Can DC Mayor Adrian Fenty Be Beat?

DC's 38 year old Mayor Adrian Fenty got two really bad pieces of news when he awoke Thursday morning. Number one was a Washington Post editorial blasting him for trying to evict a non profit group that had been running a Tennis and Learning Center for children in a corner of Southeast Washington.
The second bad news was no surprise to the first term Mayor, his school reforms now seem threatened by a 40 plus million dollar budget shortfall that will prompt teacher layoffs and bigger class sizes.

Its news that Fenty detractors can use as they scan the political horizon looking for that one solid candidate who could knock the young, confident and high flying triathlete off his perch.

From where I sit, in covering DC politics for more than 30 years, they haven't yet found that candidate, if in fact he or she is out there.

DC Council Chairman Vincent Gray (seen in the top photo)is being pushed to run by a lot of influential people who find themselves on the outside of Fenty's power team. Marion Barry is convinced Gray can win--that Fenty hasn't built on his roughly 50 percent take in the last mayoral race. Linda Cropp and Marie Johns won the rest of the votes when their numbers are combined.

My take is its still Fenty's race to lose--that he would have to suffer an incredible blunder or two between now and next year in order for someone to beat him.

The incumbent has the money-well over two million in the bank, the political machine, a marathoner's approach to campaigning, and no scandal that has people talking about it morning till night. There are rumors-as there always are in this town-but mostly its just talk by people trying to get reporters to do their dirty work--.

But stay tuned! Its still early in the campaign.

Okay, I'm back from vacation and ready to go to work for you. Excuse me if its taking a while to respond to the emails and letters; but rest assured I will get to them this week. As for me, I spent a good part of my time off at the beach, just outside Lewes and Rehoboth Beach Delaware. Attached is a picture from the Delaware Bay, in Lewes;

Also a picture from New York City, one of my other favorite places to spend time. That's me standing in front of the Michael Jackson tribute wall outside the Apollo theatre in Harlem.

and that's singer Freddy Jackson on stage at the "Sugar Bar" club on the west side. The place is owned by legendary singers-songwriters Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Thursday is open mike night and anyone can step up to perform. Freddy of "Rock With You" and "You Are My Lady" fame was one of several incredible performers in the club while we were there. Ashford and Simpson also showed as they always do.

Local Photographers Remember Michael Jackson

The sudden death of Michael Jackson has many reflecting on his music, dance and style as a pop icon and entertainer that touched lives around the world.

But for local photographers Don and Ron Baker they got upclose and personal with the "King of Pop" during several concerts and tours. Click on the below link to watch my interview.

http://www.wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=408ab858ca54418acad4cbe79ea6f2ee57c1dcf7&maven_referralObject=1167430347

More Victims Names Released After Monday's Transit Accident

I recently did a report about three of the victim's from Monday's transit accident that killed nine people in the Nation's Capital.

Click on this link and then click the link in the right hand corner of the WUSA- 9'S webpage to watch my report.

http://www.wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=408ab858ca54418acad4cbe79ea6f2ee57c1dcf7&maven_referralObject=1161857260

How Could This Happen?

Its the question everybody is asking on Tuesday morning, hours after one Metro train slammed into another on the Red Line at the height of rush hour Monday.

The death toll was scaled back from nine to seven Tuesday morning but will probably climb again with more than seventy people injured; but this was an accident that everyone had been told could not happen on Metro.

Train #112 and train #214 were both traveling between the Takoma Park and Fort Totten stations. The first car (112) was stopped or stalling because a third train had not yet cleared the above ground Fort Totten platform.

Train 214 was operated by 42 year old Jeanice McMillen of Springfield, Va. If her train was on automatic, the computer system at Metro Central should have kept her train at a safe distance.

Other operators say she should have been able to apply the brakes manually is needed.

So what went wrong?

McMillen was killed when her train slammed into the train into the rear end of the train in front of her on a crystal clear day.

Those of us who went to the scene to report the carnage witnessed one train that had been ripped open where the operator once sat...the rest of the car-crunched like a stepped on soda can-had mounted the first train.

Keith Dean of Northeast DC was one of the area residents who arrived on the scene, snapping numerous digital pictures which he made available exclusively for this blog.

His camera captured metro passengers from both trains sprawled out on the ground, having been rescued by other riders, firefighters or finding their own way out of the wreckage.

Rescue workers had to cut their way into the wreckage of both trains still on the tracks and pointing toward downtown DC. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Metro GM John Catoe and others held a press conference-giving much needed updates.

The rest of the rush hour commute was thrown into a tailspin.

The Red line stopped at Rhode island Avenue, south of the crash, and at Silver Spring to the North. Marc trains carrying commuters away from the city were delayed.

Tuesday morning begged for patience at every level. It wasn't clear at first glance just how many people had kept to plans of fidning other ways, other than metro train, of getting to work or school.

Following a Tuesday morning press conference Mayor Fenty said authorities had begun notifying families of the dead.

The NTSB is heading the investigation and refused to speculate on a cause for the deadliest accident in Metro's 33 year history.

'The Nine Lives of Marion Barry' Debuts at Silver Docs Film Festival in Maryland

The HBO Documentary, 'The Nine Lives of Marion Barry,' premiered last Saturday tonight at Silver Docs Film Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Click on the video link below to watch my report about the documentary.

http://www.wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=9142a21d31bef6379dd41b5eea96867d739f06f0&maven_referralObject=1156145187

Part I: Lawrence and Karen Garrison Interview

Part II: Lawrence and Karen Garrison Interview

One of the Garrison Twins Is Released From Prison

One of the Garrison twins is out of prison. It's a story that I have been covering for more than ten years.

Click on the link to see my latest story on the Howard University Graduates who many believe were convicted unfairly of taking part in a major Crack-Cocaine conspiracy.

http://http//www.wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=immersiveplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=408ab858ca54418acad4cbe79ea6f2ee57c1dcf7&maven_referralObject=1153915431

Finished the book

Finally, "Heart to Heart", my book about 12 diverse people who survived heart attacks is done. My agent is now looking for a publisher.

Forbes Magazine's Richest Black Americans.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/06/richest-black-americans-busienss-billionaires-richest-black-americans.html Like me you're probably kicking yourself for not knowing more of the people on the list. Forbes says it compiled the list because African Americans asked for it. Click on the link to start sucking up next time you meet them on the Charity Dinner Circuit!

Thomas L. Blagburn 1944-2009

A bunch of us made our way through the rain to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic church Monday morning to bid farewell to Tom Blagburn.

The church sits on Western Avenue in Northwest. It's the dividing line between the District and Maryland, about as far away as one can get from the tough streets of far south and north east DC where Tom did some of his best work. He helped launch the DC Police Department's Community policing program and before that he was a roving leader and special youth counsel to a few Mayors and Police Chiefs.

Tom Blagburn was always worried about the children and young adults and exoffenders. He felt more should have been done. He was right.

He knew children weren't born bad; that things happened in their homes and neighborhoods that left them too few alternatives to drugs and violence. "I don't know of any society in history that had children arming themselves, killing and being killed." he said more than once to anyone he could pin down on the streets or on the phone in their offices.

Programs aimed at helping the kids barely scratched the surface, he complained . They were too small and never sustainable. New elections meant new priorities. Sometimes the children were a top priority -sometimes they were not--

Blagburn didn't spare the media from his tirades. He knew us all by name-not to become friends; but to cover his stories-his youth. If they were on TV and radio, in newspapers-then public and private leaders couldn't ignore them or their problems.

We eulogized Tom Blagburn today. He died quickly, they say from pancreatic cancer. His obit says he was born in 1944. Tom never told us he was ill. We didn't know exactly how old he was or where he lived-not far from the Blessed Sacrament Parish.. He made sure we knew about this city's children. It was never about him.

Latest H1N1 Information

The Center for Disease Control has a website that contains all the latest information on the H1-N1 virus. Its updated everyday by noon.

http://http//www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

What Was Barry Thinking?

Can't tell you the calls I got Wednesday from associates to former Mayor Marion Barry. People wanting to vent, privately off course, to the City Councilman's outbidding Wolf Blitzer recently for an "Opera Coat for his new girlfriend.

Word is he has asked her to become the fourth Mrs Barry. She hasn't decided.

Barry won the coat with his final $800 dollar bid. How far was he prepared to go? He was quite proud of his accomplishment in his remarks to the Post.

His friends point out that he hasn't yet heard back from Federal Judge Deborah Robinson on whether he'll be sent to jail or have his probation extended for failing to file his 2007 tax returns on time-that was a violation of his parole according to prosecutors and his poor probation officer who is trying to keep the 70 plus Barry and recent kidney recipient out of jail.

The IRS and DC government are currently garnishing Barry's DC Council pay at a rate of about $3,000 per month.

DC Clergy Organize To Oppose Same Sex Marriages

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA)--DC clergy members, claiming to represent at least 500 churches and tens of thousands of members rallied on Freedom Plaza Tuesday, across from the Wilson Building.

The ministers say they are organizing to oppose a bill given tentative approval by the DC Council that will recognize same sex marriages that are performed in States where the practice is legal.

DC doesn't have its own same sex marriage law, but David Catania, an openly gay Council member says he expects people here to get married in States where the practice is legal and then return to live in the District.

Bishop Harry Jackson, one of the organizers of today's rally put Catania and Mayor Adrian Fenty on notice saying "there will be consequences" if the Council goes through with final approval of the bill recognizing same sex marriages.

DC Safety Inspections to End

The DC Council is about to go along with Mayor Fenty's proposal to end mandatory annual safety inspections for personal vehicles.

The four hundred thousand dollars to fund the Inspections is being cut out of the new fiscal budget that the legislators will begin marking up this week, according to sources.

Councilman Jim Graham says there just isn't enough study to show the inspections are having an impact on pedestrian or vehicle safety.

It's news that will please drivers who simply detest having to drive to Southwest, idle in line, then wait to learn if their vehicles pass or fail Inspection.

People have complained about what appears to be an inconsistency in the outcomes-the time and cost to make minor repairs and media reports of Inspectors taking bribes from cab drivers and others.

Five DMV employees at the Southwest Inspection station were fired this year for allegedly conducting improper inspections. I should point out that emission Inspections will continue every two years--that's federal law.