(Update at 10:30 a.m. Blue and White Carryout is still open. The tweet from a local news outlet was incorrect.)
City Council Rescinds Vote on Braddock West Development — “The matter will be taken up again for public hearing and vote on May 15, but a pending lawsuit by an Alexandria resident may delay a final decision.” [Alexandria Living]
It was a busy week in Alexandria. Here are some of the highlights.
Governor Ralph Northam and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Alexandria this week. Northam stopped by Pacers Running in Old Town, and afterward met with Cardona, Mayor Justin Wilson, National Education Association of the United States President Becky Pringle and Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane at Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School. Cardona was at the school as part of his “Help is Here” school reopening tour.
Dave Dolton moved to Potomac Yard last month, and with his new garage full of unpacked boxes has been parking on the street. One of his neighbors wasn’t too happy about his extended street parking, and left a strongly worded note on his windshield.
“Please don’t park and take up space on a street where you don’t live,” the note says. “Alexandria has parking rules — and your vehicle has been reported. Thank you.”
Alexandria City Councilors seemed surprised by Police Chief Michael Brown on Tuesday night, when he presented an alternate plan to Council Mo Seifeldein’s proposal to reappropriate nearly $800,000 in School Resource Officer funding for mental health resources for school aged children.
“The proposal is to cut the funding and redirect it,” Mayor Justin Wilson said. “It sounds like the Chief is talking about something that involves retaining the funding, and making changes to the way the folks are operating.”
When Virginia first started loosening restrictions around the delivery of alcohol, Mayor Justin Wilson and other leaders noted that it was going to be difficult to get that particular cat back in the bag once the pandemic is over.
Eased restrictions around alcohol was just the start, and in the year since the city went into lockdown during the pandemic, the city has loosened some of its restrictions on outdoor dining, takeout, and curbside pickup parking spots to help struggling local businesses.
After touring the area and meeting with residents, Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman will ask his colleagues tonight to stop the Taylor Run Stream Restoration Project.
The move is a decisive blow against the project, which city staff defend as the most cost effective alternative to keep up with its Chesapeake Bay Watershed credit requirements. Last month, Chapman and Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker requested a legislative meeting to discuss the Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration projects, which critics say disrupt natural habitats.
Surrounded by about 100 other protestors outside of Alexandria City Public Schools’ Central Office, Kathryn Grassmeyer started to cry.
The mother of three wants schools to reopen to four or five days a week, and got emotional when talking about some of the difficult choices she and her husband have made regarding their children’s education.
The day has finally come for Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.
On Monday, members of the community and Alexandria City Public Schools leadership watched as a demolition crew started tearing down the World War II-era building.
Like a ship during a storm, Canek Aguirre wants to guide Alexandria to more equitable waters.
The trick, though, is through proper communication.
The June 8 Democratic primary is only 49 days away, and Mayor Justin Wilson has raised the most money of any candidate in the city. Kirk McPike is also leading among City Council candidates.
Below are fundraising totals from the Virginia Public Access Project, as of March 31, 2021.
Four years of development came to a close Tuesday as the Alexandria Redevelopment Housing Authority cut the ribbon on Lineage, a 52-unit affordable apartment complex at the former Ramsey Homes site in Old Town.
“It’s about helping people that need affordable housing, and that’s the passion of mine, given that I’m a product of public housing,” ARHA CEO Keith Pettigrew said, adding that he thought the project would be easy when he started his job four years ago. “I was led to believe that Ramsey was easy, but it was anything but easy, and being in this industry for as long as I have I should have known better, but I didn’t.”
