DC Scenes

Jeff Malet • November 26, 2012

Fresh off of his election victory on Nov. 6, President Barack Obama opened his Veterans Day address at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11 with these words. “Each year, on the 11th day of the 11th month, we pause –- as a nation, and as a people –- to pay tribute to you. To thank you. To honor you, the heroes, over the generations, who have served this country of ours with distinction.”

View our photos of this solemn event by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101052,136779,136786,136793,136800,136806,136814,136822,136830,136838,136772,136766,136759,136871,136865,136859,136720,136852,136727,136734,136742,136752,136845" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • November 9, 2012

The Washington International Horse Show, one of the leading equestrian events in the country, celebrated its 54th year Oct. 23 through 28 at the Verizon Center, attracting leading horses and riders from around the world with more than $400,000 in prize money. Eighteen-year-old U.S. Olympian Reed Kessler took the major prize with a top finish in the $100,000 President’s Cup Grand Prix on Saturday night. The $25,000 Open Jumper Puissance was the highlight class of the preceding evening with a win for 19-year-old Belgian rider Olivier Philippaerts and horse Chicago VH Moleneind. They were the only horse and rider out of six entries to clear a wall of seven feet in height.

View our photo album of the main events of the show by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101034,136144,136137,136130,136123,136116,136109,136100,136094,136158,136087,136163,136080,136169,136070,136175,136151" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • November 6, 2012

The Supreme Court heard a challenge to its long-standing ruling that race may be considered as a factor in the college admissions process (affirmative action) on Oct. 10. Justices debated the case of Fisher v. University of Texas. A white student, Abigail Fisher, brought the case after her application to the University of Texas-Austin was rejected in 2008. In her lawsuit, she questioned whether the university’s admissions system uses race unnecessarily. The outcome could have major implications for higher education.

View photos of the activity outside the Supreme Court Building by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101017,135570,135562,135554,135548,135542,135534,135526,135583,135589,135517,135594,135599,135576" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • October 11, 2012

The Georgetown Hoyas (3-2) and third string quarterback Stephen Skon could not keep up with the Brown Bears before a sellout homecoming crowd of over 3,000 at Multi-Sport Field. Spiro Theodhosi rushed for 142 yards and one touchdown and Patrick Donnelly threw for two scores as Brown pulled away from Georgetown 37-10. Georgetown’s first sting quarterback Isaiah Kempf has not yet been cleared for contact since suffering a concussion in the team’s first game, a victory against Davidson.

View photos of the game by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="101001,133247,133255,133262,133269,133276,133283,133290,133297,133305,133313,133321,133329,133337,133345,133237,133229,133219,133380,133373,133137,133367,133361,133146,133153,133161,133169,133178,133188,133195,133203,133210,133353" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • September 27, 2012

More than 100 top authors and thousands of visitors gathered on the National Mall for the two-day 12th National Book Festival, Sept. 22 to 23. The festival included readings and author discussions, book signings, entertainment and storybook characters to interact with children. The theme of this year’s event was “Books That Shaped America” in conjunction with a recent Library of Congress survey of 88 fiction and nonfiction works that helped shape the nation. Separate pavilions ran programs simultaniously for the following major categories: Children, Teens, Fiction & Mystery, History & Biography, Contemporary Life, Poetry & Prose, SciFi Fantasy & Graphic Novels, and Special Programs. A separate Family Storytelling Stage featured authors and musical acts popular with young children. As always, the event was free and open to the public. The Distinguished Benefactor of the festival was David Rubenstein, who co-chaired the National Book Festival Board with James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress. Corporate sponsors included Target, the Washington Post, Wells Fargo, AT&T, Scholastic, and Lego Systems, Inc. Returning to the festival was the Digital Bookmobile, a high-tech exhibit powered by OverDrive, which supports reading and literacy with ebooks from libraries. Notable authors in attendance included Bob Woodward, Julie and David Eisenhower, Walter Isaacson, Tom Friedman, Robert Caro, singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa.

View photos of the event by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="132614,132469,132460,132451,132441,132433,132423,132414,132407,132397,132389,132378,132369,132361,132478,132488,132605,132595,132587,132578,132571,132563,132554,132545,132533,132525,132516,132507,132497,132350,132340,132329,132194,132186,132177,132168,132159,132150,132623,132141,132629,132132,132636,132124,132644,132201,132210,132321,132313,132302,132293,132285,132277,132269,132260,132252,132244,132235,132227,132219,100995" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • September 21, 2012

Republican vice-presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., headlined the annual Values Voter Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., Sept. 14 to 15. The annual gathering of Christian conservatives and elected officials is a joint production of the Family Research Council and other social conservative groups. Health care reform, gay marriage, abortion, religion and the upcoming presidential election dominated the discussion. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney did not attend but did speak to the group via video screen.

View our photos by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="100976,131468,131477,131485,131495,131504,131513,131521,131530,131537,131547,131555,131564,131572,131460,131452,131608,131601,131379,131596,131388,131589,131396,131404,131411,131419,131428,131436,131444,131579" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • September 17, 2012

Matt MacZura kicked two field goals, the last one a 35-yarder with 1:42 to play to give Georgetown (2-0) a narrow 13-10 victory over Wagner (0-2) in a non-conference game at Multi-Sport Field on Saturday Sept. 8 in Washington DC. Wagner had tied the game at 10 with 5:19 left, on a 44-yard field goal by David Lopez. Coming off a 35-14 season opening win at Davidson, the Hoyas had reason to be optimistic. Georgetown has returned 17 starters from last year’s successful season that fell just one win short of its first Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearance.

Though held to only 13 points, the offense was not short of opportunities. Georgetown senior Jeremy Moore had an apparent 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown called back by a holding penalty. And the team twice had the ball inside their opponents 5 yard line with only a field goal to show for it. The offence was led by backup quarterback Aaron Aiken who was making his first career start. He was playing in place of injured senior Isaiah Kempf. Aiken’s 12-yard touchdown run around right end in the third quarter had given Georgetown a 10-7 lead. For the afternoon, Georgetown registered 312 yards of total offense compared to just 244 for the Seahawks

View our photos of the game by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="131147,131057,131049,131039,131032,131025,131017,131009,131001,131064,131072,131080,131140,131133,131125,131117,131109,131101,131094,131086,130993,130985,130890,130881,131155,130873,131160,130864,131167,131174,130897,130905,130913,130977,130971,130964,130956,130948,130939,130931,130922,100970" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • September 6, 2012

Actor Gary Sinise, a long-time supporter of the military, was honored by the U.S. Navy as an Honorary Chief Petty Officer in a ceremony at the Navy Memorial in Washington on Friday, Aug. 24.
Gary Sinise is best known for his role as Lt. Dan Taylor in the 1994 blockbuster movie “Forrest Gump.” In that movie he portrayed an Army officer who loses both legs in Vietnam, a character that made Sinise something of a patron saint to real-life amputees. Sinise co-founded the Lt. Dan Band, in which he plays bass guitar, to entertain U.S. troops and raise money for gravely wounded warriors. The Gary Sinise Foundation was officially formed in 2010 and is dedicated to serving the United States by honoring its defenders, veterans, first responders, their families and those in need.

www.garysinisefoundation.org

Taking part in the ceremony were Fleet Master Chief Mike Stevens; Cindy McCalip, executive vice president of the U.S. Navy Memorial; and Sinise’s daughter Ella who took part in the pinning ceremony.

View our photos of the ceremony at the Navy Memorial by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="100954,130584,130590,130597,130604,130612,130619,130626,130634,130641,130649,130657,130665,130576,130568,130698,130497,130691,130685,130507,130680,130516,130525,130533,130543,130553,130561,130672" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • August 29, 2012

For the first time in the event’s 43 year history, the Citi Open has expanded the field to include female participants. The ATP World Tour hard-court tournament changed its name to the Citi Open, after being known as the Legg Mason Tennis Classic since 1994. The 2012 Citi Open ATP World Tour 500 Level men’s event is recognized as one of the top 20 ATP events in the world, offering nearly $1.5 million in prize money. The WTA tournament, which was historically held the week before the then Legg Mason Tennis Classic, will now be played simultaneously with the men’s event and offers $220,000 in prize money. Combining both mens and womens events will offer fans up to 20 matches per day beginning Monday. We were on hand for the first-ever match to feature women’s tennis at the Rock Creek Park event on July 28, a qualifying match featuring Jana Cepelova (Slovakia) and Alison Riske (USA).

The tournament is taking place at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in the Rock Creek Park section of Washington, DC., from July 28 thru August 5, 2012.

View our photos of the first day’s qualifying events from courtside by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="100924,129272,129280,129288,129296,129304,129312,129321,129329,129264,129256,129366,129358,129222,129351,129345,129232,129240,129248,129338" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet • August 27, 2012

The Washington Mystics achieved a much needed 75-71 win over the Chicago Sky in an overtime thriller at the Verizon Center on Aug. 19. Matee Ajavon scored 22 points for the Mystics including a tying 3-point basket with less than 2 seconds left in regulation time, and Jasmine Thomas made the go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in overtime. The WNBA has recently restarted its schedule after a month-long hiatus due to the Summer Olympics. Crystal Langhorne had 18 points for the Mystics. Washington celebrated its 15th year in the league by honoring its All-Time team, including Langhorne and Chamique Holdsclaw, Nikki McCray, Vicki Bullett and Murriel Page as selected by a fan vote.

View our photos from the game by clicking on the photo icons below. [gallery ids="100943,130271,130263,130255,130247,130287,130237,130295,130233,130302,130228,130309,130279" nav="thumbs"]