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.
There have been seven more coronavirus-related deaths in Alexandria, bringing the death toll from the virus to 126.
Alexandria’s caseload now stands at 10,456. That’s 114 more cases since this time last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
Northam Remarks on a Year of Coronavirus — “For far too many people, life will never be the same again. It has been a hard year, but I have been encouraged by the strength of Virginians in every corner of our Commonwealth.” [Patch]
Beyer Remarks on a Year of Coronavirus — “A year ago today Virginia’s first case of coronavirus was confirmed at Ft. Belvoir in Fairfax County. I remember it like it was yesterday, a frightening time. We’ve lost so many people since then, as the country endured misery and hardship. But we are going to beat this virus.” [Twitter]
What a busy week in Alexandria.
Our top story this week was on Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Old Town shop fibre space on March 3. It was Harris’ first official visit outside of the White House since she was inaugurated, and she spoke about the American Rescue Plan with shop owner Danielle Romanetti.
Move over Meghan Markle, there’s a Princess scandal in town.
The long back-and-forth saga over a new trio of new homes is scheduled to continue later this month when the applicant returns to the Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday, March 17.
A conversation over School Resource Officers (SROs) in Alexandria City Public Schools got heated on Wednesday night, as School Board members asked City Council to respect their decision renewing the bi-annual memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the police department.
City Councilman Canek Aguirre brought up the subject at Wednesday’s joint budget meeting with the School Board.
Post-holidays, Mayor Justin Wilson said in a town hall last night that Alexandrians have done a good job adhering to COVID restrictions and it’s shown in slowly declining deaths and hospitalizations.
On paper, Alexandria has seen its death toll increase over the last week to a total of 123 deaths, but the Alexandria Health Department and Wilson noted that this was due to figures from the holidays being adjusted to include additional deaths believed to be caused by COVID-19.
All proceeds from the Alexandria Drive-In go to charity, and on Thursday (March 4) the nonprofit cut a check for $20,700 to the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria.
“I have never been more inspired with this community coming together as we did with the Alexandria Drive-In,” said Alexandria Drive-In founder Kelly Grant, who is a partner at Alx Community. “Its impact will have a ripple effect on our community for years to come; this check of over $20,000 is just the start. We are proud to help so many young students receive college scholarships and be able to reach their full potential.”
Virginia State Police Car Chase Ends With Arrest — “State police found the vehicle heading north on the Beltway near Braddock Road. A state trooper tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver sped away. Police say the vehicle reached speeds above 100 mph and struck three vehicles and a trooper’s vehicle during the pursuit.” [Patch]
Stomping Ground to Open ‘The Alley’ — “The Alley’s menu is available for sampling now at Stomping Ground, at 2309 Mt. Vernon Ave. Stomping Ground is the brainchild of Nicole Jones, who is also working on opening a new venture at The Atrium in Old Town.” [Alexandria Living]
Regional losses to tourism and the hotel industry could be an unexpected windfall for Alexandria’s ongoing efforts to find affordable housing.
During a presentation to the City Council last week, Alexandria Economic Development Partnership (AEDP) President and CEO Stephanie Landrum said that the city could look at streamlining some rezoning to help transform hotels emptied by COVID into affordable housing units.
Alexandria City Councilwoman Amy Jackson argued with members of the School Board and Alexandria City Public Schools staff at a budget meeting last night (Wednesday) over construction of the new Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.
Jackson, who is running for reelection, lambasted the school system earlier this week on Facebook with a one minute video. In the video, Jackson stands outside MacArthur wearing a face mask with the words “Your Vote Matters” printed on it, raises her left hand questioningly and then says: “March 1, 2021. Almost a year and no construction has started at MacArthur. When is it going to happen?”
