Press Releases
Alexandria, La. (September 15, 2020) — With the announcement by Gov. John Bel Edwards of the state’s move to Phase 3, the City of Alexandria will be reopening a number of park facilities and making other changes to allow increased access to city facilities by the general public. Per the Governor’s Executive orders, face masks and social distancing guidelines will be enforced at all facilities. “Originally, all city park facilities were closed due to health concerns related to COVID-19, but since that time several parks sustained damage from Hurricane Laura last month,” explained...
Alexandria, La. (September 14, 2020) — The City of Alexandria will be providing free garbage bags to utility customers with coupons from this year for bags from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. this Thursday and Friday, Sept. 17-18, as well as Sept. 24-25 at the Alexander Fulton Mini Park in downtown Alexandria, across from City Hall. With the closure of the Customer Service Office in March due to COVID-19, distribution of bags was delayed. While customers could make payments at the drive-thru window, the bags wouldn’t fit in the drawer, and customers were advised to keep their coupons to redeem in the...
Alexandria, La. (September 9, 2020) — Alexandria Chief of Police Jerrod D. King has announced his plans to retire effective Nov. 1. Named Chief of Police May 30, 2018, King is a 24-year veteran of the Alexandria Police Department. Over the course of his career, King has worked in nearly every division of the department including Patrol, Community Policing, Traffic/DWI Task Force, Street Crimes, the Alexandria Regional Police Training Academy, and he is a founding member of the department’s SWAT team. “Chief King has been a valuable member of our team and has helped initiate the...
Alexandria, La. (September 8, 2020) — With the first phase of restoration efforts from Hurricane Laura complete, the city is moving forward with utility reconnects and ongoing cleanup efforts from the massive storm. Less than a week after Hurricane Laura moved through Alexandria with winds reaching more than 80 mph, power was restored to all customers who could take power. But there are many homes and businesses that sustained serious damage to the electric meter or the building’s electrical system that prevented crews from being able to restore power. “That is our primary focus right now,...
Alexandria, La. (September 5, 2020) — The City of Alexandria and the CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Foundation have joined forces to create an all-inclusive special needs playground. Construction of the park is under way at the corner of Masonic Drive and Babe Ruth Drive on part of the Bringhurst Field site. The park will feature swings as well as a special needs playground structure in honor of the families of the Pediatric Therapy Center at CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital. The project is privately funded by donors through the Cabrini Foundation and Coughlin-Saunders Foundation. The...
Alexandria, La. (September 4, 2020) — A citywide boil advisory remains in place going into the weekend and tree waste removal crews are currently working throughout the city to collect tree debris from Hurricane Laura. Urban Forester Darren Green said crews are making their first pass through the city and will be working throughout the weekend and on Monday, which is Labor Day. “They are making their first pass now, getting the big piles from the initial clean-up,” he said. “After this, they are scheduled to make two more passes through the city, so if they have come by on your street, don’t...
Alexandria, La. (September 3, 2020) — One week to the day since Hurricane Laura roared through Central Louisiana with hurricane force winds, the City of Alexandria has restored electrical power to all customers who are able to take power and repaired the water supply system, although a citywide boil advisory remains in effect. “We are wrapping up the first phase of our recovery efforts, but we still have a long way to go,” said Alexandria Mayor Jeffrey W. Hall. “Our utility infrastructure is restored and stabilized. Now our attention turns to debris removal, cleanup efforts and ultimately...
Alexandria, La. (September 2, 2020) — By the end of the day, electric power will have been restored to all City of Alexandria customers who are able to receive power. “We appreciate everyone’s patience, and we are so grateful to all of the contractors and the municipal organizations that came to our aid and helped us restore service so quickly,” said Alexandria Mayor Jeffrey W. Hall. “When you consider the devastating impact from Hurricane Laura, and the amount of damage the storm inflicted on our utility infrastructure, it’s really amazing that we have reached this point in less than a week...
Alexandria, La. (September 1, 2020) — Utility crews from the City of Alexandria and partners from across the South spent the day working in back yards and on neighborhood streets working to restore power to the 3,500 remaining customers without electricity. As of 7 p.m. Tuesday night power was restored to 97 percent of the city’s 25,500 electric customers, leaving approximately 760 customers still to be reconnected. “This is the most difficult part of the recovery operation, where we basically have to go door-to-door in neighborhoods to fix the remaining issues to restore power,” said...
Alexandria, La. (August 31, 2020) — City of Alexandria crews, along with more than 150 contractors and utility service personnel from around the country, continued to work to restore electrical power and clear tree debris caused by Hurricane Laura Thursday morning. “We were able to make big gains the first few days in terms of the number of customers with service restored, going from 25 percent of customers to 50 percent, then 69 percent and then 82 percent,” said Alexandria Mayor Jeffrey W. Hall. “We have all of the main circuits restored, and now we are into the more difficult work of...