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ALEXANDRIA, Va (7News) — Mayor Alyia Gaskins launched the Fresh Start Initiative on Thursday, thanks to a $1 million donation from Alfred Street Baptist Church to prevent evictions and strengthen long-term financial stability for families living in public housing, according to a statement on Thursday.

This comes after the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) revealed that they have lost $1 million in unpaid rent over their 445 public housing units due to increased cost of living, challenges in the DMV regional job market, and lingering economic effects of the recent global pandemic.

“This is about more than clearing balances — it’s about creating pathways to stability,” said Mayor Gaskins in a statement. “Housing affordability continues to be one of the most pressing challenges facing our city. Through the Interfaith Council, we are harnessing the moral leadership and generosity of our faith community to prevent displacement while also investing in financial literacy and long-term economic security.”

READ MORE | Fallen trees, power outages across the DMV after strong storms in the region

Mayor Gaskins highlighted that rent payment is still required, and that these efforts are simply to reduce some stress for families at risk of eviction and homelessness.

“Housing stability is foundational to thriving families and thriving communities. At Alfred Street Baptist Church, we believe faith must be lived out in tangible ways and supporting The Fresh Start Initiative alongside the City and Mayor Gaskins is our way of putting love into action," said Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley, the senior pastor of the church in a statement. "Our hope is that this moment becomes a new beginning — not just financially, but for the long-term stability and well-being of families throughout our city.”

The partnership will operate through formal agreements outlining roles, oversight, and measurable outcomes, according to the statement. Local nonprofit ACT for Alexandria will manage an independent charitable fund for the Fresh Start Initiative and disburse the money to participating families.

Additional institutions are exploring commitments and are expected to join throughout the month of March. Interested partners include the Shiloh Baptist Church of Alexandria, Groveton Baptist Church and Agudas Achim Congregation.

Amazon said Tuesday it is rolling out faster delivery services in hundreds of U.S. cities, including some in Virginia, on a variety of items typically found at supercenters.

Amazon said customers in more than 2,000 cities, towns, and suburban areas can choose one- or three-hour delivery on more than 90,000 items. The service isn’t free: Amazon Prime members will pay $9.99 for one-hour delivery and $4.99 for three-hour delivery; the cost to nonmembers is $19.99 and $14.99, respectively.

Amazon said the one-hour service is available in major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., as well as in smaller cities such as Des Moines, Iowa; Boise, Idaho; and American Fork, Utah. Three-hour service is offered in more than 2,000 cities and towns, including large, mid-size, and small cities, as well as surrounding suburbs like Cornwall, Pennsylvania; Harrah, Oklahoma; and Arabi, Louisiana.

To find out if expedited delivery service is available where you live, go to the “get it fast” tab on Amazon.

The Seattle-based behemoth said customers can browse items typically found at a big box supercenter without having to leave their homes.

“We saw an opportunity to use our unique operational expertise and delivery network to help make customers’ lives a little easier while unlocking even more value for Prime members,” Udit Madan, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, said in a statement.

Amazon launched its Prime membership service in 2005, giving members two-day delivery on about a million items, primarily CDs, DVDs and books. Now, Prime members can choose from more than 300 million items across 35 categories, many of them available for same-day or next-day delivery.

“We’re excited to say that two decades after Prime first launched, we’re still innovating to make delivery even faster, while maintaining the same everyday low prices and vast selection Amazon is known for,” Madan said

The company has used robotics and artificial intelligence technology to speed up order fulfillment. Regionalizing its U.S. delivery network into eight areas also has helped reduce delivery times, Amazon said.

Amazon is testing an ultra-fast service for deliveries in 30 minutes or less. Amazon Now is available in various cities in India, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates and is being tested in several communities in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, according to the company.

Rival retailer Walmart has focused on faster deliveries too. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company says it offers same-day deliveries in under three hours to 95 percent of the U.S. population, compared to 76 percent three years ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Snow, rain, ice, tornadoes, heat, cold — it's all hit D.C. region in the past few weeks, and stability is not on the immediate radar.

Seasons seem less distinct in Northern Virginia these days, with hints of just about every type of major weather pattern hitting the area over the past several weeks, including two tornadoes in nearby Maryland on Monday and one in Henry County, Virginia.

The next dramatic shift up: spring and summer-like sun, forecasters said.

Virginia is likely to see a continued warming trend this weekend as a clipper system moves into the state, according to the National Weather Service.

In the D.C. region, highs will approach 69 degrees on Friday, 64 on Saturday and will exceed 75 degrees by Sunday.

Some rainfall is possible this weekend in two main bursts. Rain showers and a few thunderstorms are possible Friday afternoon into Saturday morning as a cold front drops through. Conditions are expected to dry out Saturday and Sunday ahead of another front, which brings rain chances Sunday evening and into the overnight hours.

Early next week, another shift in the jet stream will allow a fresh surge of colder air to spill into Virginia, according to a recent AccuWeather forecast.

Temperatures in the Baltimore region will drop to around 50 degrees by Tuesday and remain in the 50s until later in the week.

Looking ahead, Virginians should expect additional back-and-forth swings between warm and chilly air into April, AccuWeather predicts.

"Do not pack your winter coat away yet. The late-March pattern remains highly volatile, with more swings between warm and cold ahead," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys said.

Here's a look at the detailed forecast for the D.C. region:

Friday: Mostly sunny early, then becoming cloudy, with a high near 69. South wind 16 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

Friday Night: Showers likely, mainly before 1am. Cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low around 50. Southwest wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 64. North wind around 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 46. East wind around 8 mph becoming south after midnight.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 76. Southwest wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Sunday Night: A chance of rain, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Monday: A chance of rain before 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 62. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 52.

The ongoing conflict with Iran has driven gas prices to $3.69 a gallon on average in Virginia, and some analysts are predicting they’ll go even higher as summer approaches.

Crude oil prices have surged about 40 percent since the combined U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, reaching their highest levels since 2022, trading above $100 a barrel.

Iran has nearly halted traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil typically sails from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. About 7 percent of U.S. crude oil imports flow through the strait.

The largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, it could make $5-a-gallon gas commonplace this spring and early summer if oil costs reach $150 a barrel, Barron’s reported. Analysts caution that hitting that level isn’t certain, but if the conflict drags on for months, it increases the odds of much higher pump prices.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline jumped about 7 cents overnight Monday to $3.79, according to AAA. That compares to $3.54 a gallon a week ago, $2.92 a gallon a month ago, and $3.08 a gallon a year ago.

In Virginia, Tuesday’s state average compares with $3.32 a gallon a week ago, $2.82 a gallon a month ago, and $2.88 a gallon a year ago.

Gas prices around the D.C. and Fredericksburg areas are currently the highest at $3.75 and $3.73 per gallon, respectively, according to AAA, while motorists in Lynchburg are paying the lowest at $3.43 per gallon.

Both the shift to more expensive summer-blend fuel, which is less prone to evaporating in the heat and causing smog, and increased spring break travel are also contributing to higher prices, according to AAA.

“We were all set to rise to $3.10-$3.25 a gallon with a peaceful Persian Gulf,” Tom Kloza, senior adviser for fuel supplier Gulf, told Reuters, in the hours after the initial bombings. “We'll now get there very quickly, and the action of the last 48 hours puts higher numbers in play.”

Oil has been trading for around $100 a barrel, but the price could double if the Strait of Hormuz isn’t fully opened, Rory Johnston, an oil analyst who founded the newsletter Commodity Context, said in a post on X in early March.

Iran is maintaining its stranglehold over the 1-mile-wide waterway that connects oil-rich countries in the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world. Last week, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, the spokesperson for Tehran's Khatam al-Anbiya military command headquarters, said the de facto blockade would continue.

“Get ready for the oil barrel to be at $200 because the oil price depends on the regional security, which you have destabilized,” Zolfaqari said in comments addressed to Washington.

As a general rule, every $10 increase in the price of crude oil adds 20 to 30 cents to the cost of a gallon of gas.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on CNN that it is “unlikely” crude oil prices will reach that level.

“I would say unlikely, but we are focused on the military operation and solving a problem," Wright said.

The Trump administration has consistently downplayed the long-term effects of the conflict on gas prices, a stand Patrick DeHaan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, shot down in a post on X.

“If only politicians were petroleum analysts, they may realize they can wish for things, but they don’t always get them,” DeHaan wrote. “Prices aren’t likely to drop back fully down to pre-war prices until later this year, since seasonal factors will prevent a full drop back down.”

DeHaan wrote on Substack that even if oil prices stabilize, prices at the pump are likely to continue rising as higher wholesale costs move through the supply chain.

“For now, motorists should prepare for continued volatility and potentially higher prices at the pump as one of the world’s most important energy regions faces its most serious escalation in years,” he wrote.

The United States is releasing 172 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum reserve to combat soaring energy prices and supply shortages. The move is part of a coordinated 400-million-barrel release by the International Energy Agency to stabilize global energy markets, with deliveries lasting about 120 days.

The conflict is also affecting the price of diesel, which powers the nation’s freight transportation, agriculture, construction, and manufacturing industries. Diesel prices averaged $5.04 a gallon Tuesday, up from $4.78 a week ago and $3.65 a month ago.

The average cost for a gallon of diesel fuel in Virginia on Tuesday was $5.01.

Steep increases in oil prices could ripple across the economy. The closed strait is already stalling shipments of fertilizer ingredients farmers need for spring planting, as well as raising prices on household items that could affect consumers for months to come.

Alexandria and the rest of the D.C. region braced for severe thunderstorms today (Monday), but the tornado threat has declined. The National Weather Service has canceled the tornado watch for Alexandria as of 3:29 p.m. Monday.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center now expects a slight to enhanced risk level from storms in the region. That’s down from the moderate risk level predicted earlier.

Despite the diminished tornado risk, the National Weather Service said a new round of thunderstorms and gusty rain are on the way to the region in the late afternoon and evening.

In a video update to constituents Monday morning, Mayor Alyia Gaskins said city officials were monitoring the potential for damaging winds, possible tornadoes and minor tidal flooding in Alexandria.

The severe storm threat should dissipate after 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. as it advances east, according to the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang. However, rain will continue, possibly mixed with sleet and wet snow north and west of the Beltway, until midnight. Daytime temperatures in the 60s and 70s will plummet to the high 20s and low 30s overnight.

Gaskins said the city’s Office of Emergency Management was preparing for the storms through briefings with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and National Weather Service, as well as mobilizing crews and emergency communications. The mayor encourages residents to follow the city’s social media pages or eNews alerts to find updates during the storm.

Dominion Energy mobilized crews to respond to outages. If power outages occur, crews will first prioritize restorations at hospitals, water treatment facilities, other urgent community services and areas with the most outages.

Outages can be reported to Dominion Energy online, by calling 1-866-366-4357 or using the Dominion Energy app.

To report debris, fallen traffic signals, flooding and other non-emergencies, residents can use the Alex 311 portal or call 703-746-4311. After 7 p.m., reports may be directed to 703-746-4444. Emergencies should be reported to 911.

Numerous city services announced early closings. Alexandria City Public Schools released students two hours early in preparation for the severe weather. The Alexandria Health Department is closed, and Alexandria courts closed at 1 p.m. Programs and rentals from 2 p.m. to closing at recreation centers aree cancelled.

City Council’s “Livable, Green, & Prospering” budget work session has been rescheduled to Wednesday (March 18). Other canceled meetings include the Transportation & Environmental Services Environmental Policy Commission meeting, Commission on Aging Housing Committee meeting, Board of Zoning Appeals public hearing and Social Services Advisory Board meeting.

Metro said it will hold trains at stations until conditions improve if sustained winds reach 65 mph. Metrobus service may also be suspended in areas with an active tornado warning.

DASH Bus expects minimal disruptions to service but says it will temporary suspend service in the event of a tornado warning.