Table of Contents
A note before the first one, and then I'll get out of the way.
Every week, a lot of what I learn doesn't make it into a story. A number that moved and nobody announced. A thing an official said in passing. Something I noticed standing in a room. Some of it isn't a story yet. Some of it never will be. Most of it is still worth knowing if you live here.
So: Belmore's Notebook, Saturday mornings. It's a reporter's notebook, not an opinion column. Most weeks, that means observation and context — what I'm chasing, what I'm waiting on, what I got wrong. Where I do have a view, I'll say so plainly rather than smuggling it in. Where I have a conflict, I'll disclose it. When I'm working off an estimate or handwriting I can't fully read, I'll tell you that too, because you should be able to weigh what I'm giving you.
You'll find things here you won't see elsewhere, which is the whole idea. If something in it prompts a question, a correction, or a tip, my inbox is at the bottom.
Here's the week.
1. DHS didn't answer my questions this week. It quote-tweeted my story instead. On Monday, I reported that the department said two people were arrested in Alexandria during a two-week ICE operation, and that for one of them, the criminal charges DHS cited appear in Virginia court records as dismissed in March 2024. I asked DHS and ICE which cases they meant. On Tuesday, the department reposted the story, named Angel Gabriel Ortiz-Hernandez, published his photo, and described his record in capital letters. Ortiz-Hernandez is the man whose listed charges are the ones I found dismissed, and DHS listed no convictions for him. The questions haven't changed: which case numbers, which jurisdiction, what happened to the charges.
2. Alexandria's Flock transparency portal listed 161 agencies with access to the city's license plate reader data on Aug. 18. It lists 158 now. Off the list: Hillsville Police, the Rappahannock County Sheriff's Office and Shenandoah Police. There was no announcement and the portal keeps no change log, I caught it because I'd saved the old list. I've asked APD who controls that list and why those three came off, along with questions sent Aug. 14 that are still outstanding.
3. Two of the Russell Road appellants have asked City Council not to docket their appeal yet. They want it held until after the Sept. 28 Traffic and Parking Board vote on the parking additions so Council can take the whole project at once. Procedurally reasonable. It also means a decision that's been appealed three times, after the transportation director rejected both plans and proposed a third, may sit unheard another month while a related vote happens underneath it.
4. I ran the signatures on those three appeals against the Braddock Road appeals from March. More than a dozen people signed both, "more than" because some of the handwriting is a guess. Across the three Russell petitions, there are roughly 100 signature lines and about 90 unique names, with one person on all three. None of that is improper, any city resident or property owner can sign. It's just worth knowing what "the neighborhood is opposed" covers.
5. The joint City Council–School Board committee on election reform met for the first time Thursday and agreed to at least discuss four-year and staggered terms. Board size and district structure were held. The number to watch isn't in the substance, it's the calendar. The committee wants a report out in November, and there's a push by some to have changes in place for 2027. That's 10 weeks for a body that hasn't touched the two hardest questions yet. Something to watch.
6. Two things about ACPS worth putting next to each other. Monday morning, a marching band, the mayor, the police chief, a new School Board chair and a first-year principal all stood on the sidewalk outside the King Street campus. Acting Superintendent Grace Taylor, 12 days into the job, had already been at the bus depot watching more than 100 buses roll out. She called the kindergartners the class of 2039. This week's SOL results showed the division improved in every subject, moved ahead of the state in history for the first time in two years and was named a state exemplar in math. It also remains 11 to 15 points behind Virginia in reading, math, and science. Both are true, and a reader who only ever hears the second one from me isn't getting the whole picture. The open question is what Monday's turnout is worth once the year gets hard. Unity on a sidewalk in August is easy. Unity through a fall of transportation complaints, a superintendent search and whatever else arrives is the thing to watch.
7. Taylor told the board Thursday she'd address "school transportation issues and delays, some of which are experienced at the start of the new school year and others related to the adjustment of redistricted school attendance areas and walk zones." That distinction is the whole thing. The first kind fixes itself by late September; the second is a design problem. Worth saying: the driver shortage underneath it is regional, not local. Fairfax raised pay to $27.60 an hour and still reported 40 vacancies this spring.
8. Dolly Parton died Tuesday and her family asked that donations go to the Imagination Library. Richmond's affiliate took in nearly $4,000 from 70 donors in two days. Alexandria, which is part of Northern Virginia Imagination Library, is still not enrolling anyone, and said last October it hoped to start registering children by summer 2026. I've asked where the fundraising stands. No response yet.
9. Crooked Run Fermentation opened Friday at 2003 Mount Vernon Ave., the old Dolce & Bean space,the first dedicated brewery taproom on the Avenue. Good crowd for a weekday lunch hour. And yes, they have wine, spirits, and food.
10. The mayor's Art in Every Space initiative held another celebration Wednesday, at Cameron Cafe, which included six local artists and a wine tasting. Disclosure: I served on the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, so I'm not a neutral party. What I can report is what I've seen at a handful of these now, artists standing next to their work, the business owner talking to people who'd never been in, neighbors who wandered in off the sidewalk. If the initiative has done one thing so far, it's put people in a room with artists and with each other.
Quick hits
- Stracci opened an eight-seat bar inside their restaurant this week. First come, first served.
- Jay Portlance told me Friday he expects Rosie's Tavern to open in November, at the former Thai Peppers space, 2018 Mount Vernon Ave. He had been hoping for October, but construction takes time.
- Continues Arcade owner Allen Brooks has a private dining room hidden behind an arcade cabinet. Ask him about it.
- Jay Coulter picked the eight trees outside Lost Boy Cider that had gone unharvested since 2018. About 100 gallons, out next spring, taproom only.
- ACPS says the superintendent search is confidential and candidates won't be made public, per communications director Daryl Johnson.
- The School Board approved a $2.5 million staff bonus 9-0 Thursday. The memo, motion and fund statements account for about $1.1 million of it.
- The Kerry J. Donley Athletic Field Complex is dedicated on Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., at Minnie Howard. The ACPS naming fund had raised $1,701 of $19,856 as of Aug. 25.
- Northern Virginia is still under a state drought warning. Restrictions here stay voluntary; the task force meets Sept. 1.
- Mayor's Cup welcome home celebration is Sunday, noon to 2 p.m. at Port City Brewing. The Alexandria Select squads took two of three in Dundee this month — the women blanked Dundee 87-0 in the city's first-ever women's appearance and the legends won 38-24, but the men fell 33-17, so the cup stays in Scotland.
Last thing. Since this is the first one, the state of things. I hit publish 44 times this week. The Brief goes to 6,311 subscribers, 287 of whom pay for it, with thousands more reading the website every day and nearly 11,000 following on Instagram. All of it is one person, with reporting from the Virginia Mercury and The Associated Press filling in around the edges. Without ads, sponsors, or a payall, the 287 are the reason everything I do here is possible.
Also this week, The Brief made the Virginia School Boards Association's Media Honor Roll. Grateful — and aware that fair, accurate reporting on schools ought to be the baseline rather than the thing you get a certificate for. It doesn't change how or when I cover ACPS.
Got something for the notebook? ryan@alexandriabrief.com. The Brief is free every weekday and runs on reader support — you can chip in here.
