Washington, D.C

Key lawmakers offer bill to ease return for NFL team to Washington

Published

10 months ago

July 27, 2023

Key lawmakers offer bill to ease return for NFL team to Washington

A bipartisan duo of lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday that would help turn the site of Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium into a new multipurpose development, which could greenlight the eventual return of the NFL’s Washington Commanders to the district.

According to a news release, the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act will transfer the administrative jurisdiction over the RFK Stadium site from the secretary of the Interior to the administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA).

The proposed bill allows the GSA to enter a leasing agreement with D.C. officials, where the agreement allows the D.C. government to use the land for stadium redevelopment, commercial and residential development, or other public purposes.

The bill was introduced by House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.)

“The House Oversight Committee remains committed to working with Washington, D.C. officials to ensure a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come. After discussing city initiatives with D.C. Mayor Bowser and other local stakeholders, it has become clear that addressing the deteriorating conditions at the RFK Memorial stadium site is a top economic priority for the city,” Comer said in a statement, saying that the legislation will pave the way for “local officials to create meaningful new jobs, add millions in city revenue, and transform the Anacostia River waterfront into a lively destination for all.”

“The RFK site sits on underused federal land in D.C. that could be redeveloped, generating tax revenue for D.C.,” Norton said in her statement. “Neither the Mayor nor the Council Chair opposes this bill, which would allow D.C. to put the site to productive use — a vast improvement on the current state of affairs. I look forward to working with Chairman Comer to pass this bill as quickly as possible.”

It’s been a week since NFL owners unanimously voted to approve the sale of the Commanders from Dan Snyder to a group led by private-equity billionaire and D.C.-area native Josh Harris.

The NFL also fined Snyder $60 million as a result of an investigation conducted by former U.S. Attorney and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Jo White on the former owner of the team.

White’s investigation concluded Snyder sexually harassed former team employee Tiffani Johnston and that the team also withheld $11 million in league revenue that should’ve been shared with other teams, adding that Snyder, who purchased the team in 1999, was aware of the executive’s efforts to minimize its revenue sharing obligations.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), and D.C. Muriel Bowser (D) have expressed interest to have the team play its home games in their respective states and districts.

The Commanders, who play at FedEx Field in Prince George’s County, Md., played at RFK from 1961 to 1996.

Bowser announced on Thursday the creation of a team that will work within her administration’s economic development department “to plan, coordinate, and support professional and recreational sports” in the city.

The newly created team will work closely with the city’s professional teams and “coordinate across District agencies and with Events DC to maintain, expand, and attract world-class sports teams and sporting events” in the city.

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Washington, D.C

Fountain Police Officer Julian Becerra honored in Washington D.C. Monday

Published

48 mins ago

May 14, 2024

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Fountain Police Officer Julian Becerra honored in Washington D.C. Monday

WASHINGTON D.C. — Fountain Police Officer Julian Becerra was honored in our nation’s capitol Monday. His name is one of thousands read aloud Monday night to honor law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty.

WATCH: Remembering Fountain Officer Julian Becerra

Each year, names of officers killed are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C. Monday. Their names were read aloud as part of National Police Week.

Officer Becerra’s name was read aloud along with Sergeant Michael Moran, who was killed during a traffic stop in Cortez in last year.

WATCH: Cortez Police Department honors the life and legacy of Sgt. Michael Moran

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Washington, D.C

New D.C. Conference Kicks Off For Bitcoin And Ethereum Developers

Published

8 hours ago

May 13, 2024

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New D.C. Conference Kicks Off For Bitcoin And Ethereum Developers

USA, Abstract Backgrounds, Abstract, Black Color, Blue

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Developer conferences for founders and computer scientists, developers, and designers of cryptocurrency tokens and blockchain technology are typically found in places like San Francisco, New York, or cities that are tech hubs around the world. While Washington D.C. might not come to mind as a crypto tech hub immediately, a combination of remote working policies and burnout from policy conferences has prompted a ‘genesis’ first-of-its-kind conference only for developers in D.C.

So if you are interested in a neat drink of technical blockchain development speakers and panels with policy talk on ice, the very first ETHDC conference is being held at Culture House DC tomorrow on May 14th starting around 9:30am ET. I had a chance to talk with Shailee Adinolfi, Business Development Manager at TrustMachines and someone who has been in the blockchain space in D.C. for a long time, who explained how she identified a growing ecosystem of developers in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland that over several years grew to 300 people.

Adinolfi stated, “The genesis ETHDC conference is to put a spotlight on D.C. area founders in the crypto space. We formed the DC DAO and the idea of ETHDC came about because we wanted to have an event for ourselves that was not focused on policy where we have talked about things like scaling and roll-ups, token standards and abstraction and all the things that we want to do to scale, grow and succeed in this space, and partner with each other.”

Amid what many are describing as a Bitcoin renaissance with renewed interest in developing applications on top of the base layer of Bitcoin, TrustMachines is a company that is focused on developed the Bitcoin
Bitcoin
ecosystem. Using its own Leather Bitcoin wallet, Adinolfi described the company sees an opportunity for bitcoin applications to be built that could that potentially replace the fees that will naturally decrease over time from Bitcoin miners, and thereby provide a replacement for a financial incentive to keep the Bitcoin network secure and sustainable in the future.

UniSwap, MetaMask, and Casa are among the many companies that will be represented. Adinolfi said developers attending the conference are looking to, “…understand how these companies have dealt with launching tokens in a decentralized way in a safe space – for what developers, not policymakers want to talk about.”

It is of course hard to ignore the policy discussions that may arise with the aforementioned companies particularly regarding MetaMask and self-custodial wallets. Adolfini described that a self-custodial wallet, “…is like a browser, but where the user owns all the cookies, bookmarks, and their data, and can easily switch providers and keep all of those things intact”.

UniSwap has made public that it received a Wells notice from the SEC and ConsenSys, the developer of the MetaMask wallet, also received a Wells Notice after which the company announced it was suing the SEC to defend the Ethereum
Ethereum
ecosystem. Both companies are defending themselves against the potential regulatory enforcement actions on the policy and legal side, and for now, are clearly still interested in building in the U.S. The question is, does the U.S. want blockchain developers launching tokens or not and under what circumstances. That will of course, have to be left to another conference.

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Washington, D.C

Document: MPD Looking for Driver Involved in Deadly Hit and Run – D.C. Witness

Published

15 hours ago

May 13, 2024

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Document: MPD Looking for Driver Involved in Deadly Hit and Run – D.C. Witness

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D.C. Witness Staff
– May 13, 2024

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The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is searching for a suspect and their vehicle that was involved in a traffic crash, which resulted in the death of a pedestrian on April 27 on the 3100 block of Georgia Avenue, NW.

According to MPD documents, a man was found lying in between cars in the roadway at the location. He died at the scene.

The preliminary investigation determined a car driving northbound on Georgia Avenue drove over the pedestrian and fled without stopping or identifying themselves.

The suspect vehicle was captured by nearby surveillance cameras.

The victim’s identity is being withheld pending next of kin notification.

Anyone with knowledge of the incident should contact police.