Sami Bourma doesn’t know what he’s going to do. At 2 p.m. today, the unemployed father of two children and resident at Southern Towers had an eviction hearing at the Alexandria Courthouse.
Two hours prior to that, Bourma and a number of his friends and neighbors stood outside the courthouse in Old Town and, for the second time this month, protested in asking Governor Ralph Northam to cancel evictions.
Alexandria is providing the community with more funds to apply for emergency rent assistance.
On July 10, the city announced that it is prioritizing $450,000 from the Virginia Rent and Mortgage Relief Program for residents primarily living at or below 50% of the area median income up until July 20. After that time, households making 80% of AMI will be included.
Beyer Blasts McConnell for Holding Up Unemployment Extension — “The House passed a bill to extend unemployment benefits months ago, but Mitch McConnell blocked it. He just said the Senate will do nothing until next week — which would cause a lapse. Millions of American families are set to begin August with a huge loss of income as a result.” [Twitter]
Alexandria Firefighter on ‘Tough As Nails’ TV Show — “The whole experience was awesome. Easily one of the craziest things I’ve ever done. In a good way!” [Zebra]
It’s not unusual for the Little Theatre of Alexandria to be bursting at the seams with a sold-out audience, as ushers, actors, assistant directors and set designers rush around to present their latest offering. Not this year.
For the first time since World War II, LTA was forced to shut down until calmer days prevail and cancelled its formal 2020-2021 season, which was supposed to open with “Sister Act” and continue through Christmas with its annual sold-out rendition of “A Christmas Carol” and into next summer.
On Saturday, ALIVE! provided hundreds of hungry families with free food at it’s mid-month free food distribution at Cora Kelly School and John Adams Elementary. The nonprofit has given out three times more food on a monthly basis since the pandemic hit the city, and the only way it’s been made possible has been through the efforts of Volunteer Alexandria.
“People respond to our calls to action,” Marion Brunken, executive director of Volunteer Alexandria, told ALXnow. “Our data shows that there are three times as many volunteers before COVID that signed up to volunteer. That translates to 7,500 people.”
Longtime Bishop Ireton Teacher Dies — “It is with sadness but also with great faith in our Lord that we share that Mr. Ron Umbeck, a beloved faculty member at Bishop Ireton for more than 50 years, passed away earlier this evening. He is now at peace in Heaven and we are sure that he met St. Peter with a math book, a crossword puzzle, an It’s Academic prep sheet and a Bishop Ireton pin. He loved this school, but more importantly, he loved his students and his Bishop Ireton family.” [Facebook]
Mayor Talks About Coronavirus on PBS — “My thanks to @AlexandriaVAGov Mayor @justindotnet for spending time with us to talk #Virginia re-opening, concerns about virus spread, and how he’s balancing the two. Our report, produced by @courtneyknorris, on @NewsHour tonight…” [Twitter]
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) is planning to sponsor COVID-19 testing later this week.
“ARHA will be sponsoring COVID-19 testing for residents of Ladrey (300 Wythe Street) and Annie B. Rose (399 Pendleton Street) buildings on Thursday, July 16, from 8-11 a.m. in the parking lot behind the building,” said Rose Williams Boyd, spokesperson for the organization.
Hopes that the third phase of reopening could have turned around a two-week trend of increasing unemployment have not borne out.
New data from the Virginia Employment Commission shows that continued claims — the number of Alexandrians continuing to claim unemployment week after week, has gone up to 6,410 during the week of July 4. This is the highest number of continued claims since the week of June 6.
The Alexandria Community Alliance has raised $12,670 in a GoFundMe campaign for Alexandria families impacted by COVID-19.
The nonprofit was formed shortly after the pandemic struck Alexandria, and is reportedly helping more than 50 families a week with bare necessities like food, toiletries and cleaning supplies.
There are or have been 2,456 cases of COVID-19 in Alexandria and there have been no new deaths this month.
The number of cases has trickled upward through July, and on July 10, 20 new cases were reported. The city is no longer providing COVID-19 updates on weekends, and since Friday there have been 17 new cases and fatalities remain at 57.
City Celebrates 271st Birthday Virtually — My favorite event of each year is gathering with 30,000 of my closest friends to celebrate Alexandria’s birthday. This year, it is not to be, but join us for our virtual celebration with our Poet Laureate, Alexandria Symphony Orchestra & more. Happy 271st Alexandria!” [Facebook]
Beyer Rebukes White House for Statement on Fauci — “From the moment this pandemic started the White House spent more time attacking Trump’s perceived enemies and massaging his fragile ego than they did listening to scientists, developing a testing strategy, figuring out how to safely reopen schools, or strengthening the response.” [Twitter]
