Alexandria Local

Alexandria Local

Subscribe

Tease photo

Three Generations Sing Togather

On May 3, Choir Recognition Sunday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Suzanne Brock, her daughter Lisa, and two grandchildren all sang at the same service; and at times, all three choirs were singing at the same time.

2014 Athletes of the Year

GMU's Hewitt to keynote Sportsman's Club awards dinner May 29.

George Mason Men's Basketball head coach Paul Hewitt will be on hand as 27 of the city's best high school athletes are honored for their academic and athletic excellence at the 58th annual Alexandria Sportsman's Club Awards dinner May 29 at the Westin Carlyle Hotel.

Tease photo

GI Film Festival 2014

VMI story told in “Field of Lost Shoes.”

A standing room only crowd packed the Old Town Theatre May 19 for the GI Film Festival’s world premiere of “Field of Lost Shoes,”

In Support of Stratford Hall

The Alexandria Committee of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Association held its annual fundraising reception in support of Stratford Hall at the home of Leslie Ariail on Sunday afternoon, May 18.

Tease photo

Piloting Food Trucks

Most of controversial food truck proposal placed on back burner.

The food truck craze is coming to a city park or a farmer's market near you, part of a 16-month pilot program that will allow the mobile vendors to set up shop and see what happens. City Council members approved the pilot program in a four-to-two vote with Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg and Councilman Paul Smedberg voting no. Disgruntled restaurant owners across the city are talking about creating a new association specifically to fight expanding the program to hot spots in Old Town and Del Ray, a move city officials have been pushing for more than a year. The pilot is scheduled to begin in July and run through October 2015.

Alexandria Community Trust Turns Ten

Hundreds of residents attended the ACT Birthday and Barbeque Bash at the Waterfront Market & Café...

Tease photo

Nightmare on Green Street?

Neighbors say house is a nuisance; city officials say their hands are tied.

The 800 block of Green Street is tucked away in a quiet part of Old Town, a few blocks west of Washington Street where spring flowers are in bloom and neighbors know each other by name. Except Michael Wargo. Property records say he purchased 813 Green St. in 1989 for $263,000. But neighbors say he hasn't lived in the house for 12 years, and they are concerned that the house is a firetrap that's attracting wild animals and growing concern.

Tease photo

Tutors Choose Gift Books for Students

Reading tutors for Alexandria students celebrated the completion of a year-long tutoring program by selecting gift books for the Alexandria City Public School kindergarten and first grade students they tutored.

Signature Stages “The Threepenny Opera”

Musical presents dark critique of capitalism in this updated translation.

“Life’s a bitch and then you die.” Signature Theatre in Shirlington is staging an updated version of “The Threepenny Opera” through June 1. While it was written in 1920s Germany (and based on John Gay’s 1728 “The Beggar’s Opera”), its themes are timeless: the brutality of humanity and the scathing critique of a capitalist society.

LTA Presents “Boeing, Boeing”

Comical farce stars a philandering architect engaged to three stewardesses.

The Little Theatre of Alexandria is presenting the non-stop comedy, “Boeing, Boeing,” now through May 24. Set in a 1965 Paris apartment on the same day, the classic farce written by French playwright Marc Camoletti is centered on Bernard, a swinging architect engaged to three flight attendants all at once. Bernard’s life goes haywire when his friend Robert comes to visit and a newer, speedier Boeing jet messes up all of his careful planning. Inevitably, all three stewardesses come to visit at the same time, but the ending’s not what you’d expect.

Alexandria Home Sales: April, 2014

In April 2014, 227 Alexandria homes sold between $1,700,000-$105,000.

Alexandria Home Sales: April, 2014

City in Violation of Its Charter

Citizens hampered from accessing departmental rules and regulations.

While Alexandria’s ordinances are enacted in public by the City Council and are readily accessible to the citizenry, usually in the form of “The Code of the City of Alexandria, 1981,” departments and offices across city government also promulgate official rules and regulations, but they are neither publicized nor readily accessible by the citizenry. This directly violates the express wording of the city’s charter.

Letter: Two Strikes And Counting

To the Editor: The city manager’s initiative “What’s Next Alexandria”, ostensibly a program to develop a set of principles for civic engagement, has just imploded. The city manager established a Food Truck Advisory Group to ascertain if and where food trucks ought to be able to operate in the City of Alexandria. Presently food trucks can only operate at construction sites, special events, and at the farmers markets if Special Use Permits (SUPs) allow them to do so. The group met over a six-month period, yet because of the heavy snows we had last winter the group was unable to complete its work. However the over-rambunctious city staff could not wait until all of the issues were settled, and a final report rendered, before taking the program to the Planning Commission on May 6 and the council will address the issue on May 13 followed by a public hearing sometime in June or September. During their May 6 presentation, the Planning Commission was aghast at being told that they were only being asked to listen to the staff presentation and then comment but not to vote on whether they agreed or not. At least four of the seven commission members could not believe the subterfuge employed by the city staff in ram-rodding this program through.

Letter: Concerned with Animal Rights

To the Editor: When I heard about Jim Moran retiring I was hoping that his replacement would work as hard as he has for animal rights. But after reading Michael Lee Pope’s article last week and speaking directly to some of the candidates, I am relieved to know that three candidates, and especially Don Beyer, but also Adam Ebbin and Mark Levine will continue supporting a cause that I think is very important.

Letter: Best Suited For Congress?

To the Editor: To hear Mayor Bill Euille tell it, Alexandria will be just fine if we have more development. His vision for Alexandria is to sell historic City Hall to a developer to put up more condos for the very wealthy. That way, we can erect the Taj Mahal of city halls in Eisenhower Valley to showcase our rise from historic seaport to generic urban center.

Video