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School Resource Officers at ACPS on chopping block as Police chief proposes alternative program

By James Cullum
Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

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.”

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Opinion

Poll: Should expanded outdoor dining and takeout remain after COVID?

By Vernon Miles
Enjoying the weather and outside seating on lower King Street in Old Town. (staff photo by James Cullum)

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.

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News

JUST IN: City Councilman Chapman to ask colleagues to stop Taylor Run Stream Restoration Project

By James Cullum
Taylor Run (photo via City of Alexandria)

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.

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News

Parents and students protest for expanded in-person instruction outside ACPS Central Office

By ALXnow.com
Protesting outside of ACPS Central Office on Monday, April 26, 2021. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

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.

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News

Election: Wilson, McPike top fundraising leaderboard in run up to June 8 Democratic primary

By James Cullum
Voting at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center in Del Ray, November 3, 2020. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

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.

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News

‘Lineage’ affordable apartment complex unveiled at former Ramsey Homes site in Old Town

By James Cullum
ARHA and the City of Alexandria host a ribbon-cutting event for the Lineage, a new 52 unit affordable housing complex on North Patrick Street. (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

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.”

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News

Alexandria City Council unanimously adopts collective bargaining ordinance

By James Cullum
Security guard Destin Davis waves at City Hall at 301 King Street in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

After months of fine-tuning, the Alexandria City Council unanimously passed a collective bargaining ordinance on Saturday. Its passage was praised by Alexandria’s employee unions as a step forward in employee rights.

“I want to thank you, the members of the City Council, for moving for an ordinance that allows employees voices to be heard,” Josh Turner, president of the Alexandria Fire Fighters Inc. and International Association of Firefighters Local 2141, told Council.

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News

Mayor Justin Wilson says 2021 Democratic primary is about the future, not a rerun of 2018

By James Cullum
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson speaks at the swearing-in ceremony for Clerk of Court Greg Parks on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson doesn’t want to hold any other political office. He also wants to be elected at least once more in November, and in less than two months he’ll square off in a Democratic primary rematch against his political rival, former Mayor Allison Silberberg.

Wilson says the June 8 primary really isn’t about he and Silberberg, but more about the direction that the city wants to go. In fact, he never mentioned his opponent by name during a 45-minute conversation with ALXnow. He’s raised $90,000 to Silberberg’s $64,000, hired Henry Watkins (Sen. Adam Ebbin’s Chief of staff) as his campaign manager, and has a goal of knocking on more than 2,000 doors.

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News

Alexandria School Board starts conversation on downsizing to 6 members

By James Cullum

The Alexandria School Board has nine members and roughly 16,000 students, and some Board members think the school system could be more efficient if it was smaller.

“We’re actually hurting the efficiency and the goal being achieved within the division of the group this big,” School Board Vice Chair Veronica Nolan said in a Board retreat Tuesday night. “I think we can achieve more for the division by having six (members).”

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