Hail and Farewell
The Growler notes with regret the passing last month of long-time resident Lee Roy Steele. Mr. Steele, who had just celebrated his 93rd birthday, was a deeply respected leader of the community and was renowned for his integrity, thoughtfulness and fairness. Mayor William D. Euille spoke at the funeral, held at the Community Praise Center Seventh Day Adventist Church on Braddock Road. Congressman James P. Moran -- a former Alexandria mayor -- was also in attendance. Mr. Steele will be greatly missed.
And a tip of the Growler's fuzzy ears to Dennis Whitestone, owner of Olde Towne Auto Body and Paint located at 500 N. Fayette Street. He is celebrating his 50th anniversary as an automotive specialist, and 25 years in the neighborhood. Interestingly, Mr. Whitestone's career started at Bradham Automative, another neighborhood institution.
Big Wheels Turning
On October 11, the Alexandria City Council voted unanimously to join the one-year old Capital Bikeshare network. Capital Bikeshare makes its distinctive red bicycles available to members for short-term rentals. Bikes can be picked up at any one of 110 current locations and dropped off at at any another site.
Six pilot Capital Bikeshare sites are planned for Alexandria, including one at the Braddock Road Metro station. City officials hope to have the sites up and running by the spring or summer of 2012.
Drive-By Paint Job
For those who thought the old James Bland housing project was scary enough already ...
The Growler's head swiveled yesterday while driving down Madison Street. Apparently ARHA has painted a number of empty public housing units black and orange, presumably in honor of the upcoming Halloween festivities.
17 comments:
Glad to see you back after a too-long absence!
Oh, THANK GOD you're back!!
No mention of the local murder on 1200 Wythe St?
Or the mysterious abduction of Lenny Harris?
We've missed your insight, wit and wisdom Growler!
So who paid how much to paint Bland orange and black? And Halloween is always "exciting" in our neck of the woods, so should we expect extra excitement given that ARHA is throwing a Halloween party?
No mention of the local murder on 1200 Wythe St?
Why spoil the Growler's return by again discussing the obvious. Bottom line: the more things change the more the neighborhood stays the same. Fits right in with last night's discussions of the new Jefferson Houston School.
Welcome back! Compliments to you and Becker for a well-written letter to the editor. Let's get the Route 1 problem resolved. No build it is.
"Compliments to you and Becker for a well-written letter to the editor."
Those of us who attended LeeRoy Steele's funeral also thank Ms. Becker for her wonderful words. She spoke so well and everyone enjoyed them so much.
Really, who is paying for the Bland Halloween party? Nightmare on Madison Street? Are they being ironic?
Seriously, I drove by this afternoon and the place was crawling with workers. Who is paying for this? Given that the taxpayers have repeatedly bailed out ARHA, I hope some private organization donated the money.
Not sure where the angst is coming from on the Halloween party, but to me it seems like a pretty good idea.
A party like that will (hopefully) keep troublemakers off the street and will allow for people who want to "celebrate" to do so in a single place, with plenty of supervision.
Do I think taxpayers should pay for it? No, but again, this whole charade of Resolution 830 is a Euielle-driven invention at this point so if its going to go on for eternity, things like Halloween parties funded by the taxpayer and/or private organizations at least help.
And also, in 8 years of Halloween here in Parker Gray, I have never had any incidents so not sure where all the concern is coming from.
On the Alexandria News website, there are a number of sponsors listed for the Haunted Halloween party at the rec center (part of which is the "Haunted Alley" on Madison St.) My guess is that the money came from the private sponsors.
I think it looks amazing, and what a fun way to use that space before the houses are demo'ed. I'm sure the kids will love it!
"Not sure where the angst is coming from on the Halloween party"
I think you answered your own question:
"Do I think taxpayers should pay for it? No"
"this whole charade of Resolution 830 is a Euielle-driven invention"
as far as "in 8 years of Halloween here in Parker Gray, I have never had any incidents"
I am aghast that anyone who has spent one Halloween can say this
"My guess is that the money came from the private sponsors."
That's funny because I found this:
http://apps.alexandriava.gov/Calendar/Detail.aspx?si=2270
"All of the evenings events are being co-sponsored by ARHA, Alexandria Recreation Department, ACPS"
Unfortunately, my experiences on Halloween have been much different than the previous poster, perhaps becasue I live right next to an ARHA property.
I am livid to hear that this party was paid for by City tax money. I suspect that b/c of this party, our Halloween will be even worse than in previous years given that it will no doubt attract even more chaos to the neighborhood than is usual on Halloween.
"I am livid this party was paid for by city tax money?
Get a life! I have no doubt Bland's three newly proposed multi family buildings are the source of future trouble but why complain about paying to contain ARHA residents on what is often a troublesome night. I applaud someone's initiative. The question is why does the city concentrate its poor rather than disperse them. Ms. Hamer's dilution theory sucks!
The "get a life" comment was not useful. Let's remember that we're on the same side.
By having the party, they didn't "contain the ARHA residents" as you put it, they invited more people to the neighborhood, causing, as we predicted, more headaches than normal.
The "get a life comment" ...
And your statistical measure of "more headaches than normal" is what?
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