Arlington | ALXnow

Nonprofit leader Wanda Pierce hired as interim leader at Carpenter’s Shelter

Published March 11, 2026 at 3:45PM

Wanda Pierce, the interim executive director at Carpenter's Shelter (courtesy of Carpenter's Shelter)

Nonprofit leader Wanda Pierce has been selected as the interim executive director of Carpenter’s Shelter, the organization announced today.

Pierce, the former CEO of the Arlington Community Foundation, started work yesterday (Tuesday), temporarily filling the vacancy recently left by former longtime Executive Director Shannon Steene. Pierce will manage Carpenter’s Shelter’s 64-bed Hoffman Center, as well as the 64-bed Alexandria Community Shelter on Mill Road as the organization’s board of directors conducts a national search for Steene’s replacement.

News

Alexandria man charged with assault after allegedly threatening Arlington traffic safety worker

By James Cullum

Published December 2, 2025 at 1:45PM

Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Jarvis)

An Alexandria man faces a felony charge after allegedly driving the wrong way down a closed Arlington roadway and threatening a traffic worker early Thanksgiving morning.

The incident occurred at around 1:15 a.m. in the area of N. Highland Street and N. Hartford Street in the Clarendon neighborhood. A transportation safety specialist (TSS) from the Arlington County Police Department confronted the 41-year-old suspect, who had driven in a closed-off area marked by traffic cones.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Who’s having more fun, Alexandria or Arlington?

By ALXnow.com

Published November 21, 2025 at 10:15AM

At the Scottish Christmas Walk Parade in Old Town, Dec. 6, 2024 (staff photo by James Cullum)

It’s time to settle the score.

ALXnow’s sister site, ARLnow, got caught in the crossfire yesterday between two public officials hoping to clear up one question: Which locality is more fun, Arlington or Alexandria?

News

Federal layoff impact, fatal shooting, Metro incident top Alexandria news this week

By James Cullum

Published September 26, 2025 at 3:30PM

City of Alexandria (Photo credit Hover Solutions for Visit Alexandria)

Our top story this week is on a new report that Alexandria is among the hardest-hit localities affected by the Trump administration’s layoffs of federal workers. According to a new Brookings Institution report, Alexandria and its neighboring jurisdictions saw sharp unemployment increases. More than 13,000 federal workers live in Alexandria, and more than 76,000 federal employees live in Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County, according to U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8).

“I do worry that might be a sign of the sort of federal government cuts causing people to feel they need to leave the city,” Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley said in a City Council meeting on Sept. 9.

News

JUST IN: One person injured in storage shed fire at Hertz Car Rental on Richmond Highway

By James Cullum

Published July 15, 2025 at 11:18AM

A fire was extinguished in the rear of the Hertz office at 3800 Richmond Highway on Tuesday, July 15, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

One burn victim was transported to the hospital after a fire in a shed containing paint and chemicals behind the Hertz office at 3800 Richmond Highway.

The incident was reported at approximately 9:45 a.m., with the incorrect address listed as Alexandria Toyota, located at 3750 Richmond Highway. Instead, Alexandria and Arlington firefighters found a storage shed in the rear parking lot of the next-door Hertz property “actively on fire.”

News

Planning underway for capital improvements at Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center

By James Cullum

Published June 23, 2025 at 6:00AM | Updated September 8, 2025 at 11:06AM

Johnitha McNair, executive director of the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center (NVJDC) is undertaking a multi-year series of capital improvements, in addition to becoming its own food authority.

Leaders running the facility at 200 S. Whiting Street say they’re gradually changing it from a traditional detention center to a more rehabilitative facility. Proposed changes for the jail that houses 10- to 18-year-old kids across Northern Virginia include creating a more cheerful entry area for families, replacing the 64-year-old concrete slab beds on which kids sleep, and modifying overhead lighting to improve sleep.

News

Alexandria City High School Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III leaving to run Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington

By James Cullum

Published June 13, 2025 at 11:15AM | Updated June 13, 2025 at 4:04PM

Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III at Alexandria City High School's graduation at George Mason University's EagleBank Arena, May 28, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

After serving as the executive principal of Alexandria City High School for two years, on Thursday, Alexander Duncan III announced his departure, effective June 30.

Duncan said that he has accepted another role, and thanked staff in an email. Duncan was the ACHS Minnie Howard Campus administrator, and replaced ACHS Executive Principal Peter Balas after his departure in 2023. Duncan will start his new role as principal of Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington.

News

Report: ICE preparing to deploy tactical units to Northern Virginia and four big cities

By James Cullum

Published June 11, 2025 at 3:00PM | Updated June 14, 2025 at 3:04AM

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

Northern Virginia is reportedly among the “five cities run by Democratic leaders” that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is preparing to deploy tactical units to, according to MSNBC.

Citing two unnamed sources “familiar with the planning of future ICE operations,” MSNBC reported that ICE is preparing to deploy tactical response teams in New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Northern Virginia.

News

Alexandria Fire Department assists in extinguishing fire at Fairlington Villages management office

By James Cullum

Published May 21, 2025 at 3:44PM

Fire at the Fairlington Villages management office (staff photo by James Cullum)

No serious injuries were reported after the management office for the Fairlington Villages condo association caught fire Wednesday afternoon.

Alexandria Fire Department and Arlington firefighters responded around 2 p.m. to a report of a building on fire at 3001 S. Abingdon Street, near Abingdon Elementary School in the Fairlington neighborhood, according to ARLnow. Fairlington Village manages dozens of buildings and about 1,700 townhome and apartments on nearly 100 acres in Alexandria and Arlington. Two firefighters were treated for non-life threatening injuries at the scene.

News

JUST IN: Details on Alexandria resident charged taking indecent liberties with Arlington high school student

By James Cullum

Published March 6, 2025 at 11:00AM | Updated March 6, 2025 at 5:57PM

Booking photograph of Timothy McGhee, via ACPD, over a file image of Washington-Liberty HS (via ARLnow)

More details have been released on Alexandria resident Timothy McGhee, a substitute teacher in Arlington charged in January with stalking and taking indecent liberties with an underage Washington-Liberty High School student.

McGhee, a 47-year-old substitute math teacher at Washington-Liberty High School in Arlington, unsuccessfully ran for state Senate in Arlington and Alexandria in 2011. He was arrested on Jan. 10 and charged with stalking and taking indecent liberties with a child by a person in a supervisory or custodial relationship.

News

Pro-Palestine groups in Old Town protest ‘dangerous’ bills in the Virginia General Assembly

By James Cullum

Published January 27, 2025 at 11:15AM

Salma Jahani, an organizer with Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights, speaks against a number of bills in the General Assembly at a protest outside City Hall in Old Town, Jan. 25, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

A number of pending bills in the Virginia General Assembly reward Israel and threaten Palestinian supporters, according to protestors outside Alexandria’s City Hall on Saturday afternoon.

The weather was near freezing as more than 50 protestors held signs, chanted and spoke out against legislation that they say targets Palestinian solidarity and activism, in addition to free speech and academic freedom. The effort was organized by three groups seeking a ceasefire in Gaza — Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights, Arlington for Palestine, and the George Mason University Coalition for Palestine.