers make her uncomfortable. Karen is a youth organizer with Arlandria-based Tenants and Workers United, and was also joined by a number of other students in voicing their discontent at City Council’s public hearing on the budget.
Restaurant workers in Alexandria just got moved up in the vaccination line thanks to a new prioritization from the Alexandria Health Department.
The change comes with recognition that many restaurant workers are unable to maintain safe distances from customers, putting them at increased risk of COVID-19.
Captain Sean Casey is running for Alexandria Sheriff, and already has the endorsement of retiring Sheriff Dana Lawhorne.
“I’m excited, anxious, but overall really looking forward to this challenge,” Casey told ALXnow. “I can’t wait to fill the big shoes of Dana Lawhorne.”
City Applies for Grant to Reimagine King Street — “The project runs from the six-way King Street-Braddock-Road-Quaker Lane intersection west past the Bradlee Shopping Center to Menonkin Drive, which is just before the I-395 interchange on King Street — about a 0.5 mile stretch of heavily-used roadway. The City Council granted permission for city staff to apply for the grant in March 2020, along with approval to apply for grants for the Duke Street Transitway and Landmark Transit Center. The King Street project would be funded in the 2026-27 fiscal year.” [Alexandria Living]
Pandemic Forces ‘Mom Made Foods’ to Close — “Mom Made Foods, an Alexandria-based company providing children’s frozen meals and snacks in stores and online, announced its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” [Patch]
A new Montessori school program could be opening just off Duke Street if its special use permit gets approved.
The new Heritage Montessori Day and Preschool would be located at 3649 Wheeler Avenue, near the Spicer’s Upholstery that closed last year and across the street from the Alexandria Police Department.
Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne will not seek a fifth term, and will leave office at the end of the year.
Lawhorne made the announcement this afternoon, and said that after 16 years he accomplished his goals in office.
(Updated 3/9/21) Under growing pressure from local environmental activists like the Environmental Council of Alexandria to halt the planned Taylor Run Stream Restoration, city staff have fired back with a 10-page response to criticisms of the project.
Opponents say the city is overstating the level of pollution in the creek and the proposed overhaul of the stream bed would damage the health of the watershed by removing foliage, though the city says many of the trees being removed are dead and that more will be replanted.
Alexandria Police arrested seven people and seized $158,000 in cash, guns and drugs last week, as part of an ongoing investigation that resulted in eight search warrants being executed in the region.
Police would not reveal the identities of the suspects arrested or any further details, and only listed what was seized in a Friday press release. Seized items included:
(Updated at 11:50 a.m.) Alexandria Police have reopened the area of King Street between Callahan Drive and Daingerfield Road after investigating a report of a suspicious package.
Police closed the area near the King St-Old Town Metro Station and the city’s Union Station after a report earlier of a suspicious package around 11:35 a.m.
Alexandria Police are investigating a robbery that occurred at the Tobacco and Vape King store at 408 E. Glebe Road was robbed on Saturday night.
Police said a suspect walked into the shop on Saturday night and demanded money. The suspect, who fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash, did not present a weapon or imply that he had a weapon, according to police.
