All results / Stories / Michael Lee Pope
Aquatics Center On the Ballot
State-of-the-art facility to be considered by voters this fall.
When they head to the polls this November, voters may be thinking of Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps.
Redrawing the Elementary School Poverty Map in Arlington
Adding two new elementary schools could create opportunity for more diversity.
When Linley Mancilla was preparing to send her child to elementary school, she looked at the boundary map and examined the demographics. Then she considered her options. Ultimately, she decided against sending her child to the local neighborhood school, Carlin Springs Elementary.
Democrats Sweep Alexandria City Election
Moving local elections from May to November helped solidify one-party rule.
Three years ago, “Plunkee the Elephant” helped an independent and a Republican unseat two incumbent Democrats on the Alexandria City Council.
Artist Loses Freedmen’s Cemetery Commission Because He Used Religious Symbols
Traditional African symbols prompted rejection of winning design.
The Contraband and Freedmen’s Cemetery is no stranger to controversy. Now a new conflict has emerged at the final resting place for dozens of former slaves.
Boat Club, City Strike Deal
Land-swap concludes decades of feuding between the two organizations.
The feud between the Boat Club and the city dates back for decades, a conflict that involved the city threatening the use of eminent domain and the Boat Club winning a case against the city at the Virginia Supreme Court.
Week in Alexandria
Rape charge dropped.
Commonwealth's Attorney Bryan Porter won't say why he asked General District Court Judge Donald Haddock to drop the charge of rape against former Alexandria Deputy Sheriff Bryant Duane Pegues, who was fired from his job after evidence emerged that he had sex with an inmate at the city jail last month.
May 7: Week in Alexandria
The week of May 7 in brief.
House Historian
Family and friends remember Ruth Lincoln Kaye.
Alexandria's premiere house historian, a woman who pioneered the industry and fiercely protected her research, died April 30. She was 95. "She had a curious and inquisitive mind," recalled her son, Arthur Lincoln Kaye. Kaye was known throughout the city as a sort of walking history book, a woman who possessed an extensive institutional memory and a razor-sharp wit.
The Fighter
Longtime congressman celebrated by Alexandria Democrats.
During his first run for Congress, then-Mayor Jim Moran assembled a campaign team that was hungry to oust incumbent Republican Stan Parris. Mame Reiley ran the operation, which included a young communications consultant named Joe Trippi. As the race headed toward Election Day, Reiley and Trippi became concerned that Moran's campaign signs kept disappearing from Eisenhower Avenue. So they set up a sting operation with a video camera to catch the culprit, who turned out to be Jim Moran.
Happyland on Edge: Quiet Suburban Neighborhood Rocked by Unsolved Murders
Residents worried that a serial killer may be on the loose.
The late Ellen Pickering used to call North Ridge "Happyland," a quiet suburban stretch of the city where neighbors knew each other and the most shocking crime that happens is when someone's car is broken into.
Wexton to Take on Comstock
Moderate state senator did not get pulled to the left in primary.
State Sen. Jennifer Wexton (D-33) made a name for herself in Northern Virginia as a tough-as-nails prosecutor, including one case that grabbed national headlines involving a woman who persuaded her boyfriend to kill her father with a samurai sword. During her campaign for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, she never lost that sense of law-and-order grit, refusing to be pulled to the left as other candidates were calling for President Trump to be impeached.
Naked Truth About Strip Searches at Traffic Stops
Northern Virginia Democrat advocates for strip searches to combat opioid crisis.
Northern Virginia Democrats Spoiling for a Fight Against Republican Incumbents
13 first-time candidates ready to take on incumbents across the region.
He may be taking the summer off from his role as host of the Daily Show, but Jon Stewart is playing an important role in the Democrats’ campaign for the House of Delegates this fall.
Alexandria City Council Poised to Rezone Waterfront
City manager declines to talk about developers interested in the waterfront.
Can City Manager Rashad Young name any developer who is interested in the waterfront?
Black, Male and Arrested in Alexandria
Alexandria’s war on drugs hits black males hardest.
According to the Alexandria Police Department, 64 percent of people arrested in Alexandria for drug arrests last year were African American. Almost half of those arrests were Black males.
Northern Virginia Poised to Lose Influence
Democratic primary might shift power to Hampton Roads.
Democratic primary might shift power to Hampton Roads.
Rethinking Juvenile Justice
Alexandria detention facility may be consolidated as part of statewide effort.
The Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center has 70 beds with an average population of 12 juveniles.
Griffin’s Final Budget
Outgoing county executive proposes 6.1 percent budget increase compared to last year.
Appearing before members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for the last time, outgoing county executive Anthony Griffin had the luxury of taking the long view. When considering the challenges that currently confront the county, Griffin reminded the elected officials that it wasn’t all that long ago that Fairfax County has essentially a rural backwater of the capital.
Plan Heads to Rocky Conclusion
Supporters have votes to pass plan, but opponents are plotting final stand.
The first rule in politics is knowing how to count. By almost any standard, that means that a controversial proposal to allow hotels and increase density at three properties on the waterfront is likely headed for approval.
New Book Chronicles African-American History in Alexandria
Story is told through narrative of 63 biographical sketches.
Alexandria currently has its first black mayor, its first black city manager, its first black city attorney, its first black Circuit Court judge and its first black police chief — not to mention the first black president in the White House. But the strains of race relations continue to haunt the city.