On This Day in History: Belle Pre Glass Company Plant Burns Down Under Mysterious Circumstances — On this date in 1921, the abandoned Belle Pre Glass Company plant on Madison Street burned down under mysterious circumstances—just one day before the four-acre property was set to be sold. Once one of America’s largest milk bottle manufacturers, Belle Pre opened in Alexandria in 1902 and employed over 250 workers at its peak before filing for bankruptcy in 1912. [Historic Alexandria]

FCPD: Hit-and-Run Victim Was Alive Before Being Hit by Fairfax Police Car — A Fairfax County police officer remains on restricted duty after striking a hit-and-run victim with his police cruiser last month in Hybla Valley. Alexandria resident Trina Jones, 62, who was crossing Richmond Highway outside the Mount Vernon Crossroads shopping center, was first struck by an unknown driver who fled the scene before being hit by the police cruiser on Sept. 24. [FFXnow]


Since it was announced in August, it was no surprise that the Chamber ALX‘s 2025 Business Leader of the Year Award was presented Thursday night (Oct. 23) to the Virginia Tech DC Area Launch Team.

Still, there were a number of other contentious business awards, and ALXnow was at the Westin Alexandria Old Town (400 Courthouse Square) to see them handed out. Below are the winners of the micro, small, medium, large, rising star, non-profit, and overall businesses of the year in Alexandria.


Good Thursday evening, Alexandria. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.

🕗 News recap

The following articles were published earlier today — Oct 23, 2025.

Here are today’s most-read articles:

  1. USPTO to lay off 126 workers at Alexandria headquarters in December (1436 views)
  2. AFD rescues pinned driver after West End crash (798 views)

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on Friday in Alexandria, from our event calendar.

🌥️ Friday’s forecast

Clouds will increase throughout the day, reaching a high temperature near 61. A light west wind will shift to the northwest at 8 to 13 mph in the morning and may gust up to 22 mph. By Friday night, skies will be mostly clear and the temperature will drop to around 39, accompanied by a northwest wind at 5 to 7 mph. See more from Weather.gov.

💡 Quote of the Day

“Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow’s reality.”
– Malala Yousafzai

🌅 Tonight’s sunset

Thanks for reading!


By OLIVIA DIAZ and DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democrats are taking steps to redraw their state’s U.S. House districts, hoping to boost their party’s chances in next year’s midterm elections and counter President Donald Trump’s push for more partisan districts in Republican-run states.


Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency Thursday to authorize the use of state funds to continue providing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to more than 850,000 Virginians — including thousands of Alexandria residents — starting Nov. 1.

The emergency declaration comes as federal funding for SNAP is expected to run out after 22 days of a federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1.


The Alexandria City Council will host a town hall meeting on Nov. 5 (Wednesday) at the Nannie J. Lee Memorial Recreation Center (1108 Jefferson Street) in Old Town.

“Members of the Alexandria City Council will be present to speak about the issues impacting you and your family. You can also get the latest news on upcoming projects and initiatives in Alexandria,” the city said in a release.


The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification on Oct. 14, indicating 126 employees at its Alexandria headquarters will be removed from the payroll on Dec. 9, but a source familiar with the matter told ALXnow on Friday that these are not new layoffs.

The 126 employees were part of the reduction in force announced on October 1 and have been on administrative leave since then, according to the source. The WARN notice filed with the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement reflects when those employees will officially come off the agency’s books.


The Alexandria City Council will open its budget season with an annual retreat in the West End on Saturday, Nov. 1.

The meeting will be held in-person in the first-floor community conference room of the Del Pepper Community Resource Center (4850 Mark Center Drive) from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Council will receive a revenue forecast, expenditure overview and a preliminary budget gap from city staff, as well as a presentation from Alexandria City Public Schools and other city departments.


Halloween will not be interrupted by repaving on S. Lee Street in Old Town.

Residents of Lee Street received a letter from the city today (Oct. 23) advising that all of S. Lee Street would be repaved from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3. Despite a plan for work crews to wrap up daily by 3 p.m., the repaving work would have coincided with the annual Halloween celebration on the roadway, which is attended by thousands of people every year. Now, the city has confirmed to ALXnow that the repaving will be rescheduled to the following week.


Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s planned trip to Asia during a remote media availability Thursday, calling it “the height of irresponsibility” as the government shutdown enters its 23rd day.

Warner expressed frustration that Trump plans to leave the country for nearly a week while federal workers and contractors go without pay and Virginians face dramatic increases in healthcare premiums.


A new transit hub will open its doors next month in Alexandria’s West End, marking the first phase of a major redevelopment project on the site of the former Landmark Mall.

The West Alexandria Transit Center, located on Hecht Avenue, will officially begin operations at 5 a.m. on Nov. 2, according to announcements Tuesday from DASH. The opening will coincide with the permanent closure of the temporary Landmark Transit Center, which will shut down at 2:05 a.m. that same day, with all DASH and Metrobus services relocating to the new facility.


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