All results / Stories / Michael Lee Pope
Mental Health First Aid Seen as a Way to Identify Problems Early
Del. Rob Krupicka (D-45) leads effort to expand training for workers on the front lines.
In her role as a caseworker for Adult Protective Services, Wilma Roberts has seen it all.

Bike Lane Controversy Creates a King-Sized Debate in Alexandria
City Council set to take up proposal to remove parking and install bike lanes.
Months of bitter accusations and counter-accusations are set to culminate this weekend as members of the Alexandria City Council take up a plan to remove four blocks of parking spaces on King Street to make room for a bike lane in each direction.

Thousands of Families are Living with Uncertainty on the West End
City Council to consider plan that would demolish hundreds of low-end garden apartments.
On the windswept streets of the city's West End, many poor and Latino residents say they are living with a sense of uncertainty.
On the Ballot
A look at statewide candidates and where they get their money.
Voters across Virginia will be headed to the polls Tuesday Nov. 7. Here’s a look at what’s on the ballot.

What Will Happen to Hundreds of Workforce Units at Southern Edge of Old Town?
Fate of Hunting Towers is at stake as VDOT considers sale on the open market.
After almost a decade as a reluctant landlord, the Virginia Department of Transportation is getting out of the property rental game.
Week in Alexandria
After almost two decades as the chief prosecutor in Alexandria, Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Sengel says he won’t run again in 2013.
The Adventures of Roger Fons
Old Town Theater owner’s life could be a motion picture.
The setting is an old vaudeville theater on King Street, and the star of the show is Roger Fons. Our camera begins a slow advance, moving toward the oversized marquee with a sense of imminent arrival. Cue the music, “Un bel dì vedremo” from “Madame Butterfly.” Fons sits on a barstool in front of the theater smoking a cigarette, its wafts of white ribbons swirling toward the sky. He is charming and effervescent as patrons, employees and strangers greet him.
Week in Alexandria
What happens when you mix raw emotions and firearms? Sometimes people get injured.
Senate Election is Blast from the Past
Kaine and Stewart both played key roles in 2016; now they’re at the top of the ballot this year.
Elections rarely get do-overs. Winners make victory speeches, and losers slink away to become consultants. But this year’s election for U.S. Senate features two key players in the 2016 presidential election that upended American politics.

Seeing Double
Alexandria delegate is one of four House members whose name will be on the ballot twice.
The ballot for the Democratic primary in June might cause you to do a double take. Del. Mark Levine (D-45) will be on the ballot twice, once running for reelection against primary challenger Elizabeth Bennett-Parker and then again against seven other candidates for lieutenant governor. Levine and three other House members will be doing double duty, asking voters to reject their primary opponents for seats they would vacate if they win stateside office.
Decriminalizing Suicide
General Assembly to consider abolishing common-law crime of suicide.
Suicide is illegal in Virginia, one of the few states that has not yet abolished the English common-law tradition of criminalizing the act of intentionally causing one's own death.

Pleas for Services Increase Taxes
Council raises tax rate to fund services for seniors and schoolchildren.
Seniors will be able to keep their tax relief, and Engine 204 will remain at the city's Powhatan Park headquarters. But homeowners will see their tax bills going up once again. That's because members of the Alexandria City Council voted to increase the tax rate last week, adding $2 million to the budget proposal City Manager Rashad Young presented back in February.
Council Notebook
Should Prince Street and Cameron Street have bike lanes? That's a question that city officials will be asking city residents starting Sept. 30. That's the date of the first community meeting on a proposal that would add bike lanes to the two major Old Town corridors, one eastbound and the other westbound.
In Session: Virginia Assembly Briefs
In Session: Virginia Assembly Briefs

Despite Advances, Many Virginians Remain Uninsured
Affordable Care Act expands coverage, but more than 800,000 still have no health insurance.
What is the state of the uninsured in Virginia?

Former School Budget Director Files Discrimination Lawsuit as ACPS Looks Forward
Last year’s scandal lingers over upcoming financial deliberations.
This time last year, the budget office at Alexandria City Public Schools was in full meltdown.

Financing the Rampage
Economic toll of gun violence is more than $14 billion a year for Virginia.
All those school security measures to harden your local elementary school add up. So do trips to the emergency room and the multiple surgeries needed to address gunshot wounds. While the human tragedy of gun violence often grabs headlines, the economic toll continues to mount with each mass shooting. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, the annual cost to Virginia is more than $14 billion a year.

Cause of Massive Blaze at West End Warehouse Yet to be Determined
Charred bits of foam litter the scene as officials begin investigation.
Firefighters from across the region battled a massive six-alarm fire Monday on the West End, a fight that enlisted help from across the region and gave four firefighters minor injuries.

Democrats Seize Control of Northern Virginia
Region once had its own brand of Republicanism; now that seems almost extinct.
The loss of two-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (D-10) means Republicans are down to one lone elected official in Northern Virginia, Del. Tim Hugo (R-40). The blue wave that started last year unseating Republicans like Del. Jim LeMunyon (R-67) and Del. Bob Marshall (R-13) continued this year, when state Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D-10) was able to flip a seat that had been in Republican hands since a young military lawyer named Frank Wolf beat incumbent Democrat Joe Fisher back in 1980.