Inside Alexandria Police Department: On the Job
An occasional series, drawn from the Alexandria Citizen’s Police Academy.
The Alexandria Citizens’ Police Academy is a 10-week course hosted by the Alexandria Police Department (APD) to offer citizens a better understanding of how the department works. Throughout the course, participants sit in on emergency calls and ride along with police officers on patrol.
Alexandria: McAuliffe Visits City Hall for Veto
Mayor and Domestic Violence specialists back Governor’s stance.
On paper, giving domestic violence victims under protective orders access to concealed weapons without permits or training may have appeared sound, but with his veto of a series of bills out of the Virginia legislature, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and others argued that adding more guns would only put more lives at risk.
Alexandria: Council Hears Ethics Recommendation
A pledge for city’s elected and appointed officials.
The ethics pledge makes no changes to the law, increases no reporting qualifications, and includes no complaint process, but after months of City Council fights over its necessity and implications, the draft presented by the Code of Conduct Review Committee at the April 12 City Council meeting was received with relatively little fanfare.
Alexandria: Civil War Still Reverberates
Indecision and conflict continues over Confederate street names and statues.
After four tumultuous meetings, the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Confederate Memorials and Street Names has not managed to settle the 150-year-old conflict over the legacy of the Confederacy in Alexandria.
Alexandria: Uniting for Clean Energy
Rally spotlights climate change’s effects on people.
A rally to support clean power, held in Market Square on April 2, was interrupted by a heckler denouncing climate change as a fraud. For attendees of the rally, it was an unexpected disturbance, but the legislators hosting the event say it’s par for the course.
Alexandria Snapshot: Welcome
Mayor Allison Silberberg, center, and members of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce were on hand March 31 as Long and Foster welcomed Victoria KilCullen and Christie’s Real Estate to their firm. Kilcullen will launch the Christie’s line, a division of Long and Foster Luxury brand, in Alexandria and cover the Northern Virginia region. Shown at the March 31 reception at Principle Gallery are: Former Gov. Jim Gilmore, Christie’s International senior vice president Kathleen Coumou, Chamber of Commerce CEO Joe Haggerty, Silberberg, Long and Foster President Boomer Foster, Kilcullen, Councilwoman Del Pepper and Chamber of Commerce Vice President Shari Simmans.
Lawmakers Wrap-up Richmond Legislative Session
Unspent TANF grant money, prisoner rights among social issues discussed.
On average, low income families in Virginia who are eligible and sign up for funds from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant receive $269 monthly and are cut off after five years. But lawmakers say there’s a lot more unexpended money available in the federal grant that, if it remains unused, could one day be taken back.
Inside the Alexandria Police Department: Criminal Investigations
“I’d be lying if I said it’s not cool.” — Sgt. John East from APD Vice
The Alexandria Citizens’ Police Academy is a 10-week course hosted by the Alexandria Police Department (APD) to offer citizens a better understanding of how the department works. Throughout the course, participants sit in on emergency calls and ride along with police officers on patrol.
Alexandria: Addressing Business Woes
City Council and state legislators examine Alexandria’s business woes.
Over oatmeal, Alexandria’s City Council and state legislators did their best to reassure local businesses, distressed by a recent spate of closures in Old Town.
Alexandria Brief: King Street Park Revitalized
Beverley Park isn’t the only Alexandria Park looking at major redevelopment. The park at the end of King Street, appropriately named “King Street Park,” could be seeing a temporary boost before Waterfront redevelopment transforms the area. Currently the site hosts a small anchor monument and a bench, but expansion into two nearby sites could turn the park into the missing link between the northern and southern parts of the Alexandria waterfront.
Alexandria: Old Town North Development Approved
The empty lot in North Old Town, formerly home to Giant, will soon be home for 232-units of residential development. Local citizens protested the traffic and parking impact of the new building, and while City Council did tighten the on-street parking requirement, City Council approved the development at the March 12 public hearing.
Alexandria: Ramsey Resolved
Despite approvals, Ramsey Homes redevelopment pushed back until 2017.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority has agreed to a work plan with the city. One of the core tenets of this plan, number 3 on the list, is “no surprises.”
Alexandria: Make Eisenhower Great Again
City Manager Mark Jinks lays out plans for Eisenhower area.
While the city makes adjustments to local transit and fosters more cultural activities in the Carlyle and Eisenhower area, there’s been no word yet on the biggest issue affecting the Eisenhower Valley: whether or not the Transportation Safety Administration will move into the long-vacant Victory Center. At the March 10 meeting of the Eisenhower Partnership, City Manager Mark Jinks said that the city’s been hearing that they’ll find out whether or not Alexandria will be the new TSA home “any day now” since a judge voided the contract in November 2015.
Alexandria: Ramsey Reconsidered
Rebuilding the strained “special relationship.”
Rezoning a piece of property without having an approved plan — for what will replace it — is highly unusual, but it doesn’t mean the City Council won’t do it.
What City Can Do To Help Businesses Succeed
Small business owners offer suggestions.
It might not sound like much for the average Alexandrian, but a zoning community meeting could be the first step towards making Alexandria a better home for small businesses. On March 19, the city will host a Small Business Zoning Community Meeting, starting at 10 a.m. in the Sister Cities room at City Hall.
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