For the next two weeks, restaurants across Alexandria will offer takeout specials to celebrate a spotlight on local dining establishments.
Restaurant week, a seasonal event run by Visit Alexandria, features 60 restaurants offering $49 takeout dinners for two or, at half those restaurants, $25 takeout dinners for one.
An Alexandria bartender wants the city to impose a 6 p.m. curfew on inauguration day on Wednesday, and has started an online petition that has garnered more than 375 signatures.
Erin Kennedy, a bartender at O’Shaughnessy’s at 1324 King Street in Old Town, didn’t like the feeling she got on the night of Jan. 6 when pro-Trump supporters drank at the bar and aggressively talked about how they participated in the siege at the U.S. Capitol.
The 14th Street Bridge going into Washington, D.C. has been completely shut down, and the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office and Police Department are among the law enforcement agencies that have blocked traffic on the bridge since 6 a.m. this morning.
“We’ve never been asked to do anything like this before,” Captain Sean Casey of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office told ALXnow. “We’re at the bridge right now. It was quite a sight this morning, because there was still plenty of traffic. We started at just before 6 a.m. securing and shutting down the bridge. You now cannot cross the 14th Street Bridge, with very few exceptions.”
After nearly 40 years in business, Atlantis Pizzeria and Family Restaurant will close on Jan. 24.
The restaurant’s owners said that the loss of business from the pandemic destroyed the business, and thanked loyal customers for years of support.
Five more Alexandria residents have died from COVID-19, and the death toll from the virus now stands at 96. The city has reached 8,810 cases, an increase of 654 cases since this time last week.
On the vaccine front, there have been more than 300,000 doses of the vaccine distributed across Virginia, and 36,826 people have been fully vaccinated, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
A 52-year-old Alexandria man has been charged with driving while intoxicated in a crash on Jan. 5 that put a 59-year-old man in critical condition.
“The victim was transported to an area hospital, where he lost both legs as a result of the crash,” Alexandria Police reported. “He remains in critical but stable condition.”
Alexandria Restaurant Preps 15,000 Meals for National Guard — “We will be closed today, Saturday January 16th through Thursday, January 21st. Last week, we were honored to be selected to provide meals to the National Guard during inauguration week. Our kitchen will be used to prepare 15,000 meals per day this upcoming week. We will re-open on Friday, January 22nd. We appreciate your continued support!” [Alexandria Living]
City to Host COVID-19 Vaccine Panel Discussion — “The City of Alexandria will co-host a recorded panel of local medical experts, civic leaders and community leaders to answer questions about COVID-19 vaccines. A premiere of the panel discussion will be available online in English, Spanish, Amharic and Arabic at 5 p.m. on January 27.” [City of Alexandria]
What a week in Alexandria.
With the region still reeling from the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol, Alexandria Police are mobilized and prepared to respond to security threats in the run up to the inauguration in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 20. At this time it is not likely that a 6 p.m. curfew will be imposed on the city.
With the still active threat of COVID-19 in Alexandria, the George Washington birthday parade is unsurprisingly canceled, but a series of other events around Alexandria are scheduled to celebrate the first president’s 289th birthday.
The 13th annual “Cherry Challenge” is scheduled throughout that month, with local restaurants creating cherry-centric dishes to celebrate the entirely fictional myth of Washington and the cherry tree.
Alexandria Police are reporting no known threats to the city in the run up to the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Wednesday, Jan. 20, and the city is not planning to impose 6 p.m. curfew that night.
Mayor Justin Wilson told ALXnow that he sees no reason that a curfew will be necessary, as the Alexandria Police Department has been working closely with federal and regional law enforcement partners.
Next week is a double-hitter in terms of holidays, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday and Inauguration Day on Wednesday.
As with many holidays, all government offices will be completely closed on both days, but other services around the city are operating on different schedules:
