D.C. Wire: March 8, 2009 - March 14, 2009
Fenty Travel Expenses: $25,000 from UAE, $11,300 from China
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's trips to the United Arab Emirates and China cost $25,000 and $11,300, respectively, and were paid for by government entities in each country, according to a memo from Attorney General Peter J. Nickles. Fenty (D) traveled to Beijing and Shanghai for the Summer Olympics last year,...
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David A Nakamura
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March 13, 2009; 8:42 PM ET |
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Mayor Fenty
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31 Jobs Equals $76 Million?
D.C. Auditor Deborah K. Nichols is recommending that the city end the Certified Capital Companies program, which is run by the District Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking, after concluding that it created just 31 jobs after $76 million in expenditures. The program was created in 2004 to "stimulate...
By
Nikita R Stewart
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March 13, 2009; 11:41 AM ET |
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D.C. Council
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In Case You Missed It: OCTO Corruption and School Assaults
Read the Washington Post report on the FBI's raid of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer and its arrest of a mid-level manager and at least one of his co-conspirators for corruption. Also, check out Bill Turque's report on Woodson Academy, a window on how some schools can struggle...
By
Marcia Davis
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March 13, 2009; 8:00 AM ET |
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Crime and Public Safety
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Education
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Video: 'We Will Cooperate Fully' in Arrest Investigation, Fenty Says
District Mayor Adrian Fenty responds to the arrests of an official in the D.C. government's Office of the Chief Technology Officer and a contractor with the office in a video by The Post's Hamil Harris....
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Washington Post Editors
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March 12, 2009; 5:29 PM ET |
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Waterside Station Development On Schedule: Fenty
As a sprinkle of fine dust rained from the big construction site behind him, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) announced that the Waterside Station project in Southwest was "topped off" and is on schedule for the opening of its first phase about a year from now. "We couldn't be more...
By
Darryl Fears
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March 12, 2009; 2:04 PM ET |
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Categories:
Economic Development
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Mayor Fenty
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Breaking: D.C. Tech Official Busted in Federal Bribery Sting
[Note: For complete story, go here.] An official in the D.C. government's office of the chief technology officer has been arrested in a federal bribery sting, according to law enforcement sources. The FBI has raided the technology office this morning and agents are continuing to search for evidence, sources said....
By
David A Nakamura
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March 12, 2009; 10:37 AM ET |
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Crime and Public Safety
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Rhee: Union Proposal 'Did Not Propel Us Forward'
When we last checked in with Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee on the state of contract negotiations about a month ago, she offered her first hopeful words in some time about the prospects for an agreement with the Washington Teachers Union (WTU). "I think where we are is in a...
By
Kathryn Tolbert
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March 12, 2009; 9:00 AM ET |
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Education
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Barry and Rhee Bond, Sort Of
Marion Barry, Chancellor Michelle Rhee's most vocal antagonist on the D.C. Council, has tempered his tone when it comes to the schools leader. Barry used to criticize Rhee for her spotty attendance and incomplete answers at past hearings. Maybe it's his new surgically acquired kidney, or more likely that...
By
Kathryn Tolbert
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March 12, 2009; 8:58 AM ET |
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Education
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What Happened to City Lights Kids When Lights Went Out?
The financial collapse of City Lights Public Charter School last month left 48 D.C. high school students, many of them with serious emotional and learning disabilities, without a seat in a classroom. The District, which operates under a federal court consent decree stemming from its historic inability to serve...
By
Kathryn Tolbert
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March 12, 2009; 8:55 AM ET |
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Education
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Fenty and Booker Team Up at Joint Fundraiser
Hundreds of people squeezed past protesters and into Local 16, a U Street bar where they could schmooze with Newark Mayor Cory Booker and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. The two young mayors -- Fenty's 38 and Booker's 39 -- held a joint fundraiser for their 2010 reelection bids. Organizers...
By
Marcia Davis
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March 12, 2009; 8:44 AM ET |
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Mayor Fenty
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Schools Get Boost With Spending Bill
D.C. schools are among the beneficiaries of the spending bill President Obama signed yesterday. Read Mary Beth Sheridan's report here....
By
Marcia Davis
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March 12, 2009; 7:30 AM ET |
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Education
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Regional Group Urges Congress To Drop Gun Amendment
The Council of Governments Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution today urging Congress to support a D.C. vote bill without an amendment attached that would strip the District of its authority to restrict firearms. D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) is president of the group known as COG...
By
Nikita R Stewart
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March 11, 2009; 2:43 PM ET |
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D.C. Council
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Voting Rights
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Barry Returns to Council Chambers
Marion Barry took his seat in the D.C Council chambers this morning for the first time since surgery to receive a new kidney on Feb. 20. Barry drew applause and then laughter when he assured the audience: "I'd just like to tell everyone that I AM following the doctor's orders."...
By
Marcia Davis
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March 11, 2009; 12:38 PM ET |
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D.C. Council
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D.C. Unemployment Continues to Soar
The District's unemployment rate has jumped to 9.3 percent, up from 8.8 in December, according to the D.C. Department of Employment Services. The increase in unemployment in the District continues to reflect the national trend: the US rate was 7.6% in January 2009, up from 7.2% in December 2008, the...
By
David A Nakamura
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March 11, 2009; 11:17 AM ET |
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More Strategizing on D.C. Vote; Norton Sends Letter
Post writer Mary Beth Sheridan reports that neither Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton nor House Leader Steny Hoyer have given up on the District voting bill. There was a strategy meeting yesterday, and Hoyer says while the bill won't come back this week, it will return before year's end. Norton also...
By
Marcia Davis
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March 11, 2009; 7:45 AM ET |
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Fenty Initiates New Juvenile Tracking Program
The District is compiling a list of 60 of the most serious juvenile offenders in detention and will share information on their backgrounds with police and some community groups before allowing the youths to return home, especially to high-crime neighborhoods, writes Washington Post reporter Robert Pierre. In a statement released...
By
Marcia Davis
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March 11, 2009; 7:19 AM ET |
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Crime and Public Safety
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Mayor Fenty
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Mendelson Tries To Get Region Involved In Voting Rights
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) will try to get local officials in neighboring Maryland and Virginia involved in the city's fight for voting rights in Congress. Mendelson, president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, will try to get his colleagues to sign on to a resolution that...
By
Nikita R Stewart
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March 10, 2009; 2:54 PM ET |
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D.C. Council
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Voting Rights
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Hoyer: D.C. Voting Rights Bill Unlikely This Week
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md) said today that the D.C. Voting Rights bill is unlikely to return to the House floor this week, after being pulled from consideration last week. He added that congressional officials are still struggling with how to pass the bill without an amendment that...
By
David A Nakamura
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March 10, 2009; 12:28 PM ET |
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Voting Rights
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Campaign Worker Charged With Robberies
A man recently arrested and charged for a string of robberies in D.C. and a campaign worker who earned more than $5,000 on the campaigns of Adam Clampitt and now Council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) last year are one in the same. Ezra Mathis, 29, was arrested near...
By
Nikita R Stewart
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March 10, 2009; 10:12 AM ET |
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D.C. Council
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In Wisdom We Trust: Media Defeats Council, 35-25, Behind Fox 5 Star
We admit it: When it comes to hoops, the D.C. Council was a lot better than the media expected. In the first annual council -media charity basketball game at Verizon Center this afternoon, the media figured we had a decided youth advantage. And with 16 players to the council's...
By
David A Nakamura
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March 9, 2009; 7:15 PM ET |
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D.C. Council
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Council Unveils 'Revolutionary Mascot' for BBall Game
The trash talk is heating up for the big game today between the D.C. Council and media. After our post this morning about the media team, Michael Price and Charles Mason, aides to council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), write in to D.C. Wire to detail the latest...
By
David A Nakamura
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March 9, 2009; 1:17 PM ET |
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D.C. Council
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Grudge Match: Media to Face D.C. Council in Hoops
We face off each day: the D.C. Council members and the media that cover them. But never quite like this: At 4 p.m. today, the two camps will take their differences to the basketball court at Verizon Center for a charity game that has been years in the making....
By
David A Nakamura
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March 9, 2009; 7:00 AM ET |
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