Connect with us

Washington

Design of D.C. Memorial for Slain Journalists Is Unveiled

Published

on

Design of D.C. Memorial for Slain Journalists Is Unveiled


The Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation has unveiled its design on Monday for a National Mall monument honoring journalists killed in their line of duty, representing the first memorial for slain journalists on federal grounds.

The Washington D.C. monument, projected to open in 2028, is made up of various cast glass blocks that form a path to the memorial’s center, which culminates in a cylindrical space that includes the text of the First Amendment. The purpose, architect John Ronan said, was to mimic both the transparency journalism provides and the disparate parts that make up a complete story.

“It’s a journey of discovery that unfolds slowly, space by space, like a journalist’s story unfolds line by line,” Ronan told The Daily Beast. “The idea is to cast the visitor in the role of an investigative journalist, pursuing truth wherever it leads.”

Artist renderings of the Fallen Journalist Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Advertisement

Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation/John Ronan Architects

The design was completed by Ronan’s Chicago-based firm, which was selected earlier this year after a yearlong process led by Pulitzer-Prize winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger. The design will be presented to the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts on Thursday for review, and the National Capital Planning Commission will review it next month.

The love for journalism is reflected through each element of the memorial’s open-air design. Ronan incorporated a classroom space for planned programming on the importance of journalism, and there will be a space reserved for broadcast journalists to do their live shots. Many of the glass slabs will also include quotes related to journalism or said by journalists themselves.

Even the memorial’s location—situated on one-third of an acre between Independence and Maryland avenues and Third Street SW with a direct view of the U.S. Capitol dome—is meant to reflect how journalism is interwoven into U.S. history.

Artist renderings of the Fallen Journalist Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Artist renderings of the Fallen Journalist Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Advertisement

Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation/John Ronan Architects

The road to getting the memorial going was almost miraculous amid the hyperpartisanship—and sunken trust in the media—begetting the U.S. The Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation was formed in June 2019 by former U.S. representative and ex-Tribune Broadcasting Company CEO David Dreier, a Republican, to celebrate the journalists who were killed at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Maryland in 2018.

The foundation was memorialized by Congress in 2020 after it passed a bill letting the group build a memorial on federal lands—though it cannot receive federal funds. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in December 2020.

It’s that bipartisan spirit, foundation president Barbara Cochran said, that emphasizes the memorial’s importance and its place on federal land.

“These stories, I think, underscore both the important job that journalists are doing and the risks that they face,” Cochran said. “You know, it’s not just in war zones, or covering corruption, covering autocrats and authoritarian regimes, and even just covering their community news in a place like Annapolis, Maryland, where journalists can encounter danger. So I think that those stories really resonate with people.”

Artist renderings of the Fallen Journalist Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Artist renderings of the Fallen Journalist Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Advertisement

Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation/John Ronan Architects

Still, even those noble ideas can still risk inducing partisan attacks. GOP politicians have assailed U.S. journalists over their coverage of the 2024 presidential election, with lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resorting to dubious documents to attack ABC over their debate.

One of their safeguards, Cochran said, is their advisory board. The group is composed of reporters and editors from a wide swath of publications, including everyone from former New York Times and Washington Post executive editors Dean Baquet and Marty Baron to Fox News anchor Bret Baier to Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy.

“When I asked people to be on the board of advisors, it was an immediate yes in almost all instances,” Cochran said.”I think journalists especially are acutely aware of the dangers and the threats, and they recognized immediately how important it is to have this.”

It’s why such fears of partisan attacks don’t worry Cochran as much.

“There will always be criticism of individual journalists, individual news organizations,” Cochran said, but she cited Thomas Jefferson’s love for newspapers as an example of press rising above partisanship.

Advertisement

“He preferred a society with free journalism, with free press,” she said. “And I think officials really do feel that.”

(Note: The Daily Beast’s Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles is on the foundation’s board of advisers.)



Source link

Washington

19-Year-Old Transgender University of Washington Student Fatally Stabbed

Published

on

19-Year-Old Transgender University of Washington Student Fatally Stabbed


Sign up for The Agenda, Them’s news and politics newsletter, delivered Thursdays.

This story contains descriptions of fatal violence against a transgender person.

The Seattle Police Department are searching for a suspect after a 19-year-old University of Washington student was stabbed to death in an off-campus student apartment complex on May 10.

Seattle Police Department Detective Eric Muñoz told NBC News that the victim is “believed to be a 19-year-old transgender female” who was enrolled at the university. The victim has not yet been publicly identified by name. She was found in the housing complex laundry room shortly after 10 p.m. on Sunday night.

Advertisement

The housing complex, Nordheim Court, is privately managed but affiliated with the university, located near an upscale shopping center in Seattle’s U-Village neighborhood. According to NBC News, residents received an official alert from UW to stay inside their homes and lock all windows and doors — an alert that was lifted around 1 a.m. with the acknowledgment that “a death investigation remains ongoing.”

According to SPD detective Eric Muñoz, police and the fire department attempted lifesaving measures but ultimately “pronounced the victim deceased at the scene.”

“Officers are actively searching for the suspect, believed to be a black male with a beard, 5’6-8” tall, wearing a vest with button up shirt, and blue jeans,” Muñoz wrote in a blotter report.

Muñoz noted that the victim would be identified by the medical examiner’s office in “the coming days.” The SPD did not immediately respond to Them’s request for comment.

This is the seventh known trans person to be violently killed in 2026. In mid-April, 39-year-old transmasculine farmer Luca RedBeard was fatally shot in rural New Mexico. Last week, police in Marion County, Florida opened a homicide investigation into the shooting death of a 29-year-old who went by multiple names and referred to “transitioning” on social media. In Kentucky, an investigation into the disappearance of 22-year-old trans college student Murry Foust remains ongoing.

Advertisement

Police are asking anyone with information about the University of Washington case to call the Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000, emphasizing that anonymous tips are accepted.

This is a developing story.

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Washington

How the Sea Mar Museum Is Preserving Latino History in Washington

Published

on

How the Sea Mar Museum Is Preserving Latino History in Washington


On a quiet stretch of Des Moines Memorial Drive in South Seattle, the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture rises like a long‑overdue acknowledgment. Its brick exterior doesn’t shout; it invites. Inside, the rooms hum with the stories of families who crossed borders, harvested fields, organized classrooms, and built communities across Washington state—often without seeing their histories reflected anywhere on a museum wall.

For Rogelio Riojas, founder and CEO of Sea Mar Community Health Centers, the museum is a promise kept. “We wanted to make sure the contributions of Latinos in Washington state are recognized and preserved for future generations,” he told The Seattle Times when the museum opened in 2019. It was a simple statement, but one that captured decades of work—both visible and invisible—by the region’s Latino communities.


Walking through the galleries feels like stepping into a living archive. One of the most arresting sights is a pair of original farmworker cabins, transported from Eastern Washington. Their narrow wooden frames and sparse interiors speak volumes about the migrant families who once slept inside after long days in the fields. The cabins are not replicas or artistic interpretations; they are the real thing, weathered by sun, dust, and time. They anchor the museum’s narrative in the physical realities of labor that shaped the state’s agricultural economy.

Sea Mar describes the museum as “dedicated to sharing the history, struggles, and successes of the Latino community in Washington state,” a mission that plays out in photographs, letters, student newspapers, and oral histories contributed by community members themselves. These aren’t artifacts chosen from afar—they’re family treasures, personal archives, and memories entrusted to the museum so they can live beyond the kitchen tables and shoeboxes where they were once kept.

Advertisement

The story extends beyond the museum walls. Just steps away is the Sea Mar Community Center, a sweeping, light‑filled gathering space designed for celebrations, performances, workshops, and community events. With room for nearly 500 people, a full stage, a movie‑theater‑sized screen, and a catering kitchen, the center was built with one purpose: to give the community a place to see itself, gather, and grow. Sea Mar describes it as “a welcoming space for families, organizations, and community groups to gather, celebrate, and learn,” and on any given weekend, it lives up to that promise.

Together, the museum and community center form a cultural campus—part historical archive, part living room for the region’s Latino communities. Students come to learn about the Chicano activists who reshaped the University of Washington in the late 1960s. Families come to see their own histories reflected in the exhibits. Visitors come to understand a story that has long been present in Washington, even if it wasn’t always visible.

The Sea Mar Museum is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., offering free admission to anyone who walks through its doors. For many, it’s more than a museum—it’s a recognition, a gathering place, and a testament to the people who helped shape the Pacific Northwest.

Preserving Latino History and Community Life in Washington was first published on Washington Latino News (WALN) and republished with permission.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Washington

Mother’s Day Bunch at Lady Madison | Washington DC

Published

on

Mother’s Day Bunch at Lady Madison | Washington DC


Celebrate Mother’s Day with à la carte brunch at Lady Madison featuring seafood, entrées, desserts, and premium beverage options.

Celebrate Mother’s Day in sophisticated style at Lady Madison, located inside Le Méridien Washington, DC, The Madison. Join us on Sunday, May 10, 2026, from 12:00–3:00 PM for an elevated à la carte brunch experience in downtown Washington, DC.

Enjoy a refined selection of chef-driven brunch classics, fresh seafood, seasonal salads, and elegant entrées. Highlights include a Build Your Own Omelette, Crab Benedict with lime hollandaise, Chilled Seafood Trio, and signature mains such as Roasted Rack of Lamb, Cedar Plank Sea Bass, and Marinated New York Strip Loin.

End on a sweet note with classic desserts including Crème Brûlée Cheesecake, Fruit Tart, Strawberry Shortcake, and Passion Fruit Cake.

Advertisement

Enhance your experience with beverage offerings, including bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Marys for $30 with house selections. Piper-Heidsieck Champagne is also available by the glass for $16 or by the bottle for $49.

Reserve on OpenTable:
https://www.opentable.com/booking/experiences-availability?rid=1426987&restref=1426987&experienceId=695240&utm_source=external&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=shared

À La Carte Menu

Les Œufs & Brunch
Egg White Frittata — $24
spinach, tomato, mushrooms, green onion
Served with pommes de terre rissolées or seasonal fruit

Build Your Own Omelette — $24
ham, smoked salmon, vegetables, cheeses (choose up to 3)
Served with pommes de terre rissolées or seasonal fruit

Advertisement

Crab Benedict — $24
lime hollandaise, salsa cruda
Served with pommes de terre rissolées or seasonal fruit

Brioche French Toast — $17
berry compote, whipped butter, maple syrup

Les Froids & Salades
Chilled Seafood Trio — $28
Jonah crab claws, shrimp, cocktail sauce

Spring Berry Salad — $17
brie, berries, champagne vinaigrette

Golden & Crimson Beet Salad — $18
red wine vinaigrette
Add protein: shrimp, salmon, skirt steak +18 | chicken +16

Advertisement

Les Plats Principaux
Roasted Rack of Lamb — $42
mint sauce, huckleberry reduction, sweet potato purée, asparagus

Cedar Plank Sea Bass — $49
saffron rice, spring vegetables

New York Strip Loin — $42
mushroom sauce, truffle croquette potatoes, haricots verts

Les Desserts — $14
Crème Brûlée Cheesecake
Fruit Tart
Strawberry Shortcake
Passion Fruit Cake

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending