Local Archives (67)
A federal employee looks distraught while gathering his thoughts in front of the United States Department of Agriculture building in Southwest, soon after a 5.8 earthquake rocked the city on Tues. Aug. 23. / Photo by Khalid Naji-AllahAt 1:51 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rocked the Washington metropolitan area. There are reports that the quake may have lasted as long as 40 seconds and an estimated 12 million people in seven states and parts of Canada felt the tremors.
One of Washington's national treasures, the National Cathedral in Northwest, was shaken to the point that its bells tolled. Several finials and pinnacles atop the cathedral crashed to the ground. And late Tuesday, August 23, church officials continued to check the massive structure, inside and out, to ensure the absence of additional damage.
Les Johnson of Historic Anacostia in Ward 8 is not sure that D.C. Council member Marion Barry should serve another term in the District's legislature.
"When people ask me whether I support Mr. Barry for another term, I honestly do not know how to answer that question fairly," Johnson, 43, said. "As a council member, he can only do so much because he is operating in the winds of the economy. He is dealing with issues that anybody in public office is dealing with."
Johnson feels that the ward needs to move forward and would look at Barry re-election to office in 2012 as "a step backward."
Pho Palmer of Congress Heights respectfully disagrees.
On Sat., Aug. 20, local education non-profit DC VOICE and dozens of youth from Ward 7 marched in a community walk to confront local stores that have sold underage youth tobacco products. The youth and DC VOICE succeeded in convincing over five local stores to pledge to stop selling youth tobacco products. As part of a Safe Passages initiative and anti-tobacco campaign, DC VOICE have worked with youth from Clay Terrace, Stoddert Terrace, and Benning Terrace in Ward 7 this year to provide civic and leadership skills, and to stop underage tobacco use in the community.
Anacostia River pollution backs up at the Seafarers Club on the west banks of the river. /Photo by Roy Lewis A catfish with a head as big as a man, a near 12-ft codfish, someone dumping a stove and refrigerator into the Anacostia. This may sound like urban lore, but fishermen on the Anacostia say they saw it with their own eyes. On Aug. 20, Joe Bush cast his line from a location near the Seafarer's Club at 1950 M St. in Southeast. Established in 1945, The Seafarers Yacht Club is the first African-American boat club in the U.S.
"I've been coming here for 15 years and this is the first time I've gotten out to fish this year," Bush said, baiting his line with shrimp. "I catch catfish and give them away, I haven't eaten them, but a lot of people eat them."
Former U. S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman told a packed room at the Washington Convention Center Friday that black women have come a long way over the past half century and that they have a lot going on, because their mothers, grandmothers, aunts -- and many other women before them -- dared to dream.
But, they still owe it to future generations to carry forth the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she said.
"Welcome to this very, very special moment in history. We have come together today to celebrate in a magnificent way, all of the maginificent women who indeed, dared to dream, " Herman said during opening remarks for the Women Who Dare to Dream luncheon that was held in celebration of the new Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall.
Bernice King, the youngest surviving child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., addressed the congregation during the Aug. 27 Interfaith Service at the Basilica in Northeast.
Bernice King was only five years old when her father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated. But when the 48-year-old Atlanta minister graced the pulpit of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Saturday during an interfaith prayer service in honor of her iconic father, she recalled him as "a servant of a high God, obedient."
According to a statement issued earlier by Harry Johnson, president and CEO of the Washington MLK Memorial Foundation, the prayer service was an opportunity for people of all denominations to come together and reflect on faith as a source of strength, while celebrating the civil rights leader's unshakable resolve bringing his dream of justice and equality for all mankind to fruition.
Also included on the program as speakers were Dr. King's confidants the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with him, and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young -- who like Lowery -- accompanied King on several marches in the South for equal rights.
Referencing Hurricane Irene, which caused the cancellation of two major marches that had also been planned for Aug. 27, Lowery commented that, "with all the things black folk have been through, ain't no little hurricane going to stop this."
Young noted that everywhere King went, he was met with a "mountain of despair that was thrust upon him by the evils" of the world. Young added that in keeping King's legacy intact, "you and I must become stones of hope in the midst."
The service culminated a week of events surrounding Sunday's postponed dedication of the new Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall. The dedication is now slated to take place in either September or October.
President Barack Obama last month approved the installation of Norman Rockwell's famous work, The Problem We All Live With. The painting depicts the racial tension at play as 6-year-old Ruby Bridges makes her way to William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, escorted by U.S. Marshals dispatched by President Eisenhower.
Bridges is known as the first black child to attend a formerly all-white school following court-mandated integration. (She lives in New Orleans to this day, where she is now chair of The Ruby Bridges Foundation.)
Politico noted that up until now, the painting's placement in the White House was never mentioned publicly by President Obama. But evidently, it was Bridges herself — with the help of Louisiana's Senator Mary Landrieu (D), Georgia Rep. John Lewis (D) and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (D) — who convinced the President to display the painting in the White House:
"It did have a lot to do with this particular president," Bridges said. "He is a president of mixed race. So I believe he is about the same things that I am. You cannot look at a person and judge him or her by the color of their skin. ... I did feel if anyone would hang the painting, it would be him."
Last month, Bridges stopped by the White House to see the painting in its new — though temporary — home.
"I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for you guys, I might not be here, and we might not be looking at this together," Obama told her, according to a videotape on the White House website.
The Genon Plant in Alexandria, Va., will shut down."Courtesy PhotoThe Alexandria, Va., coal-fired electric generating plant responsible for a toxic plume hovering over Ward 8 in the District as well as parts of Maryland and Virginia, will soon be shut down. The GenOn plant, also known as the Potomac River Generating Station, will be permanently closed by Oct 1, 2012
In July, the Washington Informer reported that the Sierra Club and Alexandria residents had been attempting to get the plant closed for a number of years. The Sierra Club hired an independent contractor and conducted a study, which revealed high amounts of sulfur dioxide being released into the air in the District, Maryland and Virginia. Now, the plant is being retired.
"This is a major victory, not so much for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, which it is, but for the health and well-being of our District residents and others who have been adversely impacted by pollution produced by this coal fired power plant," said Irv Sheffey, environmental justice and community organizer for the Sierra Club.
Alexandria Mayor William D. Eulle agrees.
Hurricane Irene ravaged the East Coast before hitting the D.C. region./Courtesy PhotoIn the wake of this season's first hurricane, residents in Prince George's County experienced power outages for days, basements flooded and debris littered roads after Irene swept the area late Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning.
Guyana native Leila Kisson has worked at the Natural Health Center on Branch Ave. in Temple Hill, Md., for 10 years. She was at work when the storm hit.
"The wall started shaking, the wind was blowing and things were falling down in the store. The vitamin case broke and people were helping me pick things up," Kisson said. "It was very scary. I've never been through something like this before."
Regina Young of Capitol Heights, Md., is a first-time homeowner who is now dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Irene.
"There was very heavy rainfall, strong winds, trees fell down in my neighborhood. I lost power. My cable, phone, and Internet finally came back Monday around 5 p.m.," Young said. "Water also got in my basement and soaked my carpet and clothes. I can't recall the last time I saw rainfall that heavy."
Lewis McLean, 73 of Southeast uses an ax to chop tree branches from a 50-foot tree that fell in his front yard on Mon. Aug. 27. McLean’s house suffered only minor damages from the fall. / Photo by Khalid Naji-AllahResidents in the Washington metropolitan area began the inevitable clean-up following a weekend visit from Hurricane Irene. People in the District and surrounding region hunkered down for what forecasters predicted would be a storm packing a potential knockout punch just days after a 5.9 earthquake rattled buildings and nerves.
Irene made landfall in North Carolina bringing fierce rains and wind gusts of more than 110 miles an hour, which precipitated flooding and the collapse of trees, power lines and other structures. As of Tuesday morning, at least 27 people had died as a result of the storm.
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