Alexandria Letter: Architectural Possibilities
Letter to the Editor
Now that the northern waterfront location and the old Mirant coal plant site are now open for discussion, I feel the need to reiterate this sentiment:
Alexandria Letter: Misbegotten Gambit
Letter to the Editor
Once again, City Council has overruled its own appointed committee of task force.
Alexandria Column: Building a System for Early Education
Commentary
This past month marked a return to school for elementary and secondary students. At the same time, more than 700 of our city’s youngest students started the school year in publicly supported early childhood classrooms.
Alexandria Column: Bike Patrols Take Shelter’s Officers Closer to Animals
Commentary-AWLA
That bicyclist riding in front of you on the bike trail in Alexandria might be an Animal Services Officer on duty.
Editorial: Voting Never Mattered More
Consider voting absentee in person since more than 500,000 other voters are likely to turnout on Election Day.
With more than 655,000 active voters in Fairfax County, and as many as 500,000 voters turning out on Election Day, it’s a good time to consider voting early, and preparing for a longer-than-usual process if voting on Election Day.
Alexandria Letter: Time to Stop Talking about Talking
Letter to the Editor
“Well, it was a lot of talking about talking,” was T.C. Williams junior Sam Wingfield’s reaction after attending a town hall meeting on the overcrowding at TC’s King Street and Minnie Howard campuses with Vice Mayor Justin Wilson on a beautiful Sunday, Sept. 25. More than 100 Alexandrians, including TC students and teachers, and members of City Council and School Board, came to Beatley Library to discuss what to do about our crowded high school.
Alexandria Letter: Historical Fabric
Letter to the Editor
The Alexandria Archealogical Commission (AAC) strongly opposes the recent vote by City Council to seek authorization from the Virginia legislature to move the Appomattox statue from its current location at the center of Washington and Prince streets. Both the statue and its placement at the site Alexandrians left for war, a context with which it is intertwined as a piece of art, are important elements of Alexandria’s history — and our nation’s. We view moving the statue as destruction of our vanishing local historical fabric, and in effect obscuring important truths about our city and community.
Alexandria Column: Blancato to Keynote Senior Law Day Event
Commentary–Senior Services of Alexandria
As the trees on the Potomac once again start to change color and the end of the year approaches, most people take stock of things they meant to do this year, but never started. We often postpone tackling situations that we feel are unpleasant or out of our control.
Alexandria Letter: Memorials’ Purpose
Letter to the Editor
My grandmother and her lady friends used to carry buckets of water and soap to scrub city grime off the pedestal of the Appomattox Statue, a statue now deemed offensive by the politically correct neighbors with whom we dwell in this city.
Alexandria Letter: Re-ignite Civil War?
Letter to the Editor
My family settled in New Kent County, Va., in 1656. More than 100 of my extended family served as Confederate soldiers during the War Between the States; and many of them died in the war — including my own
Alexandria Letter: Much To Learn From the Past
Letter to the Editor
The Alexandria Gazette-Packet coverage of the Appomattox Statue controversy, Sept. 22, 2016, quotes an eloquent statement by Councilman Chapman that the statue where it stands is a "terrific teaching point that we are not all equal yet."
Alexandria Letter: All Deserve Remembrance
Letter to the Editor
I find the City Council’s ill-advised unanimous vote to move the Appomattox statue and the remarks by some councilmembers at the time offensive.
Alexandria Letter: Putting History In Context
Letter to the Editor
Unless people have been living under a rock, it must be clear to our citizens that there is a movement in today’s culture to erase Confederate symbols and history.
Editorial: Independent Police Auditor Marks History
Kudos to Board of Supervisors for unanimous approval of independent police auditor; now on to the Civilian Review Panel.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to create the position and office of independent police auditor on Tuesday, Sept. 20, creating the first civilian, independent oversight of law enforcement in Fairfax County. The unanimous vote demonstrated the board’s commitment to the ongoing process that began early in 2015 when Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova established the 32-member Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commission.
Alexandria Letter: Enforce All Traffic Rules
Letter to the Editor
Believe it or not (and contrary to popular opinion) the Virginia Department of Transportation says that motorists and bicyclists are governed by the same laws regarding traffic regulations. In fact, no distinction is made for automobiles, trucks, tractor-trailers, motorcycles or bicycles, which are all treated equally.