Northern Virginia Community College is consistently ranked among the nation’s top community college systems. Recently, the weak economy and NOVA’s relationship with Virginia’s top universities has proved beneficial to the school.

In six days, a college fund on Facebook.com has raised $19,425 for twin 18-year-olds.

Firefighters responded to a report of home heating oil in a residence in the 1100 block of Colonial Avenue. A contractor making a delivery of home heating oil connected to an abandoned fill pipe at the wrong address.

In 1950, Alexandrian Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play basketball in the National Basketball Association. The Parker Gray High School graduate later won a championship with the Syracuse Nationals, coached the Detroit Pistons, and, in 2003, was inducted in the NBA Hall of Fame. On Friday, Lloyd, 82, returned to Alexandria to discuss his recently released autobiography “Moonfixer”.

It now costs $1.75 to park at a meter in Alexandria for one hour. So, those who are dining, shopping or meeting in Old Town should plan to bring at least 14 quarters and stay no more than two hours.

August in Alexandria means ethnic festivals and other outdoor fun for the whole family. Last weekend, visitors and Alexandrians enjoyed the first Alexandria Youth Arts Festival, an Alexandria Chamber of Commerce sponsored sidewalk sale and the 2010 Irish Festival.

Although Virginia Standards of Learning test scores improved this year for the Alexandria City Public School system, the division failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. ACPS has never met this federal benchmark since NCLB became law in 2002.

The T.C. Williams Athletic Office is now under the direction of one of its former athletes. Steve Colantuoni, a T.C. graduate, played football for the Titans and later for the University of Richmond. Colantuoni played linebacker on a Northern Region champion Titan team before graduating in 1974.

An anger management counselor who is serving a year in prison for pulling a gun on two federal marshals during a traffic incident, has also lost his license to practice counseling in Virginia. Jose Luis Avila, 57, of Annandale, pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal officer in April and, on June 29, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. When he is released, he will spend two years on supervised probation.

Adolfo Amaya Portillo, 27, of Alexandria, Va., was sentenced today to 480 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in the murder of a pimp while robbing the pimp and a prostitute in Alexandria on July 29, 2009.