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Bill would rename former Black Lives Matter Plaza for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk – WTOP News

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Bill would rename former Black Lives Matter Plaza for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk – WTOP News


A South Carolina Republican Congresswoman wants to rename a well-known stretch of 16th Street NW in D.C. after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

A South Carolina Republican Congresswoman wants to rename a well-known stretch of 16th Street NW in D.C. after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Rep. Nancy Mace introduced legislation Wednesday to designate the area once known as “Black Lives Matter Plaza” as the “Charlie Kirk Freedom of Speech Plaza.” The proposal comes three months after Kirk was killed while speaking at a free-speech event at a Utah college.

Mace said the change would honor Kirk’s commitment to the First Amendment, calling him “a champion of free speech and a voice for millions of young Americans.” Her bill would require official signs to be placed in the plaza and updates made to federal maps and records.

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In a statement, Mace contrasted the unrest that followed George Floyd’s killing in 2020, when the plaza was created, with the response to Kirk’s death, saying the earlier period was marked by “chaos and destruction,” while Kirk’s killing brought “prayer, peace and unity.”

She argued that after Floyd’s death, “America watched criminals burn cities while police officers were ordered to stand down,” adding that officers were “vilified and abandoned by leaders who should have supported them.”

But D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton pushed back, saying Congress should not override local control.

“D.C. deserves to decide what its own streets are named since over 700,000 people live in the city,” Norton wrote on X. “D.C. is not a blank slate for Congress to fill in as it pleases.”

The stretch of 16th Street was originally dedicated as Black Lives Matter Plaza in 2020 following nationwide protests over Floyd’s death. Earlier this year, the city removed the mural.

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D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office declined to comment on the bill, as did several members of the D.C. Council.

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Washington, D.C

Police search for suspect caught on camera slashing tires in Georgetown

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Police search for suspect caught on camera slashing tires in Georgetown


Washington D.C. police are searching for a vandal who was caught on surveillance video slashing the tires of multiple vehicles in a Georgetown alley on Tuesday afternoon. The suspect, who fled the scene on a red bicycle, targeted a Chevy Suburban and a Ford Escape on the 1700 block of 35th Street Northwest.



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Reflecting Pool being drained – again – as Trump administration tries once more to fix DC landmark – WTOP News

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Reflecting Pool being drained – again – as Trump administration tries once more to fix DC landmark – WTOP News


Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

(CNN) — Crews began draining the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

In an interview released Tuesday with Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster and wife of President Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Burgum said they started draining the pool as planned after the July Fourth fireworks show, noting some of the fireworks debris was still in the water.

Asked about the schedule for this round of renovations, he gave no specifics beyond a broad overview.

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“Drain the water. Clean up the fireworks stuff. Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again,” Burgum said.

As of Tuesday evening, there was still water in the pool, and it was unclear if it will be drained further. Burgum indicated over the weekend that it may only need to be partially drained.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and allegations of vandalism – have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of a national fixation.

Members of the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump, have said vandals caused damage to the Reflecting Pool by gashing the lining, though they have not provided evidence to support that claim. In late June, the president said the pool would be drained after the July Fourth holiday to fix it.

The administration will use the same contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, for this next round of repairs. Previously, the company landed a no-bid contract worth more than $14 million for their part of the work – sealing the pool and painting the bottom “American Flag- blue.”

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Asked about the timeline for his part of the repairs, Eddie Gross, owner of Atlantic Industrial Coatings told CNN that “nothing has been set yet.” He declined to answer questions about his contract and the cost of additional repairs.

The Department of Interior did not respond to questions about the timeline for this round of repairs.

Burgum, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, suggested the repairs could happen with the pool only being partially drained. He sought to portray the costs as minor.

“It’s going to be a small number because the majority of the work was related to the labor and the materials for the liner,” Burgum said.

“We’ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job,” he said.

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Burgum also said the government could “absolutely” prove the damage was caused by vandals, and that there are photographs supporting the claim. But he dodged a question about whether those photographs show anyone damaging the pool.

The secretary also denied that Trump having his motorcade drive through the pool mid-renovation in May did any damage to the site.

“No, I was with him when we came that night … We were driving in a Cadillac Escalade. It is one of the presidential fleet of cars,” Burgum said, adding that the vehicle Trump took on the ride was “substantially lighter” than the armored presidential limousine known as “The Beast.”

“The whole base level of this industrial rubber layer was not yet completed, and so there was no damage that night whatsoever,” he said. “That was one of the questions we asked before we even brought the presidential motorcade there, but not a chance.”

The other contractor involved in the project, Greenwater Services, previously told CNN that when the pool is drained it will not affect their system, which is up and running.

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Chas Antinone, the president of Greenwater Services, told CNN the company can shut down and then restart the so-called ozone nanobubbler, as necessary.

Companies involved in the renovation have found themselves at the center of national news as Reflecting Pool issues continued.

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DC is second riskiest city for driving, Allstate says

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DC is second riskiest city for driving, Allstate says


D.C. is the second riskiest city for driving, an insurance company report says.

Allstate said it looked at the number of crashes, how often they happen and certain types of behavior behind the wheel.

“On the phones, bike lanes, people on motor scooters having no regard for the law,” one driver told News4. “It is risky, yeah. I’ve seen a lot of close calls.”

The average driver around D.C. goes just about four years in between collisions. Drivers in the least risky city — Brownsville, Texas — go about 15 years in between collisions.

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D.C. also got dinged for bad driving — like being on phones a lot — and plenty of nighttime driving, which increases risk.

Allstate analyzed property damage claims from January 2023 through December 2024 to rank cities. Here’s the Top 10:

  1. Boston
  2. D.C.
  3. Baltimore
  4. Worcester, Mass.
  5. Springfield, Mass.
  6. Glendale, Calif.
  7. Providence
  8. Sunrise Manor, Nev.
  9. Los Angeles
  10. Philadelphia

But local Allstate agent Rudy Alston says D.C. drivers themselves may not deserve the bad rap.

“I think a lot of it isn’t so much from D.C. natives,” he said. “I think it’s a lot of people coming from outside of D.C. — coming from Maryland and Virginia that commute to D.C. — that maybe aren’t as familiar with the traffic laws in D.C. and how congested D.C. is with the influx of pedestrians, Uber drivers, the Door Dash guys on the scooters, the Metrobuses. So, I just think when they get here, they’re just not familiar with it.”



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