Rising Hope Mission Church in Mount Vernon Hosts Nightly Shelters
At 7 p.m. doors to Rising Hope Mission Church open for guests to sign in. Promptly at 7:10, volunteers begin serving dinner. On a chilly, rainy, mid-December night, the volunteers from Aldersgate United Methodist Church prepare beef steak with gravy, beans and corn for about 20 homeless individuals.
Fairfax County hosts first Inmate Resource Fair.
They’re hoping the third time will be a charm: 34-year-old Demeterius Spann of the Richmond Highway area of Alexandria and 29-year-old Nydale Sheppard of Reston have each been incarcerated three times.
1965 Luther Jackson graduates from Springfield and Alexandria remember the county’s only African American high school.
Florence King was pretty impressed with her school bus driver. The Alexandria resident grew up on Old Telegraph Road and rode the bus to both Drew Smith Elementary School in Gum Springs and Luther Jackson High School, prior to desegregation. King graduated from Luther Jackson in 1965.
Duncan Visits Patrick Henry Pre-K
Students in Patrick Henry Elementary School’s pre-kindergarten were building with their blocks and learning how to write letters when their Feb. 25 morning was interrupted by a room full of men and women in suits.
Column: General Assembly Adjourns Sine Die
Commentary
The 2015 session of the General Assembly has officially adjourned. Bills I introduced that now await Governor McAuliffe's signature include legislation on issues from job placement and hospital patients' rights to tax refunds and ethics reform.
Column: Sole-Searching
There’s no denying the emotional fact that the CT Scan results I received and wrote about last week were a bit of a disappointment.
Duncan Visits Alexandria's Patrick Henry Pre-K
Secretary of Education and others express support for Alexandria’s early childhood development.
In a crowded corner of the Patrick Henry Elementary School Library, Duncan heaped praise on Patrick Henry Elementary School’s pre-kindergarten education program while expressing his frustrations at a nationwide lack of similar programs.
Alexandria Budget Winners and Losers
Acting city manager presents budget proposal to City Council
When Acting City Manager Mark Jinks presented Alexandria City Council with the $647.9 million proposed budget, the generally positive reception was tempered with the knowledge that many departments would not be receiving the funding they had requested.
All in the Family for Alexandria
SSA to honor generations of giving.
’Twas the night before Christmas, literally, when a man walked into the Senior Services of Alexandria office and handed an envelope to then-executive director Janet Barnett. The year was 2007 and the man was Ron Bradley. “Ron asked how he could help the seniors of Alexandria,” Barnett said. “When I explained that the city did not provide meals to seniors on holidays, Ron stepped in with $10,000 to fund a holiday meals program. But he had a condition — that they could not be ordinary meals. He wanted our seniors to enjoy a festive meal just like we do at home.”
Gayle Reuter: Fostering Del Ray’s Small Town Feel
Helping to celebrate Del Ray.
You won't go far in Alexandria's Del Ray neighborhood before seeing signs of Gayle Reuter. If it's a rare quiet day, you might see her on her front porch just off "The Avenue" or at a local restaurant or business — always with a smile and a friendly greeting. More likely you will see her working, always managing to make a difference in the wonderful neighborhood she helped create.
Collaboration Over Competition for Alexandria Nonprofits
Alexandria non-profit organizations unite for city budgeting.
As Alexandria’s nonprofits prepare for the March 3 release of the County Manager’s proposed budget, things are going a little differently this year.
Alexandrians Of Two Minds
Zoning amendment for memory care center draws crowd of supporters and opponents.
After seven hours of debate in Alexandria’s City Council meeting, the room was still deeply divided between those in favor of rezoning a property on King Street to create a memory care facility and neighbors to the property entrenched against it.
Fern and Otter Come to ‘Work’
“My dogs Fern and Otter, both adopted from the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. They love to come to work with me at the shelter.
When Sam Met Frodo
“Sam and Frodo are both rescue cats. Frodo, the big orange guy with the furry feet, came from Home Alone Feline Rescue in 2011. He is part Maine Coon and part American bobtail. Lou and I had been thinking about getting a second cat as a companion for Frodo when I ran into Lee District School Board member Tammy Koufax at a community event in Springfield in August 2013..."
Shelter Gets Creative To Save Lives
Volunteers, social media assist in pet adoptions.
Since 2013, Fairfax County has been the largest jurisdiction in the United States with a placement rate of animals above 90 percent. Last year alone, nearly 2,500 animals were adopted, which is nearly double the adoptions just two years earlier.
Column: Not So Late This Time
But real-time once again: February 20, 11 hours, approximately, after our regularly-scheduled, post-scan meeting with the oncologist at 10:00 this morning.
TC Celebrates National English Honor Society Induction
T. C. Williams High School held the induction ceremony of the school’s chapter of the National English Honor Society on Jan. 27.
Port City Playhouse Stages ‘Shining City’
Set in Ireland, play tells of troubled human relationships and a ghost story.
Port City Playhouse in Alexandria is staging "Shining City," a story of troubled human relationships overlaid with a hint of a ghost story.