Archive for 'Our View'

Poor outreach does not lead to better engagement

Poor outreach does not lead to better engagement

After months of controversy, accusations and subtle — and occasionally not-so-subtle — insults surrounding the waterfront and then Beauregard corridor redevelopment plans, it’s heartening to see City Hall attempting to bridge the divide with What’s Next [...]

Our View: We take time to give thanks

Our View: We take time to give thanks

At this time of year, our thoughts turn to gathering with friends and family, to pilgrims and harvests, and to Thanksgiving dinner. We stuff ourselves, swap stories, watch college football and, hopefully, reflect on those things [...]

Editorial: Alexandria Times endorses school board candidates

Editorial: Alexandria Times endorses school board candidates

Alexandria Times endorses slate of school board candidates  Alexandria City Public Schools seems perpetually at the crossroads, and this year is no different, which makes selecting the next school board all the more important. Think about [...]

OUR VIEW | Reed Avenue affordable housing project a step in the right direction

OUR VIEW | Reed Avenue affordable housing project a step in the right direction

Kudos to City Council for approving a $250,000 loan to an Arlington non-profit dedicated to building affordable housing. The loan will help AHC Inc. pay for architectural and engineering work and environmental studies at a site [...]

Cooperation, not divisiveness, sealed GenOn’s fate

More than a decade ago, a pair of residents set about proving what everybody already knew: Pollution from north Old Town’s GenOn plant put the lives of neighbors at risk. Elizabeth Chimento and Poul Hertel — [...]

Editorial: Playing softball with developers

Editorial: Playing softball with developers

Developers want to exceed the density allowed in the West End’s Beauregard neighborhood by building 6,500 new apartments, condos and houses, and City Hall seems bent on realizing their desires. If it passed today, the plan [...]

Editorial: Buy in to local shopping

Editorial: Buy in to local shopping

Alexandria’s independent bookstores, like the ones highlighted on page 5, are hopeful reminders of local entrepreneurial spirit. The Book Bank is 11 years old, while Already Read Used Books opened in 2006; both have survived and [...]

Editorial: New budget ideas squash status quo

Editorial: New budget ideas squash status quo

Residents, community leaders, elected officials and local media will put the newly proposed budget under a microscope over the next several months. But as a whole the spending plan, presented Tuesday night by relatively new Alexandria [...]

Editorial: Police must be public informants

Editorial: Police must be public informants

The Alexandria Police Department responded with serious force to a call of a gunshot fired in broad daylight in Old Town last week. Roads were closed and a special operations unit guarded the scene as heavily [...]

Editorial: Animal control officers: in harm’s way

Editorial: Animal control officers: in harm’s way

Alexandria’s police officers do an excellent job of keeping city residents safe from crime — in 2010, city crime reached a 45-year low. Our police officers are well-trained, well-equipped and normally on the scene quickly if [...]