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All results / Stories / Michael Lee Pope

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Alexandria Leaders Search for Alternative to Alternative B

City officials to reconfigure design for Potomac Yard Metro station.

For years, city officials and Deleware-based CPYR have been planning to build a Metro station known as Alternative B — a design that would allow direct access from land owned by the developer to a new Metro station.

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New Superintendent Hopes to Cut the Numbers of Suspensions in Half

Black male students suspended at disproportionate rates.

Less than a month into office, new Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Alvin Crawley is taking on the challenge of reducing the number of suspensions by half.

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Alexandria School Board Standing By Embattled Superintendent

Members regret what happened, but feel confident superintendent took decisive action.

Members of the Alexandria School Board are standing by embattled school superintendent Morton Sherman, despite calls for him to step down in the wake of a scathing auditor's report.

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Silence of the Court: Virginia Supreme Court Denies Access to Audio Recordings

Lack of transparency is explained as effort to shield personal conversations.

The Virginia Supreme Court operates in silence, denying public access to audio recordings of its oral arguments.

May 14: Council Notebook

Council Notebook briefs.

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Uncertainty Haunts Jefferson-Houston Groundbreaking

Questions linger as officials prepare ceremonial shovels.

City leaders and school officials are about to break out the ceremonial shovels and turn the earth at Jefferson-Houston School, the long-troubled facility near the King Street Metro station.

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Reform Is in the Bag

City Council to consider new five-cent tax for each plastic bag.

Alexandria started pressing for a plastic bag tax when George W. Bush was in the White House and Virginia was a red state. Now the years of advocacy have finally paid off, and state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-30) has been able to pass a bill giving City Hall authority to impose a five-cent tax on each and every plastic bag that's used in grocery stores and convenience stores.

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Nightmare on Green Street?

Neighbors say house is a nuisance; city officials say their hands are tied.

The 800 block of Green Street is tucked away in a quiet part of Old Town, a few blocks west of Washington Street where spring flowers are in bloom and neighbors know each other by name. Except Michael Wargo. Property records say he purchased 813 Green St. in 1989 for $263,000. But neighbors say he hasn't lived in the house for 12 years, and they are concerned that the house is a firetrap that's attracting wild animals and growing concern.

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For Congressional Candidates, No Common Ground on Common Core

Democrats in Virginia's 8th Congressional District divided on national education standards.

Should American schools share national standards? That's a question that divides the 10 Democrats seeking to replace longtime U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-8), who is retiring after 24 years in the House of Representatives. During a recent candidates forum, the Democrats were asked if they support the Common Core State Standards Initiative, two candidates said they disagreed and eight candidates said they agreed.

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Morton Sherman Era Draws to Dramatic Close at Alexandria City Public Schools

Controversial superintendent oversaw school system during tumultuous five-year term.

As members of the Alexandria School Board were behind closed doors in a one-hour executive session last week, Glenn Hopkins was thumbing through a draft report he was preparing to the release from the Student Achievement Advisory Committee.

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City Leaders Consider Eminent Domain if Boat Club Rejects Final Compromise

Eight years of negotiation coming to a dramatic conclusion on the waterfront.

City officials and elected leaders are considering using the power of eminent domain to accomplish its goals on the waterfront if members of the Old Dominion Boat Club reject their latest compromise.

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Alexandria Leaders Consider Lawsuit Challenging Takeover of Long-Troubled School

Unless courts intervene, new statewide division will take control of Jefferson-Houston next year.

Is Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell's effort to take over Jefferson-Houston School constitutional?

Should Voters Consider Streetcar?

Two candidates propose referendum, but path to ballot remains unclear.

Should voters consider the fate of the controversial $310 million streetcar on Columbia Pike? That's what two candidates are proposing, although the path from their idea to the ballot box remains unclear, and the idea has resistance among people who support the initiative. The debate comes at a time when County Manager Barbara Donnellan prepares to propose her capital improvement program for fiscal years 2015 to 2024, a 10-year spending plan that will include the first major round of funding for the Columbia Pike Streetcar.

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Seaport Foundation Without a Seaport?

Waterfront plan leaves nonprofit homeless, for now.

A sense of uneasiness fills Randall Smith when he starts talking about the future of the Seaport Foundation, the nonprofit that taught him how to build boats. One recent afternoon found him scarfing a board so that it has the right ratio to be part of a kit that the nonprofit sells for people to make a kind of boat known as a Bevin's Skiff. By this time next year, the nonprofit will have to move out of this building, which will be demolished as part of the waterfront plan.

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Alone on the Road: 7 out of 10 Northern Virginia Workers Use Single-Occupancy Vehicles

Study raises concerns about amount of time drivers spend commuting alone.

Despite the decades-long war against the single-occupancy vehicle, seven out of 10 workers in Northern Virginia drive to work alone every workday.

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Two Hour Vendors: Arlington County Doubles Time Allowed for Food Trucks

One-hour restriction spiked; expanding vending zones is next on the menu.

Every hour, food-truck vendor Amir Mohammed would have to shut down his propane tank, and get behind the wheel of Baba's Big Bite food truck to find a new parking space.

Health Advisory Committee to Consider Policy of Withholding Recess as Punishment

Should the last-resort punishment be scuttled?

Should students be punished by having their recess time revoked?

Arlington: Sparring over Issues on Streetcar Proposal

Democrat Alan Howze issued a harsh attack against incumbent County Board member John Vihstadt last week, accusing him of using opposition to the proposed $333 million streetcar proposal on Columbia Pike as a "wedge issue" to score "political points" in a way that is "dividing our community." All of these attacks came before Howze outlined a five-point plan to improve the controversial project.

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Virginia at a Crossroads

Voters to determine direction of state government.

Two years ago, Democrats seized control of the General Assembly for the first time in a generation. Now Republicans are hoping this is their moment to "Take Back Virginia," the name of a recent rally in support of the GOP statewide ticket that featured a call-in appearance from former President Donald Trump, who used the opportunity to repeat baseless claims about widespread election fraud.

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Federal Officials Audit T.C. Williams to Follow $6 Million in Federal Funds

Three-year program dubbed school 'persistently lowest achieving.'

For two days this week, a team of federal officials from the U.S. Department of Education were in Alexandria to follow the money.