Top 20: Walgreens, 7-Eleven Not Welcome, Babysitter Indicted, Affordable Housing, DNA in Crimes and a Long, Happy Marriage

Patch has 31 community sites in Virginia and D.C. Here are some of the top stories from around the region over the past week.

20. Affordable housing continues to be a major topic of discussion in Alexandria. The Virginia Department of Transportation sold Hunting Point, two eight-story apartment buildings, to a realty firm. Alexandria's City Council had asked that any purchaser not turn the buildings into luxury apartments that could displace its current tenants who require more affordable housing. That message was passed on to the new buyers, according to VDOT, but was not a condition of the sale.

19. On the west side of Alexandria, the City Planning Commission gave the go-ahead to major rezoning in the Beauregard area that will tear down hundreds of apartments to make way for townhomes, condos and mixed-use development. Commissioner Derek Hyra unsuccessfully attempted to add $17.4 million for affordable housing along part of the Beauregard corridor and create an extra 100 units of long-term committed affordable housing. He was successful in getting commission members to agree to call for the units to be made available earlier than planned and to explore more sources of housing funding.

18. Across the state, police say DNA is proving increasingly helpful in solving crimes. It was DNA from a cigarette butt that led Falls Church police to a man wanted for two robberies that occurred in December. 

17. Fairfax County Police have released surveillance video of a potential suspect in a string of two dozen “groping” incidents in Kingstowne, West Springfield and other neighborhoods.

16. A grand jury has indicted a Manassas babysitter in connection with the August death of the toddler she was expected to watch, Prince William County Circuit Court documents show. Jessica Fraraccio, 21, was arrested in mid-March and charged with murder and child abuse after her 23-month-old charge died Aug. 22 at a home in Manassas. 

15. Marcellus “Bull” Greene Sr., a former semi-pro football player with the Prince William Monarchs who was killed in a drive-by shooting at the Q-Ball Cafe on March 30, will be buried this week. Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting, but the primary suspect -- Chauncey Cartier Lampkin (a.k.a. Fresh) -- is still on the loose.  

14. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday night, putting the Loudoun Hounds professional baseball club on track for a 2014 season. The Virginia Cavalry FC, an expansion team with the North American Soccer League, also plans to call the One Loudoun ballpark its home.

13. A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in the rape of a Herndon woman March 28 and two armed robberies at a barbershop in the same area near Manassas Park, Prince William County Police said Wednesday afternoon.

12. The fire that broke out Sunday afternoon at the commercial building housing Friendly's Rent-A-Car and two other businesses in the Mount Vernon area of Fairfax County was determined to be an accidental electrical fire.

11. Annandale-area local garden center and landscape business Campbell & Ferrara Outdoor Living is aiming to move out of their longtime Little River Turnpike location just outside of Annandale and relocate to Mount Vernon by May 31.

10. Despite requests from Alexandria officials to take its business elsewhere in the city, Walgreens is poised to take over the retail strip at 1509-1517 Mount Vernon Ave. in Del Ray.

9. 7-Eleven has set its sights on opening a second Georgetown location, but some neighbors are unhappy with the move and design. Architect David Bell, who owns several properties around the corner from the shop, said 7-Eleven would "add nothing to the community" and its presence would be "a disaster."

8. A pedestrian fatality on the Fairfax County Parkway in March has been ruled a suicide by police.

7. Maybe all you do need is love. Manny and Ruth Herskowitz, a local couple that celebrated their 70th anniversary on April 4, .

6. Big brown puppy eyes also created a love connection between , and his newly adopted family in Chantilly.

5. Technology is no longer a luxury item, but a necessity for job searching, staying connected and living — particularly for those living on the streets. To adjust to the rising needs of technology, shelters, libraries and other services have devoted time and energy to acquiring such devices. 

4. Arlington Police said two bicyclists were held at gunpoint on the Custis Bike Trail last week. Helicopters were called in to help search for the men, who are still at-large.

3. The way Fairfax County Police Officer Rockie Akhavan sees it, he was just doing his job on the night that an allegedly drunk driver smashed into his patrol cruiser.  As for the Good Samaritans who pulled the door off of the mangled police cruiser to pry him out, and comforted the stunned driver and her two small children: "They are the true heroes," Akhavan said.

2. A former Fairfax County Poplar Tree Elementary School teacher has been convicted in federal court of possessing child pornography. 

1. Tysons leaders and stakeholders have decided on an appropriate tax model for the tax district that will partially fund millions of dollars in transportation improvements over the next 40 years – now it’s in the hands of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

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