All results / Stories / Michael Lee Pope
Opposing Factions of Democrats Emerge in Hotly Contested City Council Primary
Four different political action committees endorse rival slates of candidates.
With four weeks until the Democratic primary for Alexandria City Council, the city’s Democrats are forming opposing factions in the hotly contested race.
Business Matters
City leaders may be taking on more debt than Alexandria can handle. That’s the conclusion of the Budget and Fiscal Advisory Commission, which presented its annual report Tuesday night.
Voters to Determine Republican and Democratic Candidates for House and Senate
Low turnout expected in June 12 primary.
Election officials are expecting an extremely low turnout for the June 12 primary, ranging from 3 percent in Arlington to 15 percent in Alexandria.
Beloved Cancel Culture in Fairfax County
Toni Morrison novel prompts legislation that has critics worried about book bans.
Toni Morrison's Pulitzer-prize winning book "Beloved" prompted such outrage in one Fairfax County parent in 2013 that she tried to have the book banned from her son's AP English class. Laura Murphy said the book gave her teenage son nightmares, and she urged school officials to do something about it. She took the fight all the way to the Fairfax County School Board, which voted six to two to keep the book in the AP English curriculum.
Student Growth Outpaces Staffing
Number of new teachers hasn't kept pace with surge in enrollment.
Since 2008, Alexandria schools have added more than 4,000 new students. But a new report from the Commonwealth Institute shows staffing has not kept pace. City schools have added only 100 new teachers during that time, and the number of teacher aides has actually declined by 10 positions.
Development Money At Issue As Arlington Prepares For Fiscal Year 2014
Residents say the county is too willing to accept density at their expense.
Hold your wallets. It’s that time of year again.
Developer Wants to Lease Public Land for Private Gain
Should Alexandria approve a 40-year lease for Hensley Park?
Should a stretch of public land in the Eisenhower Valley be transformed into a private sports complex?
Election Mirage Evaporates in Alexandria
Governor signs bill to improve election returns at the precinct level.
Election
Seven Republicans Running for Governor
May 8 convention to determine direction of party heading into November.
Republicans haven’t won a statewide race since 2009, when Attorney General Bob McDonnell received 59 percent of the vote against Democrat Creigh Deeds. Since then, Republicans have been shut out of the Executive Mansion. Ken Cuccinelli lost to Terry McAuliffe in 2013, and Ed Gillespie lost to Ralph Northam in 2017. Now Republicans are about to determine their statewide candidates in a May 8 convention, which will take place at 37 locations.
Arlington Voters to Determine Fate of Capital-Improvement Projects This November
From a new aquatics center to paving roads, bond initiatives tend to be popular.
It’s been more than 20 years since a bond referendum failed in Arlington, an indication of how popular the spending items are with voters in the county.
Changes Coming to Penn-Daw
ow that comprehensive plan has been amended, development application is imminent.
Now that the county’s comprehensive plan has been changed to allow for higher density at the Penn-Daw Shopping Plaza, Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay says he expects Combined Properties to file an application for redevelopment any day.
Arlington County Schools Increasingly Crowded as Enrollment Spikes
Two new elementary school planned; more changes on the horizon.
School leaders in Arlington are struggling to accommodate about 1,000 new students in the coming school year, a crunch that's sending school officials scrambling for teachers, assistants, administrators, equipment and relocatable classrooms.
Should Virginia Compensate for Dark Days of Eugenics?
Del. Patrick Hope (D-44) asks governor and General Assembly to form a task force.
The number of victims is unknown in Virginia’s system of forced sterilization, a dark chapter that stretched from the 1920s into the 1970s.
Week in Alexandria
Two properties at the heart of Alexandria’s controversial waterfront plan went on the market this week, opening a new chapter in the ongoing saga about redevelopment in Old Town.
Mount Vernon Estate Moves Closer to Opening Indispensable Library
$40 million facility to open in September.
Drivers zooming along Mount Vernon Memorial Highway are seeing history in the making.
Reevesland for Sale? County Board to Consider Selling Historic Property
Last working dairy farm in Arlington may go on the auction block.
Arlington County Board members are about to consider selling Reevesland, the county’s last dairy farm.
Week in Alexandria: June 4
Slip Displeasure
What is the future of pleasure boats on the waterfront? That's a question that has yet to be resolved. It's an uncertainty that's leaving pleasure-boaters, well, displeased.
June 18: Council Notebook
City Council in brief from June 18.
Online Virginia Lottery Sales? Don't Bet On It
House panel rejects bill that would allow for sale of lottery tickets over the internet.
A coalition of convenience store owners and religious conservatives worked to till an effort from the Virginia Lottery to allow for online gambling, thwarting an effort aimed at increasing sales among millennial gamblers. The bill, introduced by Del. Roxann Robinson (R-27), was defeated with an overwhelming vote by a House General Laws subcommittee Tuesday afternoon.