With fireworks, cupcakes and music, Alexandria celebrated its 273rd birthday on Sunday, July 10.
Thousands were in attendance for the free party, which also celebrates America’s birthday and was supposed to be held on Saturday (July 9), but was held off due to rain. What resulted was a less crowded event than years past — with performances by Town Crier Ben Fiore-Walker, Poet Laureate Zeina Azzam, and the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra (ASO).
Fireworks fans should get ready for quite a treat for the senses, as Alexandria’s annual birthday celebration is back along the waterfront on Saturday, July 9.
The free event, which will be held from 6 to 9:45 p.m., will commemorate the city’s 273rd birthday. The evening will include a performance by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and a grand finale fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.
No foul play is suspected in the drowning death of a 52-year-old man in Four Mile Run, according to Alexandria Police.
Police were called around 2 p.m. on Monday, June 20. Rescuers found the man in the stream near the 3900 block of Richmond Highway.
As Alexandria’s population centers continue shifting westward, city leadership is looking at shifting more fire department resources toward the West End.
In his monthly newsletter, Mayor Justin Wilson outlined some of what’s ahead for the Alexandria Fire Department over the next few years.
(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) The Alexandria City Council unanimously adopted City Manager Jim Parajon’s $839.2 million fiscal year 2023 budget on Wednesday night (May 4), and despite giving all city employees raises, Mayor Justin Wilson says inflation will likely mean more raises in future budgets.
“We’re staring into a significant inflationary environment that pinches our employees very hard, just like it pinches everyone hard,” Wilson said. “We’re going to have to continue to have this conversation every year about how we make sure we invest in the level of compensation and benefits required to not only attract but retain the best and the brightest in the city.”
Captain Mike Faber feels like he’s always working, and that the City of Alexandria owns he and his family.
Faber says he works an average of 80 hours a week, much of it forced overtime, and on Saturday (April 23) he was backed at City Hall by nearly a dozen Alexandria Fire Department staffers and supporters pleading for increased wages and upgraded equipment.
A suspected gas leak early this morning at the Braddock post office (1100 Wythe Street) has turned into an investigation of a possible burglary and more — with no clear explanation.
Alexandria Fire Department (AFD) Senior Public Information Officer Raytevia Evans said the fire department was dispatched early this morning for a possible gas leak.
The George Washington Birthday Parade returned to Alexandria on Monday after a two year hiatus. The streets of Old Town were lined with celebration for Washington’s 290th birthday.
Alexandria’s health care workers and first responders marched as parade grand marshals. The parade, which started at Gibbon and Fairfax Streets and snaked around City Hall, was attended by thousands. The event is the largest of its kind in the world honoring the founding father and first president.
Multiple persons of interest have been identified after an attempted break-in and arson at a 7-Eleven store in the West End.
At around 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, four-to-five males walked into the 7-Eleven at 2 S. Jordan Street and “using incendiary devices committed the offense of arson,” according to a police search warrant affidavit.
(Update at 2:45 p.m.) It’s no secret that Alexandria’s public safety agencies want a raise in the upcoming city budget, but if they are to get a compensation increase it will be outside of the boundaries of collective bargaining.
After more than a year of organizing, the elections for collective bargaining representation for the city’s first responders will be held between Feb. 5 and Feb. 22. But with a staffing crisis and compensation issues within the Fire Department, Police Department and Sheriff’s Office, it will not be until 2024 until negotiations will be fruitful.
A 17-year-old Falls Church male was arrested charged with two counts of felony hit and run after an incident that injured two Alexandria firefighters on the morning of Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) in the Landmark area.
The incident occurred at around 4 a.m. in the 300 block of S. Reynolds Street. The suspect, who was driving a dark-colored sports utility vehicle, was arrested by Fairfax County Police.
