Metro to keep reduced service through Dec. 31 — “Metro will continue offering reduced rail service through the end of the year, WMATA announced Monday.” [NBC4]
Bun Papa opens third location in Bradlee Shopping Center — “The newest Bun Papa location operates out of the future BeeLiner Diner which will open in Bradlee Shopping Center early next year.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
The body of what appears to be a woman was recovered from the Potomac River this morning in Old Town Alexandria.
The discovery was made just before 10:30 a.m. off Point Lumley Park near the Barca Pier, at the bottom of Duke Street. The woman was fully clothed and wearing shoes, video shared with ALXnow shows.
(Updated at 5 p.m.) A 26-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond after allegedly shooting a man in the head in the West End on September 21.
Cornell Bangura was arrested on October 5, driving a maroon-colored Volkswagen Passat.
The driver who struck and killed local resident Roy Saravia Alvarez on Saturday, Nov. 13, has been arrested by the Alexandria Police Department.
Police said that a warrant for involuntary manslaughter was issued and 45-year-old Fredy Ortiz-Dominguez of Hyattsville, Maryland, turned himself in to police custody yesterday (Thursday). Ortiz-Dominguez is being held at the Alexandria Detention Center without bail.
School Board discusses SRO return, updating police MOU — “…the School Board discussed the short-term, and potentially long-term, future of the [School Resource Officer program] at a meeting on Nov. 11.” [Alexandria Times]
Restaurants in Alexandria offer Thanksgiving packages to go — “You can explore multi-course Thanksgiving menus and special to-go offerings from a variety of Alexandria restaurants.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
A student was suspended last month at Francis C. Hammond Middle School for allegedly writing about ‘shooting up the school’ on Discord with another student.
On October 26, the school resource officer at Francis C. Hammond Middle School was alerted by school staff that the student was interviewed and suspended.
Man Fatally Struck on Alexandria Sidewalk — “A man died after he was hit by a truck when its driver jumped a sidewalk on Saturday night in Alexandria, Virginia. His family wants to know why the driver is not behind bars and said they think the driver’s actions after the crash may have killed their loved one.” [NBC4]
Alexandria named second-biggest art-buying city in US by Artfinder — “Yesterday the company released a list of the top art-buying cities in the U.S. It appears that Alexandria residents love their art, because our city came in second place, behind Savannah, Georgia.” [Zebra]
Alexandria City Public Schools staff and the Police Department are hammering out a revised memorandum of understanding (MOU), and while few details have been released, the school system says that the school resource officer (SRO) program will change next year.
It’s been more than a month since City Council reversed its decision and brought back SROs. The initial decision to defund the officers redirected $800,000 in SRO funding toward mental health resources for students. It created a rift between City Council and the School Board, but after numerous violent incidents with weapons in schools, School Board Chair Meagan Alderton and Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. pleaded for their return.
In the last few months, a head-long battle between Alexandria’s police and firefighters against city leadership has come to a head as first responders unions say underpayment has left staffing at critical levels.
City staff recently laid out the potential costs to implement a pay raise for first responders, but unions representing those first responders say that sticker shock is less intense in the broader context of the budget.
Two Alexandria men were arrested last month for shooting a gun from a vehicle in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood.
The incident occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8. Two Alexandria Police officers in an unmarked SUV observed a white Mercedes-Benz disregard a red light at the intersection of Russell Road and Mount Vernon Avenue, according to a search warrant affidavit. Police then began to follow the car.
(Updated 4:45 p.m.) At the start of a City Council retreat this weekend, acting Human Resources Director Jen Jenkins laid out some numbers behind the ongoing discussion over a pay increase for city employees.
City employees — first responders in particular — have criticized city leadership’s handling of employee pay and lamented that the city is, in some respects, lowest in regional pay. The city has laid out plans for a 1.5% pay increase, which unions representing first responders called an insulting lowball.
