Opinion | ALXnow

Published May 14, 2025 at 6:00PM

Redistricting Update: What We’ve Heard, What’s Changing, and What Comes Next

As Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) considers a new middle school redistricting proposal, a local parent has voiced significant concerns regarding its potential impact on students and established neighborhood cohesion.

The following letter to the editor from Kate Hennigan, a mother of two Douglas MacArthur Elementary students and a long-time Alexandria resident, articulates anxieties about the plan’s effects on school communities and student stability, particularly in the wake of recent educational disruptions.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Redistricting – What we’ve heard, what’s changing, and what comes next

By Kelly Carmichael Booz, Christopher Harris, and Ryan Reyna

Published May 8, 2025 at 6:00AM | Updated May 8, 2025 at 6:32AM

Redistricting Update: What We’ve Heard, What’s Changing, and What Comes Next

As the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) redistricting process nears its final stages, members of the ACPS Strategy and Accountability Committee: Kelly Carmichael Booz (District B), Christopher Harris (District C), and Ryan Reyna (District A), are providing an update on their progress, detailing how community feedback has been instrumental in refining new boundary proposals and shaping key policy decisions.

While acknowledging the complexities and tough trade-offs involved, the update emphasizes a more straightforward path forward to strengthen the school system with students at the center of every decision.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Brenman Park’s public restrooms are an embarrassment to Alexandria – and a wake up call

By Lawrence Stanley

Published May 6, 2025 at 3:15PM | Updated May 6, 2025 at 3:32PM

Ben Brenman Park (via City of Alexandria)

In a letter to the editor, Alexandria resident Lawrence Stanley voices outrage over the “shameful reality” of neglected public restrooms at Brenman Park.

Stanley describes unsanitary conditions, including feces-stained toilets and abandoned clothing, persisting over time, even with a satellite police station operating from the same facility. He calls for accountability from city leadership to restore the park’s restrooms to a dignified and usable state for the families, seniors, and community members who rely on this public space.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Why Alexandria should let the Planning Commission do its job

By Phoebe Coy

Published April 30, 2025 at 5:45AM

The proposed conceptual design of The Whitley Phase 2, 802-808 N. Washington Street in Old Town North (via City of Alexandria)

Phoebe Coy of YIMBYs of Northern Virginia celebrates the Whitley Phase 2 housing approval but argues it exemplifies a flawed process in the following Letter to the Editor.

She contends that requiring City Council approval for nearly every housing project due to zoning, parking, or density bonus rules creates unnecessary delays and burdens the Council. Coy calls for zoning reforms to empower the Planning Commission to approve more housing directly, streamlining the response to Alexandria’s housing shortage.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: City must become much more aggressive in implementing its environmental plans and policies

By Bill Hendrickson

Published April 29, 2025 at 2:31PM

Alexandria City Hall sign (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

On Sunday, April 27, at the Del Ray Garden Fest, Alexandria resident Bill Hendrickson received the Ellen Pickering Award for Environmental Excellence from the city.

Upon receiving the award, Bill made the following remarks about the city’s environmental plans and policies. Bill provided the remarks to ALXnow for consideration as a Letter to the Editor.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: The benefits of bilingual education starting in elementary school

By Lauren Sutherland

Published April 25, 2025 at 12:30PM

Mount Vernon Community School at 2601 Commonwealth Avenue in Del Ray (via Google Maps)

As debates surrounding language and education continue, both nationally and here in Northern Virginia, one local voice is passionately advocating for the power of bilingualism from an early age.

Lauren Sutherland, an Alexandria resident currently pursuing an Elementary Education degree at William & Mary and an alumna of Mount Vernon Community School’s dual-language program, argues that the advantages extend far beyond simply speaking a second language.

News

Speak Your Mind: ALXnow now accepting Letters to the Editor

By Ryan Belmore

Published April 21, 2025 at 2:30PM

ALXnow.com is opening its doors to reader opinions by accepting letters to the editor.

The first batch of submissions includes a letter from parents of the “Scroggins Triangle.” They’re worried about how the ongoing redistricting in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) might shuffle students around. Their main point? Keep disruptions to a minimum during this change.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: School Redistricting should aim to minimize disruption on students, staff

By ALXnow.com

Published April 18, 2025 at 5:00AM | Updated April 21, 2025 at 1:01PM

Citing potential plans to move a small number of students from the newly rebuilt Douglas MacArthur Elementary – a school with projected capacity – into a school slated for swing space, a group of “Scroggins Triangle” parents contends in the following letter to the editor that minimizing student upheaval should be prioritized in the current ACPS redistricting process.

The letter is in response to our ongoing coverage of the ACPS redistricting efforts and process.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Stop the Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project

By Rachael Von Elmendorf

Published April 17, 2025 at 9:00AM | Updated April 17, 2025 at 11:37AM

Flooding on lower King Street in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

Rachael Von Elmendorf, co-owner of Misha’s Coffee and an Alexandria teacher, writes in strong opposition to the planned Waterfront Flood Mitigation Project in this submitted letter to the editor.

The letter is in response to an ALXnow story that was published on April 15 – Alexandria’s plan to fight flooding will close Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park for at least two years.

Opinion

Commentary: Plan to axe SNAP would harm poorest Americans so richest ones could live more luxuriously

By Roger Chesley, Virginia Mercury

Published March 25, 2025 at 7:30AM | Updated March 25, 2025 at 10:30AM

SNAP in Virginia (Courtesy photo)

Think the decades-old food stamps program deserves to be in the callous, capricious cross hairs of Elon Musk, President Donald Trump and the latter’s spineless sycophants in Congress? Then you don’t know someone like Ndaneh Luseni.

The 34-year-old Alexandria woman, a single mother with three children, depends on the nourishment that food stamps provide. Luseni receives only $83 a month in benefits from what’s formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Yet, that money allows her to help make ends meet on a regular basis. SNAP pays for essentials like eggs, milk, bread and juice in her household.