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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.
Emission Ambition
County sets goal to reduce carbon emissions by 10.4 metric tons over the next 40 years.
Arlington County has a new goal to slash carbon emissions. But the first-ever community energy plan unanimously adopted last month imposes no mandates or penalties if residents and business fail to clean up their act. And it doesn’t set any money aside for strategic investments.
Democrats Sweep Alexandria City Election
Moving local elections from May to November helped solidify one-party rule.
Three years ago, “Plunkee the Elephant” helped an independent and a Republican unseat two incumbent Democrats on the Alexandria City Council.
Lawmakers Consider Effort to Increase Salary for Next Gunston Hall Director
Next museum leader could pull down more than $88,000 a year.
George Mason was one of the wealthiest Founding Fathers, and now the Virginia General Assembly may be moving to increase the salary of the director of the house where he once lived. Gunston Hall has been in a state of flux since the previous director was finally removed from office after more than a year of calls for his resignation.
Privacy Advocates Urge Veto
Opponents of facial recognition technology call on governor to reject social-media dragnet.
Police departments across Virginia may soon have the ability to use billions of images scraped from social-media sites like Facebook and Instagram to track down suspects, a development that is concerning to critics who say the technology is invasive and a violation of privacy. The governor is now considering the bill, and critics are urging him to veto it or amend it to require a warrant.
Alexandria Leaders Engage in Risky Business at Potomac Yard
City taxpayers are about to assume financial risk for new Metro station.
Alexandria taxpayers are about to gamble on the future, rolling the dice on development at a former railroad yard to fund a new Metro station.
Wrecking Ball Budget Includes Four New Schools in the Coming Decade
Three elementary schools to be demolished; one new school at a site to be determined.
Over the course of the next decade, Alexandria school superintendent Morton Sherman wants to spend $357 million in an ambitious plan of demolition and construction - replacing existing facilities with new buildings and adding a new school.
New Beginning for a Failiing School
New school year to bring massive changes for long troubled school.
Test scores that will be released later this year show Jefferson-Houston School is failing yet again, with scores declining dramatically in writing.
Beacon for the Future
Urban development may be a sign of things to come on Richmond Highway.
When the high-end residential units at the Heights at Groveton open next month, Richmond Highway will begin a new chapter in its long history.
A Capital Debate on Streetcars
Controversy over streetcar to dominate discussion of capital improvement plan.
Members of the Arlington County Board are preparing for weeks of heated debate about the streetcar proposal on Columbia Pike, a project that continues to increase in price and opposition. Although the project has enjoyed support from previous elected officials, the board's two newest members are raising new questions about where the money comes from and how it's spent.
Demand Curve in Alexandria
Labor shortage and housing shortfall lead to affordability crisis.
The number of jobs in the region is on the rise, a trend that will only be exacerbated when Amazon brings 25,000 new jobs to town. Meanwhile, unemployment in Alexandria is at about 2 percent, so low that it’s essentially full employment.
Return of the Arlington Planetarium: Facility to Reopen After Existential Crisis
It looks like something from space, a Neo-Brutal landmark that descended next to Washington-Lee High School.
Capital BikeShare To Expand
County officials are considering 42 potential locations for 30 new stations.
By next spring, Arlington residents will have 30 new BikeShare stations to choose from — expanding the existing program of 44 stations dramatically and reaching beyond the Metro corridors for the first time.
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.
Potential Rivals Circling Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille in Advance of Democratic Primary
Kerry Donely and Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg consider primary challenges.
Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille's poor performance in the congressional primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8) is calling into question his ability to lead the city, opening the door to talk about former Mayor Kerry Donley challenging Euille in next year's Democratic primary. That possibility has encouraged talk about Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg possibly entering the race as a candidate who would oppose the kind of large-scale development that Euille and Donley both support.
Tea Party Ticket
Republican convention selects conservative slate of candidates for November.
Perhaps the biggest sign that the Tea Party has taken control of the Republican Party of Virginia was the yellow Gadsden flag emblem that appeared on placards distributed by supporters of Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, who was one of seven candidates vying to be the nominee for lieutenant governor last weekend at a raucous convention in Richmond. Davis, who represented Fairfax County for a decade in the General Assembly, has a reputation as being a moderate.
Waterfront Plan Challenged in Court
Five Old Town residents file lawsuit asking court to overturn controversial upzoning.
Five Old Town residents are set to file a lawsuit this week challenging the controversial waterfront small-area plan, which the City Council adopted last week on a party-line five-to-two vote last month.
For First Time in Recent Memory, No Competition Open Commonwealth's Attorney Seat
No Democrat challenges Bryan Porter in primary; no Republican steps forward for general.
Back in 1979, the competition to become Alexandria's next commonwealth's attorney was fierce.
Big Money for Big Biz, Not as Much for Poor
Lawmakers go on a spending spree with billions of dollars from Uncle Sam.
Big business cleaned up this week, taking home the biggest prizes in the special session to spend $3 billion in stimulus cash. Meanwhile, low-income Virginians didn't fare quite as well.
A New Direction for the Alexandria School System
Seven new School Board members augur change.
The past few years have been chaotic at the Beauregard Street headquarters of the Alexandria City Public School system, which has struggled to cope with failing test scores as a parade of administrators have come and gone.