Bradlee: the Editor Who Showed Us How Important Editors Are
• November 6, 2014

Watching the stately, almost state, funeral at the National Cathedral for the Washington Post legend and newspaper giant Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee was to realize just what a multi-faceted life he led, almost redefining the definition of the phrase “full life.”

It was a ceremony and celebration of a life which was at once a kind of world, certainly national, and fully American but also a life that was purely, dense and layered, intimate, familial and familiar life.

All of those strands seemed to be weaving themselves together on national television—on C-SPAN, to be specific—as we watched. Here was the coffin with a white rose on top. Here were the Episcopal rituals, the march to and from of church officials and acolytes, the sometimes unsteady walks to the place where speakers spoke and memorialized, the voices, the hymns, prayers and passages from the bible, and poems and quotes and jokes, and fond memories. The high and the more or less mighty—Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry—were in the pews, mixed in with newspaper guys and gals, the family, the many children, the Georgetown neighbors, the peers and people who write about such things as the passing of legends, and record them for future books and next-day or instant stories.

It seemed a lot like the funeral of Bradlee’s former boss, Katharine Graham, the publisher of the Washington Post, at which Bradlee delivered a eulogy, tapping the casket as he proceeded to the podium. Dignitaries gathered in 2001 in large numbers, as if heeding the call that went out to the world, coming from far and wide. But in some ways, it was not. It was a little closer and more focused—this was about family, two of them. There was the family of one man and his marriages, the children grown older, remembering intimate, funny, triumphant moments of fathers and sons, and there was the family of the profession.

If Bradlee with his life-affirming, arms-wide-open charm and blunt humor was a certain kind of personality, he was and will be remembered by some of us—including the stars of the newspaper that he nurtured, cattled-prodded, pushed and shoved with grit and imagination into national prominence—as an editor. He was THE editor, managing and otherwise, at once singular and of a type. Nobody who made their lives around stories and words, and worked on newspapers or magazines and who lived in this city and in the nation, did not at one time or another aspire to or wished it to have worked for the paper and the man. We all envied the Posties a little, even as we might have disparaged them publicly. They reflected the virtues of their boss which included a respect for the craft of stringing words together into stories, or as he liked to call them “good yarns.”

If Bradlee, and by extension the Post itself, were a kind of hallmark of newspapers and newspaper work, in this setting, the celebration of Bradlee’s life also often seemed like a kind of mass mourning of the continued diminishment and newspapers and newspaper work in general in the digital age. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, who bought out the Graham family to acquire the Post was there, like a reminder of today’s realities.

But Bradlee stories—affectionally and sometimes politely told, and sometimes not—reminded journalists who listened and watched of just how crucial editors can be, not only to the fates of entire newspapers but to the work of writers.

There can be only one Bradlee—that life, that look, tragedy and romance, affairs of the heart and national security affairs, the downfall of a president—but there have always been better than good editors whose presence and style affected the people who worked for them. Some had biographies written about them, most are unsung in the long run.

I worked for a city editor named Mike Nickel at the Daily Review, in Hayward, Calif., in the East Bay near Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco, in the 1970s. Contrary to rumor, Ben Bradlee did not invent the New Journalism, a style of writing and reporting that was immediate and personal which he encouraged in his great invention of the Style section. It was already being done in California at Rolling Stone and newspapers in the Bay Area. Nickel did not have an ounce of the charisma Ben Bradlee had, nor that sense of his own worth and importance but he had a way with writers—he was a small, thin man who always let you know when you screwed up, in great detail, but also followed almost every tongue or note-lashing with words of praise for your other efforts. He suspected that I was plotting to get four-letter words into the paper, which was not exactly true, but I, and everyone else at the paper, knew he had my back and whatever else was worth protecting.

Editors like Bradlee are once-in-a-lifetime occurrences. Good and great and excellent men and editors are a vanishing breed. These are the times we live in.

Here’s to Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee, the best of the breed. And drink a cup of kindness, too, to the Mike Nickels of our shrinking profession.

Muriel Bowser, from a D.C. Neighborhood, Running to Become Mayor of D.C.
•

Sitting at Qualia Coffee, a smallish and relatively new coffee shop on Georgia Avenue in the D.C., neighborhood of Petworth, you realize just how much Washington, D.C., has changed and is continuing to change. In some ways, this is the eye of the change storm or at least an emblematic illustration of what was going on the city, with the election of a new mayor only days away.

Muriel E. Bowser, who remains the favorite in a three-way race for mayor, the Ward 4 councilmember, who won the Democratic Primary going away, has changed quite a bit, too, since she was first elected to the District Council when Adrian Fenty was elected Mayor of Washington, D.C., in 2008.  

“Washington’s changed have changed a lot, and the change has been swift,” she said as we sat on a soft couch in the crowded coffee shop in Petworth, which is experiencing an influx of new, younger residents,  part of the millennial generation explosion that’s going on in D.C. neighborhoods.

She declined an offer of coffee from an assistant. “I’ve had too much already today,” she said.   She has become during the course of a hectic, combative primary campaign and a drawn out general election campaign, a confident, strong campaigner and politician, who — when push came to shove — managed to hold her own in the four debates that were held and in the much more frequent primary candidate forum encounters.

In the end, she emerged victorious over incumbent Mayor Vincent Gray, Councilmembers Jack Evans, Tommy Wells and Vincent Orange as well as Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal. She will have run the table if she wins Nov. 4 in the general election.  Polls to date have shown her initially with a double-digit lead over Independent David Catania, who had to give up his at-large Council seat to run, while Carol Schwartz, also an independent trailed in third.  That lead, according to other polls dwindled early in October, while a more recent poll saw her on the rise again.

The atmosphere remains unsettled, with voters not entirely happy with the choices, as the electorate changes with changing times. 

We offered that this was the first time that the general election gives the appearance of being competitive—an assertion to which she offered some skepticism,  when asked, and replied, “Is it?”

 “It’s certainly been long,” Bowser said. “That’s one of the things that’s different.  But we’re doing extremely well, I think. We’re strong across the city, and it’s been certainly an interesting process. That can be a challenge.”

“But you know what the upside to all this is?” she asked. “You get to talk to the people face to face, who live here, not just in my ward, but all over the city. You see that everyone has the same worries and concerns all over the city, but in different ways, with different priorities.  Everyone is concerned about jobs, about housing, job training, our schools.  There has been considerable anxiety across the wards about the fast pace of growth. We’ve got to make sure that people who want to stay here, can afford to stay here, and that means more affordable house, more planning with affordable housing as a component.”

Bowser has followed the Fenty approach to electioneering—she knocked on every door in her Ward 4 election, and she’s followed a similar face-to-face contact pattern in the general and primary elections.   She stays in touch with Fenty and presumably has learned from him.  “We still talk by phone regularly,” she said.

These days, she brings confidence into any room—you could see it during the primary forums, when she’s greeting people on the move, or in the recent debates.   You could see it sitting next to her at the coffee shop.  “I have what you might call an extrovert-introvert personality, depending on the situation,” she said. “The extrovert part has a lot of energy.”

“When I was elected to the City Council, I felt that I came from one of the most diverse ward in the city,” she continued. “That’s given me the experience of being able to deal with all kinds of people. We had everything—black, white, men and women, young and old, gay and straight.  I think I’m the best candidate to deal with all of the people in the city.”

Bowser grew up in a big family—five and she was the youngest—went to Catholic school, worked for an insurance company and later got her master’s degree in public policy at American University. She became active in her ward and served on the advisory neighborhood commission.  Fenty hand-picked her to run for his council spot.  She ended up wanting to be  in public service,  said said, “not to be a back-slappping politician, but to help people, to facilitate change. I thought politics and government is where you could accomplish the most.”  She came naturally to politics. Her father Joe, a Democrat and activist, was an neighborhood commissioner, a community watchdog and is now 79.

She is a neighborhood person, in the sense that she’s kept her ties, her friends and family, close to her and stirred by the lives of people in neighborhoods.   “I still have the same friends from high school,” she said. “When you’re running for office that’s a good thing to have.”

“When you’re talking about ‘One City’ [Mayor Gray’s motto for uniting D.C.], that’s not a simple concept,” Bowser said. “This is a city of neighborhoods. They have an identity, and it’s not just about color or party. It’s about jobs, safety, the services, schools, where and how you live.  ‘One City’ means everybody has a chance to have the same services from government, and that’s good government.”

David Catania Would Make History If Elected D.C. Mayor
•

We saw and talked with Independent candidate for mayor David Catania almost a month ago in his campaign headquarters conference room on Connecticut Avenue. 

He had a cold.

But he was also upbeat.  Polls then were showing a tightening in the mayoral campaign, some shift in direction.   

The cold didn’t stop him from talking, sometimes in great detail on issues, policy, on the city he loves, about his mother, and about why he decided to run.

We sat at a long table, framed by a chalkboard behind on which were scribbled, in thick intense writing phrases like: “In It To Win It”; “Good News”; “Next 34 days”; “Backing the Winner”  and “Let’s Make History.”

This race has been a long campaign to decide who will head the local government of the nation’s capital. Things shift all the time and change, against a backdrop of a shifting, changing skyline and demographics in the city.  Cranes are up, and business in some way is booming and neighborhoods are changing dramatically right in front of people’s eyes.

“Issues,” Catania said, “aren’t simple, not to us as people running for office, not to the people who have to decide whom to vote for, who are trying to understand the issues.”

“There was a time I wasn’t even  sure I wanted to stay on the council—I was so depressed about what was happening—the scandals, the pay-for-play, Thomas, Brown and Brown, and the Gray’s campaign being under a cloud, the evident corruption. But then, a friend said, you’d be perfect for heading the education committee, and that’s what got me motivated again, and we accomplished a lot.” 

He can make history should he win and outdistance Democratic Primary winner Muriel Bowser. Catania would become the city’s first white mayor, first openly gay mayor and first mayor not to be a Democrat.

But, of course, that’s exactly why his race is such an uphill battle—because he’s not a Democrat,  to an extent because he’s not black, although being gay these days may not be much of a handicap anymore.  “That’s true, but there’s still  a residual thing among older voters, I think,  but it is amazing how much things have changed.” One of his singular achievements, and there have been many, is to push for passage of D.C. gay marriage equality law.

Catania was first elected to a District Council at-large seat in 1997, and has been there ever since winning re-elections handily.  In order to run for mayor, however, he had to give up what was a very effective base of power.   He had probably anticipated that incumbent Mayor Vincent Gray might be his opponent, but that didn’t materialize and made it a very different race.

He isn’t sanguine about the future or full of happy talk.  “The growth, sure, that’s great, but you have to manage it and make sure that everybody shares in it,” Catania said. “But that’s not it.  There’s potential trouble, because we’re actually in a recession here because of the federal government job cuts which will affect tax revenue and reverberate.”

“Issues aren’t simple,” he repeated.  “Let’s look for instance at education resources.  Theoretically, all our schools receive the same amount of money from the government.  But there’s an inherent inequality here, because the better schools also have additional resources from active PTAs, from involved parents, and that creates a gap which we have to take into account.”

Catania’s education initiatives have been numerous, and includes, notably, passing legislation to approve $80 million for schools serving at-risk students, an example of talk and policy moved into action.

He is something of a wonk, an intense one at that.  If you want to know more about the issues and you want to know more about David Catania, check out his little campaign book—“David Catania’s Vision to Secure Our City’s Future”—a slick, costly booklet. It not only details all of his approaches to the issues of running this city but is also filled with color photographs with endorsements from regular citizens.  It’s an impressive piece of work, and it reflects how he talks and thinks.

Well, almost.

He has a reputation.  There has always been this talk about him: he’s a hot head, he’s arrogant, he holds grudges.  “Does not play well with others” could be in there, too. One opponent went so far as to suggest that he’s never gone to a Nationals game because he opposed the ballpark funding.

“I know, I know,” Catania said.  “I admit I have a temper. But some of that, well, I’ll admit I’m not very patient. But I like to think that most of it is honest passion and concern.”

That day, he was passionate about two things—talking about his mother Audrey Catania—”she spent her days and nights, working on a small family business. She raised me as a single mother and made sure I got an education.  She had street smarts. She was strong and smart.”

Audrey Catania died of cancer in 1990.

“What I’m really glad about is the contact with people, the voters, the residents and citizens of this city,” he said. “You’re out all the time, door to door, and it’s been an amazing experience. This is about transactions. This is where you find out about what concerns people in the city. There’s both optimism, for instance, about the school system, and what hasn’t been done.  People want to hear you. They open their doors. They invite you in. They feed you.  At this level, it’s about trust.  And I don’t think that the people of this city want to go back to business as usual. They want to see things change.”

We saw Catania again on a recent Sunday, at the Dupont Circle market,  surrounded by campaign workers with blue t-shirts and signs.  He stood talking with a woman intently. It looked like a Catania conversation, focused, and he could go on forever.  
       

‘La Boheme’: Puccini’s Passion for All
•

Giacomo Puccini’s 1896 opera “La Boheme” is — like “Carmen” or “Madame Butterfly” — one of the opera world’s old reliables, often performed, popular, somewhat like “Romeo and Juliet” or “Twelfth Night” in a Shakespeare repertoire. It’s the opera for people who don’t like opera, but perhaps more important, for people who do like opera, especially familiar ones.

It’s a stirringly romantic work, with familiar duets, arias, set pieces, with orchestral music that invites swooning and a plot that invites sniffling. Truth be told, no matter how much some might long for darker, edgier, more difficult work, “La Boheme” reaches across the aisles of a varied audience — young to old patrons — because it works.

That was the case for the Washington National Opera’s production, which had a stellar, young cast, whose members found their voices as the proceedings went along, with WNO music director Philippe Auguin conducting. It remains the same old story—although pushed forward into post-World War I Paris, so beloved by the Lost Generation and Woody Allen both. World War I seems to be in fashion these days—the brown helmets of the trenches were afoot in the Folger’s production of “Julius Caesar,” also.

But the characters are still the same young Bohemians, a group of four would-be writers, philosophers, composers, poets, starving to the point where Rodolfo, the young hero of the piece, throws his manuscript into a stove just to keep warm. It’s mad, and sad, and every now and then, they run off gladly, gaily to the Latin Quarter and to take in the festive atmosphere of outdoor dining in gay, or not so gay, Paree.

The romance(s) are always the key to the opera, but it’s also a kind of soaring, gorgeously composed opera about the Bohemians as a group—when they fall in love and out of love, the rest feel the resultant hurts, confusions and emotional earthquakes.

It takes its sweet time getting going, as Rodolfo (Albanian tenor Saimir Pirgu) meets the fragile, sweet Mimi (American soprano Corinne Winters), searching for a candlelight after the four Bohemian compadres have managed, however badly, to heat the high-ceilinged garret and win yet another battle with the landlord. Mimi is suffering from consumption and hasn’t very much life left in her, but Rodolfo warms her with his ardent courtship. Meanwhile, Marcello (American baritone John Chest) is in frustrating pursuit of the high-flying Musetta (American soprano Alyson Cambridge), who attracts rich suitors like a magnet.

The lovers—but not the friends—come together, split up, the two swains singing achingly of their predicaments. Eventually, as the winter snow falls beautifully on stage, they all gather together with Rodolfo, stricken with love and impending loss as he sees Mimi fading away. In that elongated scene leading to her passing — not as long as the “La Traviata” death scene — the group comes together, with Musetta showing her mettle, John Bloom, as Colline, coming forth with a full-throated and surprising solo, and both Pirgu and Winters finding their voices and their emotions in tandem. In their singing, their placement on the stage, the Bohemians become a group, gathering around the dying Mimi, offering gifts, succor, food and shared grief, not to mention beautiful music.

Most of the singers are new to the WNO—they sang with great clarity and strength after a slow start—and by the time Mimi’s hand dropped lifelessly, you could hear sniffling begin here and there, to the right of me, to the left of me and behind me.

It’s almost useless to argue with an opera like this. It has Puccini’s natural emotional and musical will rolling over everything, Italian temperament warming up the cold rooms, and freezing hands and grieving hearts.

“La Boheme” is double cast. Check the Kennedy Center and WNO website for casts and times. It runs through Nov. 15.

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Check Out The Latest Issue Of The Georgetowner
• November 4, 2014
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New Non-profit, Georgetown Heritage, Seeks to Replace Canal Boat
• November 3, 2014

Since being decommissioned in 2011, the C&O Canal barge, the Georgetown, has sat atop cement blocks in the canal between 33rd and Thomas Jefferson Streets. Due to cuts in the National Park Service budget, the C&O Canal National Park was unable to afford repairs for the mule-pulled barge that once took visitors along the canal. The walls, locks, and towpath are also in need of constant upkeep.

Georgetown Heritage is being set up as a nonprofit group of citizens and businesses dedicated to promoting and presenting the history of Georgetown. In an effort to preserve the history of this neighborhood, the group’s first priority is to preserve the one-mile stretch of the C&O Canal that runs through Georgetown.

The non-profit will seek to help raise funds to repair the deterioration of the canal and to purchase a new canal boat to replace the old canal boat that has rotted beyond repair. One of the group’s first sponsors will be the Georgetown Business Improvement District, which shares the group’s goals for the canal and new barge.

The group says it will also work with the park service to create an operational plan to preserve the canal and towpath for years to come. Its website is Georgetown Heritage.org, and It is still in the planning stage. More information will be available in late November.

Weekend Round Up October 30, 2014
•

Adopt Force One

October 31st, 2014 at 11:00 AM | Event Website

Downtown visitors are invited to spend part of their afternoon visiting the Washington Humane Society’s mobile adoption van. Cats and dogs greet passersby in search of a play date. And for those who want to give an animal a permanent home, the van is equipped with Wi-Fi and a printer for a speedy adoption application process.
11:00am-3:00pm; Woodrow Wilson Plaza

Address

The Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center; 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Trick-or-Treating at Mount Vernon

October 31st, 2014 at 03:30 PM | The cost is $10 per adult and $5 per child. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. and close at 6 p.m. Tickets are | info@mountvernon.org | Tel: 7037802000 | Event Website

A historic treat! Mount Vernon opens its doors for the first time to trick-or-treaters! Join the costumed cast of interpreters for a special opportunity to trick-or-treat in the historic area.

Address

George Washington’s Mount Vernon; 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway; Mount Vernon, VA 22121

Trick or Treat Walk on Book Hill

October 31st, 2014 at 04:00 PM | Event Website

From 4 to 6 PM on Friday, October 31st bring your little ghosts and goblins trick-or-treating to the Book Hill merchants. Stores located along Wisconsin Ave between P St and the Georgetown Library will distribute treats to neighborhood children. Look for the CAG sign in the window to confirm participation. And be sure to have your photos taken by the professional photographer at the base of Book Hill Park, compliments of Long and Foster. Participating Stores include:

All We Art, Appalachian Spring, Britt Ryan, David Bell Antiques, Bacchus Wine, Susan Calloway Fine Art, Sherman Pickey, Patisserie Poupon, Salon Ilo, Urban Chic, Duo, Comer and Co., Little birdies – P St off of Wisconsin, The Phoenix, Sabun Home, Egg by Susan Lazar,

Address

Book Hill; Book Hill Merchants – Wisconsin Ave between P Street and the Georgetown Library

Fiber Art Show & Sale

November 1st, 2014 at 09:30 AM | free | president@potomacfiberartsguild.org | Tel: 703.548.0935 | Event Website

Our 25th annual sale of wearable art and fiber art supplies by twenty-five members of the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery. Handcrafted, one-of-a-kind scarves, hats, garments, handbags, jewelry, yarn, fabrics, notions and gift items will be sold. Bargain tables include gallery-quality items and artists’ overstock of equipment, materials and supplies, books, and more. Customers may enter a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to our gallery at the Torpedo Factory!

Address

St. Mark Presbyterian Church; 10701 Old Georgetown Road; Rockville, MD 20852

Eating Local: Feeding the Urban Estate — Monthly Garden & House Tours

November 1st, 2014 at 10:30 AM | 8.00-15.00 | press@tudorplace.org | Tel: 202-965-0400 | Event Website

For almost 200 years, on-site food production was a central part of life at Tudor Place. From the smokehouse to the gardens, the estate helped sustain its owners and servants. This garden tour highlights the essential functions of the garden. The homesteading theme extends into the mansion where garden tools, cookbooks and domestic utensils complement an afternoon tour of the estate.
Choose a tour of Garden, House or both with a leisurely cafe lunch between
Garden Tour: 10:30| House Tour: 12:30

Address

1644 31st Street NW Washington, D.C. 20007

Capital Maritime Music Festival

November 1st, 2014 at 01:00 PM | Free; donations accepted | mweber@navymemorial.org | Tel: 202-737-2300 | Event Website

The U.S. Navy Memorial presents the second annual Capital Maritime Music Fest, an all-day family-friendly festival featuring songs of the sea, workshops, a star-spangled concert, a kid’s corner, and sing-a-longs. At 1 p.m., the U.S. Navy Sea Chanters will perform,followed by performances featuring the music and folklore of maritime culture. At 7 p.m., guests will enjoy performances by John Roberts, Janie Meneely and Calico Jenny, Alan Redi and Rob van Sante and the Washington Revels Maritime Voices.

Address

United States Navy Memorial; Naval Heritage Center; 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

GraveYards

November 1st, 2014 at 06:00 PM | Free | Event Website

The Yards will host its first-ever Day of the Dead festival, GraveYards. This free to attend event will transform the park into a graveyard complete with traditional day of the dead elements, street performers and a beer garden. Magicians, escape artists, balloon artists, stilt walkers, contortionists, fire artists and fortune-tellers will be wandering throughout the Yards entertaining attendees. Additionally, popular hard-rock folk band Kingsley Flood will perform.

Address

355 Water St., SE

Eddie Money

November 1st, 2014 at 07:30 PM | $45.00 – $50.00 | heatherh@wolftrap.org | Tel: 877.965.3872 | Event Website

Enjoy the best of classic rock with catchy, upbeat tunes from the star who gave us ’80s hits including “Take Me Home Tonight” and “Two Tickets to Paradise”

Address

1551 Trap Road Vienna VA, 22182

Breathe Deep DC

November 2nd, 2014 at 09:00 AM | $30 | breathedeepdc@lungevity.org | Event Website

Breathe Deep DC is a 5K untimed walk raising funds for critical lung cancer research, education, and support. The course is friendly to strollers, wheelchairs and pets (must be on a leash no longer than 6 feet and cleaned up after). Participants will enjoy a festive atmosphere with music, free refreshments and kids’ activities. Awards will be given to the largest team, the top fundraising team and the most creative team name.

Address

Washington Monument (at the Sylvan Theater); The National Mall; 15th Street and Independence Avenue SW

Washington Bach Consort presents “The Little Organ Book – Part 1”

November 2nd, 2014 at 03:00 PM | Tickets $23-$65, Students 18 and younger $10, Pay Your Age 18-38 | contact@bachconsort.org | Tel: 2024292121 | Event Website

For the first time J. Reilly Lewis and the Washington Bach Consort Chorus present, in two annual cycles, all forty-five chorale preludes from the Little Organ Book (Das Orgelbüchlein), the first of three major organ collections Bach assembled over the course of his lifetime. Rounding out the program will be a selection of J.S. Bach’s brilliant organ preludes.

Address

National Presbyterian Church; 4101 Nebraska Avenue, NW

Fall Award Dinner National Aeronautic Association

November 5th, 2014 at 06:30 PM | $95/seat | events@naa.aero | Event Website

The Fall Awards Dinner will be held on Wednesday, November 5 at the Crystal Gateway Marriot in Arlington. The presentation of the Brewer, Mackay, and Katharine Wright Trophies as well as the Distinguished Statesman of Aviation and Public Benefit Flying Awards will take place.

Address

Crystal Gateway Marriott, 1700 Jeff Davis Hwy (corner of Eads & 15th) Arlington, VA

Comings and Goings on Halloween
•

Halloween is here, and that can only mean mounds of candy, elaborate costumes and over-the-top parties. While there is the annual sidewalk display of costumed adults wandering around Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, the popular, scary holiday offers more.

There will be a plethora of activities for all ages to enjoy, such as the Book Hill Trick or Treating Walk, presented by Citizens Association of Georgetown and the Georgetown Business Improvement District. Book Hill merchants with signs posted in their windows will be getting in the not-so-spooky spirit and handing out candy to all who want some.

You can head down Embassy Row for an international twist on your typical trick-or-treating style. A wide range of countries will be opening their doors to trick-or-treaters for a tour of each building and light refreshments – between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

After taking the kiddies from door to door, you can head on over to Fantom comics in Dupont Circle for a family-friendly Halloween party with bag designing, party games and much more. Maybe if you’re lucky enough to find a sitter for after hours stick around the comic store, as it kicks off its adults-only portion of the night.

Do you enjoy the adrenaline rush of a good scary movie? Well, Angelika Pop-Up partners with chef Spike Mendelsohn to create a snack-and-film evening. Hitchcock’s “Psycho” will be shown, coupled with a one-of-a-kind goodie bag that will include sushi popcorn and chocolate bacon.

If costume contests and creepy Halloween inspired cocktails are more your thing, the W Hotel and Penn Social will both be hosting costume parties with the chance to win some great prizes.

For all of the music buffs, both Tropicalia and Black Cat will have some great stage performances late into the evening. Jonny Grave & the Tombstones, Rocky and the Pressers and a burlesque show will take the stage at the Black Cat. As for Tropicalia, expect to see an eight-piece, ska-infused brass band, Black Massala and the Japanese funk band Osaka Monaurail.

So, there’s no excuse not to go out and celebrate. With all this Halloween has to offer, it’s impossible not to find something to do.

Ferguson March: Peaceful, Committed Protestors Coordinate With Police
• October 28, 2014

Protesters marched through Georgetown Saturday evening, Oct. 4, calling for justice in the Aug. 9 killing of Mike Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. The members of the #DCFerguson movement called for the arrest of Officer Darren Wilson, the demilitarization of the police and a review of all D.C. police killings since 2004. The protesters gathered in at Foggy Bottom Metro stop and marched to Georgetown.

Protesters marched east to west on M Street and then up Wisconsin Avenue, stopping at various intersections — including Wisconsin and M, Wisconsin and N as well as M and 34th Street — to interrupt the nighttime traffic flow. The march surprised those at various restaurants and drivers, who had to wait at least 15 minutes.

The crowd, averaging about 250 , chanted “No justice, no peace,” “Whose street? Mike’s street,” “Justice for Michael Brown, racist cop shot him down” and “We’re young. We’re strong. We’re marching all night long.”

One of the march’s leaders was Eugene Puryear, who is also a candidate for an at-large member of the District Council.
At the same time, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama celebrated their wedding anniversary at Bourbon Steak at the Four Seasons Hotel, as protesters walked past.

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Antibiotics Given to Students in Close Contact with Meningitis Victim
•

Health officials have confirmed that a strain of bacterial meningitis is the cause of Georgetown University sophomore Andrea Jaime’s death. Jamie’s close friends have been treated with an antibiotic as a precaution; no one else is infected.

As the student body mourns a classmate, the university sent students an email warning against sharing drinks, cigarettes and food with friends to avoid exposure.

Also, the university is working closely with the D.C. Department of Health and Center for Disease Control to prepare itself in case this isolated event evolves into something more severe. The CDC does not recommend that the entire student body be treated because there are no signs of a larger outbreak.