Washington, D.C
Decrease in crime boosts community spirit at annual H Street Festival
Washington, DC (7News) — Tens of thousands of people flooded H Street in D.C. on Saturday for the H Street Festival, which started nearly 20 years ago.
Last year when 7News covered the festival, some local business owners were concerned about their daily operating hours. 7News reported on a string of burglaries in the area and a 25 percent jump in violent crime.
7News spoke to Deonte Gaines on H Street, as he attended his first H Street Festival.
READ|’Where is our help?’: H Street business owners seeking answers from Bowser safety summit
“It’s great to see a bunch of different cultures out here a bunch of different vendors promoting their businesses,” Gaines said.
The thousands of people and lines of vendors told 7News that the H Street Festival is a reflection of the growth and changes in the area.
Neb Daniel opened the Focus Social Club on H Street three years ago.
“I think overall in D.C. it has been a lot better than last year, “ Daniel said. “But specifically on H Street none of my employee’s cars have been broken into. Customers have not really been complaining.”
READ|2nd business leaving H Street Corridor in a month, community leaders working to slow trend
Daniel said he chose to open the focus social club on H Street because of the corridor’s history. He said the business had concerns last year.
This year, the Metropolitan Police Department’s crime map shows a safer H Street. From the start of the year to date, it shows there have been 136 fewer incidents compared to the same time last year.
“I feel very comfortable. It feels good to be with my friends and family exploring everything that the vendors have to offer,” Gaines said.
Washington, D.C
PSA Airlines flight from DCA evacuated after smoke seen in cabin at Kansas City airport
WASHINGTON (7News) — Passengers on a PSA Airlines flight from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) evacuated onto a taxiway at Kansas City International Airport after the crew reported smoke in the cabin shortly after landing.
The crew of PSA Airlines Flight 5318 reported smoke in the cabin after landing at Kansas City International Airport around 3:35 p.m. local time on Friday, May 15, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The 76 passengers deplaned on the taxiway.
SEE ALSO | ‘Hit Zero’ dies after finishing opening race at Laurel Park in Maryland
The flight, also referred to as American Eagle flight 5318, was operated on a Bombardier CRJ-900 that departed from DCA in Washington, D.C., the FAA said. There were four crew members on board, according to American Airlines.
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The FAA said the information is preliminary and subject to change, and the agency will investigate.
Washington, D.C
250 objects for 250 years at the National Museum of American History – WTOP News
Where better to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and the country’s rich history than the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. A new exhibit, which opened Thursday, tells the United States’ 250-year history with 250 objects.
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250 objects for 250 years at the National Museum of American History
Where better to celebrate America’s 250th birthday and the country’s rich history than the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in D.C. A new exhibit, which opened Thursday, tells the United States’ 250-year history with 250 objects.
Visitors will see the museum mainstays like the original American flag that inspired the “Star Spangled Banner” and the desk where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but the new exhibit “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness,” will also show some artifacts never before displayed.
“A surfboard that was used by Duke Kahanamoku, who is a Native Hawaiian surfer who really popularized surfing to the world. He was an Olympian and we have his massive, 9-foot surfboard that he shaped in Southern California in 1928,” said Theo Gonzalves, a curator at the National Museum of American History.
The exhibit covers the history of the nation through political action, including a sweater worn by a young woman during a school walkout during the Civil Rights Movement and a Tea Party sign from the 2010s.
It also delves into military history with the Revolutionary War’s gunboat “Philadelphia,” and a uniform worn by Gen. George Washington.
Pop culture, lifestyle and entertainment are also front and center.
“We have a Nintendo game set and so there are folks that are looking at their at that Nintendo game set, and they’re thinking, ‘I can’t believe that that’s now part of history,’” Gonzalves said. “I’m old enough to realize what Nintendo was for our generation, but it is part of American history.”
Megan Smith, the head of experience development at the museum, said a seemingly mundane object is one of her favorite artifacts in the museum.
“Hidden in a kind of boring looking exterior, which is a file cabinet that contains over 52,000 jokes written by Phyllis Diller,” she said. “Phyllis Diller was one of the first female stand-up comedians in America. It’s just an ordinary filing cabinet, but it’s filled with her career basically, and her creative process and all of her knowledge.”
Scientific and technological achievement throughout American history is also celebrated, including the first radiocarbon dating machine from the 1950s.
Anthea Hartig, the Elizabeth MacMillan director of the museum, said staff at the museum had to whittle down nearly 2 million artifacts to 250 artifacts that define American history.
“To take 2 million to get down to 250, and the curators did a beautiful job. The whole team did a lot of thinking about what are those objects that help show us in action as a people? Help understand the dreams that we’ve put into the declaration, how it’s expanded, who it includes,” she told WTOP.
She said the exhibit is the brainchild of over three years of curation work.
The National Museum of American History is open every day but Christmas.
“I hope people see themselves reflected in our work and in these objects,“ Hartig said.
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Washington, D.C
The Work Behind the Welcome: NPS Tradespeople Restore Dupont Circle, Making D.C. Safer and More Beautiful (U.S. National Park Service)
NPS / Kelsey Graczyk
The hands behind the place
This work took more than plans. It took craftsmen and craftswomen.
NPS carpenters, masons, maintenance workers, preservation specialists, engineers and landscape architects worked together to renew the circle from the ground up. Crews installed about 10,000 feet of wood slats, cut and placed dowels, sanded rough surfaces, repaired worn concrete legs and painted benches to withstand weather and daily use.
Contractors also repaired fountain pipes and restored stone and marble features, returning moving water to the heart of the circle.
“I used to write project plans for this kind of work,” retired NPS Asset Manager Fred Francis said. “Now I’m out here helping do it. I’m working with a great group of people who are experts in their fields.”
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