An Alexandria man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a “high-level drugs conspiracy that shipped significant amounts of narcotics” into Virginia, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter.
Adrian Bryce Roberts, 41, was sentenced to 12 years of active incarceration on July 28 after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl, and transporting more than an ounce of narcotics into the state, according to Porter’s office.
More than 30 four-story townhouses have been proposed to replace a 46-year-old office building in Old Town.
Alexandria land-use attorney Ken Wire is listed as the applicant for the project at 333 N. Fairfax St. The property is home to the Essex Building, an office building constructed in 1979.
Alexandria developer Windmill Hill is seeking the city’s approval for a three-story apartment building with ground-level retail in a parking lot in Old Town.
The developer has submitted a concept review for a new building at 220-224 S. Peyton St. for evaluation by the Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday.
We made it to Friday, Alexandria! Here’s a look at this week’s top stories.
Our most-read post is on a proposal to open a 24-hour Mexican restaurant in the city’s Del Ray neighborhood. The effort is facing some pushback from neighbors wary of potential crime and safety issues. In July, Tortas Y Tacos La Chiquita officially announced in a special use permit application that it wants to open at 529 E. Howell Avenue, the former home to Bark Social. It would be the fourth restaurant for the local chain, and while the restaurant won’t serve alcohol, outside patio hours would be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to the application. The inside area is proposed to be open 24 hours a day.
A new French cafe wants to open in a prominent location in Old Town.
New York City-based Maman Coffee Baking Kitchen has filed a special use permit application to operate a cafe, bakery, restaurant, and accessory event space at 701 King Street. That’s the former home to Foxtrot, which closed in 2024, located at the corner of King and N. Washington Streets.
There’s good news for Old Town coffee enthusiasts, as a new coffee shop and wine bar is asking the city for expanded hours and extra outdoor seating.
LaPluma Coffee & Wine Bar opened in May at 1000 Cameron Street in Old Town, and now its owners are asking the city to expand their operating hours only on Sundays from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and add 12 more seats and two tables to the outdoor patio, for a total of 40 seats.
Good morning, Alexandria! 👋 Today is Friday, Aug. 1, the 213th day of 2025. There are 152 days left in the year.
⛈️ Today’s weather: Scattered showers, mainly before 8 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77 degrees. North wind 9 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. The chance of precipitation is 30%.
The Real Housewives of Potomac just wrapped its 10th season, and the Alexandria-based production crew will soon send all its footage for editing in New York City.
ALXnow sat down for a few minutes with the show’s production manager Juancarlo Morales. While the show is filmed in and around the Town of Potomac, Maryland, since April, Morales and his crew of about 30 producers and video production specialists have lived in apartments in Potomac Yard and worked out of The Link coworking office (215 N. Payne Street) in Old Town.
How do you like your Beaujolais?
The Alexandria-Caen Sister City Committee just announced that it will host a food and wine tasting that will “delight your taste buds and transport you to the heart of France,” according to the city. The event is being held the week before Thanksgiving at Lloyd House (220 N. Washington Street) on Nov. 20 (Thursday), from 7 to 9 p.m.
There’s a vigil on King Street in Old Town against the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas on Friday (July 25).
The protest will be held in the pedestrian-only 100 block of King Street at 7 p.m., according to an Instagram post from Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights. The group has been a near-constant presence in Alexandria for more than a year-and-a-half in the city. Members have demonstrated at city council meetings, a reelection campaign event with U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), and the opening of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.
Attention all magic-loving muggles!
There’s a Harry Potter birthday tour on Sunday (July 27) at the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum (105-107 S Fairfax Street) in Old Town.
