Latest News

Marie Loiseau • April 11, 2016

A thief on a bicycle struck thrice in Georgetown on Tuesday, Oct. 29. The suspect, described as a young, thin, black male, aboard a dark bicycle, began his spree at 5:30 p.m. on the 1600 block of Wisconsin Avenue.

The first victim stood on the sidewalk with phone and wallet in hand. She didn’t have time to think before the thief rode by, snatching both items.

About an hour later, the thief made an attempt at a second snatching but met some strong, successful opposition. The 15 year-old target had his iPhone plucked from his hand. When he lunged for the tire, however, he successfully flipped the bike and grabbed his cell from the ground before the bicyclist took off.

Ten minutes later, the thief struck again. This time he targeted Danielle Lake, 26, as she stood waiting for her bus at M and Thomas Jefferson Streets. “A guy riding a bicycle just snatched the phone out of my hand,” said Lake. Her iPhone 4S was gone in a flash. She yelled for someone to stop the man, but no one did.

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier warned citizens: “In cities around the country, the robbery and theft of small personal electronics is driving an increase in crime as thieves target unattended small electronics in cars, pockets, purses and on tabletops.”

Individuals are encouraged to pocket cell phones and wallets, keeping them out of reach of potential thievery – and to stay alert of their surroundings.

Gary Tischler •

Jack W. Germond, who died at the age of 85 Aug. 14, looked like a newspaper guy, talked like one, too, and lived like one. If respect and reputation are the coin of the realm in the business of reporting and print journalism, Germond was one very rich guy.

He was a print man through and through, but he also struck an unforgettable figure on television, most famously with “The McLaughlin Group.” Germond made every guy who took on beats, wrote about crime or back room politicians out of the limelight and who would never look like Brian Williams, feel a twinge of hope. Heck, more than a twinge.

A large man, he poked fun at his looks, his business and himself often, a rare quality in a field that has more egos than a surgeon’s convention. In a town and region in which you could run across a syndicated columnist without half trying while walking the dog, Germond stood out. He was Washington bureau chief for Gannett Newspapers, wrote a column for the Baltimore Sun and wrote about politics loaded with inside information from inside informants—so much so that he acquired a reputation of writing the truth, getting the story and maintaining his larger-than-life soul.

He wrote—sometimes with Jules Witcover—books galore about Washington and politics, about elections, plus two memoirs about the large shadow he cast: “Fat Man in a Middle Seat: Forty Years of Covering Politics” and “Fat Men Fed Up: How American Politics Went Bad”. He rose to prominence in Washington coming out of New York state covering politics there in the late 1950s, as good a training grounded for immersion into the game of politics as you probably can get.

Germond would be the first to admit that if you put him into a thousand-dollar suit, he could reduce it to a hundred-dollar suit just be sitting down. According to the Washington Post, he said he was “a fat, bald guy who looked unkempt even in a freshly pressed suit and a Brooks Brothers shirt, who played poker and the horses rather than golf, who didn’t give dinner parties except for friends and who sometimes drank too much.” He worked for the Washington Star until it folded and went to the Baltimore Sun, until he retired in 2001. He also appeared on TV talk shows, such as “The McLaughlin Group,” where he took on the role of defender of the liberal faith.

And still he wrote. Before and after retirement, he wrote, the “Politics Today” columns with Witcover, and the books he wrote with him: “Blue Smoke and Mirrors: How Reagan Won and Why Carter Lost the Election of 1980” and “Whose Broad Stripes and Bright Stars? The Trivial Pursuit of the Presidency 1988.”

When Germond died, he had just finished writing his first novel, “A Small Story for Page 3”. Naturally, the hero was a reporter. Sadly, there won’t be a second. -30-

Robert Devaney •

Key Bridge was closed in both directions July 11 for about an hour — roughly 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. — after the Metropolitan Police Department responded to a phone call about a bomb. After a suspicious package investigation, police found nothing, they reported. Lanes on the bridge were opened to traffic a little after 11:30 a.m.

At the M Street side of Key Bridge, repair work has left metal plates on the roadway. A $20-million rehabilitation project for Key Bridge — which connects Washington, D.C., and Arlington, Va. — is slated to begin in fall 2013, according to the District Department of Transportation.

Meanwhile, DDOT is detouring traffic on northbound 37th Street, NW, for its project to improve the intersection of 37th Street and Tunlaw Road, NW. “This detour is scheduled to last until Wednesday, July 24, weather permitting,” according to DDOT. Southbound traffic on 37th Street will not be detoured during this period.

DDOT also reports: Northbound 37th Street, NW, traffic will be directed eastward on Whitehaven Parkway, NW, to northbound Wisconsin Avenue, NW, and then to westbound Calvert Street, NW. WMATA has installed temporary stops for Metrobus routes that have been affected by this project, and the related detour. Traffic control signs will be in place to guide travelers around the detour.

For more details, contact the project engineer Charles Daniel (202-409-2070 or Charles.Daniel@dc.gov) or assistant project engineer Dawit Kebede (202-359-5926 or Dawit.Kebede@dc.gov).

Robert Devaney •

Washington, D.C.’s best small-town Independence Day parade was held for the 47th time along MacArthur Boulevard, NW, with local politicians, church groups, associations, Bolivian dancers and just some friends getting together in an antique car. As usual, candy was thrown to the children at the sidewalks, and MacArthur Liquors offered cold juices for the hot and happy day. And, as usual, when you saw the riders from the United Horsemen’s Association of D.C., Md., Penn. and Va., you knew the parade is over.

After the parade was over, many parade-watchers walked to the Palisades Recreation Center on Sherrier Place. On hand were Mayor Vincent C. Gray, councilmembers, government officials, the Palisades Citizens’ Association, the Friends of Palisades Recreation Center and other supporters to cut the ribbon on the newly renovated Palisades Playground, the District’s third playground to be completed under Gray’s Play D.C. Playground Improvement Project, managed by the District’s Department of Parks and Recreation and Department of General Services.

“Palisades Playground is not only the District’s first ‘imagination playground,’ but it is representative of the rich Native American history that exists in the Palisades community,” Gray said. “One of the main goals of my One City Action Plan is to improve every resident’s quality of life, providing safe and inviting places for our children to play. The renovations and upgrades here at Palisades Playground are an investment in our children, our families, our community and our great city.”

As people left for afternoon barbecues or to get ready to view the fireworks on the National Mall, Gray talked about D.C.’s lack of full representation in Congress and complete self-determination. In D.C.’s case, he said, it is “liberty and justice for some.”

Later, reflecting on Independence Day, Gray said in his weekend radio address, it is “high time for full democracy to come to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who live, literally, within the sight of the Capitol dome. … ‘No Taxation Without Representation’ became a standard rallying cry for American patriots fighting British tyranny.”
“Over two centuries later, there remains one jurisdiction in our country that does not enjoy that freedom,” Gray said. “It is time to free D.C. and end the shameful practice of taxation without representation, once and for all. Our nation’s founding patriots would demand nothing less.”
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Eve Barnett •

As some D.C. establishments closed for Fourth of July festivities, two local restaurants, Serendipity 3 and Sushi-Ko, closed for less celebratory reasons: health code violations.

Serendipity 3 at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street was briefly closed last week because of three citations from the D.C. Department of Health. The famous New York-based eatery was cited for not posting a business license, failing to have appropriately hot (110 degrees) water at every hand sink, and storing meat and other perishables at temperatures above the required temperature (41 degrees).

Although the manager told WUSA9 News that he dealt with the citations and reopened the business, Serendipity 3 was closed July 8. The sign over its doors read: “Sorry, we are closed for the remainder of the evening we apologize for any inconvenience.”

In addition, local favorite Sushi-Ko at 2309 Wisconsin Ave., NW, in Glover Park has been closed since June 28 because of an expired business license. Although the owner Daisuke Utagawa has not given specific details about the restaurant’s closing, previous news report cited the business’s bill with the Office of Taxation and Revenue. The Department of Consumer Regulation reportedly required Sushi-Ko to pay its bill before it can reopen.

Utagawa told the Washington Business Journal last week he was trying to get the restaurant open this week. “We’re working to renew the business license, and as soon as we do, we’ll open right back up again,” Utagawa said. “We’ve got everything except one little part.”

As for Serendipity 3’s brief closure, the Georgetowner contacted two of its representatives but has not heard back by press time.

UPDATE: After quickly dealing with minor infractions, Serendipity 3 re-opened.

Rachel Scola •

The Fillmore Center for the Arts has had its full funding restored, saving jobs from being cut and preserving the chance for District students to deeply engage in the arts for another year.

D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced the restoration of funding last week given the “recent, positive changes [to the] budget outlook for Fiscal Year 2014.” Councilmembers Jack Evans and Mary Cheh were very much in favor of restoring the funds and worked with Henderson to restore the funding, even offering to assist with funds if necessary.

Henderson believes the funding will continue to “allow the program to continue to serve students at the level we’ve come to expect from the Fillmore Arts program.” The Fillmore has been a nationally recognized school of the arts since 1974, teaching 3,500 students each year. The Fillmore not only offers school year programs but also has summer classes. There are two locations in order to cater closer to elementary schools. Classes range from drama to dance to drawing.

Parents were alarmed at the announcement of a budget cut, and there was even an online petition started from the Friends of Fillmore to urge Henderson to change her mind about funding. Voices have been heard and now the school will continue to serve District students in the arts and four full-time positions that were at first “excessed” will remain.

Georgetowner •

He may not be black and white and red all over, but the adventure of Rusty the red panda on Monday certainly caused a stir.

The National Zoo announced Monday morning that Rusty was not in his exhibit and that they were searching the near area for his whereabouts. He had last been seen at 6 PM for feeding time in his exhibit. The Zoo posted details and directions for people if they found Rusty on their Twitter and Facebook page. They warned that when confronted or scared red pandas will bite and that all citizens should use caution if they find Rusty.

It was at 1:36 PM on Monday afternoon that the call came in from a citizen to the Washington Humane Society that Rusty had been spotted at an Adams Morgan residence. WHS Officer Peter Martel, part of Animal Care and Control, arrived to the scene first and began a rescue plan for the panda, which was idling in a tree. Smithsonian staffers soon joined Martel, and they lured Rusty down and out of the tree where he was then safely transferred to a crate and back to the Zoo.

The Zoo announced this morning via Twitter that Rusty is still in the vet hospital at the Zoo, where he is bright, alert and recovering from his adventure. It is still unclear how Rusty managed to escape his exhibit, as no trail was left behind. Zoo officials are looking into every aspect and theory of this escapade and Rusty will not return to his habitat on the Asia Trail until the case is closed.

The Zoo describes red pandas as arboreal and territorial animals, which explains why Rusty only traveled as far as the tree in Adams Morgan. Rusty has only been part of the Smithsonian Zoo family since June 10 of this year, and he will turn 1 year old this July.
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Robert Devaney •

President Barack Obama outlined his administration’s comprehensive action plan to deal with climate change in a landmark speech at Georgetown University June 25.

Obama addressed a small crowd and media from the steps of the Old North Building where George Washington and other presidents as recently as Bill Clinton have spoken.

John DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, even as a U.S. Park Police helicopter flew low over the Dahlgren Quadrangle, heralding the arrival of the president’s motorcade, reminded the crowd of the university’s work on sustainability and interdisciplinary studies on climate and welcomed Obama back to the campus.

Obama thanked supporters, government leaders and “the Hoyas in the house” and launched into a vigorous defense of his view on global warming — outside in the humid heat of a Washington, D.C., summer afternoon. As he had done in his June 19 Berlin speech, Obama advised those in the crowd to remove their jackets and said, “It’s not that sexy.” The president along with the audience sweated in the heat.

At the start of his speech, the president hitched the importance of his climate change plan to the success of the U.S. missions to the moon and what they showed the world.

This ecological vision involves an out-of-this-world event during Christmas 1968 when Apollo 8 orbited the moon and sent back stunning, never-before-seen photos of the Earth from space as astronauts read from the Book of Genesis to a television audience. “And while the sight of our planet from space might seem routine today,” Obama said. “Imagine what it looked like to those of us seeing our home, our planet, for the first time. Imagine what it looked like to children like me. Even the astronauts were amazed. ‘It makes you realize,’ [astronaut Jim] Lovell would say, ‘just what you have back there on Earth.’ ”

From this mythopoetic height, Obama continued along a scientific vein, listing facts and figures to back his case on climate change as the most important challenge of the 21st century.

“The 12 warmest years in recorded history have all come in the last 15 years,” he said. “Last year, temperatures in some areas of the ocean reached record highs, and ice in the Arctic shrank to its smallest size on record — faster than most models had predicted it would. These are facts.”

“Now, we know that no single weather event is caused solely by climate change,” the president said. “Droughts and fires and floods, they go back to ancient times. But we also know that in a world that’s warmer than it used to be, all weather events are affected by a warming planet. The fact that sea levels in New York, in New York Harbor, are now a foot higher than a century ago — that didn’t cause Hurricane Sandy, but it certainly contributed to the destruction that left large parts of our mightiest city dark and underwater.”

He also said he had lost “patience for anyone who denies that this problem is real. . . . In a world that’s warmer than it used to be, all weather events are affected by the warming planet.”

“We don’t have time for a meeting of the Flat-Earth Society,” Obama said. “Those who are feeling the effects of climate change don’t have time to deny it. They’re busy dealing with it.”

“So, the question is not whether we need to act,” Obama said. “The overwhelming judgment of science — of chemistry and physics and millions of measurements — has put all that to rest. Ninety-seven percent of scientists, including, by the way, some who originally disputed the data, have now put that to rest. They’ve acknowledged the planet is warming and human activity is contributing to it.”

Concerning the upcoming decision on the Keystone pipeline, here is what the president said: “Now, I know there’s been, for example, a lot of controversy surrounding the proposal to build a pipeline, the Keystone pipeline, that would carry oil from Canadian tar sands down to refineries in the Gulf. And the State Department is going through the final stages of evaluating the proposal. That’s how it’s always been done. But I do want to be clear: Allowing the Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our nation’s interest. And our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. The net effects of the pipeline’s impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward. It’s relevant.”

Noting that certain toxins are already captured by power plants, Obama said, “So today, for the sake of our children, and the health and safety of all Americans, I’m directing the Environmental Protection Agency to put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution from our power plants and complete new pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.”

Obama also asked the Senate to confirm his nominee to head the EPA, Gina McCarthy, while he noted that President Richard Nixon created the federal department.

As the president neared the end of his speech, he invited all to get involved. “Americans are not a people who look backwards; we’re a people who look forward,” he said. “We’re not a people who fear what the future holds; we shape it. What we need in this fight are citizens who will stand up, and speak up, and compel us to do what this moment demands.”
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Robert Devaney •

On Tuesday, June 25, President Barack Obama will deliver a major address at Georgetown University to lay out “his vision for a comprehensive plan to reduce carbon pollution, prepare our country for the impacts of climate change and lead global efforts to fight it,” the White House announced.

“This is a serious challenge,” Obama said of climate change in a White House tweet. “But it is one uniquely suited to America’s strengths. We’ll need scientists to design new fuels, farmers to grow them, we’ll need engineers to devise new sources of energy, and businesses to make and sell them. We’ll need workers to build the foundation for a clean energy economy. And we’ll need all of our citizens to do our part to preserve God’s creation for future generations…. ”

For Georgetown University, the president’s appearance at the Old North building in the Dahlgren Quadrangle continues a tradition that goes back to George Washington, some of whose relatives attended Georgetown. In the shadow of historic Healy Hall, Old North is considered the oldest building on the university’s main campus. Presidents Adams, Polk, Lincoln, Grant, Ford and Clinton have also visited Old North. Obama will be the 14th president to do so, while more than half of the 43 U.S. presidents have visited the university.

“We welcome President Obama back to campus to continue this tradition as the 14th president to visit the steps of Old North.” said university president John DeGioia. Obama spoke on energy policy at the university in March 2011

The president’s remarks are scheduled to begin 1:35 p.m. and are closed to the public.

Jordan Hellmuth •

A very fitting white carpet was rolled out June 21 for the D.C. premiere of Roland Emmerich’s new action flick, “White House Down.” After all, it is the White House and other locales shown in the film, such as the Capitol building. The White House earlier played host to a screening of “White House Down.”

But on Friday night, June 21, the AMC Loews Georgetown theater welcomed stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Joey King for the first stop on the “White House Down” press tour. And it was a mob scene on K Street near Wisconsin Avenue.

Fans screamed requests of marriage and “I love you” from the sidewalk as star after star stepped onto the white carpet. Others were quick to call out to favorites like Tatum and Foxx, holding out their smart phones to take “selfie” pictures, still screaming in shock and joy after each star then continued down the carpet. An open-top, double-decker bus passed by just in time and got stuck in traffic long enough for each passenger to snap pictures and get the best view of the action.

The stars were welcomed by screaming fans–and also by the likes of federal officials, including Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who said she hasn’t seen any of Tatum’s previous films but added at Friday’s D.C. premiere, “I will now.”

Tatum was the first to be cast by Emmerich, who also directed “Independence Day” and “The Patriot,” as U.S. Capitol Police officer, followed by Foxx, who was thought to be the perfect fit for the role of the African American president.

Joining Tatum and Foxx on the big screen is Gyllenhaal, playing a secret service agent, and Joey King, playing Tatum’s movie daughter.

Gyllenhaal spent her Friday afternoon before the premiere catching up with a friend in D.C. and exploring the National Mall. “I didn’t realize how patriotic I am,” she said. “My high school American history was all coming back to me.”

Emmerich brings an all-star cast and classic location to the big screen, with the challenge of setting his film apart from others surrounding D.C. and terrorism.

Writer James Vanderbilt wanted, “to just make [‘White House Down’] a big, summer, thrill-riding type movie and that’s, I think, what probably differentiates us from some of the other films.” Recent Washington, D.C., action flicks that center on the president and the White House include “Olympus Has Fallen.”

The film is loaded with action scenes, but Joey King insists it’s much more than just another all-action, all-violence movie. “There are so many great scenes,” King said. “There are so many action-packed scenes. There’s so many nice, sweet scenes. It’s hard to say. There are so many funny scenes, too.”

“We had a great time,” said producer Brad Fischer. “And we hope that people have as much fun watching it as we did making it.”
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