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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

After Flooding, Councilman Says City Stormwater Management Needs Work — “Councilmember Chapman tells 7 On Your Side Thursday’s flooding means city leaders need to quickly consider wholesale changes in terms of storm management.” [WJLA]

City Extends Deadline on Personal Property Tax Payments — “To provide relief for our residents and businesses during the ongoing pandemic, the City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to extend the deadline for payment of the Personal Property Tax (Car Tax and Business). Payments are now due on December 15th.” [Twitter]

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Local Methodist Church Offers to Bless Chromebooks Before School Starts

By Vernon Miles

A local church is offering the ultimate tech support: a divine blessing for local students’ laptops.

This Sunday, Sept. 6, at 5:30 p.m.,Trinity United Methodist Church (2911 Cameron Mills Road) is planning to host an Outdoor Blessing of the Chromebooks & Ice Cream Social (Social Distanced Edition).

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West End Computer Repair Shop LapFix Sees Business Spike During Pandemic

By James Cullum

Karim Hussen’s business is spiking. With more customers working from home on personal laptops, the owner and staff of LapFix (4613 Duke Street) have their hands full recovering data and fixing personal computers and phones.

“We are busier now than ever, because everyone needs cameras for their computers and webcams for Zoom chats,” Hussen recently told ALXnow. “Of all things it’s webcams. Thankfully we are an essential business, according to the Commonwealth of Virginia, so I’m thankful that we never closed.”

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum
Lower King Street in Old Town, Alexandria, in June 2020. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria Tech Firm Raises $1.1 Million in Seed Funding — “Clowder has quickly become the leader in modern member communication. Our apps are able to take organizations who’ve long relied on web and email-based engagement strategies and place them in the 21st century with an on-hand tool that provides instant access.”[Clowder.com]

Metro Expands Train Service Hours — “The pandemic has posed challenges never before faced by Metro, and I want to extend my thanks to our customers – especially essential workers – for their understanding as we took unprecedented action to protect our essential frontline workforce and the public health.” [Zebra]

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ACPS: All Secondary Students Will Have Internet Access and Laptops by Monday

By James Cullum
Students learning at home during the COVID-19 shutdown (Photo via ACPS/Facebook)

As of Monday, Alexandria City Public Schools will have issued more than 1,200 mobile hotspots to families without internet access and more than 12,000 Chromebook laptop computers to students to keep them learning throughout the COVID-19 shut down until the end of the year.

Making sure that students have access to their teachers and modified curriculums has been an unprecedented logistical puzzle that took a lot of work for ACPS Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Hoover and her team to accomplish.

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Morning Notes

By ALXnow.com
Historic Del Ray (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Catch on the Avenue Closing — “In a quick social media post on Sunday, December 8, 2019, Catch on the Avenue, 2419 Mount Vernon Avenue, announced it is closing. ‘It is with regret that we announce the permanent closing of Catch on the Ave. Thank you for all your support. We look forward to seeing you at our other locations.'” [Zebra]

Some Residents Want to Ban Waze — “A few residents asked why Alexandria can’t just ban Waze and other congestion-avoidance apps from allowing commuters through certain parts of the City where cut-through traffic is the worst. The reason Mayor Wilson gave: free speech. Other municipalities that have tried to block Waze have lost in court on the premise that Waze is simply providing data to the public and thus has some protection.” [Alexandria Living]

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City Lowers Public Benefit Expectations for Municipal Fiber Plans

By Vernon Miles

Less than a month after the initial announcement of bidding for a new municipal fiber network, the city is saying people may have let their expectations run a little too rampant.

The city is hoping to build a broadband network for its facilities, but Craig Fifer, a spokesman for the City of Alexandria, clarified that the side benefit of increased consumer choice in cable, voice and broadband services is still conditional.

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Morning Notes

By ALXnow.com
Shopping in Old Town (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

City Phone Service Restored — The City of Alexandria’s non-emergency phone lines are working again after service was restored Tuesday night. A cut to a fiber optic line caused the outage, a city spokeswoman said. [Twitter/@AlexandriaVAGov]

House With George Washington Connection on Airbnb — “George Washington may have slept here, and now so could you… in the heart of Old Town Alexandria in Virginia, where a house that once belonged to the first U.S. president is available to rent. The George of Old Town is a 6000-square-foot townhouse on Cameron Street, and it is available on Airbnb.” [WTOP]

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