As of late November, a little under half of ACPS’ staff said they are unwilling to return to work.
Stephen Wilkins, chief of staff for ACPS, said at a School Board meeting last Thursday that 45% of ACPS staff reported an inability to return in a survey sent out in late November. The highest reason — 43% of those who said they would not return — said it was due to fear and anxiety, while 29% said it was because of underlying medical conditions.
Alexandria artist Laurel Prucha Moran started painting watercolors at home during the pandemic, and now she’s so busy painting commissioned pieces that she can’t take on any more Christmas orders.
Moran, a freelance graphic designer for the last 20 years in Alexandria, has five paintings she has to finish by this weekend alone. She recently launched Blue Room Studio, and sells prints of her watercolors as cards and stationary. She’s also married with three kids, and until this year only found time to paint while taking classes at the Torpedo Factory Art Center.
Three Alexandria children are safe after being left home alone in “deplorable conditions,” according to police.
Charges are pending against the mother of the children, a woman in her 20s, who was described by the children’s grandmother as suffering from mental issues and being off her medication, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Alexandria’s police department leadership has openly supported calls for reform in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, but a central pillar of that reform — more civilian oversight of the police — has hit a stumbling block.
City Councilman Mo Seifeldein has spearheaded a plan to set up a civilian board to independently investigate allegations of police misconduct. The board was unanimously approved despite concerns from Police Chief Michael L. Brown, but Seifeldein has been vocally frustrated that attempts to give the board teeth by having greater investigative and disciplinary power have gone nowhere.
A winter preparation update headed to the City Council tonight (item 27) outlines plans for what looks to be a mild winter — a small mercy for city services at the end of a somewhat literally plagued year.
While day-to-day weather can be unpredictable, the staff presentation notes that information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that the city is not anticipated to have higher than normal precipitation and is within a belt of areas likely to see temperatures above the city’s winter average of 39.3 degrees. The trend is in keeping with steadily increasing average temperatures in the D.C. area over the last twenty years.
Alexandria Women Create At-Home Escape Room — “Escape Notice Games will be releasing a second game titled “Spies of Liberty” in the spring of 2021. This game will be based on George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring and players will have to solve 15 puzzles to help Washington defeat the British.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Local Churches Organize 20 Ton Food Drive — “The truck came across the country with twenty tons of food items like pasta, flour, black beans, corn, soup, peaches, pasta sauce, pancake mix, peanut butter, mayonnaise, green beans, and more!” [Zebra]
As the city government works to iron out details of a proposed civilian review panel for the Alexandria Police Department, some local voices remain divided over how much power should be given to the oversight board.
The latest Agenda: Alexandria discussion, now converted to the On the Agenda podcast, tackled the local issue with Alexandria Gazette-Packet editor Mary Kimm — who was part of a similar initiative in Fairfax County — and David Baker — who retired as Alexandria’s police chief in 2009 after a DUI arrest. The discussion was moderated by journalist and longtime Agenda Alexandria host Michael Lee Pope and Agenda: Alexandria board member Alyia Gaskins.
Updated 2:50 p.m. — Police said the suspects have been apprehended. An earlier version of this article listed an incorrect address.
For those curious about a police helicopter is sweeping over the 2300 block of Duke Street around 1:30 p.m., police say the helicopter is assisting in the search for suspects who fled a vehicle that was flagged as stolen.
Carpenter’s Shelter has invited the community to a ribbon-cutting on Thursday (Dec. 10) for the new shelter for people experiencing homelessness.
“This ribbon-cutting will be held in conjunction with with the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation, who will be celebrating the opening of 97 affordable apartment units named The Bloom at Braddock,” the nonprofit said in a press release.
There have been six additional deaths from COVID-19 in Alexandria, as the death toll from the virus now stands at 83.
The victims were three men and two women, and three of the victims were in their 80s and two were in their 60s. Information on the sixth victim is not available, as the city says there is a reporting lag with the Virginia Department of Health.
A quarterly report on the status of Alexandria’s capital projects is headed to the City Council tomorrow (Tuesday) with some bad news: the pandemic has created some setbacks and additional challenges for anticipated projects across the city.
At the Potomac Yard Metro station, a contractor out of Pennsylvania was unable to make progress on the work for part of the summer due to COVID-19 restrictions
