Washington

Mayor of Washington, DC, faces formidable primary challenge

Published

3 years ago

June 21, 2022

Mayor of Washington, DC, faces formidable primary challenge

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser confronted a formidable combat for a 3rd time period, challenged in Tuesday’s Democratic major by two council members in a race dominated by crime and public issues of safety.

Throughout Bowser’s tumultuous second time period, she clashed with former President Donald Trump and walked a public tightrope between her personal police division and a vocal coalition of activists led by Black Lives Matter.

Her challengers embody At-large Councilmember Robert White, who harshly criticized Bowser’s response to spiraling violent crime charges, and Councilmember Trayon White, who represents Ward 8, the poorest and most crime-ridden space within the district.

The winner of the Democratic major is the prohibitive favourite within the November basic election within the closely Democratic metropolis.

Crime and public security have dominated the mayoral marketing campaign. Homicides have risen for 4 years straight, and the 2021 homicide depend of 227 was the best mark since 2003. In January, a candidate for the D.C. Council, Nate Fleming, was carjacked at gunpoint.

On Sunday evening, gunfire erupted at a road live performance 2 miles from the White Home, killing a 15-year-old boy and wounding three others, together with a police officer.

The Washington, D.C., marketing campaign broadly displays a wider dynamic enjoying out in longtime blue stronghold cities, with progressives going through off in opposition to Democratic traditionalists over crime.

Bowser, 49, campaigned on her expertise and management and her historical past as one of many faces of Washington’s ongoing quest for statehood. She additionally obtained good marks for her dealing with of the pandemic, usually working in coordination with the D.C. Council.

In the summertime of 2020, following mass protests over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Bowser publicly feuded with Trump after racial justice protesters have been forcibly cleared from an space close to the White Home. Bowser responded by renaming the protest epicenter Black Lives Matter Plaza and commissioning a mural with “Black Lives Matter” painted on a stretch of sixteenth Road, one block from the White Home, in big yellow letters.

Underneath stress from activists calling to defund the police, Bowser largely stood by her police division, combating public battles with the D.C. Council over the police price range. She quietly changed an older white police chief with a youthful Black successor and has pushed for funding to construct Metropolitan Police Division staffing, presently at 3,500, as much as 4,000 officers over the following decade.

In April, the D.C. Council’s judiciary committee reduce $6 million from Bowser’s $30 million price range proposal to rent extra officers, concentrating on incentives Bowser claimed have been very important to draw good candidates. The committee, on which neither of her challengers serves, did approve a $20,000 hiring bonus to assist recruit extra law enforcement officials, one thing Bowser introduced just a few days earlier than the first.

“I’ve by no means been to a group the place they stated they didn’t need the police. By no means,” Bowser stated in a radio debate final month. “We want the police that we want.”

Robert White, 40, has a historical past of profitable rebel campaigns, having unseated an entrenched incumbent for an at-large Council seat in 2016. He proposed tackling crime by an enormous private and non-private youth jobs program that Bowser derided as unsustainable.

Trayon White, 38, brazenly invokes the spirit of Marion Barry, the late mayor and council member who stays a controversial however beloved determine amongst many Washingtonians. A former grassroots group activist, White was a protégé of Barry’s. He has has opposed Bowser’s bids to rent extra law enforcement officials and favors group violence intervention applications, one thing he says Bowser was sluggish to embrace.

In 2018, Trayon White was accused of antisemitism after saying a outstanding Jewish household was controlling the climate in Washington.

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Washington

Washington Spirit Defender Rebeca Bernal Called Up to Mexico Women’s National Team

Published

18 minutes ago

May 17, 2025

Press Room

Washington Spirit Defender Rebeca Bernal Called Up to Mexico Women’s National Team

Bernal will represent Mexico in upcoming friendlies against Uruguay

Washington, D.C. (05/17/2025) – Washington Spirit defender Rebeca Bernal has been called up to the Mexico Women’s National Team for the federation’s May/June friendlies, the Mexican Football Federation announced this week. The side will take on Uruguay in Puebla and Tlaxcala beginning later this month.

Bernal has appeared in over 60 matches, scoring eight goals for Mexico since making her senior team debut in 2017. The defender helped Mexico capture the gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile and was named to the tournament Best XI for her performance at the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. At the club level, Bernal helped C.F. Monterrey become the second-most decorated club in Liga MX Femenil with four trophies before winning the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup in her first match with the Washington Spirit.

Mexico’s May/June Friendly Schedule:

vs Uruguay | Friday, May 30 at 8 p.m. EDT (Estadio Olímpico BUAP, Puebla, Mexico)

vs Uruguay| Tuesday, June 3 at 8 p.m. EDT (Estadio Tlahuicole, Tlaxcala City, Mexico)

The Spirit will take the pitch at home again this Saturday, May 17 when the side faces off with Utah Royals FC in the club’s annual Salute to Service match. Single match tickets are available here. Fans can secure their spot to see the Spirit in all the team’s matches at Audi Field by becoming 2025 Season Ticket Members here.

About The Washington Spirit

The Washington Spirit is the premier professional women’s soccer team based in Washington, D.C. and plays at Audi Field in Buzzard Point. The Spirit was founded on November 21, 2012 and is an inaugural member of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) the fastest growing sports league in the US. The club is home to some of the best players in the world who have won championships for both club and country. For more information about the Spirit, visit WashingtonSpirit.com and follow the club on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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Washington

2 killed by falling trees in Northern Virginia

Published

18 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Press Room

2 killed by falling trees in Northern Virginia

Two deaths from trees falling on cars were reported in Northern Virginia Friday evening as severe thunderstorms quickly passed through the D.C. area.

A woman was killed when a tree fell on her car in the area of Mount Vernon and Woodlawn.

Another person died after a tree fell on a car in the area of GW Parkway and Morningside Lane.

Fast-moving severe thunderstorms whipped the DMV with lightning, hail and strong winds Friday evening.

Some storms were designated “destructive” with winds of 80 mph capable of toppling trees and downing power lines.

Several severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in for D.C. and surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia.

A severe thunderstorm watch for D.C. and counties including Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George’s was canceled by about 6:30 p.m. after the storms cleared the DMV.

Another round of potentially severe storms is expected between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. but won’t be as strong as the evening storms.

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DC Council chairman optimistic about stadium deal — but hurdles remain

Published

1 day ago

May 16, 2025

Press Room

DC Council chairman optimistic about stadium deal — but hurdles remain

The chairman of the D.C. Council said he believes the Council will approve the deal to bring the Washington Commanders back to D.C. — but it’s going to take longer than the team and the mayor have agreed to.

After months of delays, Mayor Muriel Bowser sent her 2026 budget to the Council. It includes funding for the stadium development and her 2025 supplemental budget, which includes $400 million in cuts imposed by Congress.

Since the announcement that Bowser and Commanders owner Josh Harris reached a deal to bring the team back to D.C., the big question has been: Will the D.C. Council approve the deal to spend more than $1 billion of D.C. taxpayer money?

On Thursday, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson — who has opposed public funding for the stadium — said a stadium deal will likely be approved.

“Let me be clear. I think that we, I think that ultimately, the Council will agree with the stadium. But I think that we can make the deal better,” he said. “It’s what the Council has done with every stadium proposal in the past. But this all takes time. We don’t even have the documents concerning the stadium.”

Mendelson warned there are still some obstacles, with the first being timing: The deal signed by the mayor and the team calls for Council approval by July 15 or the Commanders can pull out.

Mendelson said he doesn’t see a way the Council can approve the Commanders deal — and the budgets — until late July or early August.

“I think the July 15 deadline, which was negotiated without any collaboration or discussion with the Council, is going to be very difficult,” he said. “The members met yesterday to discuss what the budget schedule would look like, and that’s going to be difficult.”

Mendelson also expressed concerns about the financial impact of the deal for taxpayers, but he is optimistic those can be worked out.

“I have found the Commanders to be very cooperative, and they want to get this deal done, and we want to get this deal done,” Mendelson said.

The Commanders deal is far from the biggest issue facing D.C. residents in the budgets just submitted by the mayor. Both budgets will include hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts, including about $400 million in cuts imposed by Congress that have to be made before October.

Mendelson has a sober warning to D.C. residents about what those cuts will mean: “I think they should be bracing for bad news, but I don’t know exactly what that looks like. And when I say bad news, that there will be service reductions. There’ll be contracts frozen and probably some furloughs.”

The Council plans to hold public hearings on both the stadium deal and the budget cuts in coming weeks.

If the District misses that July 15 deadline to get the Commanders deal approved, the team and the District could agree to extend that deadline, or the team could opt to restart negotiations with Maryland or Virginia.

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