Taylor Run | ALXnow

Controversial stream projects return to city review this fall

Published September 1, 2022 at 1:30PM

Taylor Run (Photo via City of Alexandria)

Over a year after City Council paused its controversial stream rehabilitation projects, the City of Alexandria is hosting community meetings next week to restart that process.

The City Council paused stream rehabilitation projects for Taylor Run and Strawberry Run after local civic and environmental activists argued the projects could end up damaging the quality of the streams they were trying to help. City staff reviewed the concerns and said many were unfounded, but the debate raised sufficient uncertainty that the City Council sent the projects back to the drawing board for review.

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Man charged after allegedly falling asleep in running car on wrong side of Yale Drive in Taylor Run

By James Cullum

Published August 10, 2022 at 10:00AM

A 23-year-old Prince William County man was arrested on July 23 (Saturday) after police found him asleep in his car on the wrong side of the road on Yale Drive.

The incident occurred at around 4:15 p.m. The investigating officer found a silver Toyota facing the wrong way on Yale Drive in the oncoming traffic lane. The driver was unconscious but breathing in the driver’s seat, police said in a search warrant affidavit.

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Woman seriously injured after being struck by driver in Taylor Run

By Vernon Miles

Published June 15, 2022 at 10:10AM

West Taylor Run Parkway and Janneys Lane (image via Google Maps)

A woman was critically injured after being struck by a driver this morning in Taylor Run.

The call for a pedestrian struck went out around 6:40 a.m. this morning (Wednesday). Alexandria Police spokesman Marcel Bassett said a female pedestrian was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of West Taylor Run Parkway and Janneys Lane. She suffered a serious but non-life-threatening injury.

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Testing for Alexandria’s controversial stream restoration work starts next week

By Vernon Miles

Published July 22, 2021 at 3:30PM

Taylor Run (photo via City of Alexandria)

One of the biggest points of contention in the stream restoration debate was that models, and not actual testing of the streams in question, were being considered in policy discussions. Next week, the city is moving to rectify that.

The city announced in a press release that a consultant will be performing soil collection, sampling, and analysis tests at Taylor Run, Strawberry Run and Lucky Run — three streams being considered for restoration work.

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Democratic primary settled in Alexandria, but underlying issues linger

By Vernon Miles

Published June 9, 2021 at 3:45PM | Updated June 9, 2021 at 5:46PM

Winners of the 2021 Democratic Primary (left to right) Councilman Canek Aguirre, Councilwoman Amy Jackson, Mayor Justin Wilson, Alyia Gaskins, Sarah Bagley, Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, who won the 45th District primary, and Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) at a victory party at Pork Barrel BBQ in Del Ray. (Photo via Alexandria Democratic Committee/Facebook)

Last night was a rout for a vocal contingent of Alexandrians pushing for a change in city leadership, but both top dogs in the local Democratic party and their opposition say the fight isn’t over.

At Los Tios Grill in Del Ray, former Alexandria Mayor Allison Silberberg told enthusiastic supporters that conversations over issues like the Seminary Road Diet and Taylor Run Stream restoration project would continue, although the candidates who put those issues at the forefronts of their campaigns lost.

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New editors, new challenges for T.C. Williams High School’s student news outlet ‘Theogony’

By Vernon Miles

Published June 7, 2021 at 1:30PM

Theogony 2021-2022 editors. Top, from left: Jacqueline Lutz, Abigail Ernst, Ethan Gotsch. Bottom, from left: Nikki Harris, Katie Vastola, Nora Malone. Photo courtesy Hunter Langley/ACPS.

Last year, T.C. Williams High School senior Nikki Harris broke an exclusive, significant story. Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. was sending one of his children to an in-person private school at a time when ACPS was heavily in the midst of hybrid learning.

It was a shining example of the kind of independent, investigative journalism at Theogony, the high school’s student newspaper.

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Wilson and Silberberg mayoral debate finale opens possibility of ‘tweaking’ Seminary Road Diet

By James Cullum

Published May 28, 2021 at 9:30AM

Mayor Justin Wilson and former Mayor Allison Silberberg in the Seminary Ridge mayoral candidate discussion on Thursday, May 27, 2021. (Image via Zoom)

With no more mayoral debates, now it all boils down to the Democratic primary on June 8.

Like the main event at a boxing match, Mayor Justin Wilson and former Mayor Allison Silberberg on Thursday night maneuvered through a series of questions in the final of four Seminary Ridge Civic Association candidate forums.

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Election: Stark differences as Wilson and Silberberg face off in mayoral debate

By James Cullum

Published May 10, 2021 at 10:15AM | Updated May 10, 2021 at 12:07PM

A voter leaves City Hall after casting a callot (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Stark differences were on full display Saturday night, as Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson and former Mayor Allison Silberberg sparred in a contentious debate on local issues.

Wilson defended his record since taking the mayorship from Silberberg in 2018. Silberberg, however, said she wants to restore the public trust, and that the city is at an inflection point.

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Stopping Midstream: City Council sends stream restoration projects back for further study

By Vernon Miles

Published April 28, 2021 at 4:45PM | Updated April 29, 2021 at 12:09PM

Taylor Run (Photo via City of Alexandria)

Near the end of a nearly eight-hour meeting, the City Council opted last night to send aspects of the city’s controversial stream restoration projects back to the drawing board in light of widespread public criticism.

Stream restoration became something of a surprise Seminary Road-like issue last year. Many recurring public complaints — namely over a lack of communication from staff and concerns regarding city studies — resurfaced during the Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration debates.

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JUST IN: City Councilman Chapman to ask colleagues to stop Taylor Run Stream Restoration Project

By James Cullum

Published April 27, 2021 at 10:45AM | Updated April 27, 2021 at 12:00PM

Taylor Run (photo via City of Alexandria)

After touring the area and meeting with residents, Alexandria City Councilman John Taylor Chapman will ask his colleagues tonight to stop the Taylor Run Stream Restoration Project.

The move is a decisive blow against the project, which city staff defend as the most cost effective alternative to keep up with its Chesapeake Bay Watershed credit requirements. Last month, Chapman and Vice Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker requested a legislative meeting to discuss the Taylor Run and Strawberry Run stream restoration projects, which critics say disrupt natural habitats.

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Silberberg addresses old defeats and new challenges in campaign to reclaim mayorship

By Vernon Miles

Published April 14, 2021 at 4:45PM

Former Mayor Allison Silberberg very publicly didn’t plan on running against Mayor Justin Wilson in the Democratic primary, but as weeks slipped by and no other challenger came forward — and Council Member Mo Seifeldein dropped out — Silberberg said she felt she needed to step up.

Three years after Silberberg lost her reelection bid to Wilson, she’s back to reclaim the position.