News | ALXnow - Part 809

Stopping Midstream: City Council sends stream restoration projects back for further study

Published April 28, 2021 at 4:45PM | Updated April 29, 2021 at 12:09PM

Taylor Run (Photo via City of Alexandria)

Near the end of a nearly eight-hour meeting, the City Council opted last night to send aspects of the city’s controversial stream restoration projects back to the drawing board in light of widespread public criticism.

Stream restoration became something of a surprise Seminary Road-like issue last year. Many recurring public complaints — namely over a lack of communication from staff and concerns regarding city studies — resurfaced during the Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration debates.

Incumbent delegate and Alexandria vice mayor square off in unique 45th District race

By Vernon Miles

Published April 28, 2021 at 3:30PM

The race for the 45th District House of Delegates seat is a weird one.

Delegate Mark Levine announced in December that he would be running for Lieutenant Governor. A month later, Alexandria Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker announced that she would be running for Levine’s delegate seat. The wrinkle in all of this, however, is that Levine is also running for reelection in the 45th district as a precaution in case he doesn’t win the fairly crowded Lieutenant Governor primary.

Governor Northam and U.S. Secretary of Education Cardona visit Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 2:30PM

Governor Ralph Northam (center) with First Lady Pamela Northam (in blue), Mayor Justin Wilson (far left) with staff of Pacers Running at 1301 King Street in Old Town, April 28, 2021. (Photo by Jason Taylor)

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam was in Alexandria Wednesday, and with Mayor Justin Wilson welcomed U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School.

Northam stopped by Pacers Running at 1301 King Street before the event with Cardona, where he met Wilson and spoke with employees about raising the minimum wage. Pacers has been paying its employees $15 an hour since last year.

Man robbed at gunpoint in West End

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 1:45PM

Alexandria Police cruiser (staff photo by James Cullum)

A man was robbed at gunpoint in a residential area of the West End on Tuesday night, according to Alexandria Police.

Police tweeted that at around 11:20 p.m., the victim was walking in the 200 block of Century Place when he was approached by a suspect, who displayed a handgun.

School Resource Officers at ACPS on chopping block as Police chief proposes alternative program

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 1:00PM | Updated April 28, 2021 at 1:25PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria City Councilors seemed surprised by Police Chief Michael Brown on Tuesday night, when he presented an alternate plan to Council Mo Seifeldein’s proposal to reappropriate nearly $800,000 in School Resource Officer funding for mental health resources for school aged children.

“The proposal is to cut the funding and redirect it,” Mayor Justin Wilson said. “It sounds like the Chief is talking about something that involves retaining the funding, and making changes to the way the folks are operating.”

Spring2ACTion, the biggest online giving day for nonprofits in Alexandria, is today

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 10:45AM

The biggest one-day fundraiser in Alexandria is here. Spring2ACTion started this morning and donors have until midnight to contribute to more than 150 nonprofits in the city.

Last year’s event raised $2.45 million from 8,453 donors, and the goal has been raised to $2.5 million. This year, event organizer ACT for Alexandria is looking for 10,000 donors.

Police investigate string of commercial burglaries in the West End

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 9:30AM | Updated April 28, 2021 at 5:41PM

Alexandria police (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria Police are investigating a string of commercial burglaries that occurred in the 600 block of S. Pickett Street in the West End on Thursday, April 22.

Police said that there were five commercial burglaries and two attempted commercial burglaries on the early morning of Thursday, April 22, 2021. The incidents occurred at several businesses between 4 and 5 a.m.

Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 5:00AM

Sheriff’s Office warns of phone scammers — “If you receive a call from someone saying they are from the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office (or any other law enforcement agency) and that you have to pay them money, hang up. Scammers will try a variety of approaches to intimidate and coerce people into giving them money. But actual sheriffs’ offices in Virginia will never call you and demand money.” [Twitter]

April 30 deadline for logo design contest for Alexandria City High School — “All ACPS currently enrolled students are invited to participate in a logo design contest to represent the new high school name Alexandria City High School. The deadline to submit an entry is April 30, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. See the complete competition guidelines and rules. Logo entries must be uploaded through the Logo Design Submission Form. Featured above are the previous logos used for T.C. Williams. More information about designs for Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School will be shared in the coming weeks.” [ACPS]

Scholarship Fund of Alexandria raises $450K in annual gala

By James Cullum

Published April 27, 2021 at 4:45PM

The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria has done it again. On Saturday, the nonprofit raised more than $450,000 for college-bound Alexandria students at its annual gala, which was held virtually for the second year in a row.

The gala was held this year at Jack Taylor’s Alexandria Toyota, which also raffled off a $25,000 Toyota RAV-4 to T.C. Williams High School biology teacher Jennifer Darque. More than 400 dinners and deals were also auctioned off in the event, which was attended in-person by Mayor Justin Wilson and his wife, Alex Crawford-Batt, who received a SFA scholarship when she was a student.

NOW: Alexandria preparing new face mask ordinance as CDC says fully vaccinated folks don’t need them

By James Cullum

Published April 27, 2021 at 3:05PM

Walking on King Street in Old Town, Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson has asked City staff to prepare a revised face mask ordinance since news broke that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising that anyone who is fully vaccinated no longer needs to wear them.

“Fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask outdoors, except in certain crowded settings and venues,” the CDC said Tuesday. “For the purposes of this guidance, people are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 (more than) 2 weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or (more than) 2 weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson (J&J)/Janssen).”

NEW: Alexandria shifts to open scheduling for COVID-19 vaccine

By James Cullum

Published April 27, 2021 at 12:45PM | Updated April 27, 2021 at 1:22PM

Alexandria turned another corner in the fight against COVID-19 on Tuesday, as the city has moved into vaccination open scheduling.

“This is a big moment, as the days of long waiting lists for vaccinations are largely behind us,” Mayor Justin Wilson told ALXnow. “The next phase is a new challenge as we must work to bring doses to those who have not sought them and continue to spread the word that we have three very safe and effective vaccines that are available to Alexandria residents. This is how we get our residents and businesses back to normal.”