Results tagged “alexandria>”

If two sex shops are able to remain open in the relatively small Old Town Alexandria commercial district, someone must enjoy patronizing them. Yet Alexandria city planners proposed to ban further sex shops from opening in the historic district, according to ABC7. That decision that would have grandfathered in Le Tache but forced the more recently opened Lotus Blooms to close. Both stores are located on King Street. (Those links are potentially NSFW, especially if you work in Old Town Alexandria.)

Former Alexandria Police Chief David Baker is back in the news this week, thanks to agreeing to appear in this PSA for the DUICheckpoint campaign, a joint effort from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation. You'll recall that Baker retired from his position shortly before pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated and serving five days in jail.

There's nothing classy about driving drunk, perhaps especially when you're the Chief of Police. But former Alexandria Police Chief David Baker has at least managed to handle the aftermath of his recent DUI arrest with a healthy amount of respect for the law. After retiring from his position almost immediately following his arrest, Baker today pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, and will serve five days in jail. Baker will also lose his driver's license for a year, pay a $300 fine and attend the county's Alcohol Safety Action Program for DUI offenders. From the statement Baker released after his court hearing, via the Post: "I offer no excuses for my bad decisions and behavior because there are none. And I am, and will be, forever haunted by the personal embarrassment and humiliation I caused to those who have supported, mentored and guided me through my personal life and long and rewarding public safety career."

Remember those fancy renderings of Nationals Park, the ones which showed it as a center of lively activity from both the land and the river? While the development freeze on the land side has been well documented, we were recently wondering about what's been going on with the plans to make the riverside a fun place to hang out too.

Alexandria Police Chief David P. Baker resigned this afternoon, everyone in town is reporting. Baker's decision comes amid growing criticism due to his arrest over the weekend on DUI charges, after causing a car accident in Arlington that injured at least one person. In a letter to his entire department, Baker, 58, called the resignation a "retirement."

It's one thing for the Post to cover Old Town Alexandria's newest and sexiest store -- after all, it's local news. But yesterday the New York Times took the story national, giving Le Tache a spotlight it may never have expected. Both the Post and the Times tell the story of how landlord Michael Zarlenga, frustrated with a denial of permits to expand his hunting and fishing business, closed down his own store and instead rented out the prime King Street property to Le Tache, a couples boutique (sex shop to the rest of us). Now city officials are falling over themselves to decry Old Town's newest and naughtiest business, while Le Tache and Zarlenga seem to be reveling in all the attention.

Perhaps it’s time to change up the old routine. Maybe, instead of coming home from work and snuggling up on the couch with your block of aged cheddar, smoked gouda, a knife, and a box of Triscuits, it’s time to take your cheese habit to a more refined setting.

Mired in layers of red tape since its purchase in March 2007, Fontaine Caffe and Crêperie has been the fascination of Kyong Yi, formerly of Teatro Goldoni and Galileo, and her sister Sunyi stemming from a trip to Vienna, Austria. The crêperie, which opened in late January, now sports a bright red sign, easily spotted from its location just off of King Street’s busy thoroughfare.

Yesterday the Examiner reported that Alexandria officials are hoping to force interested developers to help foot the bill for two new infill Metro stations in the growing Potomac Yard and Eisenhower Avenue corridor areas.

Via USA Today's Pop Candy blog, Amazon.com has put out a list of what they're calling the country's "Most Romantic Cities" (just in time for Valentine's Day promotional product tie-ins!) -- except by "most romantic" they actually appear to mean "most in need of more romance". The list corresponds to the web site's top locations for sales of romance novels, relationship and sex books. Two Northern Virginia cities in the metro area made the top ten, with Alexandria coming out tops in the nation for potentially embarrassing reading habits.