JR Salas plays on King Street in Old Town, Oct. 6, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On October 8, 1943 U.S. Marine Corps Major General Charles Dodson Barrett, who had grown up in Alexandria, died in World War II in the South Pacific. Barrett was the first Commanding General of the 3d Marine Division. A new elementary school in Parkfairfax was name in Barrett’s honor not long after his death.” [Historic Alexandria]
Metro Adjusts Yellow and Blue Line Service Today — “From 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., trains will single track on the Yellow and Blue lines between Pentagon City and National Airport. All Yellow Line trains will run between Huntington and Greenbelt only.” [Metro/Bluesky]
Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A 34-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond after allegedly drugging a woman at an Old Town bar and raping her on an outdoor patio of a nearby hotel.
The victim told police that on the night of Sept. 15, she had dinner and drinks with a friend in Old Town. Afterward, she and her friend walked to a popular bar near the waterfront, where she had another drink and waited with her friend for two men to join them, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
Among the movers serving Alexandria, VA, 495 Movers stands out for a simple reason: its local hourly rate includes packing materials, furniture disassembly and reassembly, and protection for floors, walls, and elevators. The company has been in business since 2009 and has completed more than 20,000 moves, a number that keeps climbing.
Anyone who has hired movers in the DC area knows the familiar pattern. A low hourly rate wins the call. Then the invoice arrives with a charge for boxes, a charge for taking the bed apart, a fee for the stairs, and another for the elevator. By the end, the number on the bill has little to do with the number in the ad. 495 Movers was built to avoid that.
495 Movers at a glance
In business since: 2009 (17 years)
Moves completed: more than 20,000, local and long-distance
Licensed in: Virginia
Serves: Alexandria and the rest of the DMV
Local hourly rate includes: packing materials, furniture disassembly and reassembly, and home protection on every move
No separate fees for: stairs or elevators
Also offers: junk removal, custom crating, and self-storage
Reputation: 4.7 stars across nearly 1,000 Google reviews
Who is 495 Movers?
495 Movers is a full-service moving company serving Alexandria and the rest of the DMV, founded in 2009 by people who had worked as movers for several other companies first. They wanted to do it differently.
“We wanted to take a different approach, offering a simple, honest, and transparent approach for the customer,” said Moti Kachlon, co-owner at 495 Movers. For local moves, that meant building the most common extras into the hourly rate. Seventeen years and more than 20,000 moves later, the company is still growing.
What makes moving in Alexandria different?
Alexandria is a hard place to move. A truck on an Old Town block gets watched by neighbors, property managers, and a family wondering whether the sofa will make the turn on a staircase built long before sofas got this big.
Old Town’s rowhouses have narrow staircases and tight turns, which is why large furniture often has to come apart to get out. Del Ray’s bungalows and rowhouses have basements that hold more than anyone remembers. And condo and apartment buildings in Carlyle, Potomac Yard, and the West End often require movers to carry a certificate of insurance and book the elevator, with building managers who care a great deal about scuffed hallways. The street adds its own complications, from cobblestones to limited curb space.
That’s the context for how 495 Movers prices its work.
What does 495 Movers include in its hourly rate?
For local moves, the rate covers four things that many movers bill separately:
Packing materials. Boxes, tape, paper, and wrap are provided at no additional cost, whether a move needs a few or a few hundred.
Furniture disassembly and reassembly. Beds, tables, desks, sectionals, and wardrobes are taken apart, moved, and put back together at the new home. In an Old Town rowhouse, that’s often the only way a dresser gets down the stairs.
Sign marking the lynching of Benjamin Thomas (image via City of Alexandria)
The Virginia Board of Historic Resources last month approved a new historical marker recognizing the lynchings of Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas in Alexandria.
The 19-year-old McCoy was arrested without a warrant and then lynched by a mob on April 23, 1897, according to the city government. A mob of white residents stormed the Police House (now City Hall), where McCoy was being held after being accused of sexually assaulting three women. He was shot, stabbed and hanged from a lamppost at Cameron and Lee Streets.
The Woodrow Wilson Bridge at sunset (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Late-night drivers on the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) will encounter some delays over the next two nights on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
The drawbridge will open at 11 p.m. tonight (Oct. 7) to let the Sweet Pea pass through, according to the City of Alexandria. The opening is expected to take 15 to 20 minutes. The bridge had last opened for the Sweet Pea to pass on Oct. 1.
If you are interested in learning more about Continuing Care Retirement Communities (also known as "Life Plan Communities"), whether for yourself or for a loved one, please join our free workshop on Wednesday, November 4 from 5:00-7:00 at the Arlington office of Long & Foster. We are hosting this workshop in conjunction with Lisa Bates of the Williamsburg Landing community, which is a particularly excellent model of the way these communities work, and one you may wish to consider!
– How do Continuing Care Retirement Communities work? – What do they offer? – How much do they cost, and what are the financial models offered? – How do you how to evaluate them, and choose the one that's right for you? – How do you make a plan for a move like this? – How do you handle a lifetime's worth of possessions?
Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Jarvis)
A man was charged with malicious wounding and is being held without bond after an alleged machete attack against a homeless man in the Arlandria neighborhood on Sunday (Oct. 4), Alexandria police say.
Around 1:35 p.m., the Alexandria Police Department received multiple calls about a man in a gray Toyota Camry getting out and attacking the victim with a machete near the intersection of W. Glebe Road and Executive Avenue.
School Board Chair Christopher Harris at the board's meeting on Sept. 10, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)
The Alexandria City School Board will announce the city school system’s new superintendent at its meeting Thursday night, (Oct. 8).
School Board Chair Christopher Harris announced in an email to the Alexandria City Public Schools community that contract negotiations with the new superintendent “concluded earlier than anticipated.”
Nicole Batts, owner of Fitness Together Alexandria (courtesy of Nicole Batts)
After years of treating patients with preventable chronic illnesses, Nicole Batts wanted to leave the healthcare industry and help people get healthy before reaching the hospital.
Batts took over ownership of Old Town’s Fitness Together Alexandria (300 N Washington Street, Suite 106) in 2019. That comes after working in nursing in the surgical intensive care unit at WashingtonHospitalCenter, the emergency room at Inova Loudoun Hospital and nursing manager of the clinical cardiac rehab program at Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Changing leaves in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On October 7, 1975, the historic Taylor-Fraser House was moved from 109 South Pitt Street to the southeast corner of Franklin and South Pitt. It was loaded atop a set of airplane tires and with the help of three modified military tanks, it was transported down Washington Street, a route selected because it minimized impact to power lines and trees.” [Historic Alexandria]
New Deputy City Manager Named — “The City of Alexandria is pleased to announce the appointment of Vanetta Pledger as its new Deputy City Manager, effective Tuesday, October 13. Pledger brings more than 20 years of dedicated public service experience to the role. For the last decade, she has served as the City’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Director of Information Technology Services … In her new role, Pledger will oversee planning, technology, community engagement, race and social equity, finance, tourism, and innovation.” [City of Alexandria]
Expect sunny weather with a high of around 70 degrees and a gentle south wind blowing at 5 to 9 mph. Wednesday night will be clear, with temperatures dropping to about 54 degrees and a southwest wind near 7 mph. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
