Latest News

Rachel Scola • July 23, 2013

If you’re planning on traveling through the Key Bridge and M Street, NW intersection at night in the next few days, maybe think again.

Excluding Friday and Saturday nights, there will be overnight lane closures at that intersection on Wednesday, July 24, Thursday, July 25, Monday, July 29, and Tuesday, July 30. It is not scheduled for Sunday, July 28, but that night is an alternate date. The lanes will be closed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The District Department of Transportation is closing the lanes in order to install vehicle detecting equipment. DDOT says that bridge access will be open at all times.

Temporary signs will remind drivers and guide travelers in the area, and traffic barrels and cones will establish the closed lanes.

Remember that dates can change depending on weather, but right now this is the plan for closures.

Georgetowner • July 22, 2013

Bastille Day at French Embassy

July 12th, 2013 at 07:00 PM | $110-150 | Event Website

The highly anticipated Bastille Day soirée offers foodies the chance to rub elbows with Washingtons top chefs, dancers the opportunity to “cut a rug” in style, bargain hunters the thrill of finding amazing deals and Francophiles a spectacular night behind the gates of the Embassy of France. There is also an online auction full of tempting luxurious vacation packages.

Address

Embassy of France; 4101 Reservoir Road NW

Annapolis Irish Festival

July 12th, 2013 at 04:00 PM | $10-20 | Event Website](http://www.annapolisirishfestival.com/Annapolis_Irish_Festival/Home.html)

The 3rd Annual Annapolis Irish Festival is expected to attract over 22,000 people and will feature traditional Celtic music, nationally recognized bands, Irish dancing, special workshops and exhibits and authentic Irish food as well as a large children?s area. The event will once again kick-off with a special Friday night Twilight Concert from 4-10 pm, sponsored by the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Three bands will take the stage for this salute to the military and will include free admission for everyone between 4-5 pm and free for all men and women currently serving the country with an active military ID.

Address

Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds; 1450 General’s Highway; Crownsville, MD 21032

Union Market Drive-In: Dr. Strangelove

July 12th, 2013 at 09:00 PM | Event Website](http://unionmarketdc.com/events/dc-drive-in/)

Union Market will host Washington D.C.’s first drive-in movie experience, which will screen on Fridays. Watch classic Washington D.C.- centric films on Union Market’s 3-story wall. Pre-show festivities will include music, contests and special giveaways. A variety of Union Market vendors will also participate, serving food, drinks and fun snacks.

The DC Drive-In is free to attend, however reservations are suggested for cars. Don’t have a car? There will be a picnic area in the parking lot for bikers and walkers – no reservations are required for the picnic area.

Address

Union Market; 1309 5th Street NE

Lake Anne Plaza – 4th Annual Ukulele Festival

July 13th, 2013 at 11:00 AM | 0 | Event Website](http://www.lakeanneplaza.com/)

Ukulele fans will grab their ukes and converge on the Lake Anne waterfront in historic heart of Reston. The free music festival will feature performances by several internationally known and local ukulele musicians, music demonstrations, open to the public jam session, beer garden, festival vendors, and other family friendly activities. www.lakeanneplaza.com for performance line up.

Address

Lake Anne Plaza (Waterfront) – 1609 Washington Plaza, Reston, VA 20190

Bastille Day Fete

July 14th, 2013 at 02:00 PM | | Tel: 202-817-3340 | Event Website](http://malmaisondc.com/)

Celebrate Bastille Day at Malmaison from 2 to 9PM featuring children activies from 2-4PM, coffee and juice bar, pastries and sandwiches and a live crepe stand.
There will also be a Parisian Flair costume contest and a Waiter Race commemorating the storming of the Bastille Fortress Prison. At 8:00 PM a dinner for two gift card ($50 value) will be awarded for the guest who most exemplifies the fashion savvy of a Parisian socialite!

Address

Malmaison; 3401 Water Street, NW

The Goddess Diaries

July 14th, 2013 at 04:30 PM | $17 | DianeHN@cox.net | Tel: 703-628-9112 | Event Website](https://www.capitalfringe.org/festival-2013/shows/15-the-goddess-diaries)

A production in this year’s Capital Fringe Festival, The Goddess Diaries uses music and storytelling to weave together mythology and the modern journey of real women.

Address

The Mountain at Mt. Vernon Methodist Church; 900 Massachusetts Ave, NW

Georgetown Walking Tour with Cupcakes

July 14th, 2013 at 10:00 AM | $20 | Tel: 202-337-2288 | Event Website](http://julycupcakewalkingtour.eventbrite.com/)

Join Dwane Starlin, member of the Guild of Professional Tour Guides, for a delightful walking tour of Georgetown- with history and cupcakes! The tour will begin at Dumbarton House and make stops at three cupcake shops in Georgetown- Baked & Wired, Sprinkles, and Georgetown Cupcake. The ticket price includes one cupcake from each shop. Please note, the tour will not return to Dumbarton House, but will end at Sprinkles.Comfy walking shoes a must! No pets, please.

Address

Dumbarton House; 2715 Q Street, NW

Cocktail Happy Hour

July 16th, 2013 at 06:30 PM | $15

Capital City Ball presents a cocktail happy hour to benefit the fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery. $15 suggested donation at door. Raffle will be held night of.

Address

The Graham; 1075 Thomas Jefferson St NW

Eve Barnett •

The D.C. Department of Health made the Georgetown scene again, after showing up during the Fourth of July, to shut down temporarily a few more restaurants. Last week, two new Georgetown establishments faced similar fates: Tackle Box and Sahara Prince of the Harbor.

As first reported by investigative reporter Russ Ptacek of WUSA9 News, representatives of Tackle Box and Sahara Prince found it difficult to respond to the citations forthrightly.

Tackle Box, Georgetown’s self-proclaimed “first and only lobster shack” located at 3245 M St., NW, received 14 citations for health code violations, six of which were considered “critical.” The citations include, among others, rat droppings and flies in the eatery. This closing comes approximately 10 months after Tackle Box received a cease and desist order last April.

Sahara Prince of the Harbor, the lounge and tobacco shop at 1042 Wisconsin Ave., NW, received 22 violations. Frozen food was found in a broken freezer stored at an inappropriately high 45 degrees. Also, like Tackle Box, rat droppings were spotted.

Both restaurants have since addressed their citations and reopened for business.

Georgetowner •

Heidi Martin & The Simon Bros. Trio The Music of Abbey Lincoln

July 18 at 6:30 p.m. | $10 | Tel: 202-337-2288 | Event Website

Join us for a summer concert in the North Garden of historic Dumbarton House. Chanteuse Heidi Martin & The Simon Bros. Trio will delight with the music of Abbey Lincoln. Two sets of different music, and you are welcome to attend one or stay for both!

Bring blankets and lawn chairs (must be set up at the back of the audience) and enjoy the ambiance at one of Georgetown’s most historic homes. Chairs will not be provided for this garden performance. The museum will not be open for this event.

Address

Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW

Jayme McLellan in Conversation with Casey Smith

July 19 at 6 p.m. | Free | info@heinercontemporary.com | Tel: 202.338.0072 | Event Website

Heiner Contemporary is pleased to host a conversation between artist Jayme McLellan and Casey Smith. They will discuss McLellan’s exhibition, which centers on a fable by Thích Nh?t Hanh about a river who learns to make peace with her jealousy of the clouds. Influenced by the Buddhist teachings of Hanh and the work of Alfred Stieglitz, John Constable and James Turrell, McLellan’s compositions are at once meditative and critically engaged with the legacy of artists looking to the sky.

Address

Heiner Contemporary; 1675 Wisconsin Ave., NW

The Castleton Festival: Third Weekend

July 19 at 8 p.m. | $20-$120 | BoxOffice@castletonfestival.org | Tel: 1-866-974-0767 | Event Website

July 19 at 8 p.m.: Verdi’s “Otello”

July 20 at 11 a.m.: “Cats,” spectacular song recitals

July 20 at 3 p.m.: “La Voix Humaine” (“The Human Voice”) as a double bill, pairing for the first time the Cocteau play and the Poulenc opera

July 20 at 7 p.m.: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Requiem” and Barber’s “Violin Concerto”

July 21 at 11 am.: Chamber music by Mahler

July 21 at 2 p.m.: Puccini’s “The Girl of the Golden West”

Address

The Castleton Festival Theatre, 7 Castleton Meadows Lane, in Castleton, Rappahannock County, Va., 60 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., and 45 minutes from Charlottesville, Va. NOTE: some performances take place in the Castleton Theatre House. Please see www.castletonfestival.org for more information.

Brussels, Mussels, and Beer-Tasting Hustle: Annual Mussel Throw Down

July 20th, 2013 at 11:00 AM | Admission tickets are $5 | info@belgacafe.com | Event Website

Going on its fourth year, DC’s mighty contingent of Belgian-influenced chefs will come together to celebrate the food, drink and culture of Belgium for a week of festivities leading to Belgian National Day on Sunday, July 21. Foodies needn’t flock to Brussels to indulge in frîtes, mussels and chocolaty treats, as the week [July 15-21] of decadent desserts, cordial cocktails, and savory meals culminates to the down-and-dirty musseling battle. So let the games begin with the Mussel Throw Down! The annual event kicks off at 11AM on Saturday, July 20 at Eastern Market with $5 admission tickets good for one beer or pot of mussels, and the live entertainment of chefs muscling up their skills. Reigning champ Martin Castillo [Belga Café] returns with seasoned vets Geert Pifferoen [Locolat] and Paul Stearman [Mussel Bar & Grille] while newcomers Anthony Acinapura [Brasserie Beck], Thijs Clinckemaillie [B Too], Andras Horvath [Et Voila] and Jeremy Kermisch [Granville Moore’s] try their hand in this mussel scuffle.

Address

Eastern Market Hall; 225 7th Street SE

Fairy Tea

July 20 at 1 p.m. | Member Child: $20 | Non-Member Child: $25 | Adult: $10 | [Event Website](http://tudorplacefairyteajuly2013.eventbrite.com/)

for children and families (ages 3+)

Bring your favorite Tinkerbell to dress up in tutus, wands, and wings. Children select their outfits from the fairy wardrobe provided, and then assemble (with accompanying grown-ups) for tea and desserts served by a costumed interpreter who will show and tell all about the favored drink of early America. Next, tour Tudor Place’s enchanting gardens in search of fairy traces and hiding places before making a special period craft to take home.

Address

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, 1644 31 St., NW

9TH Annual “Dogtopia Charity Dog Wash”

July 21 at noon | $15.00 | emannix@fish-consulting.com | Tel: 954 893 9150 | [Event Website](http://www.dogdaycare.com/k9support/)

Dogtopia, a national dog day care franchise, will host its 9th Annual Charity Dog Wash to benefit dogs who work year-round. All 29 stores, including those in the D.C. area, will participate in the nationwide event to raise money for Veterans Moving Forward. D.C.’s dog owners are invited to bring their dogs in for a bath given by Dogtopia’s trained team members and volunteers. The event will feature give-ways, food, photo booths, fun and games for the whole family.

Address

1609 Washington Plaza, Reston, Va. 20190

D.C. Scoop!

July 21 at 1 p.m. | [Event Website](http://unionmarketdc.com/events/the-dc-scoop/)

Taste — and judge — the District’s best ice cream, gelato, custard, frozen yogurt and other summer treats – for free – on National Ice Cream Day. Foodies, have no fear, you’ll be in good company. Stirrers and shakers of the D.C. food scene will serve on a panel of judges to determine the 2013 D.C. Scoop Winner.

Address

Union Market, 1309 5th St., NE

Potomack Company July/August Designer and Garden Internet Auction

July 22 at 10 a.m. | info@potomackcompany.com | Tel: 703-684-4550 | [Event Website](http://www.potomackcompany.com/)

Keep cool this summer by bidding online Artfact.com, Invaluable.com and Auctionzip.com. Bidding will be open for the entirety of the preview.

Preview Schedule:

Mon., July 22 to Fri., July 26: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sat., July 27: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mon., July 29 to Fri., Aug. 2: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Mon., Aug. 5: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Address

The Potomack Company; 1120 N. Fairfax St.; Alexandria, Va 22314

Industree Speaker Series

July 23 at 11 a.m. | $25-45 | [Event Website](http://www.dcindustree.com/#!speaker-series/component_41229)

Washington, D.C., hospitality veteran Alisia Kleinmann and founder of event-based hospitality organization, industree, has officially announced the theme and line-up for its second speaker series. This one-of-a-kind event is slated to feature an intimate look inside the success stories of prominent chefs and chef-owners based in the D.C. area: how they got started in the hospitality industry and what it took to get theme to where they are today. Each chef will also discuss their thoughts on the evolving culinary scene in and around Washington D.C. The event will feature guest speakers in a relaxed setting and a Q&A session following the live discussion.

Address

Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW

Robert Devaney •

A documentary which premiered this week about TWA Flight 800 on the 17th anniversary of the airplane disaster echoes some of Pierre Salinger’s argument about the tragedy. He spoke and wrote about the 1996 mid-air explosion in several outlets, including the Georgetowner newspaper in 1999.

Among his many accomplishments, Salinger is best known as President John F. Kennedy’s press secretary. A World War II Navy veteran, Salinger was appointed a senator from California, serving for five months. Living in Europe, he also distinguished himself as a journalist for ABC News, winning an Emmy. Salinger is also known for his accusations that a missile took down TWA flight 800 off Long Island on July 17, 1996, killed all 230 persons on board. Despite first referring to an unsubstantiated document found on the Internet which caused some embarrassment, Salinger stood by his claim.

On July 17, the premium TV network Epix premiered “TWA Flight 800,” a documentary about the Boeing 747 that exploded just 12 minutes after taking off from JFK International Airport. It questions the conclusion by National Transportation Safety Board that the airplane’s fuel tank exploded because of an electrical spark inside the plane and argues that a missile hit the aircraft. The documentary features interviews with key members of the original TWA 800 investigation team, including retired NTSB senior accident investigator Hank Hughes, retired chief accident investigator for TWA Bob Young and Air Line Pilot Association representative and investigator James Speer. Film co-producer and investigator Tom Stalcup along with Hughes filed a petition urging the NTSB to reopen the matter in June.

The NTSB has reaffirmed its original conclusion which had come after four years of an investigation that used the resources of 19 federal agencies. A year after the accident, the FBI said no terrorism was involved. The NTSB went so far as to hold a press conference last month in Asburn, Va., to go over the evidence one more time.

Salinger died in October 2004 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A Salinger museum in Le Thor, France, is managed by his fourth wife Nicole “Poppy” Salinger Le Cesne at her bed-and-breakfast, La Bastide Rose. A large photo of Salinger in the Oval Office with President Kennedy, senior staffers and John Kennedy, Jr., hangs on the wall in the publisher’s office at the Georgetowner in Washington, D.C.

Pierre Salinger was a columnist for the Georgetowner from 1998 to 2001. During the 2000 presidential campaign between George Bush and Al Gore, Salinger famously wrote in his column, “If Bush wins, I’m going to leave the country and spend the rest of my life in France.” And he did.

The following is an abridged May 27,1999, Georgetowner column by Pierre Salinger:

TWA 800: The Truth Is Out There; Tell It

It is very sad that almost three years after TWA flight 800 exploded over Long Island, the United States government has not come out with a final solution on what happened to that plane.

I am also very sad about what happened to me. When I announced in November 1996 during a speech in Cannes in southern France that TWA 800 had been shot down accidentally by a U.S. Navy missile, my life was cut back by the FBI. The U.S. media said that I had told a lie and that I had lost my credibility. It is now clear that many people around the U.S. who are investigating TWA 800 have discovered that the plane was shot down by a missile. Both the FBI and the media had no right to attack me. At that time, Jim Kahlstrom, the FBI regional director who was leading the TWA 800 investigation, was still saying daily that it was possible a missile had shot down the plane. And, in retrospect, I think the media had no right to attack me because I have been an experienced journalist for 35 years, involved in the important stories of our times. I still do some journalism from time to time.

But Kahlstrom had done some very wrong things. He had cut off 375 witnesses who said they had seen missiles going into the air when TWA 800 went down. He said there was no Navy ship in the area that could have shot down the plane. And yet, we have now a tape where he is talking to someone else and where he said there were three Navy ships in the area which could have shot down the plane.

The most important thing that happened early last year was when former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Thomas Moorer came out with a statement on TWA 800. He was not covered by any of the important newspapers in the United States. This is what he said: “All evidence would point to a missile. All those witnesses who saw a streak that hit the airplane – you have to assume it was a missile. It absolutely deserves more investigation, a lot more.” He called for a new Congressional hearing into TWA 800. Late in 1998, Moorer ran a full-page ad in the New York Times, but that wasn’t covered by the press, either.

A little more than two weeks ago, on May 10, the Senate formally investigated the matter. The senate judiciary subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), released testimony that a bomb or missile had downed the plane. Grassley said that the FBI crash investigation was “a model of failure, not success.”

Meanwhile, another important person, retired Navy commander William Donaldson has also come out with a new view: TWA 800 was shot down by a missile – fired not from a Navy ship but a terrorist group.

What is interesting is that a majority of Americans and French believe that what I said was true. I am constantly congratulated for what I said about how TWA 800 was shot down…
…Of course, the United States government has not yet come out with a solution to what happened to TWA 800. With the FBI no longer investigating, the National Transportation Safety Board continues to look into the case. In November 1997, it held a five-day conference in Baltimore, which looked into the possibility that it was a fuel tank explosion. There is a lot of information which refutes this hypothesis. The TWA pilot, who flew the aircraft in question from Athens to New York before TWA 800 started on its final flight from New York to Paris, had done an extensive test of the fuel tank and had concluded that it was in great shape and could not have exploded.

[After speaking at a meeting in Atlanta regarding a future Olympics site] I learned that TWA 800 had crashed. I immediately went back to the hotel and watched television for five hours. Each of the TV shows was showing that it was a missile that had shot down TWA 800. Later, they did not again run those tapes they had shown—probably at the request of the FBI.

Let us now arrive at a government solution, once and for all, so that the surviving family members of the 230 people who died on TWA 800 will finally get the truth.
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Rachel Scola •

Pull out a map and find your detours. A part of K Street, NW, will close this weekend for maintenance activities.

The District Department of Transportation announced that K Street, between 21st and 27th Streets will be closed starting at 10:30 p.m., Friday, July 19 until 5 a.m., Monday, July 22.

The eastbound lanes will close first (westbound will remain open) and on Saturday, July 20, they will reopen and westbound lanes will close. Service lanes and cross streets in the designated section will remain open. Signs will be in place to guide travelers in the area.

DDOT wants drivers and pedestrians to remember to be alert, and that, depending on weather and contractor availability, dates are subject to change.

For more information, contact Project Manager Eric Cole: 202-497-7864.

Robert Devaney • July 18, 2013

Georgetown University continues its search for additional campus space. This week, it will appear before a local advisory neighborhood commission July 18 to present its potential use of the remaining area of the now-closed Walter Reed Army Medical Center, as explained by its COO, provost and medical school dean.

On 16th Street, NW, Walter Reed was located at 6900 Georgia Ave., NW. In August 2011, it moved its operations to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Part of the land is now used by the State Department, but the District controls 66.5 acres fit for redevelopment for offices, housing, shopping — and school buildings.

Developer Forest City Washington is partnered with the university and will make the pitch to the ANC that involves graduate programs and other uses, such as working with non-profits.

The following is the university’s statement by Christopher Augostini, senior vice president and chief operating officer; Robert Groves, executive vice president of main campus and provost; Howard Federoff, M.D., executive vice president for health sciences and executive dean of the School of Medicine:

Over the past year, Georgetown University has been engaged in a comprehensive master planning process. While recognizing that our historic main campus has limited space, we believe that future growth is necessary for our institutional health and sustainability.

Our integrated master planning process includes carefully looking at our options for growth as we develop a strategic vision for the future of our academic programs.

Opportunities are arising for growth and development in various parts of the District of Columbia and the surrounding metro area. We believe it is essential for us to position ourselves to look carefully at every opportunity for growth as we continue to learn and clarify our future needs. Our goal is to understand more about these opportunities as they become available, even as we clarify the activities we might undertake on future.

We believe Georgetown University is positioned to be a strong partner in meaningfully contributing to Washington in these coming years. We are engaged in constant conversation with the District about how we can best partner with them as they redevelop properties across the city that were once home to large federal programs and agencies.

As we move forward, you will likely hear that we are engaged in exploring various sites around the District. One such opportunity is the redevelopment of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in upper northwest Washington. There, the District has announced that the State Department will occupy part of the space and is soliciting development partners to re-imagine the remaining space. This is a tremendously important project for the District of Columbia and a possible development opportunity with many benefits for the university to explore.

The District has solicited developers to make presentations for Walter Reed. Forest City Washington has asked Georgetown University to partner on a proposal that includes exploring the possibility of expanding the university’s graduate education activities, research facilities, collaborations with private sector firms, and potentially other non profit and government entities to both accommodate growth and provide a catalyst for broader collaborations. This site has the potential to be a campus for innovation that could combine our institutional strengths with private sector, non-profit and other institutional entities, all focused on developing ideas and solutions for next generation global problem-solving.

While we are not far enough along in our master planning to determine specifically what programs and activities we would undertake at Walter Reed, we believe it is in the best interest of our institution to explore this potential partnership. As such, we will make a proposal with Forest City Washington to the District, which will be presented at a public meeting next Thursday at a meeting hosted by the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission near Walter Reed. Should we proceed in this process, we look forward to working with all of you to help invent and evaluate alternative uses of Walter Reed.

The city has also made clear their goal to develop areas in the south and the east of the District of Columbia. For example, the former St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is a site that may hold opportunity for consideration by Georgetown University. Additional opportunities east of the river may present in the future, and we will continue the conversation with the city regarding other development opportunities.

We wanted you to be aware of our engagement in these potential opportunities in the weeks and months ahead. We look forward to continuing our master planning work and are grateful for your continued participation and support in this important process. While all master planning activities require thinking far ahead of the easily foreseeable future, real decisions regarding academic uses of space must be taken with wide input from all the Georgetown community. We welcome your thoughts and comments at any time.

Racquel Richards •

Supreme Court Strikes Down DOMA

With a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled June 26 that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, is an unconstitutional violation of the Fifth Amendment.

This part of the law restricted homosexual couples from receiving more than 1,000 benefits afforded to married heterosexual couples. This was without regard, even if the homosexual couples were legally married in the states where they resided.

Windsor v. United State was filed by New York resident Edith Windsor, who was legally married in Canada to Thea Spyer. Due to Spyer’s death in 2009, Windsor was required to pay estate taxes on her inheritance. This fee was lawful only because Windsor was married to a woman instead of a man.

Supreme Court Nixes Part of Voting Rights Act of 1995

On June 25, the Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This portion of the law determines which states must get federal permission before they change their voting laws.

The Voting Rights Act requires nine states with a history of discrimination at the polls must get approval from the Justice Department or a special panel of judges before they change their voting laws. However, this applied mostly to Southern states.

Justice Roberts wrote for the court, saying, “Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.”

Many civil rights activists called the decision devastating because it was thought of as the most important piece of civil rights legislation in American history.

Arizona Voter Registration Law Voided

On June 17, the Supreme Court struck down an Arizona voter registration law. The controversial law would require citizens to swear, under penalty of perjury, that he or she is a citizen.

The justices voted 7-2 to do away with Arizona’s voter-approved requirement. According to Justice Antonia Scalia, it “precludes Arizona from requiring a federal form applicant to submit information beyond that required by the form itself.” Scalia wrote for the court’s majority. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 overrides Arizona’s Proposition 200, because it doesn’t require such documentation.

Upon making its decision, the court was considering the legality of Arizona’s requirement that prospective voters document their U.S. citizenship in order to use a registration form produced under the federal “motor voter” registration law.

Opponents of the voter registration law were happy about this decision.”Today’s decision sends a strong message that states cannot block their citizens from registering to vote by superimposing burdensome paperwork requirements on top of federal law,” said Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “The Supreme Court has affirmed that all U.S. citizens have the right to register to vote using the national postcard, regardless of the state in which they live,” Perales said.

In the past, Arizona has actively disagreed with the federal government over immigration issues, involving those concerning its border with Mexico.

Texas Affirmative Action Decision Pushed Aside

The Supreme Court has decided to sidesweep decision on the use of race-conscious school admission at the University of Texas and whether it violates the equal protection rights of some white applicants. Justices threw the case — Fisher vs University of Texas at Austin — back to the lower courts for further review.

The court has only affirmed the use of race in the admissions process. However, this makes it harder for institutions to use “race” policies to achieve a sense of diversity. This 7-1 decision ignores the larger constitutional issues.

Abigail Noel Fisher singlehandedly sued the flagship state university after her college application was rejected in 2008. This took place when she was a high school senior in Sugar Land, Texas. Fisher claims that the rejection was because she is white, and that she was being treated unfairly in comparison to someone than some less-qualified minority students who were accepted.
The school defends its policy of using race as one of many factors. Other factors such as test scores, community service, leadership, and work experience, designed to create a diverse campus are also taken into consideration.

Ultimately, the court reaffirmed earlier rulings allowing for a limited use of race-conscious public policies.”The attainment of a diverse student body serves values beyond race alone, including enhanced classroom dialogue and the lessening of racial isolation and stereotypes,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the court’s ruling.

“Strict scrutiny [of the policy] imposes on the university the ultimate burden of demonstrating, before turning to racial classification, that available, workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice,” he said.

The decision on this case is expected to be released within the next few days.

Gary Tischler •

People die all the time. We catch their passing in obituary notices or in big headline obituaries, especially if they’re famous and noted, a lot or a little. People die in the last breaths of old age, in their sleep, in hospitals and hospices, or more dramatically and summarily, in accidents, in shocking murders, en masse and singly, or after suffering too long, or in the midst of disasters, as heroes or victims, and sometimes both. The news of their passing make up a late-night announcement, news tickers on TV screens, blips on the Internet, e-mails in your inbox, or more personally, the three-in-the-morning phone call no one wants to pick up.

The Shock of Numbers: 19 Firefighters in Arizona

The stunning news late Sunday night of the death of 19 firefighters was a huge, gut-grabbing shock. They were nearly all the members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite group of firefighters battling an out-of-control 8,000-acre wildfire at Yarnell Hill, northwest of Phoenix, Ariz., which has experienced triple-digit temperatures for a number of days. The hotshot crews are considered to be a highly trained, elite group of forest firefighters.

Among the dead, according to a recent CNN report, was the superintendent of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, Eric Marsh. The other 18 victims have not been identified yet, but from a grayish picture on the net, they appear to confident, young, look-you-in-the-eye, high-spirited and cohesive.

According to local fire and national park officials, a wind shift caused the group to become trapped and surrounded and forced them to use emergency-tent shelters as a last-ditch survival tool.

President Barack Obama, responding to news of the deaths, called the firefighters “heroes, highly skilled professional who, like so many across our country do every day, selflessly put themselves in harm’s way to protect the lives and property of fellow citizens they would never meet.”

The shock of so many deaths is permanent, because the people seem in a moment’s time or more, to have become irreplaceable, from far away, and in the empty spaces they leave among peers, families and loved ones.

The tragedy and number of deaths is the largest number of firefighters to die in a wildfire since 1933, when 29 firemen died in a Los Angeles fire.

In a Place Far from Home: Andrew Pochter

Andrew Pochter, a 21-year-old student at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, was in Egypt on a summer internship to teach Egyptian children English, which seemed the continuation of a young life focused on bringing people together, learning about and living with others.

Pochter, who was from Chevy Chase, Md., was, according to news reports and his parents, a young Jewish man dedicated to bringing people together, especially in the Middle East, where conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, civil war among Arabs and a politically volatile Arab Spring make the region a dangerous place to visit and in which to live.

Pochter went anyway. On Friday, he went to observe, as thousands gathered in Alexandria, Egypt, to protest against the government of Mohamed Morsi. Similar violent and intense protests were taking place in Egyptian cities, including Cairo. Pochter, who was observing the demonstration in Alexandria, died after being stabbed by a protestor.

When he died, Pochter was working for America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc., a non-profit training organization, better known as AMIDEAST.

Not Quite Famous, but Not Forgotten: Bert Stern

Bert Stern, who achieved considerable acclaim as a photographer who did some of his best work by changing Madison Avenue’s approach to advertising, will probably be remembered more for a series of revealing photographs of Marilyn Monroe, shot at the behest of Vogue Magazine in 1962 at the Hotel Bel Air in Hollywood only weeks before she died at the age of 36.

The photographs, many of which were of America’s greatest movie sex symbol in the nude, showed her at her most attainable, accessible, frisky, unabashed, natural and high energy. The result of the photographs were 2,571 images, part of which became a book, until all were published in another book in 1982, called “Marilyn Monroe: The Complete Last Sitting.”

While his connection to Monroe was enduring, Stern, who died at his home June 25 at the age of 83, accomplished quite a bit otherwise, including using dramatic, often sly and highly stylish images for Smirnoff Vodka. He also produced a documentary film in which he shot footage of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, where such legends as Thelonious Monk, Anita O’Day, Chuck Berry, Gerry Mulligan and Louis Armstrong played.

Like the Marilyn Monroe images, the result, a film called “Jazz on a Summer’s Day,” is enduring.

Country Meets the Blues: Slim Whitman, Bobby Bland

It’s hard to imagine more different singers and musicians than Slim Whitman and Bobby “Blue” Bland, but both Whitman and Bland were influential performers who left legacies.

Whitman was described as a country crooner and yodeler, a combination rarely if ever seen today in any genre. Here’s a list of some of his big hits—he ended up selling 70 million records: “Indian Love Call,” “Secret Love,” “Danny Boy” and a number of others. He somehow married his voice to echoes of country drawls, love songs, sentimental Irish music and operetta sweet somethings.

Because his voice, and presumably his musical thoughts, were pure, he ended up singing on “Grand Ole Opry” and “Louisiana Hayride.” According to reports, his version of “Indian Love Call” was used in Tim Burton’s sci-fi film “Mars Attacks!” to repel the invaders.

Whitman died at the age of 90 this month.

Bobby “Blue” Bland sang the blues with an underlying sweetness, but he was at heart a big-time-rhythm and blues singer who was right up there with the likes of Ray Charles and B.B. King, and in terms of influence, standing really tall and close.

He had lots of hits, most of which were remembered and worked their way into the playing, singing and music of people like Eric Clapton, Van Morrison the Allman Brothers, Rapper Jay-Z , and lesser known blues players like Little Milton, Z.Z Hill and Artie “Blues Boy” White.

Bland, who was born in Memphis, is in the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

Bland died June 23 at 83 of heart failure, which would seem astonishing for a man whose heart never seemed to fail him musically.

Rachel Scola • July 17, 2013

The first anniversary calls for a traditional paper gift. The 25th means a gift of silver, and the 50th means gold. But what do you get for a federal territory that is celebrating its 223 anniversary and already has it all?

Yes, the District of Columbia has formally been a territory for 223 years. President George Washington signed the Permanent Seat of Government Act on July 16, 1790, making D.C. the federal capital.

Happy birthday, D.C., as if any of us Washingtonians need more reasons to celebrate this great city and region.

In 1788, James Madison wrote about the importance of a central location for the government. In 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, approving the creation of a capital on the Potomac River. Congress held its first session in D.C. in November 1800.

Land from Virginia and Maryland was donated to form Washington, although Virginia’s land was later returned to the Old Dominion. The city was named after that first president who chose this very location on the Potomac. Today, the metro area has a population of approximately 5.7 million.

No word yet on who gets to blow out all 223 candles.