Alyia Gaskins | ALXnow

Notes: Mayor Alyia Gaskins reflects on first 100 days

Published April 12, 2025 at 7:30AM

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins in Council Chambers, April 8, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Good Saturday morning, Alexandria!

🌧️ Today’s weather: Scattered showers, mainly after 5 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 54 degrees. North wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. The chance of precipitation is 40%. Tonight, there will be scattered showers, mainly before 8 p.m. It will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 44. Northwest wind 6 to 8 mph. The chance of precipitation is 30%. It will be mostly sunny on Sunday, with a high near 63 degrees—northwest wind 8 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

News

Alexandria’s Office of Climate Action gets gutted in budget proposal

By James Cullum

Published April 9, 2025 at 2:15PM

Hanging out at Waterfront Park in Old Town in July. (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria’s Office of Climate Action is only two-and-a-half years old, and now the City Council is considering eliminating half of its budget to partially fund a one-time, $1 million reallocation to Alexandria City Public Schools.

Multiple speakers both decried and supported the proposed move to eliminate $300,000 from the department’s budget during Tuesday night’s public hearing on proposed additions and deletions from the city budget.

News

WATCH: Mayor Alyia Gaskins joins ALXnow for a one-on-one conversation

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 4, 2025 at 1:30PM

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins (staff photo by James Cullum)

ALXnow will launch its new monthly interview series featuring exclusive one-on-one live virtual video conversations with Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins today (April 4) at 2 p.m.

The “Ask The Mayor” series will provide Alexandria residents with regular opportunities to hear directly from Mayor Gaskins on pressing city issues and to submit their questions for consideration.

News

History-Making Mayor: Alyia Gaskins celebrated by peers as Alexandria’s first Black female leader

By James Cullum

Published April 3, 2025 at 11:00AM | Updated April 3, 2025 at 3:47PM

Mayor Alyia Gaskins (center in green) honored by her peers, April 2, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Role model, history maker and mayor — being Mayor of Alexandria is more than just chairing meetings. On Wednesday (April 2), Mayor Alyia Gaskins was honored with a party by her peers as the first Black female mayor of the city.

The event, which wasn’t a fundraiser, was held at Junction Bakery & Bistro (1508 Mount Vernon Avenue) in Del Ray, and was organized by City Council Member Jacinta Greene, retired Sheriff Dana Lawhorne, and Monika Chapman.

News

ACPS restarts collective bargaining process as Alexandria renews agreements with police, fire and technical staff

By James Cullum

Published April 2, 2025 at 1:00PM

School buses preparing at Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools wants a formalized collective bargaining agreement sent to the city manager by the end of the year, but it comes as the city is renegotiating its agreements with police, fire, and administrative and technical staff.

It’s been a year since the school system failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the Education Association of Alexandria (EAA). Last year, the School Board held a public hearing and approved a draft collective bargaining resolution with the goal of presenting the package to City Manager Jim Parajon for inclusion in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.

News

ACPS says it’s “too early to tell’ if putting high school kids on DASH buses will work

By James Cullum

Published March 28, 2025 at 2:00PM

School buses on W. Braddock Road on Dec. 10, 2021 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria’s effort to ditch school buses and put high school students on city-run DASH buses is not without controversy.

On Tuesday, City Council Member Abdel Elnoubi expressed frustration on how Alexandria City Public Schools has addressed the issue.

News

Ask The Mayor: Mayor Alyia Gaskins joins ALXnow for a one-on-one conversation

By ALXnow.com

Published March 28, 2025 at 10:15AM

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins (staff photo by James Cullum)

ALXnow will launch its new monthly interview series featuring exclusive one-on-one live virtual video conversations with Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins on Friday, April 4.

The “Ask The Mayor” series will provide Alexandria residents with regular opportunities to hear directly from Mayor Gaskins on pressing city issues and to submit their questions for consideration.

News

Mayor Gaskins, Councilman Chapman travel to Caen, France for Sister City’s 1,000th Anniversary

By Ryan Belmore

Published March 26, 2025 at 2:30PM | Updated March 26, 2025 at 4:58PM

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Councilman John Taylor, and Alexandria-Caen Sister City member Stephen Hartka were among those on hand for Caen's 1,000th Anniversary. (via Alexandria-Caen Sister Cities on Facebook)

Alexandria is renewing its commitment to international friendship through its sister city relationship with Caen, France, as Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Councilman John Taylor Chapman recently returned from celebrating the French city’s 1,000-year anniversary.

The visit, which took place in mid-March, provided an opportunity for Alexandria officials to strengthen ties with their French counterparts and discuss future collaborations between the two historic cities.

News

Ask The Mayor: ALXnow to host monthly one-on-one conversations with Mayor Gaskins, starting April 4

By ALXnow.com

Published March 19, 2025 at 11:30AM | Updated March 19, 2025 at 12:31PM

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins (staff photo by James Cullum)

ALXnow is introducing a new monthly interview series featuring exclusive one-on-one live virtual video conversations with Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins.

The “Ask The Mayor” program will provide Alexandria residents with regular opportunities to hear directly from Mayor Gaskins on pressing city issues and to submit their own questions for consideration.

News

Alexandria City Council wants your questions for upcoming town hall meeting

By James Cullum

Published March 17, 2025 at 9:00AM

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins (staff photo by James Cullum)

Got an issue to raise to local leaders in Alexandria? Later this month, City Council will hold a town hall meeting to get feedback and discuss upcoming projects.

The meeting will be held on Saturday, March 29, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Redella S. “Del” Pepper Community Resource Center (4850 Mark Center Drive) in the city’s West End.

News

JUST IN: ICE arrests El Salvadoran woman convicted of 2020 misdemeanor in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published March 12, 2025 at 5:30PM | Updated March 13, 2025 at 10:55AM

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement logo (via Facebook)

A 41-year-old El Salvadoran woman convicted in 2020 of misdemeanor assault, was arrested Feb. 25 by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Roxana Beatriz Ayala-Duran was found guilty in the Alexandria General District Court of misdemeanor assault, with 30 days in prison suspended. She also had unsupervised probation, according to court records.