Washington, D.C
Arizona students ponder political values during DC trip
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — From the moment the students boarded their morning buses, they were challenged to think about political values like liberty, equality, and justice.
Thursday was the third day of an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC for 275 Arizona high school students.
At the Jefferson Memorial, they explored the complexities of a Founding Father who enslaved people.
Shirley Thoreson from Maryvale High School said it’s important to learn the nuances of key historical figures. “We need to acknowledge the truth so we can move forward and learn from the past.”
Learning from the past is one of the major goals of the four-day trip.
The students arrived Tuesday on the Arizona Cardinals team plane. Team owner Michael Bidwill launched the annual civics trip three years ago, selecting students from Title I schools in a statewide essay contest.
For some students, it’s their first time on an airplane. Alexis Delgado marveled at the lush trees in the D.C. area.
“It’s been like a dream, to be honest, because I’ve never experienced something so beautiful, coming from a dry place,” said the incoming PXU City High School senior.
All week, instructors with the Close Up Foundation have encouraged students to find their voice. Sixteen-year-old Janelle Harris found hers.
“It was really scary, to be honest. I was really nervous,” she said.
On Wednesday, the 16-year-old walked straight up to U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and asked him a tricky question about why he maintains support for Israel despite the suffering in Gaza.
“Seeing as he was an astronaut, I feel like it’s an astronaut’s duty to fight for the progression of humanity, not just Americans,” she said.
She said this week’s lesson plan helped. “I definitely did use what we talked about in the deliberating process and just tried to get my point across as best I could in the small portion of time I had to talk to him.”
The senator was impressed. “It’s good to see that they’re interested in something,” Kelly said.
Janelle knows she didn’t convince Sen. Kelly to change his views, but she found it powerful to express her political values.
“I thought it was a very interesting experience, and I’m very lucky to have had it,” she said.
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Washington, D.C
Jeff Landry headed to D.C. for talks on Greenland as his invitation to the island’s dog sledding race is in peril
Washington, D.C
Suspected National Guard shooter due back in court on two new charges
WASHINGTON – A deadly shooting case with ties to the National Guard and the White House is heading back to court, and prosecutors have now expanded the charges.
FOX 5’s Maureen Umeh reports this is one of the District’s highest profile cases, and the man accused in the ambush is expected to appear before a judge on Thursday.
What we know:
Prosecutors have added two new counts, and the hearing could help shape the direction of the case as it moves forward in federal court.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal is accused of opening fire on two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House the day before Thanksgiving. Prosecutors have now added two counts of assault with intent to kill, tied to the National Guard member who tackled and subdued him after the shooting.
READ MORE: Who is Rahmanullah Lakanwal? Afghan national accused of shooting 2 National Guard in DC
Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed. Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was critically injured and continues to recover.
Lakanwal now faces first degree murder while armed, multiple assault charges, and several weapons offenses. Federal prosecutors say they are aggressively pursuing the case and note that nothing is off the table, including whether to seek the death penalty, one reason the case is now being handled at the federal level.
The indictment includes nine criminal counts. Lakanwal has pleaded not guilty to the initial charges.
READ MORE: Two new charges for alleged gunman in National Guard shooting
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting.
Washington, D.C
D.C. set to receive $200M in federal funds
The House and Senate appropriations committees included almost $200 million in the first draft of an upcoming appropriations bill, which, if approved by Congress, would fund D.C. programs including school choice, college tuition, HIV prevention, clean rivers and police overtime.
If approved, $90 million would reimburse the District government for the cost of providing police and other support at events like large protests, state funerals and the upcoming 250 birthday celebration of the country.
While the Bowser administration is happy with the funding, the mayor sent a letter to Congress asking for an additional $10 million to offset the added costs to D.C. taxpayers for the federal surge, writing, “This higher funding level is also essential to support the ongoing federal law enforcement surge and the associated increased costs to the Metropolitan Police Department, including MPD’s work to coordinate with federal agencies, facilitate National Guard deployments, and sustain police overtime required to support the surge.”
There is also $40 million to fund D.C. tuition assistance grants, which help offset the cost of college tuition for D.C. high school grads. If approved, the funds would allow D.C. to increase the amount students could qualify for each year from $10,000 to $15,000 and boost the lifetime cap from $50,000 to $75,000.
“Which is a huge amount of money for families, and that’s going to help us help more of our residents on their pathway to getting degrees,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser’s chief of staff, Tomas Talamante.
Schools would benefit, too.
“We were able to get 17.5 for D.C. Public Schools and 17.5 million for D.C. public charter schools, as well as the 17.5 million that goes to the voucher program,” Talamante said. “We also were able to get money for HIV/AIDS prevention, about $4 million that we were able to secure for HIV/AIDS prevention. We were also able to secure $8 million for DC Water, which their clean rivers project is the huge tunnel-boring system that helps keep the Anacostia and our waterways clean.”
The legislation includes riders placing restrictions on recreational cannabis, and Congress could add other riders, including changes like doing away with cashless bail or photo traffic enforcement in the District.
The legislation still must go through the House Rules Committee before a full House vote.
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