The Alexandria City Council on Saturday passed an ordinance requiring everyone in the city to wear a face mask in public.
The measure passed 5-2, and a $100 civil penalty for not wearing a mask was removed from the ordinance before passage after it was universally agreed at the meeting by council and city staff that it will not be enforceable. The city manager must now designate city staff to hand out masks and citations to lawbreakers.
A 32-year-old Alexandria man faces 10 years behind bars for allegedly possessing child pornography from 2016 to 2018.
Sean Michael McLaughlin, a registered nurse at Virginia Hospital Center at the time of his arrest last October, was convicted in federal court of child porn possession on September 11. According to court records, McLaughlin downloaded videos with prepubescent children “engaging in sexual activity” and being restrained with bondage and being sexually assaulted by adults.
A male juvenile is in custody after allegedly firing a gun in Arlandria just after midnight on Saturday morning.
The suspect was arrested near the Four Mile Run Bridge after four shots were fired just outside the Park View apartment building at 511 Four Mile Road. ALXnow saw the suspect run from the scene after the shots were fired, and then his arrest.
Beyer Negates Trump’s Coronavirus Claims — “Nearly 194,000 Americans have died in a pandemic Trump lied to the country about. As Dr. Gottlieb points out, the coming cold weather months bring danger of new spread of the virus. Even after seven months of this Trump still has no strategy to keep Americans safe.” [Twitter]
Former Mayor Silberberg Says Taylor Run Restoration Will Hurt Environment — “Recent soil testing from Taylor Run, analyzed by Brookside Laboratories, showed a negligible amount of phosphorous in the soil of the stream bank. Restoration of Taylor Run will therefore have a questionable impact at best on the watershed – but the restoration work will have a devastating impact on the habitat and tree canopy surrounding the stream.” [Alex Times]
It’s the end of a busy week in Alexandria!
Our top story was the Del Ray car crash on Mount Vernon Avenue, and there’s some good news to report. The driver, who crashed her car due to a medical emergency, was sent home without any injuries the following day.
Dawson Saint Jour wants to be the Tony Robbins of boxing. Every Sunday, the coach with Hiit Hard Training is at Jones Point Park with his coaches and boxers, shouting motivational aphorisms while punches are thrown and footwork is improved.
“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up,” Saint Jour recently told ALXnow, quoting motivational speaker Les Brown. “Another favorite of mine is, ‘Don’t just go through it but grow through it.'”
Alexandria has experienced its fair share of flooding in recent days, and on Saturday City Council will receive an oral presentation by the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services on $750 million in water improvement projects.
On Thursday, September 10, flooding was reported throughout the city in the latest of a string of summer weather events that have shut down swaths of roadways, flooded alleyways and homes. The city sent out an advisory warning residents of “indoor sewer backups, impassable roads, power outages, and other flood-related issues.”
What did you do on your summer vacation? Three Alexandria kids started a new business, ThePoopBrothers, and their mission is to make easy money by picking up dog poop.
“I was walking around with my dad, and we were talking about what kind of ways to make money over the summer,” Beckett Sawyer said. “I was talking about mowing lawns and stuff, and then he suggested picking up poop, and I started laughing because I thought it was a joke.”
Sarah Rose, a nurse at Inova Alexandria Hospital, has been named one of six top nurses in the region by the Washington Post and the American Nurses Association.
Rose was one of 18 finalists in contention to be named for the first-ever Nightingale Award in their 2020 Star Nurses Awards.
After Flooding, Councilman Says City Stormwater Management Needs Work — “Councilmember Chapman tells 7 On Your Side Thursday’s flooding means city leaders need to quickly consider wholesale changes in terms of storm management.” [WJLA]
City Extends Deadline on Personal Property Tax Payments — “To provide relief for our residents and businesses during the ongoing pandemic, the City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to extend the deadline for payment of the Personal Property Tax (Car Tax and Business). Payments are now due on December 15th.” [Twitter]
When Monte Durham’s contract with TLC expired in March, he realized he needed to do something else. The star of Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta was told that the network would be going dark because of the pandemic, and Durham quickly decided to go back to his roots as a hairstylist and open a boutique in Old Town.
“My goal is to inspire, educate, and hopefully motivate people to go to the next level with their look,” Durham told ALXnow.
