Connect with us

Washington, D.C

Veteran court reporter Lynn Els taking her skills to U.S. Capitol

Published

on

Veteran court reporter Lynn Els taking her skills to U.S. Capitol


play

  • A Coshocton court reporter has accepted a new position with the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C.
  • Lynn Els will transcribe proceedings on the House floor for the official Congressional Record.

COSHOCTON − Court reporter Lynn Els has always wanted to see the cherry blossoms in bloom in Washington, D.C., and she’ll get that chance this spring thanks to a new job.

Starting Jan. 12, Els will work as a court reporter for the U.S. House of Representatives on the floor in the Capital building in Washington D.C. She’ll write for 10 to 15 minutes before a new reporter comes on.

Advertisement

The 62-year-old will then go to the downstairs office and enter what she wrote into the official Congressional record before going back to the floor, or what they call the well. One might be able to spot Els during hearings aired on C-SPAN.

“It’s not verbatim like I’m used to taking in the courtroom. Because of parliamentary procedures, things are supposed to be worded a certain way in the Congressional record. So, you have to clean it up or insert special language,” Els said of what she’ll be doing. “Now I always have transcripts hanging over my head. I won’t have that backlog of transcripts, because you’re continuing throughout the day building the Congressional Record.”

Distinguished duties

Els has been a court reporter since 1984 and and started with Coshocton County Common Pleas Court in 1986. She can type up to 300 words a minute. She was one of the first people in the nation to obtain a Certified Realtime Reporter designation in 1995.

Advertisement

“I’m excited for what’s new, but sad because I’ve done this for so long and it’s comfortable,” Els said of leaving her current court post. “The thing about this job is that I always have work to do.”

Along with serving as a court reporter for Coshocton County, Els has also done closed captioning for a variety of events. Everything from Cincinnati Bengals football games to the funeral services of Billy Graham and Whitney Houston to “Fox and Friends” to the royal weddings of Prince Harry and Prince William; all working remotely.

This has also included congressional hearings and recognition ceremonies at the Capital starting in 2013, which was the connection to Els’ new job. She worked as an independent contractor through Alderson Court Reporting.

Advertisement

Landing the job

With a laugh, she said living in a small, rural community was actually beneficial. Since she worked remotely and transmitted captions via landlines, the older equipment in Washington D.C. could keep up better with Els’ transmission, over digital lines from larger cities.

“They always kind of liked it when it was me. They knew they wouldn’t have any disconnection problems. So, I became their preferred writer,” Els said.

She was encouraged to submit her resume for the new position last summer. Els never dreamed she would get it, she just always wanted to travel to Washington D.C. to see what it looked like on-site.

Els went to D.C. for an interview and sat in on a committee hearing. She took notes and then typed them up back at the office. This was followed by a writing test and current events test. Els said captioning for the morning news program “Fox and Friends” helped her with that part.

“Just being there was exciting. I did it. I survived that day and it wasn’t bad,” Els said.

Advertisement

Els was slated to start in October, but that was pushed out due to the government shutdown. She will be living in a condo owned by a court reporter friend who works for the International Monetary Fund. Els said she’s received a lot of questions on her living situation, but she’ll be back in Coshocton when not working.

She’ll also continue to do some captioning work on weekends and her off hours, such as captioning for screens in the stadium for Bengals’ home games.

“I do want to keep my skills built up. It’s like playing a sport with captioning, because it’s fast,” Els said. “If you don’t do it, you lose that skill.”

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 18 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on X at @llhayhurst.

Advertisement



Source link

Washington, D.C

Man in critical condition after water rescue in Southwest DC

Published

on

Man in critical condition after water rescue in Southwest DC


A man is in critical condition after falling into the Anacostia River in Southwestern Washington, D.C., Friday night.

What we know:

Advertisement

D.C. Fire and EMS reported the rescue effort shortly after 10 p.m. at James Creek Marina in Buzzard Point.

Crews believe a man fell from the dock into the water. 

By 10:30 p.m., crews were able to pull the man out of the water. 

Advertisement

Paramedics took him to the hospital in critical condition.

What we don’t know:

Advertisement

Officials did not identify the man who was rescued. No other information was immediately available.

The Source: Information in this story is from the D.C. Fire and EMS Department.

Crime and Public Safety
Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Washington, D.C

DC’s baseball team faces potential DOJ probe after exec allegedly admitted to religious discrimination

Published

on

DC’s baseball team faces potential DOJ probe after exec allegedly admitted to religious discrimination


NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

FIRST ON FOX — Washington, D.C.’s professional baseball franchise could come under Justice Department scrutiny after a viral video showed a team executive appearing to admit to his religious discrimination against a Christian player.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to investigate alleged religious discrimination against players for the Washington Nationals, according to a letter sent Thursday to and first obtained by Fox News Digital.

The letter comes after Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe published a secretly recorded video of Washington Nationals Director of Community Relations Sean Hudson saying the team does not include pitcher Trevor Williams in certain social media promotion.

Advertisement

He cited the player’s public criticism of another Major League Baseball franchise for hosting a drag group mocking Catholics.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging the Department of Justice to investigate alleged religious discrimination within the Washington Nationals organization and across Major League Baseball. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

EXCLUSIVE: KENTUCKY BARISTA TAKES LEGAL ACTION AFTER TERMINATION, CLAIMS SHE WAS FIRED FOR SHARING HER FAITH

“According to the reporting by James O’Keefe, it appears the Washington Nationals are engaged in unlawful religious discrimination,” Boebert told Fox News Digital in a written statement. “I urge the DOJ to take immediate and decisive action.”

A spokesperson for the Justice Department said they received Boebert’s letter. 

Advertisement

“The Department is reviewing the matter and will evaluate all appropriate next steps. As always, we remain committed to enforcing federal law and protecting civil rights,” they told Fox News Digital. 

A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Hudson, in the clandestine recording, pointed to Williams’ public objections to the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring the Sisterhood of Perpetual Indulgence — a drag group that dresses as nuns — during the team’s 2023 “Pride Night.

The event also drew condemnation from multiple Catholic bishops, who described it as “blasphemous.”

Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals sits in the dugout before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash., on May 28, 2025. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Williams said he found the group’s anti-Catholic demonstration featuring vulgar caricatures of the crucifixion and sacred rituals to be “deeply offensive,” in an interview with Bishop Robert Barron last year. The professional baseball player said he made the decision with his wife to speak out even though it would put “a target on our back.”

“Baseball stadiums should be a place where everyone feels welcomed, like 100%,” Williams said in the interview. “We should all feel welcomed there. But that was clearly against one certain religion. If you don’t draw the line in the sand, who’s gonna do it?”  

According to Hudson, that public criticism of the drag group’s performance later affected Williams’ opportunities at the Nationals franchise. 

“Because of that we don’t use him on social [media],” Hudson told an undercover journalist in the video. “When they’re like ‘is a hot dog a sandwich’ and the players come up, we don’t ask him.”

CONGRESSMAN SAYS MLB IS OUSTING TREVOR BAUER DUE TO TRUMP SUPPORT, IN LETTER TO ROB MANFRED

Advertisement

Boebert said she is concerned that Hudson’s admission could mean the franchise violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion and other protected classes. 

“Americans of faith should not face professional repercussions for objecting to the mockery of their sacred traditions,” the Colorado Republican said in the letter. “MLB’s privileged legal position should not become a license for exclusionary practices.”

“Sister Unity” and “Sister Dominia” of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were honored on Pride Night before the MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on June 16, 2023. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)

Hudson, in the video, described himself as “far-left leaning” and nonreligious. Meanwhile, he called Williams “super Catholic.”

The Washington Nationals executive also boasted about a Communist Party poster in his office and mused about pushing redistribution of wealth and other leftist agendas during baseball games at Nationals Park in Southeast Washington, D.C.

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“What a cool opportunity for us [Nationals] to also, be a little bit of like, the voice of reason,” Hudson said. “And a lot of people will tell you when I come to a baseball game, I don’t want to think about that s–t.”

“If you’re a sports fan and we piss you off, where else are you gonna go,” he went on. “I don’t give a sh–t.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Washington, D.C

‘Gateway to our city’: $465M grant to renovate Union Station

Published

on

‘Gateway to our city’: 5M grant to renovate Union Station


U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Thursday hundreds of millions of dollars to help with what he says are critical structural repairs and upgrades for D.C.’s Union Station.

“It was built in 1908, over a hundred years ago, and it was the largest train station in the world when it was built,” Duffy said. “And over the course of decades, it’s become run-down,” Duffy said.

A $465 million grant aims to ensure the overall experience for those coming and going remains up to par and on track at the transit hub. It will help fast-track repairs like roof upgrades and passenger concourses, Duffy said.

The project includes the Amtrak lounge and the ticket experience.

Advertisement

For some travelers, alternatives to fast food are a must.

Retail, parking and office spaces will be priorities of the project to maximize the station’s revenue, as will public safety.

Already, Columbus Fountain is flowing again after being broken and dry for almost two decades.

“Now when you come out of Union Station, the gateway to our city, you’ll be met with a fountain that is beautiful and a fountain that actually works,” Duffy said.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending