U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine visited Alexandria for a reelection campaign happy hour on Monday, and said he’s partly running to keep Virginia out of Republican crosshairs in 2024.
Kaine says that he’s concerned about former President Donald Trump’s calls to protest if he is indicted today.
“Obviously I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow (today),” Kaine said at Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray. “I’m worried about it. You learn not to dismiss it.”
Kaine continued, “It’s just not a good time for our country. It’s not a good time for people that have energy and passion for doing good to kind of move aside, because there’s real issues at stake about the future of our democracy. What we’ve seen in the last few years, particularly on January 6, but there was a long run up to it, a long set of consequences to it.”
Kaine announced in January that he was running for a third term in 2024, and said that there would be “some chaos” in the national democratic party if he chose not to run. The former 2016 democratic vice presidential candidate is a former Governor of Virginia and Mayor of Richmond. Virginia’s other U.S. Senate seat is filled by Democrat Mark Warner, also a former governor.
“It’s probably a little more likely that at the national level, the Republican Party would said, ‘Oh, great. Virginia has an open seat, we’re all in in Virginia,'” Kaine said. “Right now, they’re probably looking more at Ohio, West Virginia or Montana. If I can keep their attention off us (in Virginia), then that’s valuable.”
The audience was full of local elected officials, including Mayor Justin Wilson, who recalled being in Richmond when Kaine announced his intention to run for reelection.
“I believe about eight different people called me and told me they would run if you (Kaine) were not running that day,” Wilson said. “The biggest relief in the world was when I heard that Sen. Tim Kaine is going to run for reelection to be our senator for another six years.”
Kaine said that the decision to run again wasn’t easy.
“It was a hard decision, because it’s an eight year decision,” he said. “Two years of campaigning, six years of service. And an eight-year decision when you’re 65 is different than when you’re 55 or 45… But the ability to do good every day, still energizes and excites me.”
No arrests have been made after car windows were shot out by a BB gun in Del Ray this week, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
Two incidents occurred in the early morning of Monday (March 6)– one at the corner of E. Bellefonte Avenue and Leslie Avenue, and the other in front of an apartment building in the the 3000 block of Mount Vernon Avenue.
Nothing was reported stolen from the vehicles and no one was reportedly injured. One of the victims posted their experience on Nextdoor.
“The officer said he thought it was a pellet or BB gun, or something similar, fired from a passing vehicle,” the car owner wrote. “It left a center or target hole, with radiating waves of broken, finely fragmented glass. The entire window dropped out of the frame within two hours, and large amounts of glass shards were blown into the interior of the vehicle.”
Anyone with information on these incidents can call the APD non-emergency number at 703-746-4444. Callers can remain anonymous.
(Updated 6 p.m. on March 13) Del Ray restaurant Stomping Ground will be reopening as a taqueria, its staff are telling customers.
The eight-year-old restaurant at 2309 Mount Vernon will change to a taqueria, although menus have not been prepared. The concept was confirmed by multiple managers with the restaurant group, although a recent post on Facebook says otherwise.
“Sorry, This information is incorrect,” Stomping Ground said in the post. “The name and concept. Please remove this article and call us for a fact check. Thank you!”
Owner Nicole Jones said that she is ready for a change on the company’s website.
“Our team has decided that in April 2023, we will shutter our beloved biscuit house to make way for something entirely new,” Jones said. “We know that the next chapter will hopefully delight our customers again. In the meantime, please join me in saying goodbye to my beloved first restaurant. She has been so good to all of us.”
Jones said that Stomping Ground was impacted by the pandemic, and that cost increases made the restaurant too expensive to run.
“While watching the price of flour, dairy and eggs, the soul of our recipes, skyrocket, I watched my staff become more complacent every day,” Jones wrote. “Without the community, Stomping Ground is not the third space it once was and working there feels more and more like just another job.”
Jones has two years left on her lease and said that she isn’t ready to give up, but that the pandemic changed her on a fundamental level.
“I still have the same team, and for the most part the same customers, although we see less and less of our old regulars,” she wrote. “All of this compounded as I realized I have 2 years left on my lease. Is it time to tap out and close Stomping Ground after 10 years? I simply don’t have the wherewithal to eke out yet another round of changes and the market can only sustain so many price increases. I no longer have the anxiety and adrenaline it took to pivot my business over and over for 2 years. I have pivoted her into something I no longer recognize.”
At the end of her letter, she simply signed off as “Nicole — Janitor, Chef, Owner.”
The full letter is below the jump.
(Updated 9:30 a.m.) Another day, another massive power outage in Alexandria. This time, there’s a corvid to blame.
There were around 4,251 residents in a stretch of Alexandria from the Braddock neighborhood up to Potomac Yard and Lynhaven without power this morning, according to Dominion Energy’s power outage map, though as of 9:20 a.m. the largest outage has been restored.
The cause for the outage is listed as “circuit out.” Dominion Energy spokesperson Peggy Fox said on social media that an investigation found a crow flew into a critical power line.
Outage Update:
A crow that flew into a line affected 11,853 customers this morning in the Alexandria area.6,760 customers were restored within 1 minute.
4,256 restored within 43 min.
490 within 51 min.
347 restored—all customers—within 58 minutes.No damage to equipment.
— Peggy Fox (@PeggyDomEnergy) March 10, 2023
There was a second, overlapping outage in Arlandria, with another 489 customers without power, though as of 9:30 a.m. that seems to have been fixed too. The last remaining outage from this morning was at the southern end of Del Ray with 175 customers without power.
There are over 4,200 @DominionEnergy customers presently experiencing an outage in Del Ray.
Report outages at 866-366-4357 or online at https://t.co/P7thQdZmld pic.twitter.com/FExaWE682g
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) March 10, 2023
Del Ray was hit with a large power outage two days ago. Another in the Arlandria/Parkfairfax neighborhood last week affected 3,000 residents.
Alexandria had suffered repeated large-scale outages in recent years, including one infamous outage in 2021 that ruined the 2021 Art On The Avenue festival for many businesses in Del Ray.
Around this time last year, Dominion leadership spoke to Alexandria’s City Council and promised to invest $17 million into the utility company’s infrastructure in Alexandria to improve reliability. Some city leaders pushed for Dominion to underground more power lines — keeping them away from crows, just as an example — but Dominion leadership said the price of undergrounding across Alexandria was too “outlandish.”
If it’s a day that ends in “y”, then it’s likely a day when @DominionEnergy is failing to provide reliable service to Alexandria. If you’re amongst those impacted by outages across the city, you can click here for restoration estimates: https://t.co/SWsgRMVTRm pic.twitter.com/wDGkoWumeY
— R. Kirk McPike (@KirkMcPike) March 10, 2023
Del Ray residents were in for a rude awakening this morning as many discovered early this morning that power to the neighborhood was out.
As of 8:45 a.m., most of that power has been restored, but Dominion said 367 residents at the north end of the neighborhood still remain in the dark.
The Dominion Energy map indicated restoration of power is estimated at sometime between noon and 3 p.m.
At the peak of the outage this morning there were around 2,100 Del Ray residents without power. Dominion Energy spokesperson Peggy Fox said on social media the outage was caused by an underground issue. The problem was isolated and both schools in the affected area have been restored.
Outage Update:
We are investigating an underground issue in Alexandria.
Crews have isolated the problem–we are now at 368 customers out. Both schools should be back on.Crews are working to identify the issue and fix it. https://t.co/Nl4zjd0Us3
— Peggy Fox (@PeggyDomEnergy) March 8, 2023
Image via Dominion Energy
Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
⛅ Today’s weather: Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 57 and low of 43.
⛅ Tomorrow: Partly cloudy throughout the day. High of 51 and low of 38. Sunrise at 6:33 am and sunset at 6:07 pm.
🚨 You need to know
An opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal by a former Mike Pence speechwriter took aim at the anti-development “Save Del Ray” campaign.
The piece by Stephen Ford, titled “Yes, There’s a Housing Crisis. No, You Can’t Build Here”, detailed much of the appeal of Del Ray — its “Main Street” atmosphere, the Halloween parade — but said the once working-class neighborhood has become increasingly unaffordable.
“Now the most affordable town homes typically run in the low to mid $700,000s, and single-family homes usually go for $1 million or more,” Ford wrote. “People want to live in Del Ray, but for many families it’s getting difficult to move — or even to stay — here.”
Enter Bonaventure Realty and its plans to Alexandria redevelop the former Department of Community and Human Services building at 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue into a four-story, 43-foot-tall building mixed-use development.
The plan prompted backlash from some locals and the creation of a “Save Del Ray” group. The project’s density was scaled back but eventually, community feedback pressured the developer into backing away from the project. According to Ford:
Hyperbole carried the day. In November, Bonaventure put the project on indefinite hold, and the property is now for sale. It makes sense. Nothing short of the status quo seems likely to win over opponents. Until some middle ground can be found between not-in-my-backyard and yes-in-my-backyard, neighborhoods like mine–and Berkeley, Calif., and Brooklyn, N.Y., and many other desirable places–will keep getting more expensive and less welcoming to newcomers.
📈 Saturday’s most read
The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for Mar 4, 2023.
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🗞 Other local coverage
- 🌱 Officer Receives Medal Of Honor + St. Patrick’s Day Parade Returns
Patch (Sunday @ 4:18 pm)
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Zebra (Sunday @ 10:54 am)
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Alexandria Times (Friday @ 4:39 pm)
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Patch (Friday @ 4:09 pm)
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Zebra (Friday @ 2:57 pm)
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Zebra (Friday @ 12:54 pm)
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Zebra (Friday @ 11:43 am)
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- Check Out These Spring 2023 Events Around Alexandria
Patch (Friday @ 9:42 am)
- St. Patrick’s Day Parade Returns to Old Town Alexandria Saturday, March 4
Zebra (Friday @ 9:00 am)
📅 Upcoming events
Here is what’s going on today in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
The Del Ray Farmers’ Market was declared the winner of the Heart of Del Ray Award on Friday morning.
The award, which is an annual popularity contest, was voted on by more than 1,000 people, and founder Pat Miller was presented with a large red heart symbolizing the nonprofit’s place in the community. The award is always presented just before Valentine’s Day, which this year is on Tuesday, Feb. 14. The oversized heart will be hung outside in the square.
“It (the market) truly is a meeting place it is on Saturday mornings, rain or shine, warm or cold,” said Del Ray Business Association Board Member Gayle Reuter.
Now in its 27th year, the market is open every Saturday from 8 a;m. to noon at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square at the parking lot behind Virginia Commerce Bank, Cheesetique and Let’s Meat on the Avenue.
“Thank you so much,” Miller said after receiving the award. “Del Ray is the best.”
The other nominees this year were Del Ray Artisans (2704 Mount Vernon Avenue), Del Ray Psych and Wellness (1900 Mount Vernon Avenue), The Dog Store/Your Dogs Best Friends (2301 Mount Vernon Avenue), Rosemont Landscaping and Lawncare (3308 Mount Vernon Avenue) and St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub (2300 Mount Vernon Avenue).
Previous Heart of Del Ray award winners:
- 2022 — Lena’s Wood-Fired Pizza & Tap
- 2021 — Dolce & Bean
- 2020 — Preeti Patel’s 7-Eleven on Mount Vernon Avenue
- 2019 — Taqueria el Poblano
- 2018 — Pork Barrel BBQ
- 2017 — Del Ray Cafe
- 2016 — Caboose Cafe
- 2015 — Mind the Mat Pilates & Yoga
- 2014 — Del Ray Pizzeria
- 2013 — The Greener Cleaner of Del Ray
- 2012 — The Neighborhood Pharmacy of Del Ray
- 2011 — Bobi Bomar, Homes of Alexandria/Compass
- 2010 — Jen Walker, McEnearney Associates
- 2009 — A Show of Hands
After a series of neighborhood complaints, the popular Arlandria neighborhood bar Hops ‘N Shine (3410 Mount Vernon Avenue) is being brought back to the Planning Commission for a review of its special use permit.
The docket says Hops ‘N Shine says a special use permit, originally approved in 2020 for more outdoor entertainment and indoor seating, is under review after “violations of Special Use Permit conditions.”
Concerns were raised at the Planning Commission back in 2020 that the building might be too small and the parking lot too crowded to sustain the sort of increase the bar was requesting. At the time, staff confirmed there were no outstanding violations of the restaurant’s permits despite objections raised by neighbors, but the staff report from 2020 notes that the city has relaxed some of its regulations as a result of the pandemic.
While the restaurant owners had requested permission to have live outdoor entertainment, the staff report noted that only indoor live entertainment was allowed.
According to the report:
Indoor live entertainment is permitted from 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., consistent with the noise ordinance. Outdoor amplified music in the form of background music is permitted from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., consistent with the noise ordinance. No live outdoor music is allowed at any time.
Tony LaColla, Land Use Services division chief, said outdoor live entertainment is one of the reasons the bar is being brought back to the Planning Commission for an SUP review.
“The Special Use Permit for this business is being docketed because of dozens of neighborhood complaints and multiple violations of SUP conditions which include citations related to operating hours, outdoor live entertainment, and noise,” LaColla wrote.
The permit review is scheduled for the Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, March 30.
Photo via Hops N Shine/Facebook
Bonaventure is pulling the plug on another of its properties in Del Ray. The Arlington-based real estate developer recently put its properties at 2903 Mount Vernon Avenue and 104 Hume Avenue for sale for a total of $3.3 million, according to a listing.
Bonaventure bought the two properties for $2.6 million in 2017. The two lots were proposed to be converted into an office building, but plans never materialized. The former Anthony’s Auto Center at 2901 Mount Vernon Avenue is 10,400 square feet, and was used as a spin studio, but closed down during the pandemic. It was assessed at $1.4 million in January 2022, and Bonaventure bought it for $1.6 million in 2017.
The 104 Hume Avenue property is 5,250 square feet and was assessed for $1.2 million in January 2022, according to city land use records. Bonaventure bought it for $1 million in 2017.
In its listing, Bonaventure says the property could be converted into a preschool or private school campus, a beer garden, a restaurant or retail.
The news comes after Bonaventure announced it was backing out of its plan to convert the old Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services building at 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue into a four-story, mixed-use development. In addition to 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue, the company also bought the properties at 2401, 2403 and 2411-2419 Mount Vernon Avenue, and owns a 144-space parking lot across from Pat Miller Square on Mount Vernon and E. Oxford Avenues.
A Bonaventure representative could not be reached for comment.
Photo via Google Maps
A new French bistro will open on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray in two weeks, the restaurant’s owner tells ALXnow.
Gostov Boulangerie & Brasserie will be fully open at 2213 Mount Vernon Avenue by Wednesday, Jan. 25. Owner Abderrahim Moussaif says he has all of the necessary city permits.
“We’re legally ready to open, just not practically,” Moussaif said. “We just got the occupancy squared away with the City of Alexandria. We’re still getting everything ready, testing the ovens and training staff. We’re going to have a small opening and serve coffee and cappuccino and a little bit of breakfast, and then we can start implementing heartier food in the spring.”
Moussaif, who runs four Madison Day School child care centers in Alexandria, bought the 14,300 square-foot Del Ray property for $3 million in 2019. The two lots are located in the heart of Del Ray at the intersection of E. Oxford Avenue and Mount Vernon Avenue.
“The idea for the bistro came about a year-and-a-half ago,” Moussaif said. “We were using the building as an office and figuring out what to do with it.”
Moussaif said that the bistro will be able to accommodate 47 customers at a time, and that there will be outdoor seating when the weather warms this spring.
The restaurant will be open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. every day.
Photo via Google Maps
