Mystics Win in Overtime Thriller (photos)

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.

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White House Correspondents’ Dinner photos


The White House Correspondents Association hosted members of the press, the government, and the entertainment world for their annual event at the Washington Hilton on a rainy Saturday April 28, 2012. View our photos of the goings on in the hotel lobby before the dinner and on the MSNBC After Party Red Carpet by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet)

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Suspected Gas Leak Along Prospect and N Streets

August 22, 2012

Washington Gas trucks, seen last Thursday and Friday and over the weekend along Prospect and N Streets on the west side of Georgetown, were looking for a gas leak, said advisory neighborhood commissioner Jeff Jones. Gas company trucks were parked at corners from Booeymonger’s to Georgetown University, as Washington Gas workers knocked on doors of houses and sought to check each individual line. For the sake of safety, according to Jones, Washington Gas shut off gas lines to 240 buildings. Most of the underground lines date back to the 1930s.

“I thought Washington Gas responded very well,” said Jones, who is also a community contact for the O and P Street Street Project. “Along with other contractor trucks, they set up a mobile command center at Wisconsin Avenue and Q Street.”

As it turned out, according to Jones, there was no leak. “It was supply-line system problem,” he said. Along with the upgrades in the O and P Street Project, gas lines are now high-pressure lines, Jones said. One of the benefits of high pressure is that it makes it easier to find a leak in the system; low pressure allows a leak to seep into the ground. Regarding the exact nature of the problem, Jones said that Washington Gas would have to be contacted for a more detailed explanation.

As of press time, July 30, Washington Gas was still contacting some homeowners about their shut-off gas; most gas service to the effected buildings has been restored.

Jones said that he expected a full update from Washington Gas and that he would be pushing the utility company to restore the sidewalks and all public spaces according to specifications after its emergency work.

Lou Roffman: Our Own American Hero


We all knew Lou Roffman at the Georgetowner. He had special standing here because he was our former publisher Dave Roffman’s uncle, hence the nickname Uncle Lou. He was Uncle Lou, also, to still more who had occasion to hear stories about him from Dave or to meet him on his occasional visits from out West. He was Uncle Lou at the Midway and World War II Memorials, and he was Uncle Lou at the Nats game a couple of years ago.

Even if he had another name, but the same life and history, there’s more than enough to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of Lou Roffman Aug. 10 at age 94. A World War II veteran in the Army Air Corps, he made history, being one of the rare American soldiers to serve at both Pearl Harbor and Midway, the first a military tragedy for the United States, the second a battle that turned the tide against the Japanese in the Pacific.

That wasn’t the whole story. Roffman was a flight engineer with B-17 bombers of the 31st Bomb Squadron at Hickam Field on Dec. 7 when the Japanese attacked. Later, he fought at the Battle of Midway. Later still, he was wounded in a bombing mission. He received a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions in mission in which he landed a plane after the pilot had been killed.

Reading Uncle Lou’s obituary, you can sense the full life well and long-lived, something of a true and wonderful life which might have made an inspiring movie. He served in the military until 1968, retiring from the Air Force with the rank of senior master sergeant.

During retirement, he and his wife Irene began a whole new life in Riverside, Calif., where he owned a pool hall and three bars, was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Elks Club and Hollywood’s Magic Castle and perhaps more fittingly the Optimist Club, of which he should have been president.

In California, he practiced magic, a passion of his. He would perform for children in children’s hospitals, regale then with stories and magic tricks and remind them of the stories of the greatest generation of which he was an honored member.

Around here, we remember Uncle Lou, slowed a little by age in his latter years, a smiler and laugher and story teller. We remember him at the Midway commemoration, where former sailor Tony Curtis, the movie star at 80, wearing cowboy boots and hat, kissed a female autograph seeker. Lou came up behind him and Curtis asked him “Do you want a kiss, too?” Lou said, emphatically, “Hell, no! Just the autograph.” But we do remember Uncle Lou accepting kisses from the girls at the restaurant after the dedication of the World War II Memorial. We remember when his nephews Dave, Randy and Phil gathered here to fete Uncle Lou at the new Nationals Park, where his name sparkled on the scoreboard.

We remember Uncle Lou, an old soldier and airman whose memory will not fade away.
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Egypt’s President Morsi, Firmly Behind the Wheel


In his excellent Middle East travelogue, “Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia,” Tony Horwitz writes:

“In Egypt, aggression and impatience are frowned upon. The unofficial Egyptian anthem, ‘Bokra, Insha’allah, Malesh’ (‘Tomorrow, God Willing, Never Mind’), isn’t just an excuse for laziness. In a society requiring millennial patience, it is also a social code dictating that no one make too much of a fuss about things.”

This sentiment seemed alive and well in Cairo as Mohammed Morsi was sworn in as Egypt’s president last month. Not even the first choice of the Islamist Group, the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi was widely viewed as an accidental president of sorts, and therefore destined to be a figurehead president. It was widely believed that real power would continue to reside, as it always had, in the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces—or SCAF.

But early last week, Morsi took everyone by surprise—including the United States. In a lightning-fast series of maneuvers and brokered deals that would make Machiavelli proud, Morsi removed his political and military rivals, and nullified a constitutional decree that gave the military council ultimate authority over Egypt’s administration, security and, significantly, the government’s purse strings.

Simultaneously, Morsi issued a constitutional edict granting himself full authority over the executive and legislative branches of government. Knowing a bridge too far when he saw one, he left the judiciary alone. To preempt any potential dissent from the judiciary, Morsi appointed reformist senior judge Mahmoud Mekki as his vice president.

The ostensible catalyst for the shakeup was the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in northern Sinai earlier in the week, but it seems obvious that this was only a convenient excuse for actions already planned. Morsi quickly exploited the incident, and replaced his defense minister, the army chief of staff and each of the service chiefs.

It is the moral equivalent of a U.S. president firing his Secretary of Defense and all of his Joint Chiefs of Staff in one fell swoop.

Morsi’s stunning consolidation of power followed a sequence that caught the occupants of Washington’s “C” suites and cabinet secretaries completely off-guard. Reluctant to admit a lack of advance knowledge of Marsi’s power-play, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said:

“We obviously did know that there were discussions ongoing about a new defense team — with regard to the precise timing, less so.”

In retrospect, the move should have been fully anticipated. The obvious historical examples of past presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarek are clear evidence that staying power in Egyptian politics requires strength. Morsi was understandably motivated to reclaim the political power that the military had seized in the wake of the Arab Spring uprising last year.

To calm those at home and abroad, Morsi delivered a radio address, insisting,

“I never meant to antagonize anyone… We go on to new horizons, with new generations, with new blood that has long been awaited.”

Assuming an apparent wait-and-see posture, the White House has yet to offer any substantive reaction to Morsi’s dramatic power-grab, except to issue non-specific diplomatic statements about “shared interests” and the new appointees being “well known” to them.

Their silence on the real issues at hand is what’s so significant. Indeed, if the aim of the White House’s long-range goal was Egypt’s “full transition to civilian rule,” as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has articulated it, the end result has been hardly worthy of celebration. Any vision of a secular democracy in Egypt has been relegated to virtual-mirage status.

While the administration would like to calmly portray Morsi as doing what is necessary to place Egypt back on the road to democracy, it should be worried. Morsi’s actions point to a far more ominous course now underway.

A judge in Egypt’s Higher Constitutional Court (HCC), immediately responded to Morsi’s actions, saying, “A president does not have the power to abrogate a constitution, even a temporary one….”

With his newfound authorities in place, and with the ability to rewrite the new constitution, the process of Islamizing Egypt’s domestic policy is almost sure to follow.

Despite Morsi’s personal assurance to media chiefs that press freedom would not be restricted, actions to suppress media criticism against Morsi are now fully underway. The day after Morsi’s “Sunday Coup,” police attempted to confiscate all copies of newspapers critical of the Muslim Brotherhood and suspended the broadcast license of a television station that has actively criticized Morsi in the past. Last week, Egypt’s upper house of parliament appointed new editors for the country’s 50 state-run newspapers, effectively placing the media under Brotherhood control.

Morsi now has control of all executive and legislative levers of powers, and has reinforced his authority by imposing control of the media. In such an environment, and given the stated long-term goals of the Muslim Brotherhood, the implications for Israel’s security and the future of the Camp David Accords are obvious.

To even the casual observer of Egyptian politics, Morsi is now fully in the driver’s seat as president. As such, Horowitz’s continued observations of the “Bokra, Insha’allah, Malesh” anthem seems entirely, metaphorically, relevant:

“Egyptians undergo an odd personality change behind the wheel of a car. …But put an Egyptian in the driver’s seat, and he shows all the calm and consideration of a hooded swordsman delivering Islamic justice.”

Examining Tax Office Settlements


I read with great concern a recent Washington Post article, “Surge in D.C. tax office settlements reduces commercial property owners’ bills.” In case you missed the article, the major premise was an assertion that our tax office was unjustifiably lowering tax assessments of major commercial developments in the city, costing us as much as $48 million in lost tax revenue in 2012.

Since the tax office falls within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Finance and Revenue, which I chair, I asked for a substantial volume of data right away and will be continuing to review it in coming weeks. The CFO’s initial response has been that if these cases had gone to trial, the judges would have set the assessments even lower overall, resulting in further lost revenue for the District. I will be seeking to determine whether the CFO’s response can be substantiated, or whether something in the process is broken. I intend to hold a hearing on the issue if I suspect the latter.
Initial anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that the article is a bit off base. For example, the article cites Gallery Place, which apparently received a 24 percent reduction from its proposed assessment value, cutting its bill to the city by $1 million. Information I am receiving, however, suggests that the initial assessor used an estimator of likely rent collected by the owners in coming up with an initial assessment. In general, this is a good practice, since we have a relatively small number of assessors to cover a tremendous volume of real estate. In the case of Gallery Place, however, the timing of the development as an anchor in what was then a transitional area means that actual rents collected, as dictated by long-term contracts, are meaningfully lower than the market rate. Thus, it would seem reasonable that a tax supervisor would notice and correct the error during the appeal process rather than forcing the owner to go to trial – this is how we want our government to work. Even after correcting the error, the Gallery Place development was assessed a 6.5-percent increase from 2011, which is encouraging.

Those who park on the street are well aware that, despite any other weaknesses in our government, our ticket writers are “the best in the business.” In the same vein, I have found that our tax office is quite zealous in identifying and collecting all tax revenue due to the District, sometimes to my constituents’ chagrin. At times, mistakes happen, but I am hopeful that my continued review will reveal that these settlements were made for principled reasons that were in the best interests of our residents.

As I said in my article on Natwar Gandhi’s re-nomination as the District’s chief financial officer a couple of months ago, the ultimate judge of the success and stability of our tax office is in the rating agency assessments of our bonds, which determine the costs we have to pay to build schools, libraries and parks. Particularly during this time of instability in our government, it is critical to have an independent CFO that inspires confidence on Wall Street as well as on Capitol Hill, and Dr. Gandhi uniquely meets this description.

Councilman, BID Get Tour of Georgetown Park Construction; DMV Will Not Return


Councilman-at-large Vincent Orange and staffer Elizabeth Webster and members of the Georgetown Business Improvement District, Crystal Sullivan, Nancy Miyahira and John Wiebenson, as well as a member of the press were given a hard-hat tour Aug. 20 of the on-going reconstruction of the Shops at Georgetown Park by Vornado Realty Trust’s Jennifer Nettles, who is manager of the huge 3222 M St., NW, shopping area.

According to Nettles, the Georgetown office of D.C.’s Department of Motor Vehicles — which closed May 19 and was located in the lower level — will not return to the property. The popular locale had been expected to be included in the re-do, as assured by Mayor Vincent Gray and Councilman Jack Evans.

Required to wear hard hats and take no photos of the work, the group walked around what remained of the M Street level of the former Victorian-styled shopping area, now stripped down to its walls. Escalators are gone and so are the fountains on either side of the complex. Demolition is moving along, as plans call for the floors to be extended from front to back. The group looked out at the open space of the atrium which once provided a dramatic look and feel for the shopping center, opened in 1981. The atrium and its green railings will soon disappear.

“This is the de-mallization,” Nettles said, as she guided Orange and others. Where once sat 132 stores, there will now be 15, she said. The largest one of them will take up 45,000 square feet, making it the largest retail space for Georgetown; another will be 31,000 square feet. Some will have multiple levels; all will have an entrance from the street, whether it is from M Street, Wisconsin Avenue or the remaining entrance next to Dean & Deluca. There will be no mall-like corridors for the public. (Georgetown Park’s total retail square feet, according to the Vornado website, is 316,822.)

“I love Georgetown Park, and I’m excited about its rebirth,” said Councilman-at-large Vincent Orange. “However, I will miss and treasure the fond memories of the original mall which was enjoyed immensely with family and friends. In 2013, the joy returns.”

Half of the space has been leased, Nettles said. Names of the lessees were not disclosed. Many observers have speculated or suggested such companies as Bloomingdale’s boutique shop, foodie paradise Eataly or even a Target locate there. Two or three new stores will open in early 2013. As of today, Georgetown Park can only boast a few shops that include H&M or J. Crew. The Washington Sports Club will stay open during the entire construction period.

Getting nothing for $5 Billion

August 21, 2012

$5 Billion!

Fifty-some laws. Most were meaningless.

That’s the Congressional record for 2012.

Largely dominated by the newly energized “Tea Party,” this Congress came to Washington two years ago with great expectations and promises to change Washington.

For sure, a few enormous changes have occurred since President Obama was elected four years ago. On his way out of office, President Bush sought and received $700 billion to bail out the big banks. President Obama’s $800 billion stimulus saved the auto industry and propped up state and local governments hit by the Great Recession. Obama also pushed through his signature health care law.
All that happened four years ago, before this Congress came into office.

Since then, nothing.

The Legislative Branch Appropriation now exceeds $5 billion per year, or more than $10 billion for each two-year session of Congress.

In the last two years, gridlock has only worsened and any pretense of compromise has disappeared.
In 1948, President Truman railed against a “do nothing” Congress. That Congress passed over 900 laws, relatively normal for the times. President Truman’s real complaint was not about how much Congress did. He simply opposed the laws Congress passed. He vetoed 75 of them, and Congress overrode his veto six times.

In more recent decades, Congress has passed approximately 400 new laws per session. This Congress has passed about 135 new laws, about eighty in 2011 and fifty-some this year. That’s 15% of what President Truman’s “do-nothing” Congress accomplished.

President Obama has vetoed only two laws, both three years ago. The last time a president vetoed only two laws was in 1881 by President James Garfield who was in office for only six months before being assassinated. Why so few vetoes with a President and Congress at odds with each other? Congress can’t get anything done. Congress has passed nothing for the President to sign into law or to veto.

So, what taxpayers get for $5 billion?

18 laws naming or renaming buildings.

25 non-controversial laws that did things such as approving negotiated real estate deals with states and cities, maintenance on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and increased prosecution of smugglers who build or finance tunnels into the US.

A handful of existing laws were extended for another year such as this year’s Social Security tax cut and rehiring temporary bankruptcy judges to handle the huge backlog of cases.

Five laws fall into the genuinely “new” or “big” category. Five? FIVE!!! Several were mostly about jobs — building highways and airports and reducing regulations on small businesses. Another prohibited Congressmen from trading on insider information.

That’s $5 billion.

That’s not to say that Congress hasn’t been busy. For the past few decades, approximately 8,000 to 9,000 new bills have been introduced during each two year term of Congress. This Congress introduced over 10,000, more than 1,000 more than ever before. In years past, Congress passed about 5% of laws introduced. This year, less than 1.5%.

Most of those 10,000 bills were mere grandstanding, intended to make a statement or enhance a voting record for re-election purposes. (I know. I worked in the Senate for three years and did just that.) For example, this Congress introduced dozens of bills to repeal Obama’s health care law and voted three dozen times, knowing that they would fail.

Even so, this Congress worked fewer hours. Most Congresses are in session about 2,500 hours every two years. This Congress was in session for 1,900 hours, and has declared that the year over, awaiting the election.

Many want Congress do less, to pass fewer laws. Some suggest a part-time Congress. Maybe that’s what we have, though we pay for the full freight.

This Congress kicked the can down the road as never before, but it also painted itself into a corner. Next year will be different by necessity and isn’t going to be pretty.

Expiring Bush tax cuts will force tax changes, like it or not.

The debt ceiling will be reached again and will require action, like it or not.

Automatic, but unidentified, $1.2 billion in spending cuts that Congress passed last year go into effect in January. Those changes will not happen silently or easily. And may be undone.

Next year, Congress has nowhere to hide and much to do.

Weekend Roundup August 16, 2012

August 20, 2012

Totem: Cirque Du Soleil

Now through Oct. 7 | Event Website

It’s finally here! Through the direction of Robert Lepage, “Totem” brings to life the evolution of man. The name Cirque Du Soleil on its own brings to mind flying trapeze artist and bright fun colors, but that is just the beginning. The artists go far and beyond what nature has intended us to do with balance flexibility and focus. The set design cleverly follows the characters’ every move and lend to the story just as any other character would. Come witness the infinite potential of man before it is gone.

Tickets for “Totem” can be purchased at any time online via www.cirquedusoleil.com/totem or at the Cirque du Soleil box office, located inside the entrance tent at National Harbor. (Regular box office hours are from 2 hours prior to show time until 30 minutes after the beginning of the show from Wednesday through Sunday.)

Under the blue-and-yellow Big Top

At the Plateau at National Harbor

Fort Washington, Md.

Susan Calloway Fine Arts: You Too Can Buy Art

August 17th, 2012 at 06:00 PM | Tel: 202.965.4601 | Event Website

Susan Calloway Fine Arts presents a first ever exhibition, specifically tailored for young collectors and first-time art buyers. On view through Sept. 8, join other first-time art buyers at the opening reception of You Too Can Buy Art on Friday, Aug. 17, from 6 to 8 p.m., and enjoy an evening of hot art, fun music and small bites. The show features a selection of affordable contemporary and vintage artworks, hung assemblage style and curated by Kerin Backhaus and Liz Mixer.

Susan Calloway Fine Arts
1643 Wisconsin Avenue, NW

Women of Faith 2012

August 18th, 2012 at 09:00 AM | $99.00 | Event Website

Celebrate What Matters is a brand new Friday night-Saturday event created for you by Women of Faith. Find inspiration, renew your faith and leave empowered. Enjoy concerts by chart-topping musicians Amy Grant and Mandisa, experience breathtaking performances by Ballet Magnificat and worship with our new live band. Be uplifted and go deeper with solid Bible teaching and compelling messages from new voices and familiar friends. It’s an all new, life-changing Women of Faith event like you’ve never experienced before.

601 F St NW

Hear the Titanic Concert

Aug. 18 at 07 p.m. | $20 | Shawn@5thDentist.com | Tel: 202-812-5519 | Event Website

This year, 2012, marks the 100th anniversary of the RMS Titanic’s maiden voyage and her untimely collision with an iceberg. In commemoration,
Fringe Festival alumni and local playwright Michael Merino is kicking off the production of his play, “Hemispheric Dysfunctionalism and the Cortical Titanic” with a special concert “Hear the Titanic”.

Art Space Lofts’ Dance Place 2 Studio, 3305 8th NE,

Garden Tours at the Franciscan Monastery

Aug. 18 at 11 a.m. | FREE | Event Website

Get an insider’s tour of one of Washington’s “hidden gems”: the gardens at the historic Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America. Learn about the history of the monastery, the gardens and the friars who designed them, and the outdoor shrines from the Holy Land, Lourdes and other places.

Free tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 11 a.m., are led by guides from the Franciscan Monastery Garden Guild.

Meet at the gift shop entrance.

1400 Quincy St., NE (Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land)

Harbour Kids Entertainment Series

August 21st, 2012 at 10:30 AM | Free | info@thewashingtonharbour.net | Tel: 7037855634 | Event Website

Oh Susanna, Mister Don, and Crooked Landing alternate performing for children on the plaza every Tuesday June through October 16. Free.

June 5, 12, 19, 26

July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31

August 7, 14, 21, 28

September 4, 11, 18, 25

October 2, 9, 16

Address

The Washington Harbour 3050 K St NW

Tougher Penalties for Driving Under the Influence in D.C.

August 16, 2012

Does the name Desaleen James sound familiar? It should: James was in a Dec. 29, 2011 car crash in Silver Spring, md., that killed two of her friends. The driver was drunk; the car was speeding more than 90 miles-per-hour. James caught the whole thing on tape. She was interviewed by a local TV news station and wanted to show the video tape to others, especially teens, so that they might think twice before drinking and driving.

Heart-wrenching stories like this happen all of the time. Driving while under the influence is nothing new. In an effort to reduce the incidents of drunk driving, a new act has been enacted in Washington, D.C. The Comprehensive Impaired Driving Act of 2012, effective Aug. 1, has caused major changes to the penalties and fines for DUIs. The act also focuses on better training for breath-testing programs for police officers.

Some of the key changes include an increase in maximum jail time and fine increases. For example, the maximum penalty for a first time offender was 90 days in jail and a $300 fine. With this new act the maximum jail time has doubled to 180 days and the fine is now up to $1,000.

The mandatory minimum jail time for repeat offenders or first time offenders with a blood alcohol content level of .20 percent or higher, jumped from five days to 10 days. If an offender has a .25 percent BAC or more will be sentenced to 10 to 15 days in jail. The act also created a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 days in jail for offenders with a .30 percent or higher.

For commercial vehicle operators, the blood alcohol limit is .04 percent. If this is broken there will be a five day mandatory minimum jail penalty and any other additional penalties they receive.

The Comprehensive Impaired Driving Act also enforces stricter punishments for those who drink and drive with minors in the car. With a minor in the car, a minimum five-day jail sentence is ordered for every child in a required child-restraint seat and 10 days if they are not.

Along with higher penalty minimums and fines, new breath-testing equipment has been purchased to crack down on drunk driving. Breath-testing, suspended last year after a number of convictions were found to be based on inaccurate readings, is being reinstated. Part of the act establishes breath-testing programs and a certification program for officers who use the equipment.

The Comprehensive Impaired Driving Act was created to help cut down the number of DUIs and alcohol-related accidents in (and around) D.C.