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UNC ‘desperate’ to win ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C., homecoming for Hubert Davis

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UNC ‘desperate’ to win ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C., homecoming for Hubert Davis


Hubert Davis walked through North Carolina’s downtown Washington, D.C., hotel on Wednesday afternoon and felt the tinges of emotion that come with any homecoming, the good memories and the bad. Davis was born in Winston-Salem but grew up in Burke, Virginia, a suburb of Washington about 20 miles southwest of Capital One Arena, site of this week’s ACC Tournament.

For Davis, the Tar Heels’ third-year head coach, there are emotional layers to his team’s trip here this week. For one, he’s trying to lead UNC to its first ACC Tournament championship since 2016, which it also won in this building. But then there’s everything else that has come with being in a place close to home — the familiar sights and lingering nostalgia.

Indeed, Davis said, being back here brought “a lot” of personal reflection.

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“Again, I was born in Winston-Salem, but my dad worked for 35 years for the Department of Education for the United States government, so his offices were just right down the street,” Davis said. “So this was home to me. And it brings back great memories, but it also brings back sad memories, just because of my mom.

“And just, you know, taking her to the hospitals, and her doing radiation and chemotherapy. And so there’s a lot of history here, for me.”

Davis lost his mother to cancer during his college years at UNC, and developed a strong religious faith to help him navigate the pain. He became an All-ACC player, after arriving in Chapel Hill as something of a lightly-regarded prospect, and during his head coaching tenure he has often described part of his mission as providing his players with the same experience as he had at UNC.

Part of that would include winning the ACC Tournament. As a player, Davis was a part of two conference tournament championship teams — the first during his freshman season, in 1989, and the second in 1991. In ‘89, Dean Smith put him into the championship game, against Duke, with 32 seconds to play, with several UNC players in foul trouble.

“You’re not nervous, are you?” Smith asked Davis then, according to newspaper accounts.

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“No, sir,” Davis said.

Two years later, in another championship victory against Duke, Davis scored 17 points.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the Tar Heels won the ACC Tournament seven times. They’ve entered into something of a drought, by their historical standard, since. UNC has won the conference tournament three times since 2000. It took nine years for UNC to win it again after its 1997 tournament title, and then another eight after it won it for the second year in a row in 2008.

And now it has been seven years, and counting.

“We’re desperate to win this tournament,” Armando Bacot, the fifth-year senior forward, said Wednesday. “It’s something that nobody here has won. And we want to win it bad because it’s a lot of things. First, we want to be able to hang another banner for the team.

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“But also, it affects our (NCAA Tournament) seeding in March, and obviously the tournament isn’t easy, so if we can make it as easy on us as possible in terms of getting a high seed, that’s what we want to do.”

UNC, which has never lost in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed, will play against Florida State at noon on Thursday. The Seminoles, who defeated Virginia Tech here on Wednesday, tested UNC twice before the Tar Heels prevailed in both games during the regular season.

Bacot and his teammates appeared loose Wednesday, after their morning practice. They dined on a buffet lunch and Hubert Davis, unprompted, revealed how Bacot had anointed himself with a new nickname — “Three and D” — in recognition of his appearance on the ACC’s All-Defensive Team, and his success in making a couple of 3-pointers during UNC’s senior night victory.

“He’s been going around saying, ‘I’m a Three-and-D guy,’” Davis said. “So I just — I’d like him to be a ‘D guy.’”

©2024 The News & Observer. Visit at newsobserver.com. Distributed at Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Washington, D.C

National Guard continuing DC deployment through Inauguration ’29

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National Guard continuing DC deployment through Inauguration ’29


The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Wednesday the National Guard will remain deployed in Washington, D.C., through Inauguration Day 2029.

Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city officials have been against deployment since it began last summer, but pushing back has been an uphill battle.

More than 5,000 National Guard troops are deployed in the city after President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring a crime emergency, and that number swelled for the Fourth of July.

City leaders made it clear they want the National Guard to leave, but the Defense Department says the troops will stay through the end of the Trump administration.

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City leaders argue the National Guard is unnecessary, the soldiers are not trained in law enforcement and it’s bad for business. A lawsuit filed by the D.C. attorney general was overturned on appeal pending further litigation.

“My understanding is that there’s going to be some sort of proceeding in September, and so the city is still litigating that we don’t want these National Guard troops from other states here,” D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said.

On July 9, the D.C. Council sent letters to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan asking them to withdraw their National Guard soldiers that were sent for the Fourth of July celebrations.

“We respectfully ask that you recall all Michigan National Guard personnel as soon as practicable and decline any extension of their current deployment,” Council wrote to Whitmer.

“To have National Guard troops sent here from states across the nation who are armed, who are not trained in our laws, does not help us advance public safety and is not the right path forward,” Councilmember Brooke Pinto said.

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The Council did not reach out to any other governors with troops deployed to Washington.

Bowser declined to comment on the extension of the guard’s deployment.

News4 reached out to both governors’ offices for comment but has not heard back.



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Benjamin Netanyahu to fly to DC for Graham Lindsay’s funeral, meeting with Donald Trump | The Jerusalem Post

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Benjamin Netanyahu to fly to DC for Graham Lindsay’s funeral, meeting with Donald Trump | The Jerusalem Post


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to fly to Washington, DC, on Saturday night, Israeli sources told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

Netanyahu’s visit would mark the first official trip to Washington since the war with Iran, with his last visit in February.

During a recent phone call made by Netanyahu to congratulate Trump on the  250th anniversary of US independence, the two leaders agreed to “meet soon.”

Netanyahu’s main commitment during this upcoming trip will be attending Graham’s funeral, who passed away on Sunday after “a brief and sudden illness.”

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Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, mourned Graham in a statement on Sunday.

“Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable. He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world,” Netanyahu said in his statement.

“Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend.”

“Our hearts are with Lindsey’s family and with the American people at this difficult time. May his values and initiatives continue to guide us toward victory and peace, and may his memory forever be a blessing.”

Miriam Sela-Eitam contributed to this article.

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DC residents who’ve owned their home for 70 years now told they can’t park there

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DC residents who’ve owned their home for 70 years now told they can’t park there


Some D.C. residents told 7News they are fed up with the no-parking signs that have been added in front of their homes.

For the first time in 70 years, the view outside Anita Marsh’s home has changed.

“It’s very emotional,” said Marsh. “To be in a place where there’s no access to my door, no one can legally park for me to enter and exit my home. It’s frustrating, but more importantly, it’s upsetting. It’s very upsetting. I find it heartless.”

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Video from Marsh showed what she woke up to on Monday morning. She said the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) installed no parking signs in front of her home.

“How do I walk? How do I get into my house? I’m not very ambulatory,” said Marsh. “I have mobility challenges. So what happens?”

Neighbors about a mile away, over on Kimi Gray Court, reached out with the same frustrations. That’s where 7News met Aaron Harris.

“DDOT put these signs up, these signs, and they are ticketing people who are trying to park in front of their home because they have multiple cars,” said Harris.

Both neighborhoods feel that access to their home will now cost them.

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“I’m very nervous because also financial impact is on a retiree,” said Marsh.

7News also got a call from businesses on MLK Jr. Avenue in Anacostia who said DDOT hit them with changes, too. 7News met Ronald Moton in front of his Gogo museum.

“They bring a bus lane without talking to us and take away 29 parking spaces,” said Moton.

Moton said business owners and customers have been hit with $200 tickets.

“This is a community trying to build itself up and survive,” said Moton. “You cannot come and dump stuff like this on us without talking to us.”

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“We can’t afford to pay $90 a week or $180 or $270 per week because we’re in violation in front of a property that wasn’t zoned this way,” said Harris. “At least we didn’t know it was owned that way until the signs went up and they started getting ticketed.”

“I’m very scared. I’m very scared. And very upset,” said Marsh. “I’m not going to be able to stay in my house. Then I’m going to be forced to go elsewhere. Because I’m not going to be able to enter and exit my house.”

7News reached out to DDOT and Councilman Charles Allen, who chairs D.C.’s Transportation and Environment Committee, and asked about the no-parking signs community members feel came out of nowhere. 7News has not heard back from either yet.



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