Port City Dispatches: Potomac Yard Metro, Old Dominion Boat Club and Vola Lawson

Here are some of the week's important, interesting and fun stories concerning Alexandria and its people.

From Alexandria Patch sites:

City Examining Moving CSX Tracks to Accommodate Potomac Yard Metro Station — By Drew Hansen

What city officials are calling the most complicated project facing Alexandria appears to be getting even more problematic.

Waylaid by issues related to constructing the preferred option for a Potomac Yard Metro station, including encroachment onto National Park Service land along the George Washington Memorial Parkway and a scenic easement in the north end of Potomac Greens, Alexandria officials are now examining moving the existing CSX tracks through the area to accommodate a station.

The city has delayed its environmental impact study of three station alternatives—two at-grade stations east of the CSX tracks and a third aerial station to the west of the tracks—as it sorts through some of the issues facing the project.

More:

• Vola Lawson, Alexandria's First Female City Manager, Dies at 79 — By Drew Hansen
• Memorial Service Scheduled for Vola Lawson — By Drew Hansen
• Craig Patterson Convicted of Killing Julian Dawkins — By Drew Hansen
• Is Bill Euille Headed to Richmond? — By Drew Hansen
• No Charges in Fatal Pedestrian Accident — By Drew Hansen
• Police Seek Help Locating Suspect in Attempted Rape — By Drew Hansen
• Police Seek Help Locating Dog Wanted for Biting a City Resident — By Drew Hansen
• Krupicka Putting Legislative Focus on Education, Mental Health Services — By Drew Hansen
• Crews Repair Water Main on Mount Vernon Avenue — By Drew Hansen
• Fire Crews Respond to Blaze on Dewitt Avenue — By Drew Hansen
• Curtain Goes Up on Potomac Yard Park — By Drew Hansen
• McAuliffe Picks Brian Moran as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety — By Jason Spencer
• Update: Hank's Oyster Bar Remains Closed for Expansion —By Drew Hansen
• A Christmas Story' Tribute Takes Top Honors at Holiday Boat Parade of Lights — By Drew Hansen
• Who Has the Best Christmas Tree in Del Ray? — By Drew Hansen
• Letter to the Editor: When Outsiders Lobby — By Kathryn Papp
• Snow Day for Old Town — By Drew Hansen
• A Little Snow Goes a Long Way — By Drew Hansen

From elsewhere:

Duo Sees Land Swap as Possible Waterfront Compromise — By Derrick Perkins, Alexandria Times

Could solving the longstanding dispute over the Old Dominion Boat Club’s waterfront parking lot be as simple as a land swap? Christine Bernstein and Jody Manor think so.

The pair’s plan would see City Hall trade the weatherworn Beachcomber building for the entirety of the boat club’s property at the foot of King Street. The deal would let officials transform an area they describe as the crown jewel of a redeveloped waterfront.

At the same time, the private group would have the opportunity to build a new riverside clubhouse just a few blocks away.

“We were trying to think of a compromise, so we didn’t have so much civic acrimony,” said Bernstein, who serves alongside Manor on the city’s waterfront commission. “We felt that there had to be a better solution.”

More:

• Arlington Deputy Convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter — By Rachel Weiner, The Washington Post
• What’s 90 Feet Tall and Glows? The Christmas Tree on This Alexandria High-Rise — John Kelly, The Washington Post
• Patterson Guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter — By Erich Wagner, Alexandria Times
• Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille May Join McAuliffe Administration, Prompting Special Election — By Michael Lee Pope, Alexandria Gazette Packet
• Greed, Ghosts and Redemption in LTA’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ — By Jeanne Theismann, Alexandria Gazette Packet
• Vola Lawson Dies at 79 — By Jeanne Theismann, Alexandria Gazette Packet
• Wakefield Boys’ Basketball Beats T.C. in Memorial Game — By Jon Roetman, Alexandria Gazette Packet
• Alexandria Grapples With Increasing Debt, But Some Say It's Worth It — By Michael Pope
• Alexandria Church Embraces Musical Tradition — Emily Berman, WAMU.org
• Coach Julius “Doc” Moultrie Retires After 43 Years As Volunteer Coach — AlexandriaNews.Org
• Haynes makes them count vs. T.C. — By Tariq Lee, The Washington Post