Community Corner
Port City Dispatches: Old Dominion Boat Club, Del Ray Pizzeria Benefit Dinner, Royal Street Robbery, Why Not? and Bikeshare
A look back at the week's biggest stories concerning Alexandria.
Here are some of the week's important, interesting and fun stories concerning Alexandria and its people.
From Alexandria Patch sites:
Alexandria Officials Hope for Compromise But Unwilling to Drop Eminent Domain in Boat Club Feud — By Drew Hansen
Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Alexandria will begin steps to implement the process of eminent domain should a 90-day negotiation period with the Old Dominion Boat Club over its parking lot not yield a resolution, city leaders decided Tuesday night.
Council approved the measure by 6-1 vote following a lengthy hearing in which ODBC members urged city leaders to keep negotiating and remove consideration of eminent domain in implementing a waterfront redevelopment plan that seeks connectivity and public access along the Potomac River's shore.
Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Mayor Bill Euille has called the boat club’s fenced-in lot located near the foot of King Street “the missing link” to the city’s waterfront plan. The boat club and city officials have been negotiating throughout this year. Euille brought eminent domain back to the table in October when he scheduled Tuesday's hearing.
Vice Mayor Allison Silberberg cast the lone dissenting vote Tuesday night. When her motion to separate eminent domain from the proceedings failed, ODBC members stormed out of the chamber. Some yelled “dog-and-pony show” and “spend our money wisely” during their exit.
“After having sat through three-and-a-half-hour meeting where only three or four people were in favor of eminent domain out of more than 60 speakers, council immediately defaulted into a position that apparently didn’t take into account what the speakers had to say,” ODBC President Miles Holtzman said. “They seem to want to have their cake and eat it too, meaning they want to be perceived as conciliatory while not giving up the hammer of eminent domain. We can only hope as we go forward they can take what was said tonight into account.”
More:
- T.C. Williams Football Featured on SI.com — By Drew Hansen
- Former Alexandria Candidate Found Not Guilty of Impersonating a Law Enforcement Officer — By Drew Hansen
- Thomas J. Fannon, President of Fannon and Sons, Dies at 83 — By Drew Hansen
- Del Ray Pizzeria Hosting Benefit Dinner for Slain Family Member — By Drew Hansen
- Alexandria Police Investigating Armed Robbery at Royal Street Safeway — By Drew Hansen
- New World Record Set in Alexandria — By Drew Hansen
- The Day JFK Came to Del Ray — By Drew Hansen
- Capital Bikeshare Stations Coming to Del Ray this Winter — By Drew Hansen
- Take the Holiday Trolley to Mount Vernon — By Drew Hansen
- 2013 Alexandria Turkey Trot: Registration Filling Up, Volunteers Needed — By Drew Hansen
- Why Not? Celebrating 50 Years on King Street — By Drew Hansen
- Pay-By-Phone Parking Coming to Alexandria Dec. 9 — By Drew Hansen
- Florida Armed Robbery Suspect Captured In Alexandria — By Jane Lemons
- Alexandria Studying Expansion of Chinquapin Rec Center Aquatics Facilities — By Drew Hansen
From elsewhere:
Former T.C. Teacher Admits Making Sexual Advances Toward Students — By Erich Wagner, Alexandria Times
Stephen Miarer, a former T.C. Williams teacher embroiled in allegations that he had inappropriate relationships with female students, pleaded guilty Nov. 2 to related charges.
Alexandria City Public Schools removed Miarer from his position when the allegations became public in June, but he was already set to resign at the end of the school year. As such, his termination was immediate.
Indicted in September, Miarer pleaded guilty to two counts of taking indecent liberties with students younger than 18. According to the indictment, Miarer proposed sexual acts to two female students at different times in 2012: one during the spring and another late last year.
He will be sentenced in January.
More:
- Negotiations for Boat Club Property to Continue — By Derrick Perkins, Alexandria Times
- Alexandria City Council Issues 90-Day Eminent Domain Ultimatum to Boat Club — By Michael Lee Pope, Alexandria Gazette Packet
- Alexandria, Boat Club to Resume Talks on Riverfront Parking Lot for 90 Days — By Pat Sullivan, The Washington Post
- New Job For Former U.S. Attorney in Virginia — By Matt Zapotosky, The Washington Post
- Missing Dog Houdini Lives Up to His Name —By Pat Sullivan, The Washington Post
- An Affordable Debate — By Derrick Perkins, Alexandria Times
- St. Joseph’s Leadership Wary of Redevelopment Project — By Anna Harris, Alexandria Times
- TWU, Cabbies Slam Recommended Taxi Regulations — By Erich Wagner, Alexandria Times
- Decline in Sales Tax Threatens Ability of Local Governments to Balance Books — My Michael Lee Pope, Alexandria Gazette Packet
- Dancing into the Sunset: After 35 Years, Kathy Harty Gray and Her Dance Company Are Taking a Bow — By Amber Healy, Alexandria Gazette Packet
- Robin Wallin Named Virginia’s School Nurse Administrator Of The Year — AlexandriaNews.Org
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.