We made it to Friday, Alexandria! Here’s a look at our most-read stories this week.
Our top story is on a new speakeasy Bar 86 opening next month at Café du Soleil (215 S. Union Street) in Old Town. The Tiki bar has been in development for a year, and is the work of owner Chef Samuel Darlo and consultants Jacob Sunny and Kelvin Sone.
The owner of the dilapidated former Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North will conduct guided tours of the property next month.
HRP Group bought the former power plant in 2020, and plans to convert the 18-acre site at 1300 N. Royal Street into a mixed-use development. The guided tours will be held Friday, Oct. 3, and Saturday, Oct. 4, and “will give community members the chance to meet the project team and visit the site, which has been inaccessible to Old Town North for decades,” according to HRP Group.
Noteworthy: 1004 Virginia Ave: luxe new build, corner lot, Braddock Heights living
Some homes are built. Others are thoughtfully composed. Welcome to 1004 Virginia Ave—an elevated new construction in Braddock Heights where every detail feels intentional and effortlessly refined.
Hundreds of Alexandria City High School students held a walkout on Friday, Sept. 5, demonstrating against gun violence in schools.
The walkout at ACHS’s King Street and Minnie Howard campuses started at 11:30 a.m., and lasted for less than a half hour. The demonstrations are part of a national walkout, were organized by Titans Demand Action and held on school grounds. Media was not permitted to observe, except from the public sidewalk. Students held signs, threw water bottles and chanted, “End the violence!”
Federal agents were spotted in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood on Friday, Sept. 5.
There were no reports of arrests. Footage taken by ALXnow at around 9:30 a.m. shows multiple vehicles with Texas license plates in the parking lot of The Birchmere at 3701 Mount Vernon Avenue. A photo submitted to ALXnow also shows federal officers speaking to people at Four Mile Run Park near Casa Chirilagua (4109 Mount Vernon Avenue).
Join us for an evening of made-up-on-the-spot improv comedy! We’ll be calling on you to give us suggestions for a totally unique show that’ll never be seen again!
Show is 18+ recommended. Tickets are free, with a $10 suggested donation.
The 700 block of Queen Street will be closed to traffic Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. as the Alexandria Library hosts its third annual Black Family Reunion at the Kate Waller Barrett Branch Library.
The community event, running from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 717 Queen Street, aims to bring neighborhoods together and help fill gaps in the documented history of Alexandria’s African American community.
Good morning, Alexandria! 👋 Today is Friday, Sept. 5, the 248th day of 2025. There are 117 days left in the year.
☀️ Today’s weather
An Alexandria man has been sentenced to four years in prison for conspiring to collect and send the Chinese government national defense information.
Michael Charles Schena, a former South Caribbean Desk Officer in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs with the U.S. State Department, sent classified documents to individuals he believed were agents of the People’s Republic of China, and received between $13,000 and $37,000 in return, according to court records.
A new luxury condominium building in Old Town North is offering eight affordable units to first-time homebuyers who live or work in Alexandria.
The city’s Office of Housing announced on Thursday (Sept. 4), that the eight units at The Whitley, a new 78-unit complex at 811 N. Columbus Street, are available and due to high demand buyers will be chosen in a lottery. The units, ranging from one-to-three bedrooms, will start accepting applications from Friday, Sept. 26, to Friday, Oct. 24 at 5 p.m.
Del Ray’s final First Thursday of the year has been postponed due to rain.
The event, which featured antique appraisals from three experts, has been rescheduled from today (Sept. 4) to Thursday, Sept. 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the parking lot of Del Ray Psych and Wellness (1900 Mount Vernon Avenue).
