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Democratic Candidates for Virginia Governor Run to the Left
Two candidates try to ignore moderate records and repackage themselves as hardcore progressives.
Privatized Incarceration
Alexandria senator leads fight against profiting from prisoners
Housing inmates in Virginia prisons costs the state about $70 a day for each inmate. But the private sector can do it a lot cheaper, about $50 a day. Lawmakers are about to debate whether that's a savings they can afford.
Hunger Rising
Applications for food stamps skyrocket in Alexandria as local economy tanks.
Recent weeks have seen a dramatic spike in the number of people in Alexandria with no resources to put food on the table for their families, leading to a skyrocketing number of applications for food stamps as unemployment numbers climb and people in Alexandria suddenly find themselves in an awkward position — asking for help from the government just to buy groceries. Officials at the Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services say applications to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have more than tripled since February, before the novel coronavirus pandemic prompted Gov. Ralph Northam to issue a stay-at-home order and shut down most of Alexandria’s economy.
Low-Turnout High-Stakes Special Election for School Board
Countywide at-large seat to be determined by Aug. 29 special election; early voting is underway.
Low-Turnout High-Stakes Special Election for School Board
Countywide at-large seat to be determined by Aug. 29 special election; early voting is underway.
Special Election for School Board
Week in Alexandria
Here’s a dilemma that will soon be facing the next City Council: Where to place the new Metro station at Potomac Yard.
Funding Plan Emerges for Streetcar Project
County Board forgoes federal funds to expedite Columbia Pike project.
When federal officials denied Arlington County's request for a Small Starts grant, advocates for the streetcar project went back to the drawing board. Now the three Arlington County Board members who support the $300 million project say they will forgo federal funds altogether, using state money set aside for transportation.
Fully Baked
Alexandria senator leads effort to legalize marijuana in Virginia.
The so-called "war on drugs" was a failure, locking up generations of Black men and tearing Black families apart. Now lawmakers in Richmond are finally coming around to realizing the damage that the prohibition against marijuana caused in minority communities. Last year members of the General Assembly approved legislation decriminalizing marijuana. This year, they may be on the verge of legalizing recreational use of marijuana — ending the failed war on drugs and adopting new equity measures to address some of the damage it caused.
Neighbors Trump County Officials in Public Art Selection
Cherrydale and Maywood selected public art as part of development process.
Neighbors don’t usually get to select public art for their neighborhood, but few neighborhoods have the rich history and active civic associations of Cherrydale and Maywood.
School Board Candidates Offer Perspectives on Failing Scores for Students with Disabilities
Incumbents defend record; challengers call for more action.
The last three years have seen test scores plummet for students with disabilities, a group that constitutes an expensive and vexing challenge for Alexandria City Public Schools.
Baby Bust
Declining birth rates lead to shrinking Kindergarten enrollments.
Declining birth rates and the pandemic have conspired to send Alexandria's Kindergarten enrollment down 17 percent since 2018, a trend that school officials say will have a long-term influence on how the division operates and plans for the future. Some of the decline is driven by the pandemic as parents opted for private schools or kept their children in daycare rather than enroll them. But the long-term forecast for schools will be shaped one birth at a time.
Special Election Down the Pike for Arlington County Board
Democrat and independent to face off in April special election.
The special election to replace retiring County Board member Chris Zimmerman is the closest thing Arlington will probably have to a referendum on the streetcar.
Facing Eviction
Virginia has new protections for renters, but temporary measures expire next year.
The clock is ticking for renters across Virginia who are in danger of being evicted. People of color and low-income Virginians are most at risk.
Mapmaking Politics
Legislative Black Caucus leads effort to undermine redistricting amendment.
Virginia has a horrible history with racial gerrymandering. It started with the ratification of the Constitution, an effort led by Virginians who wanted to count slaves as three-fifths of a person so representation in the south wouldn’t suffer because so many of its inhabitants were non-voting enslaved people. It continued all the way to 2011, when the Republican leaders engaged in a scheme of packing black voters into House districts to dilute their influence elsewhere, a plan the United States Supreme Court later determined was unconstitutional. Now members of the Legislative Black Caucus are worried a proposed amendment might enshrine racial gerrymandering into the Virginia Constitution.
Competition Not Required for Public-Private Partnerships
Arlington County Board approves guidelines for transportation projects.
Over the objections of several citizens and one of its own members, the Arlington County Board approved new guidelines for public-private partnerships to build transportation projects last week.
$8 Million Shortfall in Arlington
Budget official says the forecast is difficult but manageable.
Arlington County is facing a $8 million shortfall heading into the next budget season, which will unfold over the next few months as County Board members consider the county manager's proposed budget early next year.
Alexandria Fire Chief Takes Role as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
Adam Thiel to leave Alexandria and join McAuliffe administration.
When Adam Thiel became chief of the Alexandria Fire Department in 2007, he took over an agency that was clinging to the past — and not just the antiques at the Friendship Firehouse Museum.
Managing the City
Alexandria created the job of city manager 100 years ago in the midst of a crisis.
City Manager
Two independents and a Libertarian Offer Variety for Voters in City Council Race
Three candidates hoping to land seats at City Hall without major party labels.
Alexandria politics has long been dominated by Democrats, although Republicans have been successful from time to time.
Wexton to Take on Comstock
Moderate state senator did not get pulled to the left in primary.
State Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D-33) made a name for herself in Northern Virginia as a tough-as-nails prosecutor, including one case that grabbed national headlines involving a woman who persuaded her boyfriend to kill her father with a samurai sword. During her campaign for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, she never lost that sense of law-and-order grit, refusing to be pulled to the left as other candidates were calling for President Trump to be impeached.