Publisher's Note: A small change — and why it actually makes The Alexandria Brief stronger
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Publishers Note
When something needs to be said. Occasional essays on community, journalism, and what it means to be neighbors.
Belmore's Notebook: Cameras, walk zones, and a handshake
Plus a contract that gives Flock the data forever, a School Board 14 weeks from setting the next board's pay, a rule that explains why families keep getting told no, and what tourism takes off your tax bill — Ryan Belmore's Alexandria roundup for Sept. 19, 2026
Belmore's Notebook: Flock, fountains and a fraud case
Plus an answer from Dominion that didn't answer the question, an address ordinance getting its first appeal from the dispute that created it, and a $500,000 threshold borrowed from a county that points it the other way — Ryan Belmore's Alexandria roundup for Sept. 12, 2026
Belmore's Notebook: Three different counts of Alexandria's cameras, and a question the mayor couldn't get answered either
Plus $2.5 million in school bonuses with no appropriation on the docket, a superintendent search that named the one person not in it, and goats for $9,500 — Ryan Belmore's Alexandria roundup for Sept. 5, 2026
Belmore's Notebook: a new Saturday column on what didn't make it into the story
This week: DHS won't answer my questions about its Alexandria arrests, three agencies quietly leave the city's Flock list, and ACPS has a good week and a bad one at the same time
Publisher's Note: Punching above our weight
A World Cup team made Alexandria home for a month. As Croatia prepares to leave, here's a case for making the friendship last — starting with a fifth sister city.
Publisher's Note: No one took the easy route
Nobody's ever happy with a budget. That's not the same as nobody trying.
Publisher's Note: What it really costs to cover Alexandria
Seven months in, an honest look at the numbers behind your community newsroom
Publisher's Note: Sometimes what's best for all of us isn't best for any one of us
The Braddock Road vote is settled. How a divided neighborhood lives with it is not.
Publisher's note: It's been heavy. Be a little kind.
On a hard week in Alexandria, the mayor's reminder, and the gift of arguing about bike lanes
Publisher's Note: A new home
The Alexandria Brief has moved. You might notice things look a little different this week. That's because I've migrated to a new platform—Ghost—after three months on Substack. A significant number of readers have reached out over since the launch of The Alexandria Brief with
Publisher's note: Understanding the Braddock Road corridor improvements project
A guide to what's being proposed, what residents are saying, and what questions remain ahead of Monday's hearing
Publisher's note: Clean the mirror
On monks, mirrors, and what thousands of Alexandrians stood in the cold to hear
Publisher's note: The people who got us through
Two weeks after the ice storm, a pause for gratitude
Publisher's Note: 1,000 neighbors
Three months of proof that local journalism can work differently.