Alexandria City Public Schools have acknowledged that Thomas Chambliss Williams was a racist and segregationist, and on Friday the School Board will decide on moving forward with the renaming process for T.C. Williams High School.
On the table is a proposal to begin the renaming process by directing Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. to initiate a public engagement process this fall, followed by a report with recommendations next spring.
There were public concerns about the massing, height, and construction hours for the newly approved development at 701 N. Henry Street. Behind those criticisms though was a recurring theme: many residents of the city’s historic Parker-Gray neighborhood are unhappy with the new density coming to their neighborhood.
Before it was part of the trendy Braddock neighborhood, with Metro adjacent coffee shops and bars, the Parker-Gray neighborhood was a historic black community formed as a haven for former slaves after the Civil War and solidified into a distinct center of Black life in Alexandria during segregation, according to the Washington Post.
The pandemic forced Anthony Istrico to think fast. Almost at the onset of the virus, his media production company, Istrico Productions, lost more than $200,000 in work, and Istrico had to act quickly or the business he’d grown from the ground up would be in serious trouble.
“We had almost $200,000 in signed contracts back out,” Istrico told ALXnow. “It was a significant drop in our income for the first two quarters.”
Alright, which of you went to a movie in April?
At the height of the pandemic, when nearly everything in the city was shut down, the city’s latest revenue report shows that the city still collected $2 in admissions tax. The city’s finance officials ran the numbers and said that meant that four people bought tickets at movie theaters in Alexandria while nearly everything in the city was shut down.
This fall, a statue of Alexandria’s Earl Lloyd, the first Black man to play basketball in the National Basketball Association, will be unveiled in the African American Hall of Fame inside Charles Houston Recreation Center.
The City Council approved the gift from Lloyd’s wife, Charlita Lloyd, at its meeting on Tuesday night. The statue, which is three feet wide, nine feet long and six feet tall, is exactly like the statue of Lloyd dedicated at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Alexandria City Public Schools will not comment on assertions made by the former ACPS Chief Operating Officer Mignon Anthony, who lambasted the school system and the leadership of Superintendent Gregory Huthings, Jr. in a scathing opinion letter published by the Alexandria Times.
Anthony apologized for not fulfilling promises made when she started her job in January 2018, and said that the tide turned against her after raising concerns over de-escalating transportation employee complaints. She also that ACPS leadership is unstable and that it “does not serve our students or educators well.”
Mayor Decries Hate Incidents in Alexandria — “Two sad examples of hate in our community this week. This is not who we are as a City. We reject those that would spew hate and target members of our community. I hope that any violation of the law will be addressed aggressively by City, State and Federal officials, as applicable.” [Facebook]
Beyer Says Trump Doesn’t Care About Children — “Trump’s approach all along has been to pretend a miraculous end to the pandemic is just around the corner. He doesn’t have a plan. He isn’t going to lead. He doesn’t care about making schools safe for children and educators. It’s so important to get this right.” [Twitter]
Alexandria’s Workforce Development Center has launched a new program aimed at offering training and services for the thousands of Alexandrians currently unemployed after the COVID-19 shutdown.
Strive & Thrive: Helping Alexandria Stay Resilient & Get Back to Work offers free online programs on topics like resume building and mastering job interviews.
Alexandria City Public Schools wants feedback from the community on reopening the school system this fall and will hold two public hearings this week.
The School Board is currently awaiting a reopening report from staff to evaluate whether or not to open this fall, and if so, how to keep kids socially distant while minimizing the risk of spreading the virus.
Amine Ballafrikh was wrapping up one of his daily workout videos at Jones Point Park on Thursday, July 2, when an unidentified man went on a racist rant and threatened to shoot the two-time North American Lightweight Muay Thai champ.
Ballafrikh, who is also the number three Muay Thai lightwight in the world, fought his way out of Moroccan slums to be a U.S. citizen. He trains every day at Jones Point Park, and was filming a video at the end of a workout and speaking in Arabic when a man nearby began a racist and threatening tirade.
Alexandria businesses struggled with poor sales during the shutdown, and now that drop in revenue is coming around to leave the City of Alexandria with little commercial tax support for an already strained budget.
According to information shared by Mayor Justin Wilson, the city faced a dramatic drop off in business taxes in April and May.
