Good morning, Alexandria! Today is Tuesday, June 10, the 161st day of 2025. There are 204 days left in the year.
⛈️ Today’s weather: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Cloudy through mid-morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 85 degrees. Calm wind becoming northwest 5 to 7 mph in the morning. The chance of precipitation is 40%.
School’s out for summer in Alexandria starting this week.
Thursday (June 12) is the last official day of the 2024-2025 school year for Alexandria City Public Schools, not counting Alexandria City High School’s senior graduation last month.
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:
Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins addressed a range of community concerns and upcoming city events during her monthly conversation with ALXnow on Monday (June 9), emphasizing the city’s response to recent severe weather events and highlighting key items on Tuesday’s City Council agenda.
The City Council meeting on Tuesday includes several significant items for public attention, according to Gaskins.
Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and city staff are asking that the Virginia Department of Transportation delay approval of a preferred alternative on a plan to add express lanes from the Springfield Interchange across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
In an April letter to VDOT, Gaskins wrote that the project will bring “Alexandria substantial consequences” to our local neighborhoods, and asked that an alternative not be chosen until a noise, traffic, and air safety analysis is conducted. VDOT and the Commonwealth Transportation Board, in the meantime, have set a timeline for the project.
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.
From creative workshops and family-friendly petting zoos early in the week to a weekend packed with historical reflection and major festivals, there’s no shortage of things to do in Alexandria from June 9-15.
As the week progresses, residents can look forward to the opening of “The Wall That Heals” exhibit, a traveling, three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The week culminates with the 47th Annual Alexandria Jazz Fest at Waterfront Park and the Del Ray Vintage & Flea Market, ensuring a lively weekend for all.
Twice a week, Bethany Skvortsova gets a break while her young daughters put on rainbow tutus and learn how to dance in Del Ray.
Her seven-year-old appreciates being taken seriously as a dancer, Skvortsova says. At the moment, her daughter is rehearsing for The Nutcracker, which the school will be performing this year on the main stage of Capital One Hall in Tysons.
The City of Alexandria Department of Transportation and Environmental Services (T&ES) is encouraging the public to be aware of air quality alerts and find ways to cut down on air pollution as part of Air Quality Action Days.
The program, which runs through September, is designed to raise awareness of the health and environmental dangers associated with ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter, commonly referred to as smog.
Seven Old Town Alexandria boutiques are joining forces for a first-ever group fundraiser to support The Center for Alexandria’s Children from June 14 to 29.
The participating stores – 529 Kids Consign, Monday’s Child, Ms. Moxie’s Moon Shop, Old Town Books Jr., Penny Post, Pippin Toy Co., and Red Barn Mercantile – are working together to raise funds and collect donations for the Center’s mission to end child abuse.
🌥️ Today’s weather: Patchy fog before 10 a.m. Otherwise, cloudy through mid-morning, then gradual clearing, with a high near 84 degrees. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the afternoon.
A chance of showers and thunderstorms tonight before 4 a.m., then a slight chance of showers between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69 degrees. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. The chance of precipitation is 40%.
