Table of Contents
Good morning, Alexandria.
City Council holds its first regular legislative meeting since June 23 on Tuesday, and the Flock cameras are on the docket. It's the first time the license plate reader program has been scheduled for a council report since the argument over it flared up in August. Nothing has been posted with the agenda, so what the city manager plans to say isn't public yet.
Also today: a defense contractor opened a classified analytics lab on North Beauregard, a year after promising 500 Alexandria jobs in exchange for public money. And Kiwi Kuisine is reopening its Eisenhower Avenue pie shop next month with a pie-eating contest and mini sheep hidden around the property.
Here's what you need to know for Thursday, Sept. 3.
1️⃣ Council returns from recess Tuesday with Flock camera update, tax bill for furloughed federal workers
City Council is back Tuesday for its first real meeting since June 23, and the Flock cameras are on the docket. City Manager James Parajon is giving four reports, one of them on the license plate reader program. It's the first time council has scheduled a report on it since the argument flared up again in August. None of the four has any material posted yet, so nobody knows what he's going to say.
There's also an ordinance that matters if you work for (or did work for) the federal government. It would let the city push back the personal property tax due date for employees furloughed in a shutdown, and for essential workers going without pay. Finance Director Kevin Greenlief wrote that staff brought it forward ahead of the Oct. 5 deadline. During the last shutdown, he said, his department set up about 200 payment plans.
The two Russell Road right-of-way vacations council approved in April come back for implementing ordinances, with the lines shifted by a few square feet after final surveys. And council fills 15 board and commission seats, including two on the Independent Community Policing Review Board — which is still waiting on the policing auditor's supplemental findings in the Allan F. Tucker II case.
2️⃣ SPA opens classified analytics lab at Alexandria headquarters
Systems Planning & Analysis has opened a classified analytics lab at its West End headquarters, part of the expansion the defense contractor announced last September. The Advanced Analytics Lab takes up 14,400 square feet at 2001 N. Beauregard St., is air-gapped and cleared to the SECRET level, and holds 78 workstations — about 40 of them for clients. It opened in the first quarter of this year. The space used to be ordinary offices, and the analytical work now happening there had been scattered around the building.
The expansion came with commitments. At a ceremony last Sept. 11 attended by then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Mayor Alyia Gaskins, SPA said it would invest $46.9 million across Northern Virginia and create 1,200 jobs over five years — about 500 of them in Alexandria. The company got a $9.2 million state grant, and the city agreed to matching grants from the Alexandria Investment Fund, the first time Alexandria proposed using that fund to incentivize job creation.
I asked how many of those Alexandria jobs have been filled. Spokeswoman Genesis Eldredge said SPA is "on target to meet our hiring goals in Alexandria" and doesn't disclose employee numbers for individual offices.
3️⃣ Kiwi Kuisine will reopen its Eisenhower Avenue pie shop with a ribbon-cutting and a pie-eating contest
Kiwi Kuisine is reopening its pie shop at 4548 Eisenhower Ave. with a free public event Oct. 10, marking 20 years of making New Zealand-style pies in the Washington area. The morning runs 10 a.m. to noon: ribbon-cutting at 10:30 with a city proclamation, pie-eating contest at 11 with adult and kids' divisions, and tastings throughout.
There's also a pie walk, which is a cakewalk with pies, plus face painting, a photo backdrop with the shop's sheep, and mini sheep hidden around the event for people to find.
Bert "Ram" Todd started the business after moving here and wanting the pies he grew up on in New Zealand. Kiwi Kuisine makes meat, sweet and vegetable pies, and sells them at the Old Town Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, at Misha's Coffee, and at Whole Foods and Balducci's around the region. The shop is normally open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5.
In brief
The city's Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities will launch a campaign called "Where You Belong" on Sept. 18, starting at the William Ramsay Recreation Center on the West End. (The Brief)
A customer has filed a civil rights complaint against an Old Town permanent makeup studio, saying she was refused service because she is Israeli-American. Jessica Walton's complaint asks the Virginia Office of Civil Rights to investigate her Aug. 13 visit to Karimi Permanent Makeup. Owner Fatana Karimi said in a video she posted afterward that she asked Walton to leave because she wouldn't stop discussing Middle East politics, and that Walton's nationality wasn't the reason. Fox 5 was unable to reach Karimi Wednesday. (Fox 5 DC)
The structural frame is complete at the new George Mason Elementary School. School Board Chair Christopher Harris, Acting Superintendent Grace Taylor, Mayor Alyia Gaskins and members of the board, City Council and project team signed the final steel beam Wednesday before it was set in place. (ACPS/Facebook)
The athletic fields at Alexandria City High School's Minnie Howard campus are now officially the Kerry J. Donley Athletic Field Complex. Family, friends and city and school leaders gathered Tuesday evening to dedicate the space, honoring the late mayor who later served as the division's athletic director and sent five daughters through ACPS. (ACPS/Facebook)
RiverRenew has kept 52 million gallons of combined sewage out of the Potomac and its tributaries since going operational June 29, along with more than 3 tons of trash and debris, AlexRenew said in its newsletter this week. (AlexRenew)
Hispanic Heritage Month runs Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Alexandria events are already underway: Art with Julie makes banderitas at Burke Branch this afternoon, Del Ray Artisans opens "Celebrating Hispanic Heritage: Voices Through Visuals" on Friday evening, and Patrick Henry Recreation Center holds its Hispanic Heritage Celebration on Oct. 10. Visit Alexandria is pointing visitors to Arlandria-Chirilagua, the neighborhood named in part for the Salvadoran municipality many residents' families came from. (Visit Alexandria)
The Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship is open to high school seniors through Nov. 12, with 500 four-year awards ranging from $1,000 to $7,500 a year. No Elks connection required, and there's no fee to apply. (Alexandria Elks Lodge)
Sports
Titans girls volleyball lost 3-2 at South County on Wednesday, with the JV and freshman teams also falling 2-0. The JV football team beat Potomac Senior 35-14 at home. (AC Titans)
Ronald Acuña Jr. hit a three-run homer to become the fastest player in major league history to reach 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-0 on Wednesday. (The Brief)
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Today in Alexandria
⛅ Weather
Today: Isolated showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Increasing clouds, with a high near 94 degrees. Heat index values as high as 101 degrees. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 8 mph in the morning. The chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch, except higher amounts are possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 p.m., then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 76 degrees. West wind around 6 mph. The chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch are possible.
🌖 Sun, Moon, & Tide
Sunrise at 6:39 a.m., sunset at 7:35 p.m. 12 hours & 56 minutes of sun.
High tide at 12:49 a.m. & 1:25 p.m. Low tide at 7:59 a.m. & 7:34 p.m. The moon phase is a Waning Gibbous.
🗓️ Things To Do
- 3 p.m.: Old Town North Farmers’ Market at 901 North Royal St.
🎶 Entertainment
- 219 Restaurant: Live music (to be announced) at 9 p.m.
- Alexandria Bier Garden: Trivia at 7 p.m.
- Aslin ALX: Trivia at 7 p.m.
- Atlas ALX: Bingo at 7 p.m.
- Evening Star Cafe: The Walkaways at 8:30 p.m.
- Galactic Panther: Dexterity, Saving Throw, and Ungendered Scout at 6:30 p.m.
- Hops N Shine: Trivia at 6:30 p.m.
- Laporta’s Restaurant: Ken Kilpatrick Trio at 6 p.m.
- Lena's: Dave Manley & Mauricio Miranda at Havana 151 at 6 p.m.
- Lost Boy Cider: Trivia at 7 p.m.
- Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub: Rook Richards & Pat Carroll at 8:30 p.m.
- Rock It Grill: Karaoke at 9:30 p.m.
- The Birchmere: The Wailin' Jennys at 7:30 p.m.
- The Little Theatre of Alexandria: Blithe Spirit at 8 p.m.
- The Study at Morrison House: Live Piano Music at 6 p.m.
🏛️ City & Schools
City Gov.: Open | Flag: Full Staff | Trash, Recycling, & Yard Waste: On Time
- 7 a.m.: Old Town Pool open
- 4 p.m.: Minnie Howard Pool open
- 4:30 p.m.: Warwick Pool open
- 4:30 p.m.: Commission on Aging civic engagement and economic committee monthly meeting at Del Pepper Community Resource Center
- 5 p.m.: Historic Happy Hour at Rampart's Restaurant
- 6:30 p.m.: Community Services Board meeting at Del Pepper Community Resource Center
- 6:45 p.m.: Housing Affordability Advisory Committee monthly meeting at Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center
📚 Alexandria Library
- 10 a.m.: English Language Learning 1 Workshop — Beginner Conversation at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
- 10 a.m.: Stories and Songs at James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library
- 11 a.m.: Line Dancing 101 at Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library
- 11:15 a.m.: Stories and Songs at James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library
- Noon: Line Dancing 201 at Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library
- 1:15 p.m.: Baby Bounce at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
- 1:30 p.m.: Thursday Afternoon Book Discussion — "The Rose Code" by Kate Quinn at James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library
- 2 p.m.: Art with Julie — Banderitas at Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library
- 3 p.m.: Carefull Knit & Crochet — America250 at Kate Waller Barrett Branch Library
- 4 p.m.: Preschool Storytime at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
- 6 p.m.: Dungeons and Dragons Teen Group at Kate Waller Barrett Branch Library
- 6 p.m.: Amplifying Teen Voices with The CHAT community unveiling at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
- 6 p.m.: Nerdy Knotters at James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library
⚾ Sports
D.C. Sports
- No games are scheduled.
ACHS Titans
- 7 p.m.: Football (boys) at Potomac Senior
- Varsity only. Full schedule, including JV and freshman.
Ryan Belmore
On this day in Alexandria's history
Nothing notable today; check back tomorrow.
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Publisher: Ryan Belmore, an Alexandria resident, journalist, and neighbor. Send news, tips, and feedback to ryan@alexandriabrief.com.
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