The Alexandria Brief

Good morning, Alexandria.

Three days, three different skies. Storms arrive after dinner tonight, Saturday stays unsettled from midday on, and Sunday comes out clean at 92 degrees and sunny.

Worth knowing, because there's a lot outdoors this weekend — five farmers markets, a beer festival, tax-free shopping — and most of it happens under Saturday's clouds.

Here's what you need to know for Friday, Aug. 7.

1️⃣ Mount Vernon Trail is up for the national Trail Hall of Fame, and voting closes Aug. 16

The Mount Vernon Trail is a nominee for the Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Hall of Fame. (Asa Photography/Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail)

The Mount Vernon Trail is one of three finalists for the Rails to Trails Conservancy's 2026 Trail Hall of Fame, and the winner will be decided by an online public vote that closes Aug. 16.

The trail runs 18.5 miles along the Potomac River from Theodore Roosevelt Island in Arlington to George Washington's Mount Vernon estate, passing through Old Town Alexandria along the way. Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail, the nonprofit that announced the nomination Thursday, says it serves 1.4 million people a year.

It is competing against the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, which runs 92 miles from Cleveland to New Philadelphia, and the Historic Battlefield Trail, a 10-mile path through Mexican-American War sites in Brownsville, Texas. Voting is open through Aug. 16, and supporters may vote more than once.

Read the full story

2️⃣ A hair workshop for dads is coming to Atlas Brew Works

A participant works a braid on a mannequin head at a Brews & Braids workshop. Tickets to the Alexandria session are $50 and include a beer and take-home supplies. (Social Noodle)

A workshop series that teaches fathers to do their children's hair is coming to Alexandria next month, and the students will practice on mannequin heads.

Brews & Braids will hold its first Virginia session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, at the Atlas Brew Works Alexandria taproom, 2429 Mandeville Lane in Carlyle Crossing, within walking distance of the King Street and Eisenhower Avenue Metro stations. The 90-minute workshop sits inside a two-hour window, leaving time to settle in and get a beer first.

The series is the work of Emily Strupp, a mother of two in Montgomery County, Maryland, who runs Social Noodle, a social media and event planning business she started in January to promote small businesses and connect them to one another.

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3️⃣ Things to do in Alexandria this weekend: Aug. 7-9

The Old Town waterfront. (Denis Tangney Jr./Getty Images)

Virginia's sales tax holiday runs Friday through Sunday, and select Old Town stores are taking part.

The rest of the weekend fills in around it. Five farmers markets run across the three days, from Old Town at 7 a.m. Saturday to Four Mile Run on Sunday morning. Port City Brewing Company hosts its Port to Port Beer Festival at noon Saturday, and the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy runs performances throughout the weekend at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. It's the final weekend of shows for The Little Theatre of Alexandria's "Catch Me If You Can."

Here's everything on the calendar this weekend in Alexandria.

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In brief

Alexandria remains under a drought warning advisory after state regulators downgraded conditions elsewhere in Virginia. (The Brief)

A 21-year-old Alexandria man has been charged with first-degree murder while armed in a fatal shooting in Northwest Washington on Wednesday night. (The Brief)

The Office of Historic Alexandria will hold this year's Alexandria Forum on Sept. 18, a daylong program on the American Revolution in Alexandria and Northern Virginia. (The Brief)

The Alexandria Chamber of Commerce will unveil its legislative agenda for the coming year at its annual Legislative Reception on Sept. 10 at The Alexandrian. (The Brief)

Reminder: DASH is rolling out a new round of service changes starting Sunday, including expanded frequency on Line 32, schedule adjustments across six routes and a significant reshuffling of bus stops through Old Town North that will affect riders on Lines 30, 31 and 34. (The Brief)

Region

Some of the savings touted by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency are incorrect or lack supporting evidence. (The Brief)

Gov. Abigail Spanberger is stepping directly into the regulatory fight over the proposed $67 billion sale of Dominion Energy to Florida-based NextEra Energy. (The Brief)

Sen. Mark Warner is pushing legislation to give federal employees and contractors whose personal data was stolen in the 2015 Office of Personnel Management breach identity protection coverage for the rest of their lives, with the coverage they have now set to expire Sept. 30. (The Brief)

President Donald Trump's administration said Thursday it plans to overhaul Head Start. (The Brief)

Sports

The Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 7-3 on Thursday night for their fifth victory in six games. (The Brief)

Today's Schedule

6:45 p.m.: Cincinnati Reds at Washington Nationals
7:30 p.m.: Atlanta Dream at Washington Mystics

Today in Alexandria

⛅ Weather

Today: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 92 degrees. Heat index values as high as 100 degrees. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 73 degrees. Southwest wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

🌖 Sun, Moon, & Tide

Sunrise at 6:14 a.m., sunset at 8:11 p.m. 13 hours & 56 minutes of sun.

High tide at 3:07 a.m. & 3:53 p.m. Low tide at 10:24 a.m. & 9:50 p.m. The moon phase is a Waning Crescent.

🗓️ Things To Do

Various Hours: Tax-Free Weekend at select Old Town stores
6 p.m., 8 p.m., & 10 p.m.: Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy at The George Washington Masonic National Memorial
6:30 p.m.: Friday Night Run Club at Daniel O'Connell's
7 p.m.: Øra nØir Presents: Kapwa An Evening of Live Saxophone Quartet at the Athenaeum

🎶 Entertainment

219 Restaurant: Sol Roots at 9 p.m.
Alexandria Bier Garden: Karaoke at 9 p.m.
Cuates Grill: Karaoke at 10:15 p.m.
Del Ray Public House: Karaoke at 9 p.m.
Galactic Panther: Garrett Gleason and Hujiking at 7 p.m.
Hops N Shine: Live music at 6 p.m.
Hummingbird: Scott and Gregg - Days Between Jerry Garcia Tribute at 6:30 p.m.
Laporta’s Restaurant: Live music at 7:30 p.m.
Makeda Restaurant: Mesfin & Tsehay at 10 p.m.
Murphy’s Pub: Powers & McLaughlin & Pat Garvey at 9 p.m.
O’Shaughnessy’s Pub: Karaoke at 9 p.m.
Rock It Grill: Karaoke at 9:30 p.m.
The Birchmere: A Tribute to the Music of John Denver starring Jim Curry at 7:30 p.m.
The Garden Del Ray: Roxanne Cook at 5 p.m.
The Light Horse: Rebel Rose at 9:30 p.m.
The Little Theatre of Alexandria: Catch Me If You Can at 8 p.m.
The Study at Morrison House: Live Piano Music at 6:30 p.m.

🏛️ City & Schools

City Government: Open
Flag: Full Staff
Trash, Recycling, & Yard Waste Collection: On Time
6 a.m.: Chinquapin Pool open
7 a.m.: Minnie Howard Pool open
10 a.m.: Memorial Pool open
11 a.m.: Warwick Pool open
noon.: Old Town Pool open

City of Alexandria calendar

📚 Alexandria Library

All day: Alexandria Library: A Legacy of Service Since 1937 at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
10:15 a.m.: Baby Storytime at Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library
2 p.m.: Science Heroes: Digging It! at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
3 p.m.: Tai Chi at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
3:30 p.m.: Lego Competition at James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library

Alexandria Library calendar

Editor's Note: The listings above reflect information available at the time of publication. Schedules are subject to change.

On this day in Alexandria's history

On Aug. 7, 1900, the Alexandria Gazette reported that a four-legged chicken was residing in the city at the home of Washington Ewell, a 65-year-old African American farmer who resided at 1017 Cameron St. Although the newspaper considered the unusual fowl a “queer freak of nature,” the amazing bird was also described as “perfectly formed and remarkably active.” Interestingly, it was further confirmed that the yellow-bellied curiosity walked on only two legs, carrying the other two about one inch above the ground. (Historic Alexandria)

On Aug. 7, 1942, leaders from Trinity United Methodist Church and the local Masonic lodge, using George Washington’s trowel, set the cornerstone at Trinity’s new church in Beverly Hills. Bricks, furnishings and other materials from Trinity’s old church on Washington Street were used to construct the meeting house on Cameron Mills Road. (Historic Alexandria)