City Council | ALXnow

Alexandria City Council meeting disrupted by anti-abortion activists

Published June 29, 2022 at 10:45AM | Updated June 29, 2022 at 11:20PM

A.J. Hurley, national director of Survivors Of The Abortion Holocaust, being led out of the Alexandria City Council meeting while council discussed a resolution supporting abortion access, June 28, 2022. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

More than a dozen anti-abortion activists were individually led out of Alexandria’s City Council Chambers on Tuesday night (June 28), as Council unanimously approved a resolution to protect access to abortions in the city.

Members of the California-based group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust sat in Council Chambers holding signs depicting graphic photos and drawings of aborted fetuses. The group spent the last several days demonstrating outside the U.S. Supreme Court leading up to last week’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, banning abortion in more than a dozen states.

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Tenant and worker groups voice opposition to power plant plans ahead of City Council review

By Vernon Miles

Published June 28, 2022 at 3:30PM | Updated July 5, 2022 at 12:54PM

Exercising near the closed Potomac River Generating Station in Alexandria near the Potomac River (staff photo by James Cullum)

The GenOn Power Plant redevelopment plans are headed to the City Council with the backing of staff and the Planning Commission but lingering concerns from local workers.

Hilco Redevelopment Partners’ plan is to replace the power plant on the 18.8-acre site with six blocks of new, mixed-use buildings of varying densities and heights and coordinated open space. The city is also planning to expand the boundaries of the Old Town North Arts and Cultural District to include the site.

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City Council to adopt resolution to protect abortion access in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published June 27, 2022 at 3:30PM

Supreme Court (file photo)

The Alexandria City Council will vote on a resolution Tuesday night to protect access to abortions in the city.

The resolution, which was initially drafted by Councilman Kirk McPike, lays out several steps that the city will take.

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JUST IN: Alexandrians react to Roe v. Wade being overturned by Supreme Court

By Vernon Miles

Published June 24, 2022 at 11:05AM

Supreme Court (file photo)

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade today (Friday) in a landmark decision that will effectively ban abortion in more than a dozen states.

While Virginia is not a state with any “trigger laws” that go into effect as a result of the decision, Alexandria has seen its share of back and forth over abortion. In March, the City Council withdrew a proclamation recognizing abortion providers, a decision some on the City Council said they later regretted. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has also expressed support for banning most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

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Alexandria seeking grant to overhaul most crash-prone intersections

By Vernon Miles

Published June 22, 2022 at 1:30PM

Intersection of Quaker Lane and Duke Street (image via Google Maps)

Alexandria is hoping to get federal funding for an audit of the city’s high-crash intersections to look for possible solutions.

The project, which includes the audit, public engagement and design, is estimated to cost $1 million. The grant would cover up to $800,000, with the city or the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

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Business Improvement District discussion to resurface at Alexandria City Council meeting

By Vernon Miles

Published June 22, 2022 at 10:45AM

Five years after the City Council struck down a plan to get a Business Improvement District (BID) up and running in Old Town, a discussion of BID frameworks is coming back to the city.

While the city earlier rejected the idea of a BID in Old Town, BID advocates managed to get the concept approved as part of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funding.

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City Council approves potential pay-by-phone parking increase in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published June 21, 2022 at 2:45PM

Street parking on Main Line Boulevard in Potomac Yard (staff photo by James Cullum)

Paying to park your car in Alexandria by phone could be getting more expensive soon.

Alexandria’s City Council voted unanimously on Saturday to enable staff to up the cost of pay-by-phone parking.

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School Board updates its operating procedures and rules on media engagement

By James Cullum

Published June 17, 2022 at 11:15AM | Updated June 17, 2022 at 3:07PM

ACPS Headquarters in Alexandria (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Alexandria School Board approved changes to their operating procedures on Thursday night (June 16), and updated rules on engagement with the media.

The operating procedures are a guide for Members’ behavior in office — and state that comments made to media by Board members will “likely be interpreted by the public as an official statement of the Board,” and that all statements (when Members are designated to speak on behalf of the board) must be sent to the Board Chair and Superintendent. The changes now state that School Board Members must now avoid directly communicating with ACPS staff “about Division business”, and clarified language to say that Board members will now receive all written responses to media made by the Alexandria City Public Schools communications team.

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Vice Mayor derided for saying Council nominee for new committee is ‘anti-police’

By James Cullum

Published June 15, 2022 at 2:15PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Vice Mayor Amy Jackson took fire from one of her colleagues Tuesday night (June 14) against the appointment of former School Board Member Christopher Lewis to the Alexandria City Public Schools Law Enforcement Partnership (SLEP) Advisory Committee.

Jackson said that Lewis already serves on the city’s Community Policing Review Board and recommended Mike Mackey, the director of the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Service Unit.

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Mayor Wilson says its time to step back to reassess safety in schools

By James Cullum

Published June 14, 2022 at 3:30PM

The joint Alexandria City Council/School Board meeting in the Board Room of ACPS Central Office on Monday, June 13, 2022. (staff photo by James Cullum)

Mayor Justin Wilson says its time to take a step back and reassess Alexandria’s approach to student safety.

In a joint City Council meeting with the School Board on Monday night (June 13), Wilson said that the community needs to be educated on how the city and school system plan to make schools safer.

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City Council stepping in to prevent youth violence within Alexandria City Public Schools

By James Cullum

Published June 13, 2022 at 3:30PM | Updated June 14, 2022 at 1:18PM

Alexandria Police at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus. (staff photo by James Cullum)

In the wake of the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez, the Alexandria City Council is taking an active role in reducing violence in schools, according to a Council memo that will be discussed tonight (June 13).

Up for discussion is the creation of “a citywide, multi-year plan with clear objectives, activities, agency roles and contributions, and performance metrics” by this September, as well as a youth safety and violence prevention summit by the end of July.