Opinion | ALXnow

Poll: Should ACPS scale back the role of School Resource Officers?

Published March 11, 2021 at 10:45AM | Updated March 11, 2021 at 11:03AM

George Washington Middle School (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A mounting effort to decrease the role of school resource officers (SRO) in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is gaining traction as some on the City Council have joined community activists in questioning the role of security officers in the schools.

The discussion comes as schools nationwide are considering alternatives to school resource officers or eliminating the position entirely. Alexandria’s SROs made the headlines in 2018 when one accidentally shot his gun inside George Washington Middle School.

Do You Like the Suggested Names for T.C. Williams and Matthew Maury?

By Vernon Miles

Published March 4, 2021 at 2:30PM

After months of community discussions following the School Board vote in November, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings is recommending that T.C. Williams High School be renamed Alexandria High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School be renamed Naomi Brooks Elementary School.

The choices split the difference between those who wanted to see the schools renamed after specific people and those who wanted to play it safe with area or neighborhood school names.

Poll: Are You Happy With the Proposed Tax Rate Decrease

By Vernon Miles

Published February 25, 2021 at 2:30PM | Updated February 25, 2021 at 3:08PM

City Manager Mark Jinks has proposed a budget this year that includes a real estate tax rate decrease of 2 cents.

The announcement came as welcome news to local property owners, from residents to business owners who faced a particularly difficult year as a result of COVID-19. The announcement was conjoined with a budget that belt tightening that trims down some of the city’s larger ambitions and won’t fill some currently vacant positions.

Poll: What Do You Think of the City Council’s Church Decision?

By ALXnow.com

Published February 3, 2020 at 9:40AM

Proposed Alexandria Presbyterian Church (photo via City of Alexandria)

Last week the Alexandria City Council voted unanimously to uphold a decision by the Planning Commission to allow a church on W. Braddock Road to expand.

The Alexandria Presbyterian Church’s expansion has faced increasingly pitched opposition from around two dozen neighboring households who worried about increased traffic and the size of the building (~23,000 square feet).

Poll: Should the King Street Pedestrian-Only Zone Be Year-Round?

By ALXnow.com

Published January 24, 2020 at 9:30AM

ALXnow reported last week that city officials were mulling over the idea of making a planned pedestrian-only zone on King Street permanent.

Starting April 18, a block of King Street near the Old Town waterfront — between Lee and Union streets — will be cordoned off from vehicular traffic. In place of cars, pedestrians will be able to walk down the middle of the newly-painted road as diners at the restaurants lining the block enjoy a more relaxing meal on sidewalk cafes.

Poll: Should the City Rethink the Seminary Road Diet?

By ALXnow.com

Published January 14, 2020 at 9:30AM | Updated February 5, 2020 at 3:27PM

Traffic on Seminary Road as of 8:45 a.m. Tuesday (via Google Maps)

Three months after a portion of Seminary Road was re-paved and re-striped to reduce it from two vehicular lanes in each direction to one lane, a turn lane and bike lanes, the debate over the “road diet” still rages on.

On the now-private Alexandria Residents Against the Seminary Road Diet Facebook group, numerous posts per day bemoan the state of rush hour traffic along Seminary Road, report on cut-through traffic on nearby roads, and rip Mayor Justin Wilson for his support of the project. (Wilson, a member of the group, often politely replies to the invective.)

Poll: What Should Alexandria’s Top New Year’s Resolution Be?

By Vernon Miles

Published January 3, 2020 at 10:15AM

People in Alexandria have been setting their goals for the new year, so why shouldn’t they have goals for their city?

There are dozens of issues affecting Alexandrians. These issues are not mutually exclusive, but if you had to pick one priority for the powers that be in Alexandria to focus on, what would it be? What upcoming local topics are you most interested in?

Poll: What Do You Think of Alexandria’s Glass Recycling Decision?

By ALXnow.com

Published December 16, 2019 at 9:55AM | Updated December 16, 2019 at 10:19AM

Last week it was announced that Alexandria would follow in the footsteps of neighboring jurisdictions in discontinuing curbside glass collection in recycling bins.

Glass will still be recycled and reused, but only if you drop it off at a designated collection bin. Otherwise, starting Jan. 15 glass will go into the trash and wind up where it had been going anyhow, since China closed its doors to the world’s refuse and the market for glass recycling evaporated: a landfill.

Poll: What Types of Stories Would You Like to See ALXnow Cover More Often?

By ALXnow.com

Published December 5, 2019 at 9:55AM

ALXnow has been reporting on Alexandria for just over two months, but it’s never too early to think about ways we could better serve our readers.

While we can see in our analytics how many people read any given story, it is hard to discern patterns with only a couple of months of data. So today we are asking you: what types of stories would you like to read more of on the site?

Send Us Your Letters to the Editor

By ALXnow.com

Published November 7, 2019 at 12:45PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff photo by Kalina Newman)

ALXnow has been publishing for just over a month now, but there’s something missing from our site — you.

Whether you have an opinion on something happening at City Hall or on your street, we want to hear it. You can send Letters to the Editor for consideration to [email protected]. Please keep the length to under 500 words and be sure to include your name and where in Alexandria you live.