Downtowner News: Mayor Extends Emergency, Lion Gets Covid, Dave Thomas Circle
By • October 12, 2021 0 933
Mayor Bowser Extends Covid Public Emergency
Mayor Muriel Bowser has extended D.C.’s Covid-19 public health emergency to January 2022. The emergency order was set to expire earlier this month but the extension will allow such measures as federal relief and recovery grants related to the pandemic to continue. The order also keeps D.C.’s Emergency Operations Center partially or fully active, WTOP reported.
D.C. Lawmakers Call for Changes in Homeless Encampment Clearing Guidelines
A homeless man was hit by a small bulldozer earlier this month, an incident that has D.C. lawmakers calling for changes. Some council members are calling for guidelines to change how the city conducts its homeless encampment clearings while others want the clearings paused. D.C. recently implemented a new pilot program to clear four homeless camps in Truxton Circle, Foggy Bottom and two in NoMa, according to DCist.
Man Punched by Woody Harrelson at Watergate Faces Charges
Actor Woody Harrelson punched a man after he wouldn’t stop photographing Harrelson and his daughter at the rooftop of the Watergate Hotel last week. Witnesses said the other man and not Harrelson, who is in town filming HBO’s “The White House Plumbers,” was aggressive. He will face charges for taking photos of the actor and his daughter and refusing to stop and delete the pictures after Harrelson asked him to do so, NBC4 News said.
National Zoo Lion Survives Covid-19’s Deadly Delta Variant
The Smithsonian National Zoo’s African lion Shera became infected with the deadly Covid-19 Delta variant and almost didn’t survive, according to Craig Saffoe, curator of the great cats. The 335-pound big cat wouldn’t eat or drink, had failing kidneys and was anaesthetized on the floor of her enclosure with an IV drip. Staff fretted about whether or not she was suffering too much and if euthanasia was the answer. With plenty of fluids and extra care from zoo staff however, Shera made it through and is doing much better.
Wendy’s at Dave Thomas Circle Bows Out
The infamous Wendy’s fast-food restaurant, notoriously hard to reach at the intersection of Florida and New York Avenues and First Street NE (nicknamed Dave Thomas Circle, after Wendy’s founder) closed late last month. Lines during the last day of business reached about two dozen in both the drive-through and inside the restaurant at any given time.
The infamous Wendy’s on Dave Thomas Circle closed. Photo by Al Drago via Bloomberg for Getty Images.
