Citi Open Crowns New Champions (photos)
• October 28, 2014

World’s seventh-ranked Milos Raonic prevailed over his fellow countryman Vasek Pospisil in a historic all-Canadian Men’s Final at the Citi Open Tennis Tournament at the FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park on Aug. 3. Raonic beat Pospisil in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4 aided by what some describe as the best serve in Tennis. In other court action, former Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia defeated diminutive 5′ 1″ Kurumi Nara of Japan in a marathon match that exceeded two hours 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win the women’s singles title. In the day’s first match, the Dutch and Romanian doubles team of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau defeated Indian doubles legend Leander Paes and Australian Samuel Groth in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 to win the Citi Open doubles event. Leander Paes is well known to local fans as a charter member of the champion Washington Kastles league tennis team. For the winners, it was their fifth ATP doubles title of the year. The day also marked the retirement of legendary D.C. public address announcer Charlie Brotman. Brotman has been behind the microphone for every inaugural parade since 1957, when President Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in for his second term. He has been the Citi Open public address announcer since 1969.

View our photos of the finals days action at the Citi Open by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet) [gallery ids="139477,139420,139412,139408,139403,139398,139394,139390,139384,139381,139425,139429,139434,139475,139470,139465,139461,139456,139452,139448,139443,139439,139376,139371,139367,139308,139303,139298,139293,139289,139284,139279,139274,139416,139312,139318,139323,139362,139359,139354,139350,139346,139341,139337,139332,139326,101823" nav="thumbs"]

Leading Social Conservatives Gather Again in D.C. for the 2014 Values Voter Summit (photos)
• October 10, 2014

The Values Voter Summit is the primary political gathering of this nation’s social conservative community. This year’s event took place on Sept. 26 and 27 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. The VVS is hosted by the Family Research Council, headquartered in D.C., and well known for its opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. This year’s gathering paid special attention to the concept of religious freedom, primarily to the persecution of Christians and their values, both at home and abroad (particularly in Islamic societies). Many of the leading social conservative leaders who addressed the assemblage included presidential candidates, past, present and future: Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Governor Bobby Jindal (R-La.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Rick Santorum, Gary Bauer and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. For the second straight year, Ted Cruz won the Family Research Council Action’s 2014 Values Voter Summit Straw Poll.

View our photos from the 2014 Values Voter Summit by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101871,137540,137535,137529,137525,137520,137514,137510,137505,137545,137548,137583,137588,137577,137573,137568,137562,137557,137553,137500,137494,137443,137437,137432,137428,137423,137418,137414,137409,137446,137452,137490,137485,137480,137475,137471,137466,137461,137457,137591" nav="thumbs"]

Celebrating Turkish Culture at the 12th Annual Turkish Festival (photos)
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The 12th Annual Turkish Festival was held in perfect weather on Sunday, Sept. 28, at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with Turkish dance and stage performances, Turkish cuisine, an authentic Turkish bazaar and special children’s activities. The well attended event was sponsored by the American Turkish Association of Washington, D.C., whose primary mission is to promote understanding between Turkish and non-Turkish communities through cultural, social and educational programs. Among the featured performers were the Yeditepe University Folklore Club, based in Istanbul, which made a return visit to the festival. There were also remarks by Turkish Ambassador Serdar K?l?ç, and British Muslim superstar Sami Yusuf, fresh from his sold-out appearance at the Strathmore. Also providing entertainment were the Kardelen Turkish Dance Ensemble, the Nomad Dancers, TarabRaqs Middle Eastern Music & Dance Ensemble, Turkish Folk Dance Children’s Group, Turku Nomads of the Silk Road, Berna Little Shimmy Belly Dance and the Ishtar Band.

Check out our photos of the Turkish Festival by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet). [gallery ids="137385,137334,137294,137330,137340,137300,137286,137280,137273,137264,137257,137230,137306,137311,137382,137374,137369,137354,137364,137359,137348,137345,137378,137325,137316,137250,137243,137186,137143,137203,137163,137126,137120,137149,137132,137113,137104,137138,137154,137158,137224,137218,137212,137198,137207,137237,137183,137178,137172,137168,137192,101873" nav="thumbs"]

Paul Bakery and Cafe Opens 6th Restaurant in D.C. Area
• September 29, 2014

We were on hand Wednesday night, Sept. 10, for the opening cocktail party for the new Paul Bakery Metro Center at 555 13th St., NW, near the National Press Building in Washington D.C. This will be the sixth Paul Bakery and Cafe to open in the D.C. area. Founded in France in 1889, the company is “built upon a foundation of time-honored production methods passed down for five generations, Paul’s Bakery philosophy is very simple: excellent bread depends on excellent ingredients and time-honored methods of production.” Paul’s U.S. flagship bakery officially opened in Penn Quarter on 2011 and was quickly followed by a second restaurant in Georgetown. Paul USA has two more restaurants in Miami, Fla., with plans to open five more this fall in the Boston, Mass., area.
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Washington Celebrates Latino Culture with Fiesta DC 2014 Parade of Nations (photos)
• September 23, 2014

Fiesta DC is the annual Latino Festival in Washington DC. This year’s event took place on Sunday, September 21 in summer-like temperatures. One of the highlights of the cultural display is the “Parade of Nations” featuring Hispanic Americans dressed in colorful costumes from their respective homelands. The parade started at 7th St. and Constitution Ave. The festival coincides with Hispanic Heritage Month. Latinos are the fastest growing group in the District of Columbia, comprising nearly 10% of the DC population.

View our photos from the Parade of Nations by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="138014,137978,137941,137948,137953,137931,137925,137936,137921,137916,137910,137957,137962,138009,138002,137998,138020,137988,138024,137993,137983,137969,137974,137904,137899,137895,137818,137812,137828,137806,137824,137800,137797,137791,137783,137776,137834,137838,137890,137884,137878,137874,137869,137864,137858,137855,137849,137844,101860" nav="thumbs"]

Inside the D.C. Statehood Senate Hearing (photos)
• September 22, 2014

District leaders gave an impassioned plea for D.C. statehood, claiming that to be the only remedy to correct a historic injustice, namely the inability of District residents to participate fully in American democracy.

The official name for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing that took place in the Dirksen Senate Office Building was “Equality for the District of Columbia: Discussing the Implications of S. 132, the New Columbia Admission Act of 2013.” It was the first congressional hearing on D.C. statehood in more than 20 years and was held late on Monday afternoon, Sept. 15, with only two senators in attendance, Sens. Thomas Carper (D-Del.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).

Among the speakers at Monday’s packed hearing room that testified in favor of statehood were D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, former U.S. Federal Reserve and budget official Alice Rivlin, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, District Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. Roger Pilon of Cato Institute spoke against the bill to make D.C. into the 51st “state of New Columbia.” Both of D.C.’s shadow senators, Paul Strauss and Michael D. Brown, made impassioned pleas for D.C. congressional representation. Also testifying during the panel on “Equality for the District of Columbia” was Viet D. Dinh, a Georgetown University Law professor who specializes in constitutional law. Dinh authored a 25-page opinion in 2004 in favor of D.C. voting representation in the House. Also testifying in favor of D.C. statehood was Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Several members of the D.C. Council were present in the gallery to lend support, including mayoral candidate Muriel Bowser.

Carper secured 18 Senate co-sponsors for the bill but didn’t have enough support from his own committee to bring the measure before the Senate for a vote. Thus, no action is planned. “My goal for this hearing” said Carper, “is to educate a new generation of people about this injustice and restart the conversation about finding a more thoughtful solution.”

View our photos from inside the hearing by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet). [gallery ids="101857,138101,138122,138128,138132,138136,138142,138148,138154,138160,138163,138168,138174,138094,138089,138084,138106,138037,138110,138116,138043,138047,138052,138058,138064,138069,138073,138078,138175" nav="thumbs"]

Pentagon 9/11 Observance Ceremony in Photos
• September 18, 2014

At a solemn ceremony, President Barack Obama observed the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon which claimed the lives of 184 individuals. The ceremony at the Pentagon was mostly private, attended by family members of victims of the attack, first responders and senior military and government officials. The public was allowed to view the memorial following the ceremony. Observances got underway in the D.C. area at dawn with the unfurling of an American flag down the side of the Pentagon. The tradition began Sept. 12, 2001, when firefighters unexpectedly got onto the building’s roof and draped a large flag across the damaged building, a symbol of America’s resolve. The commemoration service began at 9:30 a.m., hosted by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey. President Obama spoke following the playing of “Taps” and a moment of silence at 9:37 a.m., the moment an airliner hit the Pentagon. The president offered words of comfort to the families, telling them, “Your love is the ultimate rebuke to the hatred of those who attacked us.”

View our photos of the Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101851,138369,138373,138378,138383,138388,138393,138398,138403,138407,138412,138418,138422,138426,138433,138364,138358,138289,138295,138300,138304,138310,138315,138319,138324,138329,138335,138339,138344,138349,138354,138431" nav="thumbs"]

Nation’s Triathlon in Photos
• September 15, 2014

The Ninth Annual Events DC Nation’s Triathlon to Benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society took place under perfect weather in the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 7, in West Potomac Park. The triathlon is normally a multiple-stage competition that feature running, swimming and biking with a course that winds through Washington, D.C.’s monument corridor. Unfortunately, the swim portion of the contest had to be cancelled due to sewage runoff in the Potomac River after Saturday’s heavy rainfall. But the change in climate was welcome, and temperatures hovered around 70 degrees at the start of the race at 7 a.m. The other two portions of the race went on, and the event schedule remained nearly the same. Austin Jackson of Arlington, Va., was the eventual winner. Emily Richard of Washington, D.C., was the top female finisher.

View our photos of the Nation’s Triathlon by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="138683,138625,138619,138614,138608,138603,138599,138594,138589,138629,138634,138676,138671,138662,138658,138653,138648,138643,138639,138585,138580,138576,138527,138522,138667,138680,138518,138508,138502,138512,138530,138535,138572,138567,138563,138558,138554,138549,138544,138539,101846" nav="thumbs"]

National Book Festival Goes Indoors, Draws Huge Crowds (photos)
• September 4, 2014

Tens of thousands of book lovers and over 100 of the best writers from across the country descended on the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday August 30, 2014 for the 14th Annual Library of Congress National Book Festival. The Festival moved indoors this year primarily over concern by the National Park Service to preserving the grass on the National Mall. Despite the change, this year’s edition was very well attended with several authors speaking to standing room only crowds in the cavernous meeting rooms of the Convention Center. The highest honor at the event went to E.L. Doctorow, the celebrated author of “Ragtime,” “Billy Bathgate,” “The Book of Daniel” and many other novels, who received the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction from Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Some of the featured presenters included former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Russian author Nina Khrushcheva, archeologist Eric Cline, Congressman John Lewis and noted physicist Michio Kaku. (Webcasts of many of the presentations are available for viewing on www.c-span.org and at www.loc.gov/podcasts/bookfest14/index.html) This year’s Festival concluded with special evening programs covering poetry, the graphic novel, and film. Those who had attended previous book festivals noticed the familiar Pavilion of States, Let’s Read America children’s activities, the Library of Congress Pavilion and the Book Store. Children also lined up to be photographed with their favorite PBS Kids characters.

View our photos of the National Book Festival by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet) [gallery ids="101842,138872,138794,138868,138804,138808,138813,138817,138822,138827,138830,138836,138841,138844,138850,138854,138858,138800,138788,138782,138704,138710,138716,138721,138725,138730,138735,138875,138739,138744,138749,138754,138759,138765,138771,138776,138864" nav="thumbs"]

Our Photos from CPAC 2014
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Thousands of conservative activists from across the United States attended the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, Md., between March 6 and 8. The conference was founded in 1973 by the American Conservative Union and has grown substantially over the years. President Barack Obama was a constant target of verbal attacks from a bevy of big-name conservatives, including Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., along with Governors Chris Christie, R-N.J., and Rick Perry, R-Texas. Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin delivered the keynote address. Past presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee made appearances but House Speaker John Boehner was auspiciously absent. Rand Paul won the symbolic straw poll with 31 percent of the vote with Ted Cruz finishing second. A score of radio broadcasters, stilt walkers, Star Wars characters and Tea Partiers in full Revolutionary War regalia added color to the event.

View our photos from CPAC 2014 by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet)

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