Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) The Alexandria City Council unanimously adopted City Manager Jim Parajon’s $839.2 million fiscal year 2023 budget on Wednesday night (May 4), and despite giving all city employees raises, Mayor Justin Wilson says inflation will likely mean more raises in future budgets.
“We’re staring into a significant inflationary environment that pinches our employees very hard, just like it pinches everyone hard,” Wilson said. “We’re going to have to continue to have this conversation every year about how we make sure we invest in the level of compensation and benefits required to not only attract but retain the best and the brightest in the city.”
Alexandria already feels like home. It’s the trails you walk, the restaurants you return to, and the easy reach of D.C. that make it all work. The question is whether your home feels as right as the city around it. For those who love Alexandria but want more space, more privacy, and more choice, Van Metre at Banner Heights offers a new opportunity to have it all, just minutes from I-495, I-95, and Old Town Alexandria.
Every Van Metre homesite at Banner Heights has a backyard that doesn’t face into another homesite, so the space behind your home is entirely yours, and a deck or covered terrace makes it the spot for a quiet morning or a long evening with friends. Four levels offer up to five bedrooms and an optional elevator. From there, 20+ personalization options let you decide the rest: add a bedroom on the lower or fourth levels, a great room fireplace with ceramic detailing, or a wet or dry bar, plus upgraded flooring and packages for electrical, tech, and comfort.
With more than 70 years of building across Northern Virginia, Van Metre designs homes around the way people live. At Banner Heights, that means the T-27 townhome plan with 3-5 bedrooms, 3-4 full and 1-2 half baths, 3,014+ square feet, a 2-car garage, and 20+ personalization options, starting from the $1.25Ms.*
Van Metre at Banner Heights is now open for Early Access, giving interested buyers the chance to purchase before our grand opening, when initial homesites deliver.
*Pricing, offers, and availability are subject to change without notice. Some images and renderings may represent a similar home or may have been created or edited using artificial intelligence (AI), and may depict design elements, furnishings, finishes, landscaping, views, or other features that are not included in the home or may not be available. Please see a Van Metre New Home Advisor for details.
Recently confiscated small, round, pale blue counterfeit pill with tin used for inhalation, image courtesy Alexandria Police Department
The Alexandria Police Department and city officials are warning locals about an uptick in overdoses linked to pills laced with fentanyl.
“City of Alexandria officials warn the community about a recent spike in suspected fentanyl-related overdoses, especially in school-aged youth who report using a ‘little blue pill’ they believed was Percocet,” the city said in a release. “Illicit drugs are often laced with fentanyl, an inexpensive substitute that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine and can be deadly.”
Revolutionary Fitness, the strength and longevity training studio for people over 50 at 215 N. Payne St., is opening 5 spots in its members-only year-end challenge.
Every year, the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s knocks people off track. Workouts get skipped, schedules fill up, and the plan becomes “I’ll start in January.”
Parklet planned for Mt. Vernon Plaza — “The shopping center along Richmond Highway will gain a 3,200-square-foot space with seating, green space and other features.” [Patch]
It’s Thursday — Possible light rain overnight. High of 67 and low of 57. Sunrise at 6:07 am and sunset at 8:06 pm. [Weather.gov]
Join Cruise Planners Beth Borrego and Rod Rodriguez for the World of Travel Show 2027 on Saturday, February 6, 2027, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in The BlackBox at BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown.
Meet representatives from 13 respected travel brands covering family and adults-only cruises, premium and luxury ocean voyages, European river cruises, expedition and Galápagos adventures, small-ship sailing, guided land tours, and customized vacations.
Rendering of new proposed Samuel Madden development (image courtesy ARHA)
A new redevelopment project that could bring hundreds of new affordable housing units to the Braddock neighborhood is headed to city and public review throughout this month.
The mixed-use redevelopment of Samuel Madden Homes in Braddock is scheduled for a pair of community meetings next week followed by a review at the Board of Architectural Review in two weeks.
Alexandria Police at night (staff photo by James Cullum)
An Alexandria man was robbed of his wallet by a gang of four males on the evening of Sunday, April 24.
At around 10 p.m., the victim was confronted by four males outside in the 3800 block of Florence Drive in the Arlandria neighborhood of Alexandria. The victim fell to the ground during the ordeal, but was not injured, according to police.
Pieces of 18th-Century ships waiting to be scanned (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Fieldwork started earlier this week on a project to put the Old Town ships back underwater, and a public event scheduled next Sunday will give locals a chance to discuss the process with city archaeologists.
The public event, called “SeeWorthy in the Park,” is scheduled for Sunday, May 15, from noon to 4 p.m. at Ben Brenman Park (4800 Brenman Park Drive). The name SeeWorthy is derived from a new exhibit in the Torpedo Factory featuring digital reconstructions of the ships.
Voting at Alexandria City Hall (staff photo by James Cullum)
(Updated 3:15 p.m.) Early voting in the upcoming Democratic Primary is scheduled to start later this Friday, May 6.
The only election on the ballot is the Democratic nomination for the 8th District House of Representatives seat. Victoria Virasingh is hoping to unseat Don Beyer, the 8th District Representative for eight years.
At its October general membership meeting, the NAACP Alexandria Branch 7043 Nominating Committee presented its slate for the 2027–2028 term and named John Hopkins-Gillispie as its nominee for Branch President.
Hopkins-Gillispie is a life member of the branch. He has chaired the Freedom Fund Dinner for the past two years, and this year’s dinner raised more than $40,000 for the branch. He serves on the Legal Redress Committee, reviewing discrimination complaints brought to the branch. He has provided input on issues from the Alexandria Police Department’s hate crimes policy to the proposed Edsall Road data center. He also represents the branch as co-chair of the host committee for the 2027 Virginia State Conference convention.
