Alexandria is bracing for a federal government shutdown at midnight on Sunday (Oct. 1).
The city is preparing a package of services for impacted city residents, should Congress not come to an agreement to continue funding the government by then, Assistant City Manager Sarah Taylor told City Council on Tuesday.
Alexandria Police Department Captain Courtney Ballantine just spent 10 weeks at the FBI National Academy, and spoke with ALXnow about his experience.
Over the summer, Ballantine lived in a dorm with a roommate at Marine Corps Base Quantico, worked out four times a week and studied the psychology of leadership, managing change, leading at-risk employees and strategies for community partnerships. There were about 200 other law enforcement officers who participated in the academy’s 287th session.
Good Wednesday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: The weather forecast predicts a mostly sunny day with a high of around 91 degrees. Expect a calm wind in the morning, turning to a south wind at 6 mph in the afternoon. Wednesday night will be mostly clear with a low of about 75 degrees and a south wind ranging from 6 to 9 mph.
The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency visited Southern Towers in the West End this week, signalling to housing advocates that years of protests against rent hikes and evictions are finally paying off.
On Wednesday, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson toured the 2,261-unit Southern Towers complex at 4901 Seminary Road. The tour was hosted by the People’s Actions Homes Guarantee campaign and African Communities Together (ACT), and the groups say that affordable housing residents are at the mercy of a major private equity landlord that only cares about profit. The groups say that since buying the property at the height of the pandemic in 2020, California-based owner CIM Group has evicted more than 250 residents, and that many of them endured uninhabitable conditions and rent increases.
(Updated 5:45 p.m.) At an upcoming meeting, the City Council is scheduled to consider a grant application asking for $50 million for waterfront flood mitigation projects.
Last year, city staff put forward a variety of potential projects to add more flood resiliency to the waterfront, which has seen increasingly frequent flooding in recent years, but with cost estimates ranging from $170 to $215 million, some city leaders faced some sticker shock and have asked to scale down the projects.
An Alexandria resident, who is a Pentagon Force Protection Agency police officer, was arrested for allegedly selling cocaine in Arlington County on Friday, October 28.
The 33-year-old officer was off duty and was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession to distribute a controlled substance while armed. He was arrested in the afternoon in the 1300 block of S. Scott Street ”
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.
(Updated 4:50 p.m.) Under President Donald Trump, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch says that America resembled repressive regimes she’d seen overseas.
On Monday (May 9), Yovanovitch spoke about her memoir “Lessons From The Edge” at Pat Miller Square in the heart of Del Ray. The book documents her 33-year Foreign Service career that culminated with her being fired by Trump as the ambassador to Ukraine and her congressional testimony during his first impeachment.
As Covid transmission in Alexandria remains low and restrictions ease, many workers are returning to the office.
In March, talk of federal workers returning has been more prevalent. According to Axios, the Biden administration viewed the employees as a group who could lead by example with a return to in-person work.
Some voters in the 8th District will get an in-person visit from their Congressman in the coming days.
Congressman Don Beyer is door-knocking for Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate former Governor Terry McAuliffe. Beyer says he’s never met Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin, but is wary that Virginia could reverse course on a number of issues.
Alexandria political cartoonist shifts to radio — “Following a 30-year political cartooning career, Steve Artley has transitioned his satirical prowess to another form: radio.” [Artley Cartoons]
National Industries for the Blind awarded $8.9 million contract — “National Industries for the Blind, Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded a maximum $8,898,968 modification exercising the third one-year option period of a one-year base contract with four one-year option periods for moisture wicking t-shirts.” [Defense Daily]
