News | ALXnow - Part 843

City Council approves classical concert venue in Old Town

Published March 16, 2021 at 9:45AM

Garden portion of The Rectory set up as music venue during the pandemic in 2020. (via Classical Movements)

The Alexandria City Council unanimously approved a special use permit authorizing four hours of daily acoustic classical musical performances at The Rectory at 711 Princess Street in Old Town.

Since last year, Classical Movements and musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra, the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra have performed at the venue to outdoor audiences. The Sounds of Hope and Harmony performances have been held with socially distant crowds, and the new approval allows for up to 50 guests to enjoy the music.

Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published March 16, 2021 at 5:00AM

Animal Welfare League gets 50 cats from Texas shelters — “Among the lingering effects of the winter outages is the strain on animal shelters. According to AWLA, the Texas shelters are seeing a surge in surrendered pets. The animals come from eight animal shelters in Texas. By transferring animals to Virginia, these shelters can better address the continued needs of homeless animals.” [Patch]

School Board public hearing on renaming of T.C. Williams High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School on March 18 — “There will be a School Board Public Hearing on March 18 at 5pm, where community members have their final opportunity to sign up to speak or submit comments about the renaming of schools.” [Twitter]

New assistant city manager appointed to lead public-private partnerships

By Vernon Miles

Published March 15, 2021 at 4:30PM

Alexandria is expanding its push into public-private partnerships with the appointment of a new Assistant City Manager to help manage and facilitate them.

The city has sought to implement public-private partnerships over the last few years to lower costs for projects and make better use of limited space in the city. One notable example has been a housing development and fire station in Potomac Yard.

Alexandria gets $59.4 million in federal coronavirus relief funding

By James Cullum

Published March 15, 2021 at 3:30PM

Alexandria is slated to receive $59.4 million from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and Alexandria will be reaching out to residents on how to spend it.

“On behalf of all Alexandrians, I want to share my heartfelt gratitude to Senator Warner, Senator Kaine and Representative Beyer for their assistance in achieving this legislation,” Mayor Justin Wilson said in a statement. “The assistance from the American Rescue Plan will help our residents and business community in many ways over the coming years and will certainly expedite our recovery after the devastating economic and personal impacts of the last year. We will continue to persevere together, and this aid will help to see us through to the other side of this global pandemic.”

City Council takes rare step and strips local business of special use permit

By Vernon Miles

Published March 15, 2021 at 2:30PM

A year of family drama behind the scenes of a car dealership ballooned to such a point that the City Council took the incredibly uncommon step this weekend of stripping the business of its Special Use Permit.

M&B Auto Sales (26 S. Dove Street) has been in hot water with multiple neighbors over the last year, with 37 calls for service over the last year for everything from fighting and drug use to “mob activity.” The most recurring issue noted by staff was parking violations, with the business parking vehicles in the public right of way.

Alexandria participating in statewide tornado drill Tuesday

By James Cullum

Published March 15, 2021 at 1:00PM

Alexandria is participating in an annual statewide tornado drill on Tuesday morning.

The city and state’s Office of Emergency Management are asking everyone to help promote severe weather safety by participating in the drill at 9:45 a.m.

Update: COVID-19 deaths at 128 in Alexandria, nearly 17,000 residents fully vaccinated

By James Cullum

Published March 15, 2021 at 10:45AM

Two more Alexandrians have died of COVID-19 and the death toll from the virus now stands at 128.

The latest fatalities were in their 80s and 60s.

DASH brings back fare collection and front door boarding

By James Cullum

Published March 15, 2021 at 9:30AM

You’ll need $2 per trip and a face mask if you want to take the DASH bus now.

For the first time in more than a year, today (Monday, March 15), DASH brought back collecting fares and front door boarding,

Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published March 15, 2021 at 5:00AM

Nothing Bundt Cakes opens in West End — “Nothing Bundt Cakes sells a variety of bundt cakes, bundt cake towers, mini bundt cakes and bite-size bundt cakes. There are nine basic flavors, including traditional vanilla and chocolate, plus marble, confetti, red velvet, pecan praline, white chocolate raspberry, carrot cake and more.” [Alexandria Living]

Councilman Canek Aguirre kicks off reelection campaign — “We have to invest in our school buildings. We have to invest in our city buildings. And that’s definitely something that we have to continue to do because it’s just going to get more expensive.” [Alex Times]

ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published March 12, 2021 at 3:30PM

What an eventful week in Alexandria.

Thursday, March 11, marked the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic in Alexandria. As the vaccine rollout slowly improves, the most recent news is the allowance of restaurant workers to get the vaccine. Just over 38,000 doses have been administered in the city, and of that 14,661 residents have been fully vaccinated. The city also wants 80% of residents vaccinated by July 31.

Del Ray Vintage and Flea Market to return early next month

By Vernon Miles

Published March 12, 2021 at 2:15PM

If you’re tired of being cooped up and want to take advantage of the spring weather, the Del Ray Vintage and Flea Market is returning on April 10.

The market will return for its third season in two open-air lots at the corner of Mount Vernon and Bellefonte Avenues in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, according to a press release.