Archive: David Nakamura
Moneme Gets $40,000 Pay Increase
Amid rumors that he was frustrated by long hours and micromanaging by the Fenty administration, here's one good reason why Emeka Moneme is leaving for Metro: He will earn $185,000 a year in his new gig, according to sources, up from the $145,000 he earned at DDOT. Moneme, 35, has...
By David A Nakamura | July 23, 2008; 03:25 PM ET | Comments (9)
Lawyer Seales Named Interim Transportation Director
Frank Seales Jr., general counsel for the D.C. Department of Transportation, was named today as interim director of that agency to replace Emeka Moneme, who is leaving for Metro. Seales has worked there since 2001, after serving as chief counsel for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to a...
By David A Nakamura | July 23, 2008; 02:13 PM ET | Comments (4)
D.C. Transportation Director Departs for Metro
D.C. Department of Transportation Director Emeka C. Moneme is heading back to Metro. (Photo courtesy of District of Columbia Department of Transportation) He was among a young group of new leaders that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty touted as the "best and the brightest" when he created his cabinet, but...
By David A Nakamura | July 23, 2008; 12:09 PM ET | Comments (5)
Hotel Association Endorses Council Incumbents
The Hotel Association of Washington has endorsed a clean sweep of incumbents in the D.C. Council races, putting its clout behind Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) and Democrats Kwame R. Brown (At Large), Jack Evans (Ward 2), Muriel Bowser (Ward 4), Yvette Alexander (Ward 7) and Marion Barry (Ward 8). The...
By David A Nakamura | July 23, 2008; 10:32 AM ET | Comments (1)
Board of Trade Endorses Mara Over Schwartz
Republican D.C. Council hopeful Patrick Mara, a government relations consultant who lives in Columbia Heights, got a boost today when the Greater Washington Board of Trade endorsed him in his campaign to unseat four-term incumbent Carol Schwartz in the September primary. The board's Political Action Committee cited Mara's support for...
By David A Nakamura | July 21, 2008; 04:46 PM ET | Comments (2)
Fenty: Lerners "Very Sincere"
Mayor Fenty appeared on WTOP host Mark Plotkin's Politics Program this morning, where he was asked about the Post's story on the dispute between the city and the Lerner family that owns the Nationals over whether the ballpark is "substantially complete." To recap: the family has refused to pay $3.5...
By David A Nakamura | July 11, 2008; 02:55 PM ET | Comments (14)
CFO Gandhi Warns About Over-Borrowing
Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi released his annual debt letter to Mayor Fenty and the D.C. Council today, heightening previous alarms that the city is at risk of borrowing too much money for its economic development projects. Gandhi issued a similar letter a year ago and is again calling...
By David A Nakamura | July 9, 2008; 04:07 PM ET | Comments (2)
Alleged Tax Cheat Harriette Walters Speaks: Hear It Here
Seems someone forgot to disconnect an old office number for Harriette Walters, the alleged mastermind of the $50 million D.C. tax office scam. She can still be heard sounding very helpful on a voice message from an old phone extension at the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue: 202.442.6762. Call...
By David A Nakamura | July 8, 2008; 03:40 PM ET | Comments (3)
Video Reaction to Supreme Court Ruling
D.C. Wire took this video today of Mayor Fenty, Police Chief Lanier, Attorney General Nickles and Supreme Court advocate Walter Dellinger, who argued the city's position in the handgun case, responding to the high court's decision to overturn the D.C. handgun ban....
By David A Nakamura | June 26, 2008; 03:53 PM ET | Comments (4)
Police Union Chief: City's Reaction Insufficient
Police union chief Kristopher Baumann said he was disappointed at the reaction to the Supreme Court ruling from Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who said they will craft gun registration rules and work with the D.C. Council to develop new laws governing the storage of guns in...
By David A Nakamura | June 26, 2008; 03:02 PM ET | Comments (3)
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton Responds to Gun Ruling
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) responded with the following statement: "Fortunately, the expected overturn of the District's absolute gun ban leaves considerable room for new, strict hand gun bans and other gun restrictions here. Despite the use of guns far more often for domestic violence and suicides than for self...
By David A Nakamura | June 26, 2008; 02:48 PM ET | Comments (13)
D.C. Government Phone Number For Gun Questions
Police Chief Cathy Lanier said residents can call 202.727.4275 between 7 am and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to get answers to basic questions about what the Supreme Court's ruling means for the city's gun laws. In a few days, she added, there will be a toll free hotline with...
By David A Nakamura | June 26, 2008; 02:34 PM ET | Email a Comment
Reaction to Gun Ruling (*Updated)
We'll be posting reaction throughout the day on the Supreme Court's decision to overturn D.C.'s longtime hangun ban. The first comes from D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who chairs the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary. He has scheduled an oversight hearing for Wednesday, July 2, at...
By David A Nakamura | June 26, 2008; 10:47 AM ET | Comments (27)
D.C. Attorney General: All Guns Must Be Registered
The Supreme Court has struck down D.C.'s longtime ban on handguns, with a 5-4 ruling. Ruling can be read here. The question for city officials is: What now? In a recent interview (before the court ruled), Interim D.C. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles was asked what would happen if the...
By David A Nakamura | June 26, 2008; 10:15 AM ET | Comments (376)
D.C. Surveillance Camera Regulations Set
Mayor Fenty entered new regulations governing the use of his controversial surveillance camera network into the D.C. Register yesterday. After the mayor announced his intention to link 4,500 cameras into a single network, civil liberty groups protested and the D.C. Council passed legislation requiring the mayor to submit regulations for...
By David A Nakamura | June 21, 2008; 09:00 AM ET | Comments (1)
D.C. Quarter Vote Winner: Duke Ellington
(Photo By David Nakamura/TWP) Duke Ellington has edged out Frederick Douglass and Benjamin Banneker as the most popular image to be etched on the D.C. quarter, according to today's story in the Post by Mary Beth Sheridan. In all, 6,089 residents voted and Mayor Adrian Fenty sent the results...
By David A Nakamura | June 20, 2008; 10:17 AM ET | Comments (2)
Congress, City Spar over WASA
Council members Carol Schwartz and Jim Graham are fighting back -- or, at least, talking back -- in the wake of the Senate's move Monday to overturn a District law passed last year that would have increased city control over the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. As the Post reported...
By David A Nakamura | June 18, 2008; 04:10 PM ET | Comments (1)
New Gig for Former D.C. Attorney General
Linda Singer, who lasted a year as Mayor Fenty's first D.C. attorney general before leaving in frustration in December, has landed a job with Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, where she will be co-chair of a new division called the Public Client Practice. According to a news release from the firm, Singer's...
By David A Nakamura | June 18, 2008; 10:59 AM ET | Comments (2)
Environmentalists: Nats' Advertiser Strikes Out
Nationals Park has been the subject of a number of protests--mostly from activists angry that the District used city money to pay for the $611 million-plus project. This Friday, a coalition of environmentalists will rally at the ballpark at 11 a.m. to voice objections to one of the team's biggest...
By David A Nakamura | June 17, 2008; 03:39 PM ET | Email a Comment
The Pace Setter
A Monday morning feature in which D.C. Wire charts Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's quest for athletic glory. The mayor took part in the Lawyers Have Heart 10k in Georgetown on Saturday, a race that benefits the American Heart Association. Fenty clocked in at 41 minutes, 21 seconds, a 6:40 per...
By David A Nakamura | June 16, 2008; 10:23 AM ET | Email a Comment
In the Mayor's Shadow
(David Nakamura - TWP) School officials and construction workers took to the shade in today's 90-degree heat as Mayor Fenty held a news conference to announce the kick off of the summer "buff and scrub" program. About 35 schools will get cosmetic makeovers this summer in the program, in...
By David A Nakamura | June 13, 2008; 03:41 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty Gets New Wheels
(David Nakamura - TWP) With gas prices soaring, Mayor Fenty has traded in his fuel-guzzling sport utility vehicle for an efficient Smart Car convertible, as WTOP reported He drove it to his news conference at an elementary school in Northeast this morning, where he was mobbed by the media....
By David A Nakamura | June 13, 2008; 12:49 PM ET | Comments (5)
Police Union Chief: Checkpoints Not Effective
Kris Baumann, head of the D.C. Fraternal Order of Police, today criticized the D.C. police department's controversial checkpoints in Trinidad. Baumann said he was pleased that police officials reported no gunshots or murders in the violence-plagued neighborhood over the weekend, but he added that the heavy publicity surrounding the checkpoints...
By David A Nakamura | June 10, 2008; 06:29 PM ET | Comments (2)
Economists: Soccer Stadium is Bad Investment
The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute has posted a statement this morning signed by 26 economists who contend that public subsidies for a soccer stadium for D.C. United will do little to spur development. The letter is similar to one signed by more than 100 economists during the debate over the...
By David A Nakamura | June 10, 2008; 09:46 AM ET | Comments (64)
Anti-Soccer Stadium Petition Launched
Don't look now, but the drumbeat of opposition to a new, publicly subsidized soccer stadium for D.C. United has gotten started. Friends of the Earth, which is lobbying to keep much of Poplar Point devoted to environmentally friendly development, has launched a petition on its Web site, asking residents to...
By David A Nakamura | June 5, 2008; 04:19 PM ET | Comments (15)
Buff 'n' Scrub Round 2 Goes to Fenty
Two weeks ago, we told you about the pushback Mayor Fenty was getting from the business community about his effort to enlist developers for the school system's second summer of "buff and scrub." Well, the administration held a second meeting about the program today at the Warner Building at 1299...
By David A Nakamura | June 4, 2008; 02:59 PM ET | Comments (3)
Lanier: "More Extreme Tactics" Necessary
Police Chief Cathy Lanier and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty today announced new measures to fight a rash of shootings in Ward 5, saying officers will be stationed in designated neighborhoods and stopping all vehicles attempting to enter. Anyone with no legitimate reason to enter, authorities said, will be turned...
By David A Nakamura | June 4, 2008; 01:15 PM ET | Comments (7)
No Tanzania Trip For Barry
Marion Barry was in still in town doing council business today, even though he told us last week he was headed to Tanzania for a leadership conference. When asked by the Post why he didn't go, Barry said only that there was some "emergency council business" that he did not...
By David A Nakamura | June 2, 2008; 06:01 PM ET | Email a Comment
Prince George's Woos D.C. United
Prince George's County has not been coy in its interest in wooing D.C. United if the team does not come to terms with District leaders for a new stadium. Now, some county officials say their aggressive courting may have been what sparked a coalition of D.C. Council members to begin...
By David A Nakamura | June 2, 2008; 02:41 PM ET | Comments (4)
Time and Place Set for Second Buff and Scrub Meeting
Last Sunday, the Post brought you the story of Mayor Fenty's struggles to keep city business leaders on board his school reform bus. A key example focused on a meeting the administration held to sign up developers for the school system's summer buff and scrub program, designed to spruce up...
By David A Nakamura | May 29, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (3)
Barry to Submit Soccer Bill From ... Africa?
Marion Barry says he expects to be part of a coalition that will introduce soccer stadium legislation at the D.C. Council's legislative meeting Tuesday. But he will do it by proxy -- the council member said he is headed to Africa tomorrow for a week-long conference in Tanzania. The conference...
By David A Nakamura | May 29, 2008; 09:54 AM ET | Comments (3)
Gandhi Fights Back
Yesterday, we told you that Council member David Catania was attacking CFO Natwar Gandhi's reliance on what seemed to be an overly optimistic consultant's report to support bond financing for the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. Well, Gandhi is fighting back with this letter to Catania's office. Catania pointed out that...
By David A Nakamura | May 29, 2008; 09:42 AM ET | Comments (3)
Catania Attacks Baseball Projections
As the loudest critic of public financing for the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium, D.C. Council member David Catania had more recently seemed to mute his objections. With the stadium build and the team playing there, Catania figured he had fought the good fight and it was time to move on...
By David A Nakamura | May 28, 2008; 09:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Soccer In Ward 8?
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty takes questions from the Anacostia Coordinating Council. (By David Nakamura--TWP) To build a soccer stadium or not to build one? That has been the question for months and now it looks as if the city is ready to commit to a financing plan, as we...
By David A Nakamura | May 28, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (22)
Quarter Debate Begins
A day after a citizens' advisory panel recommended that a design featuring Benjamin Banneker be used on the upcoming D.C. quarter, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is speaking out to say that the decision is far from final. Norton contacted the U.S. Mint to be sure that the other two design...
By David A Nakamura | May 22, 2008; 08:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Live From 15th and L Streets...
Mayor Fenty came by the Washington Post headquarters this afternoon to film a segment on the Comcast's Washington Post Live sports show. He pumped the city's Congressional Bank Baseball Classic, a series of high school baseball games at Nationals Park on May 31 to raise money for youth baseball...
By David A Nakamura | May 21, 2008; 06:26 PM ET | Comments (1)
The Pace Setter
A Monday morning feature in which D.C. Wire charts Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's quest for athletic glory. He may have been due at a major retailers conference in Las Vegas, where he is spending today, but that didn't stop the mayor from competing in Sunday's Columbia (Md.) Triathlon, a 1.5k...
By David A Nakamura | May 19, 2008; 11:52 AM ET | Comments (1)
You Know It's Campaign Season When...
But shouldn't the apostrophe be next to the 08?...
By David A Nakamura | May 15, 2008; 04:55 PM ET | Comments (2)
Mayor to Withdraw, Then Resubmit Lottery Contract (*Updated)
A day after the D.C. Council tabled a controversial D.C. Lottery contract, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty will withdraw it from consideration later today, administration officials said. The move is aimed at ensuring the deal is not declared dead by tomorrow's deadline for the council to vote on the matter under...
By David A Nakamura | May 14, 2008; 03:18 PM ET | Email a Comment
More Development Along the Anacostia River
Mayor Adrian Fenty announced today that the city is seeking bids for a master developer for the 50-acre site next to RFK Stadium known as Hill East, which includes the defunct D.C. General campus. The project will be the second major development along the Anacostia River announced by the...
By David A Nakamura | May 14, 2008; 01:18 PM ET | Comments (7)
Mayor Williams to Honor Mayor Fenty Tonight
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and wife Michelle are scheduled to be honored at the Idealism in Action gala tonight at the Ronald Reagan Building where they'll be presented the Lifetime of Idealism Award by City Year Washington, D.C., a youth service organization. A co-chair of the event is former mayor...
By David A Nakamura | May 13, 2008; 01:25 PM ET | Email a Comment
Business Property Tax Cut is $21 Million
So say D.C. Council members and Barbara Lang, head of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. The council will vote tomorrow on the fiscal 2009 budget and one of the most contentious issues has been how much tax relief to provide small businesses. In January, the council approved a bill that...
By David A Nakamura | May 12, 2008; 05:32 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty 2006: Yes to New Library
Mayor Adrian Fenty's announcement today that the city would build a hotel at the site of the old convention center dooms any hope of replacing the aging Martin Luther King Jr. Library with a new central branch. But make no mistake--Fenty (D) had been an ardent supporter of building a...
By David A Nakamura | May 12, 2008; 02:01 PM ET | Comments (2)
My First Taxi Meter
On the way back to the Post after covering the Fraternal Order of Police memorial service, I took my first D.C. cab with a time and distance meter installed. Here are the stats: Trip: From 441 4th St. NW to 1150 15th St. NW Start Fare: $3.00 plus $1.50...
By David A Nakamura | May 9, 2008; 01:30 PM ET | Comments (3)
No Confrontation at Police Memorial Service
Fenty speaks with D.C. policers officers this morning. (By David Nakamura--TWP) Mayor Fenty showed up as promised today at the Fraternal Order of Police's annual memorial service for fallen officers, despite the group having rescinded its invitation to him yesterday. The stage had been set for a showdown after...
By David A Nakamura | May 9, 2008; 01:12 PM ET | Email a Comment
Breaking News: Police Rescind Fenty Invite
The Fraternal Order of Police, angered by Mayor Fenty's handling of the DeOnte Rawlings case, has voted to rescind an offer to the mayor to attend and speak at its annual memorial service tomorrow for fallen officers. See the letter here. Early response from Fenty administration is that the mayor...
By David A Nakamura | May 8, 2008; 04:17 PM ET | Comments (13)
Business Tax Cut Still Alive
The big question around the Wilson Building these days: Can the District government absorb an 11th-hour, $35 million revenue shortfall and still give small businesses a property tax cut? The answer, after six hours of private D.C. Council discussions yesterday, appears to be a resounding "yes." Council sources said the...
By David A Nakamura | May 8, 2008; 03:17 PM ET | Email a Comment
Bleacher Bums
Two years ago, the District scored a $100,000 grant from the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, one of Major League Baseball's community outreach programs, to renovate Fort Greble Field, where Ballou High plays its home games. The complex got new turf, dugouts, backstop and bleachers. But just days after then-Mayor Anthony...
By David A Nakamura | May 8, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (3)
The Numbers Are In
You can read the full letter from CFO Gandhi to Mayor Fenty and Council Chairman Gray regarding the city's latest $35 million budget gap here....
By David A Nakamura | May 7, 2008; 01:03 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty Hits N.C. for Obama
Mayor Fenty goes door-to-door during his own campaign two years ago. (File Photo by Andrea Bruce--TWP) Big day for Barack Obama today in North Carolina and Indiana and who better to call on than his favorite door-to-door campaigner Adrian Fenty? The D.C. mayor traveled to three North Carolina locations...
By David A Nakamura | May 6, 2008; 02:33 PM ET | Email a Comment
And the Winner (For Now) Is...
With nearly 1,500 votes in on our unscientific poll of washingtonpost.com readers, Frederick Douglass is running away with the competition to be on the D.C. quarter design. As we told you last week, the city will submit three designs to the Mint, which will pick a winner by the summer....
By David A Nakamura | May 5, 2008; 03:50 PM ET | Email a Comment
Pimp My Police Car
Seen outside Nats Park on Saturday....
By David A Nakamura | May 5, 2008; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
Say What?!
Yesterday, the Post's Metro section brought you this story about the ongoing tension between Mayor Fenty and Council Chairman Vincent Gray over the mayor's budget. Gray and other council members have complained that the mayor has misled them over his spending request and failed to answer their questions, as a...
By David A Nakamura | May 5, 2008; 12:08 PM ET | Email a Comment
A Day at the Park
Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee showed up at Saturday's Nationals game to honor students who attended Saturday school. The students and their parents got tickets and a boxed lunch and watched the Nats beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-8. Fenty and Rhee opened the game by announcing "Play ball!" on top...
By David A Nakamura | May 5, 2008; 11:53 AM ET | Email a Comment
First School, Then Baseball
From Chancellor Michelle Rhee's communications team: MEDIA ADVISORY Rhee Celebrates the Close of Saturday Scholars with Students at a Washington Nationals Game WHAT: Chancellor Rhee will officially close the inaugural Saturday Scholars program by celebrating with students who achieved perfect attendance throughout the14-week program. Saturday Scholars was an academic initiative...
By David A Nakamura | May 2, 2008; 06:21 PM ET | Email a Comment
Yes, Mr. Mayor, Your Staff is Hard at Work
Mayor Fenty's aides work their BlackBerrys before today's mayor-council breakfast. (By David Nakamura--TWP)...
By David A Nakamura | May 2, 2008; 03:12 PM ET | Email a Comment
D.C. Wire Exclusive: The D.C. Quarter Finalists
These three designs will be submitted soon to the U.S. Mint as finalists for the D.C. quarter. Look for a longer story on washingtonpost.com soon (we'll post the link on D.C. Wire once that story is up). Below are Benjamin Banneker, Frederick Douglass and Duke Ellington. We want to know...
By David A Nakamura | May 2, 2008; 11:56 AM ET | Comments (17)
Police Union Chief: Rawlings Case a "Complete Failure" by Fenty, Lanier
Baumann. (File photo: By James A. Parcell--TWP) Kris Baumann, head of the D.C. police union, hailed the decision by federal prosecutors yesterday not to charge two off-duty officers in the fatal shooting of 14-year-old DeOnté Rawlings as a vindication for the officers. In an interview with the Post yesterday...
By David A Nakamura | May 2, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (3)
Meters or Zones Today?
Yesterday, after attending the Capitol Hill hearing on the city's federal budget allocation, I jumped in a taxi to head back to the office. I noticed the car did not have a time and distance meter on its dashboard, so I asked the driver if he would have one by...
By David A Nakamura | May 1, 2008; 12:57 PM ET | Comments (14)
"Mr. Mayor, do you like the Yankees?"
Question: What was the clearest thing we learned at the House subcommittee's oversight hearing on President Bush's federal budget allocation to the District this afternoon? Answer: Subcommittee chairman Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) really, really, really loves baseball. Before even turning the microphone over to Mayor Fenty, D.C. Council Chairman Gray...
By David A Nakamura | April 30, 2008; 06:23 PM ET | Comments (1)
Gotta Keep Hydrated
From today's hearing on the city's federal budget allocation on Capitol Hill.(Photo by David Nakamura)...
By David A Nakamura | April 30, 2008; 05:07 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty on Capitol Hill
Mayor Fenty, Council Chairman Gray and CFO Gandhi are on Capitol Hill this afternoon to testify on the President's federal budget request for the District. As the Post reported in February, Bush has added an additional amount to support the reform efforts of Fenty and school Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee....
By David A Nakamura | April 30, 2008; 02:30 PM ET | Email a Comment
The Pace Setter (Midweek Bonus Edition!)
A feature in which D.C. Wire charts Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's quest for athletic glory. Mayor Fenty started his day at the ACLI Capital Challenge, a long-running (pun intended) tradition in which the various branches of the federal government -- executive, legislative, judicial--compete, along with the media, in team running...
By David A Nakamura | April 30, 2008; 12:14 PM ET | Email a Comment
Are the Days Numbered for the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission?
This afternoon, Gregory O'Dell, chief executive of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment, will throw out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals' game. It's good he's getting the chance now because it is not clear what the future holds for his agency. Some D.C. Council members are itching to get...
By David A Nakamura | April 30, 2008; 10:56 AM ET | Email a Comment
No Jury Duty for Fenty
The mayor escaped service. He was called in front of Judge Boasberg for a drug case, but was not selected to serve and left shortly after 3:30 p.m. More in tomorrow's Post....
By David A Nakamura | April 29, 2008; 04:27 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty Awaiting Potential Jury Duty
Mayor Fenty is in Superior Court today doing his patriotic duty--serving a summons for potential jury duty. Fenty is among a pool of candidates in Judge James Boasberg's courtroom, although he has not yet been selected to serve on a jury for a trial. We'll keep you posted....
By David A Nakamura | April 29, 2008; 12:06 PM ET | Email a Comment
Deputy Mayor's Budget Sliced
D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray hasn't made a secret of his skepticism of the office of Deputy Mayor for Education Victor A. Reinoso. At a budget hearing a couple weeks ago, Gray repeatedly suggested that the office was redundant and perhaps unnecessary. Today, during a Committee of the Whole...
By David A Nakamura | April 29, 2008; 11:38 AM ET | Comments (3)
Breaking News: City Wins Cab Dispute
The Associated Press is reporting the following: A judge has ruled in the city's favor in a dispute over Mayor Adrian Fenty's order for D.C. taxis to switch to time-and-distance meters for calculating fares. Fenty announced last October the city would change from the zone system to meters. But a...
By David A Nakamura | April 21, 2008; 09:57 AM ET | Email a Comment
The Pace Setter
A Monday morning feature in which D.C. Wire charts Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's quest for athletic glory. The Kinetic Half Ironman, held at Lake Anna State Park in Virginia, is billed as the first half-Ironman distance race of the season in the mid-Atlantic region, meaning a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile...
By David A Nakamura | April 21, 2008; 09:11 AM ET | Email a Comment
Police Focus to Increase in Fifth District
The D.C. police department will double its deployment of officers on the streets in the Fifth District in the wake of five homicides in four days, including one yesterday in the 2800 block of 12 Street NE, officials said today. The outbreak of violence -- part of eight murders city-wide...
By David A Nakamura | April 18, 2008; 02:36 PM ET | Email a Comment
New Gandhi Spokesman
Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi has hired a new spokesman to replace Maryann Young, who departed in January to take over as the director of elections for Lackawanna County, Pa. David Umansky, who began this week, has had a long career in public relations. According to his biography, Umansky began...
By David A Nakamura | April 18, 2008; 11:08 AM ET | Email a Comment
More Evidence Fenty Remains Popular
In case his 72 percent approval rating in the Post's January poll wasn't enough, the mayor just won "Best Local Hero" in the Washington City Paper's first reader poll in 20 years. Fenty beat out Marion Barry, Eleanor Holmes Norton and rocker Ian MacKaye for the honor. We're not sure...
By David A Nakamura | April 17, 2008; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (2)
Constitution Project to Mayor: Watch Those Cameras
More concerns are being raised about Mayor Fenty's plan to combine more than 5,000 surveillance cameras into a single network monitored by the city's homeland security agency. Today, the Constitution Project, a legal advocacy group, has issued a release urging Fenty to instruct the agency to adopt policies protecting people's...
By David A Nakamura | April 16, 2008; 04:42 PM ET | Comments (1)
The Pace Setter
A Monday morning feature in which D.C. Wire charts Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's quest for athletic glory. Okay, so it's Wednesday, but we just got the results of Fenty's first triathlon of the season--the Georgetown IronMed--thanks to Georgetown University Medical School student Matthew Ronan, who helped organize the event. The...
By David A Nakamura | April 16, 2008; 11:42 AM ET | Comments (2)
Fenty to Hang With Pope
Seems the mayor will be courting his newest constituent -- Pope Benedict XVI -- over the next few days. Fenty is scheduled to be with him at the White House tomorrow, attend mass at Nats Park on Thursday and then bid him farewell at Andrews Air Force Base on Friday,...
By David A Nakamura | April 15, 2008; 05:05 PM ET | Email a Comment
Taxation Without Representation
This being Tax Day and all, it figures that D.C. Vote would pop up with more stunts to gain attention for its push for congressional representation in the District. The group is passing out wooden nickles -- at Union Station, the Senate Building and the National Capitol Post Office --...
By David A Nakamura | April 15, 2008; 11:37 AM ET | Comments (3)
Lanier: 80 Percent of Young Arrestees Are Fatherless
Channel-hopping briefly on Saturday night, we stumbled onto a panel discussion about race relations in America on MSNBC. Among the guests was D.C.'s own Police Chief Cathy Lanier, who was selected, we presume, for her unique role as a white, female chief in a predominantly black and male department. (She...
By David A Nakamura | April 14, 2008; 06:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
Police Achieve Milestone (*Updated)
Mayor Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced today that the city has been allowed to terminate its Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Justice, under which the police were subject to oversight by an independent monitor. The arrangement, created in 2001, came in the wake of a Washington...
By David A Nakamura | April 14, 2008; 01:49 PM ET | Email a Comment
MoJo -- The Future of D.C. Wire?
Your D.C. Wire correspondents just got out of a meeting with editors from washingtonpost.com about how to take video for the blog. You'll begin to see it pop up in the next few weeks in this space. For us, this is another step in the evolution of how we do...
By David A Nakamura | April 11, 2008; 10:45 AM ET | Email a Comment
The CAFR: Read All About It
As we've been reporting this week, the city has received its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report from BDO Seidman and the news isn't great. Yes, D.C. scored a "clean" audit, which is critical for its standing on Wall Street. But the auditors, in their "yellow book" addendum, cited the city for...
By David A Nakamura | April 10, 2008; 10:49 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty Takes the Hill
Mayor Fenty is on Capitol Hill today to talk about strategies to calm the housing market in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis. You can download his testimony in PDF format by clicking here....
By David A Nakamura | April 10, 2008; 10:41 AM ET | Email a Comment
Video: Hollywood Star Stumps for D.C.
The D.C. Notebook told you in February that "Heroes" star Hayden Panettiere promised to do work with D.C.'s shadow senator Paul Strauss on voting rights issues. Now she's delivered, filming a commercial with Strauss that will begin airing tomorrow on the D.C. government's two cable channels (Ch. 13 and 16)....
By David A Nakamura | April 9, 2008; 03:07 PM ET | Email a Comment
Father of Brittany Jacks Sues District
The Associated Press is reporting that the "father of one of four girls whose bodies were found decomposing in a southeast Washington rowhouse in January has filed a $25 million lawsuit against the city, alleging its agencies failed to adequately handle complaints that the girl was endangered." Read more here....
By David A Nakamura | April 9, 2008; 02:16 PM ET | Email a Comment
Breaking News: Lottery Contract Withdrawn
D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi just testified at a D.C. Council hearing moments ago that he and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) have agreed to withdraw a controversial new lottery contract to a nine-month-old company. Some council members raised questions about the proposal and the firm's principals, including...
By David A Nakamura | April 9, 2008; 11:54 AM ET | Comments (4)
Nats No Shows
So two games into the home schedule for the Washington Nationals and they draw only 20,487 in the 41,888-seat stadium. Was this a fluke due to the mildly chilly weather or a sign that maybe D.C. never really did want baseball back? And what about all that economic development that...
By David A Nakamura | April 8, 2008; 11:09 AM ET | Comments (11)
Fenty, Rhee Talk Education in Memphis
Mayor Fenty didn't have any public events on his schedule yesterday, a rarity. The reason? He and school Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee traveled to Memphis to participate in Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network's national conference, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death....
By David A Nakamura | April 4, 2008; 12:45 PM ET | Comments (1)
Fenty v. Council on Business Tax Relief
Several District Council members, including Chairman Vincent C. Gray, aren't buying Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's tax relief plan for city businesses, a proposal that counter's the council's initiative earlier this year. When the D.C. Council approved a tax relief package for businesses in January, the expectation was that the plan...
By David A Nakamura | April 4, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Nats' New Fan?
Nikita Stewart filed this in today's D.C. Political Notebook in the Extra section... Could the biggest critic of public financing of the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium be having a change of heart? No, we're not talking about Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who was probably the second-leading critic when he...
By David A Nakamura | April 3, 2008; 01:13 PM ET | Email a Comment
New High School Baseball Series at Nats Park
During the long and bumpy road that was the debate over the Nationals' publicly financed baseball stadium, critics of the project often asked, "What's in it for the city?" The inaugural invite. (David Nakamura) Well, D.C. Wire just learned about at least one little piece of that puzzle. We got...
By David A Nakamura | April 3, 2008; 09:30 AM ET | Comments (3)
Whither the CAFR?
Officials on various floors of the John A. Wilson Building have been waiting on pins and needles for the release, probably next week, of the D.C. government's long-delayed Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. And D.C. Wire has gotten word that City Hall is bracing for a critical review by BDO Seidman,...
By David A Nakamura | April 3, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fenty's Budget Testimony (*Updated)
The D.C. Council's public hearing on Mayor Fenty's budget has begun and you can watch it live on Ch. 13 or on the council's website. *12:40 p.m.: Here's a summary just in from D.C. Wire's Nikita Stewart, who is in the chambers. Fenty testified before council members today that his...
By David A Nakamura | March 31, 2008; 12:09 PM ET | Email a Comment
The Pace Setter
A Monday morning feature in which D.C. Wire charts Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's quest for athletic glory. The 37-year-old mayor is well known for his love of running and triathloning. And all that training--and Vitamin Water--is paying off. Fenty (D) participated in the 2008 National Marathon on Saturday and, despite...
By David A Nakamura | March 31, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
Thanks, Mayor Will--er, Fenty...!
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is famous for walking door-to-door across the city to win election. But apparently he missed Brendan Owens, the vice president for LEED technical development for the U.S. Green Building Council. Today, at a news conference to kick off this weekend's opening of Nationals Park, Owens was...
By David A Nakamura | March 28, 2008; 11:32 AM ET | Comments (3)
Camera Ready
Mayor Adrian Fenty has never met a camera he doesn't love. The city's top elected leader is so fond of press attention that he holds a news conference every day. Today, though, the mayor turned the tables at an appearance at DC USA, the new mall in Columbia Heights, where...
By David A Nakamura | March 27, 2008; 02:00 PM ET | Comments (1)
Away Game
When the Nationals open their season Sunday at their new stadium, Ken Wyban will be far away from the action in Willoughby, Ohio. But he will probably be thinking about the team and what he gave up--and what he got--so that the Nationals could have their new home. (Photo by...
By David A Nakamura | March 26, 2008; 11:57 AM ET | Email a Comment
More On School Fundraising
We told you yesterday about the new D.C. Public Education Fund, which has been established to raise money from the private sector for Chancellor Michelle Rhee's school reform efforts. Today we caught up with the fund's executive director Sara Lasner, who explained that the fund has applied for 501c3 status...
By David A Nakamura | March 25, 2008; 02:31 PM ET | Email a Comment
The New Ward 8
A lot has been made about Mayor Adrian Fenty's consistent appearances in Ward 8, the city's poorest ward that has long been clamoring for the kind of economic development that has swept through much of the rest of the District over the past half dozen years. Some say Fenty is...
By David A Nakamura | March 25, 2008; 12:11 PM ET | Comments (1)
Turnbull Indicted
Jayrece Turnbull, one of the alleged co-conspirators in the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue embezzlement case, was indicted today by a Maryland Grand Jury on a count of cashing a $410,000 check in funds stolen from the D.C. government. Turnbull is the niece of Harriette Walters, the former tax...
By David A Nakamura | March 24, 2008; 03:36 PM ET | Comments (10)
Before He Was Mayor
At a news conference today to announce the release of the city's 2008 Summer Fun Activity Guide, Mayor Adrian Fenty, addressing a group of about 100 youth on spring break at the Fort Davis Recreation Center in Southeast, revealed that he spent a summer as a lifeguard at the public...
By David A Nakamura | March 24, 2008; 02:30 PM ET | Email a Comment
How Much for Nationals Park?
In our story today about the ballpark district around Nationals Park, we included this graphic about the growing total cost of the project. The cost will go higher, with three of the eminent domain cases still tied up in court mediation. Saturday's exhibition was a warmup, a chance for about...
By David A Nakamura | March 24, 2008; 07:53 AM ET | Comments (8)
The Four Rs: Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, Raising Money
When Mayor Adrian M. Fenty took over the D.C. schools last summer, he announced plans to raise private money to help supplement the system's operating budget--much as Fenty's mentor, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), did when he took over the schools in New York. Bloomberg, a billionaire...
By David A Nakamura | March 24, 2008; 07:05 AM ET | Comments (1)
Mayor Williams Talks Soccer Stadium
(Poplar Point photo By Alexandra Garcia - washingtonpost.com) His legacy will be as the mayor who brought baseball back to Washington, but when we caught up recently with Anthony A. Williams, we couldn't resist asking him about the ongoing debate over whether the city should spend public money to...
By David A Nakamura | March 19, 2008; 05:34 PM ET | Email a Comment
