DowntownerDC: Welcome to the World, Baby Linh Mai!
By • March 9, 2026 0 310
National Zoo’s Elephant Calf Named
The Asian elephant calf born on Feb. 2 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute now has a name. The little one, called Linh Mai (pronounced LIN-my), is the first elephant born at the zoo in almost 25 years. Her name, meaning “spirit blossom,” is inspired by her mother Nhi Linh’s Vietnamese heritage. Each online voter for one of four names donated $5 or more to the zoo. The name Linh Mai received $22,885, 39 percent of the total. Linh Mai will make her debut, also on the zoo’s Elephant Cam, later this spring.
New Leadership at Meridian Center
Meridian International Center announced new leadership. Photo by Ego Media.
Meridian International Center, a nonpartisan center for diplomacy founded in 1960 and headquartered at 1630 Crescent Place NW, has appointed David Bohigan CEO and Deborah Lehr vice chair/chair elect of the board of trustees. A businessman and investor, Bohigan led the Overseas Private Investment Corporation’s transformation into the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation in 2019. Lehr, currently Meridian’s interim CEO, is the CEO of consulting firm Basilinna and executive director of the Paulson Institute.
Remembering the Rev. Jesse Jackson
A young Jesse Jackson poses with Vincent Orange, former president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce.
Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson died on Feb. 17 at age 84. Jackson suffered from progressive supranuclear palsy, which causes a Parkinson’s-like decline. A Baptist minister who was a protégé of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a two-time presidential candidate in the 1980s, Jackson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bill Clinton in 2000. The Jackson family said in a statement: “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless and the overlooked around the world.”
Athletic Hires 6 WaPo Sports Journalists
After the staff of the Washington Post took a huge hit, notably the elimination of the entire sports section, early last month, the Athletic, owned by the New York Times (which ended its former in-house sports coverage in 2023), announced it was hiring six former WaPo sports journalists: Candace Buckner, Adam Kilgore, Jason Murray, Spencer Nusbaum, Barry Svrluga and Ava Wallace. Athletic Executive Editor Steven Ginsberg stated that he aims to “provide fans in Washington with unparalleled coverage of the teams and sports they love.”
D.C. Mosquitoes Survive (Unfortunately)
Mosquitoes will be out in D.C. this summer. iStock photo.
This year’s winter was rough, but not rough enough to get rid of the District’s mosquitoes. Typically, northern house mosquitoes survive the colder months by hiding out in urban underground structures like Metro stations and sewer pipes. Unfortunately, mosquitoes have survived winters even harsher than this year’s snowy, icy mess. The season has not been cold enough long enough for long-term relief from the itch-inducing insects, according to University of Maryland entomologist Michael Raupp, interviewed by Washingtonian.
Iran Protests Erupt Outside White House
Hundreds of protesters gathered near the White House and at additional spots around D.C. and in New York on March 7. The protesters were marching against the strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces that began on Feb. 28, targeting Iran’s government and nuclear program. However, the reaction to the strikes, like most political stories these days, was split. At celebratory demonstrations near the World War I Memorial and in Georgetown, groups of Iranian Americans waved American and Israeli flags and chanted “Thank you, Trump!”
