A months-long federal investigation has concluded that Alexandria City Public Schools violated Title IX civil rights law with policies allowing transgender students to use facilities aligned with their gender identity.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced Friday that Alexandria’s policy providing facility access based on “gender identity” rather than biological sex violates federal law.
The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Alexandria and the surrounding area.
The warning is in effect until 5:30 p.m., and NWS says that damaging wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour could cause trees and large branches to fall.
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 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.
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.
For local moves, the rate covers four things that many movers bill separately:
Welcome to Friday, Alexandria! Here’s our compilation of the most-read stories of the week.
Our top story this week is on the sad news of the death of Tiffany Barner, a longtime Alexandria educator and a Dean of Students at Alexandria City High School. The ACHS community was notified of Barner’s death in a note July 21 (Monday) from ACHS Interim Executive Principal Lance Harrell.
How do you like your Beaujolais?
The Alexandria-Caen Sister City Committee just announced that it will host a food and wine tasting that will “delight your taste buds and transport you to the heart of France,” according to the city. The event is being held the week before Thanksgiving at Lloyd House (220 N. Washington Street) on Nov. 20 (Thursday), from 7 to 9 p.m.
High school students from across the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region are invited to participate in Dialogue for Democracy at George Mason University!
Hosted by the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, this event offers high school students an opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations about democracy, civic engagement, and the importance of understanding different perspectives.
Alexandria’s “Colored Rosemont” neighborhood will be recognized in September with the dedication of a Virginia State historic marker. The neighborhood was home to the first Black homeowners in the city in the early to mid-20th century.
The marker is a reminder of racial segregation in Alexandria. It will be dedicated at 3 p.m. near the corner of Wythe and N. West Streets — across from the Braddock Road Metro station — on Sept. 13 (Saturday). Mayor Alyia Gaskins, representatives of the Office of Historic Alexandria (OHA) and former and current residents of the neighborhood will attend the ceremony. The event is free and open to the public.
The Virginia Tech DC Area Launch Team has been named the Chamber ALX’s Business Leader of the Year.
The first of three Virginia Tech academic buildings held its grand opening in February, ushering in computer science research and development programs to hundreds of master’s degree students. The first academic building is 11 stories, 300,000 square feet and located next door to the Potomac Yard Metro station.
Roman is the kind of dog who commands attention the moment he walks into a room—and at 95 pounds with a striking steel-gray coat, he’s hard to miss. But don’t let his imposing size fool you. This 3-year-old is all heart, ready to trade his kennel for a cozy spot on your couch and a permanent place in your family.
A Perfect Family Addition
Good morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday it will vacate its facility at 1320 Braddock Place in Alexandria as part of a sweeping reorganization that will relocate thousands of federal employees from the Washington region to five hub cities across the country.
The Alexandria facility houses the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, which administers critical federal nutrition assistance programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. The relocation could affect operations for programs that serve millions of Americans, though officials emphasized essential services will continue uninterrupted.
