This French Colonial-style house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in D.C.’s Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood is somewhat deceiving. Its out-of-the-way location, two miles from downtown Washington, helps camouflage the role it has played as a gathering spot for high-powered business, political and sports leaders.
Washington, D.C
Yes, DC can prosecute and arrest its way out of crime problem
![Yes, DC can prosecute and arrest its way out of crime problem](https://wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/0212-scaled.jpg)
It was a bloody week in America’s violent capital city. On Monday, police killed a man suspected of killing a motorist and maiming another while attempting four carjackings. This came after a weekend in which Washington, D.C., suffered 60 carjackings in just 72 hours.
A nation’s capital represents the nation, and Washington, D.C., is doing that to our national shame with its appalling upsurge in violent crime.
The victim of the Monday murder was a father of two who grew up in Woodbridge, Virginia, before moving to Washington two years ago. “He would never hurt anyone,” his parents said. The other victim, who was shot in the head while waiting to pick up his wife from work, had served as chief operating officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under a previous administration.
The night after this crime spree, the man mostly to blame for Washington’s failing crime policies, Councilman Charles Allen, moderated a discussion panel on juvenile carjacking. Many of Allen’s constituents showed up at the Old Naval Hospital to voice their displeasure with Allen’s approach to crime. One of those who gave Allen a piece of his mind was Kevin McGilly, a foster father who talked about how his 15-year-old foster son was arrested on suspicion of carjacking but was released the same day.
“By choosing, which is what we did here in the district for years, to minimize the problem, to ignore the problem, not to have consequences, not to try and suppress the problem before it spread, it has spread to very many more kids,” McGilly said. “I warned them that if they didn’t take vigorous action soon, it was going to explode, and it did.”
Allen and other elected leaders at the event were too arrogant to listen. “We as a city and community need to be much more focussed on prevention and surrounding young people and their families with resources if we want to be safer in the long run,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. “We cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it.”
That is not true. Prosecution, arrest, and detention are the only way out now for Washington.
Almost 80% of homicide suspects in Washington were involved in the criminal justice system before their latest arrest, according to a report released on the day of Allen’s carjacking panel. In other words, they had been in trouble with the law before. The author of the report, the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, found that these suspects had been in the criminal justice system seven times on average before their latest arrest.
No one wants to lock a young man up for the rest of his life. But a tiny minority is inflicting massive harm on communities in Washington. When impressionable young men see other young men let off after committing violent crimes, they conclude it is worth doing the same thing.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Until Washington’s criminal justice system starts inflicting tough consequences on young men enjoying a crime spree, the breakdown of law and order will only get worse, and the list of victims will continue to lengthen.
There is already a recall campaign to remove Allen from office. Perhaps Schwalb should be recalled, too.
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Washington, D.C
Look inside the home of some high-powered D.C. dinner parties
![Look inside the home of some high-powered D.C. dinner parties](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/67Z2NYUN6JD2BO5V43IH4QN2KU.jpg&w=1440)
Weinstein, a journalist and political commentator, runs the flagship podcast for conservative digital media company the Dispatch. He began hosting soirees at his Ritz-Carlton Georgetown corner unit in 2012, pairing young reporters with their sources — and subjects — for evenings of privileged discussion. Since 2020, the parties have been held at 3115 Normanstone Terr. NW, now on the market for $3.29 million.
The get-togethers, Weinstein said, sometimes last four or five hours. There are no planned topics of conversation for the reporters and notable guests, who recently have included New York Mayor Eric Adams, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, businessman and TV personality Mark Cuban and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Weinstein declared the dinner with Sanders “particularly fiery” in an Instagram post.
Such parties were “top of mind,” Fields said, when she and husband Weinstein bought the house. They wanted one that had plenty of entertainment space and that was removed from the bustle of downtown.
“It helps [guests] open up a little bit more because you’re not in the center of the work world in a certain way,” Weinstein said. “When you’re in D.C., you see the buildings all around and feel work, work, work, work, work. And when you’re here, you feel like you’re in the country.”
Another consideration favoring a larger house was their growing family. The couple had a year-old child, and Fields was pregnant with a second. They made some child-friendly renovations, including closing off a spiral staircase.
Before Weinstein and Fields lived here, the house was owned for decades by Stanley Rabinowitz, a long-serving rabbi at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, where he led services attended by members of Congress, White House officials and visiting Israeli prime ministers.
The house was built in 1966 and has two floors above a finished lower level and more than 5,000 square feet of living area. The front door opens to a foyer with marble floors. On one side is a dining room with hardwood floors and crown molding. The other side has a living room with a fireplace and French doors that open to a rear terrace. The kitchen — with an island, wine storage and a breakfast area — connects to a family room with oversize paned windows and a vaulted ceiling. This level also has a powder room and a gym.
The second floor has a primary bedroom suite with a fireplace, a balcony, a walk-in closet and a bathroom with a two-sink vanity. There are three more bedrooms on this floor, one with an en suite bathroom and two that share a bathroom, one of which has a balcony.
On the lower level, a recreation room with a fireplace connects to an office. This level also has a bedroom with an en suite bathroom, and it has a laundry room and access to a covered terrace.
The property includes a detached two-car garage across the street.
3115 Normanstone Terr. NW, Washington, D.C.
- Bedrooms/bathrooms: 5/6
- Approximate square-footage: 5,000
- Lot size: nearly half an acre
- Features: This 1966 house has several fireplaces, crown moldings, French doors, paned windows and several outdoor spaces. The property includes a detached two-car garage.
- Listing agent: Michael Rankin, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty
Washington, D.C
Fireworks injuries on the rise, report warns ahead of July 4th celebrations
![Fireworks injuries on the rise, report warns ahead of July 4th celebrations](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5dc.com/www.fox5dc.com/content/uploads/2022/07/1280/720/July-4-celebrations.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
DC ranked 8th best place to celebrate Fourth of July
Washington, D.C. is the eighth best place in the country to celebrate the Fourth of July, according to a new study by WalletHub.
The Fourth of July is commonly associated with food, fun, and of course, fireworks – but the number of injuries caused by fireworks may catch some Americans by surprise.
According to a report released this week by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there were eight deaths and an estimated 9,700 injuries involving fireworks in 2023.
“Many people just aren’t aware of the risk involved with fireworks, and we want to help change that to help keep people safe,” explained CPSC Public Affairs Specialist Thaddeus Harrington.
The report also said that between 2008 and 2023, injuries from fireworks increased overall. And while teenagers ages 15-19 had the highest rate of emergency room visits due to fireworks injuries in the four weeks surrounding last year’s holiday, kids between the ages of 5-9 had the second-highest rate.
“Really there is no such thing as safe fireworks,” Harrington said. “Even sparklers burn at about 2000 degrees, as hot as a blowtorch. So if you wouldn’t let your child run around with a lit blowtorch, same goes for sparklers.”
More information about the report – as well as safety tips – can be found here.
Here’s more information about which fireworks are – and are not – legal in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
Washington, D.C
Washington D.C. YSA Stake plans charity event to help 1,500 families
The second annual Stock the Block drive-through distribution event on June 22 drew more than 1,500 families near Washington, D.C., to receive donations and other services from local nonprofits.
Stock the Block committee members, made up of local young adult congregations from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Lazera Ministries, organized this year’s community distribution event.
“We partner with local nonprofits to help provide both services and needed items to help families in our community,” said Tiffany Osborn, chair of the Stock the Block Committee.
Based on an average household size of five people, the Stock the Block committee estimates that 7,700 men, women and children will benefit from the donations distributed.
“When people are in the midst of poverty and in the midst of being marginalized, their children are experiencing that,” said Yolonda Earl-Thompson, executive director for Lazera Ministries. “We just want to bring a little joy in a little moment so that the kid can be a kid.”
The donations were primarily provided by Good360, a product philanthropy nonprofit based in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, and by the Church. Donation items included personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, diapers, socks, school supplies and toys for children.
Romaine Seguin, CEO of Good360, said that the organization’s mission is to close the need gap between what goods and services people do and do not have.
The Stock the Block community distribution event “gives [community members] hope,” said Seguin. “This is a day of giving our communities sustainable support, and they can move on and better their lives.”
Donation recipients drove through a corridor of supplies on either side while volunteers helped load their cars. For those without access to a vehicle, a walk-up center was available to receive aid. A free shuttle also traveled through neighboring communities, picking up individuals, driving them through the lines and delivering them back to their homes with their donations.
The Stock the Block committee partnered with the Fairfax County Police Department and other Fairfax County community services and other organizations to provide additional services and spread the word about the event to the local communities.
The more than 300 volunteers helping at the event were primarily from the Washington D.C. YSA South Stake with about 60 area missionaries from the Washington D.C. South Mission. They braved temperatures reaching into the high 90s to help direct traffic, distribute goods and provide translation services to those who needed it.
“While today’s event was largely run by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it wasn’t an incredibly religious experience,” Osborn said. “But for us, it was still a sacred experience because we were able to lift and serve in the way our Savior would serve. We not only saw miracles, we also felt His presence and His love on behalf of the people around us. We do this because we love Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ loves us, and we embrace our responsibility to reflect that love to all of God’s children.”
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