Public school students across Virginia would soon be getting free breakfasts under a newly proposed bill by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5) and Sen. Danica Roem (D-30).
Bennett-Parker and Roem unsuccessfully tried to get free breakfast and lunch approved for students in the General Assembly’s 2024 session. With a $172 million pricetag, Bennett-Parker’s bill never made it out of the House Appropriations Committee.
Three prominent Alexandria Democratic politicians threw their hats in the ring for reelection on Tuesday night (Jan. 7).
Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5th), Sheriff Sean Casey and Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter announced their intentions to run for reelection at a virtual meeting of the Alexandria Democratic Committee. The meeting was supposed to be held at Alexandria City High School, but went virtual because of this week’s snowstorm.
After a series of dog deaths connected to the Potomac Yard PetSmart earlier this year, Alexandria is seeking independent authority to inspect animal boarding facilities.
The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria — who the City of Alexandria contracts for animal care and control services — ultimately concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge PetSmart or any staff with a crime but did cite poor conditions at the boarding facility.
Governor Glenn Youngkin’s recently failed attempt to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is “reckless,” says Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson.
Wilson, in his December newsletter, said that Youngkin’s efforts are bad for the environment and remove a “vital funding source” for localities in fighting flooding and severe weather.
Alexandria is hoping for more authority to regulate the use of autonomous vehicles on city streets.
At a meeting last week, the Transportation Commission discussed legislative priorities for the upcoming year. These are topics that the Transportation Commission is hoping the City’s representatives will push for during the legislative session. One of the big transportation topics on the horizon, the Commission said, is regulation of autonomous vehicles.
With an eye on becoming Virginia’s next lieutenant governor, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney says he’ll be spending a lot of time in and around Alexandria before next year’s election day.
With just five months left in office, the 43-year-old two-term mayor of Virginia’s capital city says that his statewide strategy to “dominate the landscape” with his presence has worked in the past, and will work again.
Everything seemed rolled up tight for a legal retail market for cannabis, but a veto from Gov. Glenn Youngkin set those plans ablaze.
Panel program Agenda: Alexandria is meeting tonight (Monday) to discuss the current state of the cannabis market with speakers including Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter and the owner of a dispensary network.
Virginia State Sen. Louise Lucas (D-18) says Monumental Sports and Entertainment owner Ted Leonsis can afford to pay for the entire $2 billion Potomac Yard arena project, as well as supporting transportation and other associated infrastructure projects.
“Anything having to do with enriching billionaires, they need to pay for themselves,” Lucas told ALXnow. “They can proffer anything they want to. They can build the arena and make a profit. They could complete the roads and also provide the perennial upkeep.”
Jonathan Huskey’s campaign to be a member of Alexandria’s City Council is centered around his opposition to the Potomac Yard arena development.
Huskey says that the city government failed residents with last December’s surprise announcement that Monumental Sports & Entertainment reached a deal with Governor Glenn Youngkin to move the home of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals from D.C. to Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood.
Virginia House Majority Leader Del. Charniele Herring (D-46) said that the $2 billion Potomac Yard arena deal is in no man’s land and that she doesn’t see a path forward for it.
Herring, who voted yes in the House of Delegates version of the arena bill last month, criticized Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s handling of the issue. She was joined this morning by members of Northern Virginia’s delegation to the General Assembly at the Chamber ALX’s legislative breakfast.
ALXnow will be running a series of City Council candidate interviews through the local election filing deadline on April 4.
The economic potential for the $2 billion Potomac Yard arena deal is maintaining the interest of Alexandria City Council Member Alyia Gaskins.
