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This is not the way Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray’s storied political career was supposed to end. 

It was a given that Gray’s various health challenges would deprive him of the sort of graceful ride into the sunset that might otherwise have been afforded to someone with his three-decade-long career. Gray announced Thursday through a spokesperson that he’s experiencing “early-stage, age-related dementia” and he will step back from Council duties until his term concludes at the end of the year, a sad but perhaps inevitable development for the former mayor after he endured strokes and other health problems. The details below the headlines are another matter entirely. 

The councilmember’s children have been trying to wrest control of Gray’s health care and finances away from his wife, Dawn Kum, according to documents filed in D.C. Superior Court. They argue that she has concealed the extent of his health troubles and exploited his illness for her own monetary gain, liquidating Gray’s assets to pay for “luxury apparel” and “extravagant vacations.” Most troublingly, Gray’s kids claim he’s had at least four strokes since November 2021—two more than his office has disclosed—and that he’s “nearly fully paralyzed” and “extremely fragile.” A Superior Court judge ultimately agreed to appoint a guardian and conservator to manage the 81-year-old’s affairs, after Jonice and Carlos Gray claimed Kum has repeatedly worked to block their access to their father, including blocking their numbers in his phone.

The revelations in conservatorship filings has transformed this story from a melancholy tale about the difficulties of aging into something quite different. There’s every reason to regard claims made in court amid an ugly familial dispute skeptically—Kum and Gray only married in 2019—but they will prompt some serious whispering, nonetheless. 

Gray’s caustic, controversial spokesperson, Chuck Thies, has spent months insisting that although the councilmember may be unable to effectively communicate, he has still been fully engaged with his work as a lawmaker. Wilson Building observers have long doubted these assertions—and Council Chair Phil Mendelson greatly reduced Gray’s committee duties last year in response to these worries. But councilmembers generally have been unwilling to challenge them publicly out of deference to Gray and his long record of service. If Gray’s health truly has been as bad as his children describe, it raises real questions about the extent to which his office has been covering up his deficiencies.

As far back as mid-December 2021, Gray could not “count backwards from 20 and recite the the months of the year backwards” during a neurological exam, according to the court documents. What’s more, Gray’s children claim that Kum “injected herself into a leadership role” in his Council office. 

For more on the messy dispute playing out in court, and the fallout sure to come from these revelations, read our full story online.

—Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• D.C. police are warning about an increase in thefts of expensive and designer shoes. [NBC Washington]
• U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan closed her courtroom to the press and public for a hearing in the case against D.C. gym owner Michael Everts, who is accused of distributing child pornography. The Oct. 23 hearing was listed as a “change of plea.” Everts, who owns FIT Personal Training, initially pleaded not guilty, but it’s unclear whether he accepted a plea deal. No details about a potential change in his plea, or the terms of any deal, were publicly available after the courtroom was closed. [Blade]
• Arsonists set fire to multiple mopeds on B Street SE, at least some of which belonged to Venezuelan immigrants who use them to make deliveries. “We use these to work, to eat,” Junior Valera told NBC Washington in Spanish. “To pay rent, help our families. Without them, how? We can’t.” The arson was caught on video, which shows five people walking up to the mopeds, pouring liquid on them, and lighting them on fire. [NBC Washington]
• The Department of Justice has reached a $100 million settlement with the owners and operators of the ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Key Bridge. [Maryland Matters, Banner]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Families booted out of a key rental assistance program are now suing the D.C. government. A group of renters are demanding that they be reinstated to the city’s Rapid Rehousing program after the city moved to exit hundreds of families from it, citing time limits and budget pressures. The case, filed by attorneys from the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the D.C. Children’s Law Center, is a first-of-its-kind effort in the city. [Post]
• Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks claims she once rented out her grandparents’ home in Northeast, but there are no records she ever secured the proper permits to do so. Alsobrooks’ failure to pay the correct taxes on the home has become a central issue in her Maryland Senate race. [WJLA]
• At first, no one stepped up to run for the advisory neighborhood commission seat in Southwest vacated by Clayton Rosenberg, who pleaded guilty to defrauding pandemic relief programs. Now two candidates are mounting write-in bids: Liam Goodwin and Sam Sanders. [Hill Rag]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Celebrity chef Eric Adjepong, of Top Chef and other assorted food network shows, is bringing upscale, contemporary Ghanaian food to D.C. His first restaurant, Elmina, will open on 14th Street NW in January. [Washingtonian]
• Vibes, vibes, vibes: At Michael Rafidi’s latest restaurant, La’ Shukran, the sister spot to Albi and Yellow, reservations go quick, the food is fun, and the space is—wait for it—vibey. [Axios]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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It’s been a busy two months for Muneer Nasser. The trumpeter has played all around town—from D.C. Jazz Festival to Westminster Presbyterian Church—to promote his latest album, Blue House Session. Recorded last summer in Silver Spring, the album “contains some of the purest, most tunefully accessible stuff this side of 1965,” Michael J. West writes in this month’s Swing Beat. 

Indeed, Nasser’s gift and skill as a trumpeter is on full display in the album, which includes a vastly talented band made up of tenor saxophonist Elijah Easton, pianist Allyn Johnson, bassist James King, and drummer John Lamkin III. But perhaps, most importantly, writes West, is that “Blue House Session is one thing that a great deal of contemporary jazz forgets to be: fun.”

As Nasser’s own star rises, he’s making sure the legacy of another isn’t left behind. The trumpeter is the author of Upright Bass: The Musical Life and Legacy of Jamil Nasser, his father. The book is based on interviews with his dad, a bass player from Memphis who moved to New York in 1956 and had a prolific career, especially as an accompanist for modern jazz pianists. 

Nassar’s book “offers a very different perspective on jazz life,” writes West. “Jamil released only one album as a bandleader … otherwise he was known as a sideman. Sidemen don’t usually get a say in the realm of the jazz memoir—which is unfortunate, as Upright Bass demonstrates.”

For a deeper look at Nasser’s dedication to his father’s legacy and insight into his own work as a talented local musician, read this month’s Swing Beat on our website.

—Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• D.C. police Officer Joseph Lopez chased, dragged, and ultimately handcuffed 9-year-old Niko Estep in the spring of 2019. The incident caused the boy physical and mental injuries, according to a lawsuit filed by his mother, Autumn Drayton. Three months after the incident, Estep was admitted to an inpatient psychiatric ward after he attempted to take his own life. With the lawsuit, Drayton is seeking to change the way police treat young children. Estep was shot and killed in an unrelated incident last November. [Post]
• Ten of developer Sam Razjooyan‘s properties are up for sale after his ownership entities filed for bankruptcy in May.
• The Marine Corps Marathon is this weekend, which is expected to draw more than 30,000 runners. The race begins at 7:55 a.m. Sunday, but road closures in D.C. and Arlington will begin at 3 a.m. and will end around 6 p.m. Closures include sections of I-395. [Axios]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White will now rely on federal public defenders to manage his bribery case instead of high-powered attorney Fred Cooke Jr. White was apparently having trouble affording Cooke’s fees. [X, Post]
• D.C.’s 911 call center remains understaffed, with workers regularly asked to pull 16-hour shifts to cover the gaps, according to testimony at a D.C. Council hearing Tuesday. Heather McGaffin, the head of the Office of Unified Communications, says her goal is to have the troubled agency fully staffed by January. [WUSA9, WJLA]
• There are 54 Advisory Neighborhood Commission races without a single candidate on the ballot this year, equivalent to about 16 percent of all ANC seats citywide. As ever, that means write-in candidates will likely win with just a handful of votes, or the seats will simply remain vacant. [WTOP]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• &Pizza CEO Mike Burns finally apologized for his restaurant chain’s offensive marketing campaign that mocked Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry’s history of addiction and drug arrest. The statement came after community activists staged a boycott and news conference outside one of the chain’s locations. Ron Moten, one of the organizers, says they still plan to protest outside &Pizza locations this weekend. “We can’t let people just do what he did, and then it’s like, ‘I apologize,’ and that’s it,” Moten says. [Post, WUSA9 Instagram]
• Get a scoop of ice cream, a cupcake, an arepa, a pizza, and more free stuff on your birthday at these eateries in the D.C. area. [City Cast]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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If a political drama set a lobbyist-laden fundraiser for powerful politicians at the infamous Watergate complex, Loose Lips would probably scoff at such a well-worn series of cliches. As ever, truth is stranger than fiction in D.C. politics.

LL hears that Council Chair Phil Mendelson is hosting a “reception” to raise money for his constituent service fund on Wednesday, with suggested donations ranging from $250 to $500. At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie is listed as a “special guest,” per a copy of an invitation forwarded to LL, while the host committee is a veritable who’s who of D.C. bigwigs. 

The listed chairs of the event include Lloyd Moore Jr. (a lawyer and former pal of Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry) and top lobbyists Jon Mandel and Kerry Pearson. The latter lobbyist, who has made a name for himself shilling for major companies such as Pepco and Fort Myer Construction over the past two decades, owns the $550,000 condo in the Watergate South building where the fundraiser is being held, per city real estate records. Other listed hosts include lobbyists Janene Jackson and Ed Fisher; attorneys Frederick Douglas and Curtis Boykin; and corporate executive turned D.C. Public Library board member Donella Brockington. (Neither Pearson nor Mandel, the listed contact for the event, responded to requests for comment.)

If all those boldface names have started to make the event seem a bit slimy, fear not: Mendo assures LL that his motives here are perfectly pure. Since the money will flow into the Council chair’s constituent service fund—rather than a campaign account, seeing as he’s not up for reelection for two years—he intends to use the proceeds to meet an expected surge in demand for rent and utility relief as the winter holidays draw near. 

Councilmembers and the mayor are allowed to set up these funds for precisely this purpose. The funds allow local pols to throw some money around to host community events, pay for funeral arrangements, or otherwise help their constituents with emergency expenses. That’s a noble enough purpose. But these funds also help lawmakers burnish their reputations in the community. And what better way for a lobbyist or lawyer with interests before the D.C. government to win some favor than by helping politicos with such a project?

“I’m tired of that argument,” Mendelson says in response. “It suggests that officeholders have no spine or ethics. It is true, you can point to one or two who might be questionable, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, ‘no,’ to Mr. Pearson. I have seen colleagues, over and over, where their best friends were lobbyists, but they still get rejected on a particular issue.”

For a closer look at this swanky evening, what it means for these highly scrutinized constituent service funds, and much more, check out our full story online. 

—Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Two women who gave birth while they were incarcerated in the DC Jail say the facility did not always provide them with necessary support before and after their babies were born. Both women say they were shackled (or officers attempted to shackle them) during their pregnancies and postpartum, and they stopped breastfeeding as they dealt with depression and logistical problems. [Post]
• American Airlines is testing new technology to catch passengers who try to board planes before their assigned group, whom airline employees refer to as “gate lice.” The tech is in place in Albuquerque and Tucson and will expand to National Airport soon. [Post]
• Washington Gas is among the plaintiffs that filed lawsuits in D.C. and Montgomery County challenging the laws banning gas appliances in newly constructed residential and commercial buildings by 2026. [WBJ]
• The Washington Spirit will host a quarterfinal playoff match at Audi Field Nov. 10 as the team looks to reclaim their 2021 NWSL title. [Spirit, NYT]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Vice President Kamala Harris could opt to spend election night in D.C. She’s currently eyeing Howard University, her alma mater, as a headquarters and setting to deliver speeches on the results on Nov. 5. The Walter Washington Convention Center is another top contender. [NBC News]
• D.C. officials are preparing for weeks of disruptions and enhanced security in the aftermath of the election. Mayor Muriel Bowser doesn’t expect to close schools and isn’t urging downtown businesses to board up their windows, but the experience of Jan. 6, 2021, has still made her cautious. [Post, WJLA, Fox 5]
• The Ward 7 State Board of Education race is getting heated. Challenger Toni Criner has picked up endorsements from onetime rival Charles Boston (whose name will still remain on the ballot) and soon-to-be Ward 7 Councilmember Wendell Felder. “If Eboni-Rose Thompson wanted to run for state board again, she shouldn’t have jumped in the Council race,” Felder said of the incumbent and his former opponent. “I don’t know if her heart is in education or if the state board is a back-up plan.” [Informer]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Is Chefs for Equality “one of the more slept-on events” in D.C.? Jane Jane’s co-owner J.P. Sabatier thinks so. The event, which took place Monday at the National Building Museum, supports the Human Rights Campaign’s nationwide outreach work. [WTOP]
• The marionberry (the fruit, not the mayor) was first developed in the 1950s by the Department of Agriculture at Oregon State University. As local chain &Pizza finds itself in the middle of a growing controversy over an ad campaign that promotes its new marionberry knots via the Mayor for Life’s arrest for crack cocaine, Washingtonian’s Jessica Sidman takes a quick look back at the origin of the blackberry varietal and its popularity in D.C. [Washingtonian]
• Pumpkin spice is so 2023. From ube lattes to boniato cortados (made with sweet potato and foamed milk), here are 10 fall-themed drinks that are anything but basic. [City Cast]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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Loose Lips can remember rolling his eyes so hard he nearly popped a blood vessel when the preliminary terms of the District’s deal to keep the Capitals and Wizards in the city became public in early April.

Monumental Sports owner Ted Leonsis asked to not pay taxes that benefit other pro sports teams in D.C., in a very funny bit of sniping at his colleagues with the Nats and Commanders, and he had a whole host of demands about how the city would reshape the Chinatown neighborhood to his liking to keep him at Capital One Arena. No detail was too small in the billionaire sports owner’s wish list—even one specific restaurant’s streetery was targeted for removal simply because Leonsis didn’t like it. 

So LL was relieved, if largely unsurprised, that the city has refused (or convinced Leonsis to abandon) many of his most outlandish requests in the final version of the deal, which Mayor Muriel Bowser officially submitted to the Council for approval on Friday. The full details are still trickling out, but the proposal at least appears to be more advantageous to the District than the one initially advanced in the spring. The city is forking over $515 million to overhaul an arena that is hardy falling down, after all, so this is perhaps the least Leonsis could do.

“There has to be compromise,” Leonsis told reporters Monday morning. “The leagues have to compromise. The city has to compromise. We have to compromise. The only people so far who don’t compromise are the agents. And we can get through it.”

But it’s not like Monumental won’t get anything out of this deal. For a full look inside the good, the bad, and everything in between in the new Capital One deal, check out our full story online. 

—Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• The 24-year-old who attacked two Commanders fans following the team’s game against the Ravens in Baltimore turned himself in to police. John Callis, of Sarasota, Florida, is charged with multiple counts of assault for the incident that was caught on viral cellphone video. Police say they have more video of Callis attacking another person minutes before the viral video begins. Callis also has been accused of beating up a person in Towson in 2021. [Post, Banner, X]
• Joseph Coles was one of the first people in D.C. to face charges following legislation that makes strangulation a stand-alone felony offense. One of the 12 jurors “was not convinced by the account” of the woman survivor. Instead of re-trying Coles, federal prosecutors offered him a plea deal of simple assault. Coles will now serve 45 days in jail, rather than the maximum five years. [Post]
• In a new law journal article, Georgetown professor Josh Chafetz takes aim at the Supreme Court’s lenient and arguably contradictory interpretation of public corruption and the definition of “official acts.” “Justices keep letting corrupt politicians off the hook,” Chafetz argues. [NYT]
• WNBA All-Star (and Maryland native) Angel Reese says her $73,000 salary from the league doesn’t cover her living expenses. Instead, she (and many other WNBA players) must supplement their relatively low pay with endorsement deals. The highest paid player in the WNBA last year made just over $250,000; Steph Curry is the highest paid NBA player at $51.9 million. [NBC Washington]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Former parents and officials at Eagle Academy say there were warning signs suggesting the charter school was in bad financial shape before its sudden closure earlier this year. But there still wasn’t enough oversight or early intervention to prevent its dissolution. “We were under the impression that the school was in good standing,” said board member (and former Council contender) Dionne Bussey-Reeder. “Then to hear that we were in financial ruin was devastating.” [Post]
• A former D.C. contracting manager received a seven-month prison sentence after admitting to awarding contracts to her friends’ businesses. Bridgette Crowell was ordered to re-pay $100,000 to the city and forfeit a Ford Bronco she received as part of the scheme. [WJLA]
• The Council advanced legislation Monday that would ban child marriage in the District. The bill from Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto aims to bring the city in line with other states around the country in barring minors from getting married. [WTOP]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• &Pizza is facing calls for a boycott after the local chain rolled out a marketing campaign for a new dessert called the Marion Berry Knots. The campaign plays on the Mayor for Life’s arrest for crack cocaine, with lines like “so good it’s a felony,” and enough powdered sugar to “force the DEA to look twice.” Barry’s widow, Cora Masters Barry, called the ad “outrageously racist.” &Pizza CEO Mike Burns reacted with a shrug. “We can’t wait for D.C. to try it,” he said. [Washingtonian]
• An Aldi grocery store is slated to open on H Street NE next year after Amazon pulled out of a deal to occupy the ground-floor retail space below the Avec apartment building. [WBJ]
• ’Tis the season of apple cider doughnuts and here are seven spots offering the best of these deep fried, cinnamon sugar-coated treats. [Post]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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Good Monday afternoon, D.C. Don’t be duped by fake fall—it could hit 80 degrees today. Here’s some news you might have missed while celebrating Howard University’s 100th homecoming.

No, Cap

A White captain with the Metropolitan Police Department is on paid administrative leave after using racial stereotypes in an email offering overtime opportunities.

“Here at THRIVE (Rosedale), we stay knocking on doors like Shy Glizzy and Fat Trel, and you know when you cop from CAP Small, he will show up and show out because he doesn’t do it for the clout,” Captain Ryan Small wrote in the email to the 5th District mailing list. (THRIVE stands for Targeted Homicide Reduction Through Intervention and Violence Elimination.)

Small’s supervisor, Commander Shawn Rooney, apologized for Small’s “offensive, unprofessional and culturally insensitive” email. MPD Chief Pam Smith also rebuked the email, saying, “this type of unprofessional behavior will not be tolerated.” Small has been removed from the THRIVE program and is under internal investigation.

Not Another Insurrection

Local and federal authorities have been preparing for potential civil unrest that could come with the approaching presidential election and its aftermath. Capitol Police increased staffing by 300 officers, the D.C. Board of Elections has, for the first time ever, hired armed security officers for its headquarters and mail ballot processing center, and fencing has been installed near Lafayette Park and the White House.

Activists, organizers, lawyers, and residents are preparing, too. Zac Hoffman, manager of the National Democratic Club, is talking with federal law enforcement about potential evacuation routes from the building in Southeast. He also says he plans to leave the lights off in his apartment. Scott Michelman, legal director of the ACLU’s D.C. chapter, sent a letter to D.C.’s law enforcement agencies reminding them of the heavy-handed and violent responses to demonstrations around the previous two presidential elections.

“I really fear outsiders coming in,” D.C. resident Gail Sullivan told the Post. “This is where the insurrection happened. … Maybe it will spill out more into our neighborhoods than it did before.”

Spare Ribs?

The Commanders’ dynamic rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels left Sunday’s game against the Panthers early with a rib injury. It’s unclear whether the rising star will be healthy enough to return to the field this week against Chicago and No. 1 pick Caleb Williams (Daniels was the No. 2 pick in the draft and the Heisman Trophy winner last year). Daniels is expected to undergo imaging Monday. His mother, Regina, posted on social media last night: “He’s fine.” (City Paper owner Mark Ein is part of the Commanders’ ownership group.)

Backup QB Marcus Mariota replaced Daniels and led the Commanders to a 40-7 victory.

—Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• The University of Maryland was one of just eight public universities throughout the country that provided records to the Post of deals and payments for student athletes based on their name, image, and likeness, or “NIL.” The records reveal an inconsistent and unregulated market and a deep gender disparity, with most payments going to men’s football and basketball players. One Maryland football player was paid $80,000 for an appearance; and Maryland men’s basketball players disclosed payments eight times the amount of women’s basketball players. [Post]
• Pepper, a Cane Corso puppy stolen from a boat in Southeast, was returned to his owner. A person who had apparently unknowingly purchased Pepper returned the dog; police are still searching for the thief. [WUSA9]
• Police are also searching for two people suspected of robbing a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier. The Friday incident, which was caught by surveillance cameras, shows two men approaching the postal worker and demanding his belongings before fleeing. [WTOP]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Mayor Muriel Bowser is proposing that the city buy Capital One Arena and lease it back to Ted Leonsis’ Monumental Sports to complete the deal struck earlier this year to keep the Wizards and Capitals in D.C. Both sides plan to release full details of the proposal Monday afternoon. [NBC Washington, Post]
• Legendary cornerback Darrell Green called for the Commanders to return to RFK Stadium as Bowser presented him with a key to the city this weekend. But the bill to make that happen is in danger of not advancing before the legislative calendar resets at the end of the year. [WUSA9]
• Contaminated meat and poultry products may have been sent to 13 schools across D.C. [WTOP]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• It’s in the waffles. TreeHouse Foods has issued a voluntary recall on hundreds of frozen waffle products due to a possible listeria contamination. The waffles are sold under a variety of names including Walmart’s Great Value and Target’s Good & Gather, as well as private label brands at Food Lion, Kroger, and Schnucks. [WTOP]
• The team behind Dupont’s Greek restaurant Balos Estiatorio is working on opening two new dining spots: The Angie, a French American bistro in Fairfax, and sister bar—Bar Angie—in D.C. [WBJ]
• A neighborhood restaurant to leave your neighborhood for—that’s how restaurateur Ashok Bajaj and chef Frank Ruta envision their new Van Ness-area eaterie. Rosedale will serve rustic New American, including Ruta’s roast chicken. [Axios]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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It’s been 25 years since the Dismemberment Plan, D.C.’s oddball indie rock band, released their seminal album Emergency & I. In 1999, a year that saw an influx of undeniably fantastic art, the band’s third album resonated with “20-somethings shuffling through the snowdrifts of postadolescence, leaving behind prefabricated college social circles and struggling to find homes, literal and figurative, in a larger world,” writes WCP contributor Taylor Ruckle. But the band were, by no means, a chart-topping act. 

“With its odd time signatures and dissonant guitars, Emergency & I isn’t an album you hear for the first time over stereo speakers at a house party, and it never made an impact on terrestrial radio,” Ruckle notes. But what it has continued to do is find—and grow—a fan base of music lovers devoted to discovering new and old acts through streaming suggestions and digital publications. Though the band broke up in 2003, Dismemberment Plan reunion shows have consistently packed venues.

That was certainly the case last month when they reunited for a five-city tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Emergency & I. Kicking off in D.C., the originally scheduled show at the 9:30 Club sold out and a second night at the Atlantis was added, which also sold out. But a quarter of a century after writing these songs, the band’s Travis Morrison has noticed a shift in the audience’s age.

“Back then, the attendance was almost totally our peer group,” Morrison tells Ruckle, referring to the band’s initial run. “Now we have a relatively flat spectrum. The North Carolina show had a ton of younger people—they really pushed my parent friends from my kids’ school to the back.”

Ruckle couldn’t help but wonder: Why are so many Gen Z listeners falling for these offbeat songs about isolation and oblivion? “You could point to social media,” Ruckle writes. “‘You Are Invited,’ a magical realist parable about making peace with FOMO, hits hard in the age of the Instagram story. But if you ask young listeners, you get an even more obvious explanation.”

To learn more about Gen Z’s draw to the Dismemberment Plan 25 years after the release of Emergency & I—and how Morrison feels about the band’s continued relevance—read the full article on our website.

—Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Four teens were arrested for an alleged armed carjacking on H Street NE. One of the suspects shot a man who attempted to stop the teens; the man was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. In a separate incident, on Saturday, three young men attempted to steal Calico bartender Randy White’s car while he was stopped at the Sunoco on 9th Street NW. White fought off the three would-be carjackers, an incident that was captured on surveillance video. [WUSA9, WUSA9]
• Baltimore police are searching for John Callis, who has been identified as the man who attacked two people on Sunday after the Ravens defeated the Commanders. A video of Callis, wearing a Lamar Jackson jersey, attacking two men in Commanders gear, went viral. After Callis punched and kicked the victims, he turned to the camera, flexed his muscle, and yelled “I don’t lose!” [Post, TMZ]
• Seven embassies—of Belize, Greece, Paraguay, Portugal, Lesotho, Slovenia, and Indonesia—will be handing out treats for Halloween this year. [Washingtonian]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• A handful of write-in candidates are aiming to challenge federally indicted Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, as is Republican Nate Derenge. But “some people have checked out of the Ward 8 race,” organizers say, assuming White will win easily despite his bribery charges. [Informer]
• D.C. traffic cameras issued nearly 1 million tickets in a six-month period, according to new data provided to the D.C. Council. Maryland drivers accounted for roughly 40 percent of the infractions. [DC News Now]
• Pediatricians are partnering with D.C. schools to figure out why kids are missing class and prevent chronic absenteeism. [WTOP]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Union Market is overflowing with breakfast and brunch options. [Washingtonian]
• Bar Americano, a new natural wine bar and pizza cafe, is opening on the National Mall today. [Axios]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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This is a bit awkward: The D.C. government is suing one of its biggest, most influential contractors. 

Loose Lips hears that Attorney General Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit against Fort Myer Construction last week, alleging that the company has been illegally dumping wastewater, petroleum, and other pollutants into the city’s stormwater system for years. The suit claims that the paving giant has repeatedly ignored orders from D.C. regulators to fix these problems at its Ward 5 headquarters, befouling Springhouse Run, which flows through the National Arboretum and into the Anacostia River.

Fort Myer has attracted complaints about air pollution at its asphalt facilities in Brentwood and Eckington for years, but Schwalb’s lawsuit deals instead with the company’s vehicle storage yard just off of South Dakota Avenue NE. He claims that inspectors with the Department of Energy and the Environment observed the company illegally dumping pollutants down storm drains at least 20 times between 2015 and 2023, yet Fort Myer repeatedly refused their efforts to address these issues.

“For years, Fort Myer Construction threatened District residents’ health and safety by polluting our waterways in blatant violation of environmental laws,” Schwalb writes in a statement to LL. “The company ignored repeated orders from D.C. agencies to clean up its facility and obtain proper permits, choosing instead to put its profits over the protection of D.C.’s critical natural resources. My office will continue working to ensure that all businesses play by the rules, and that all Washingtonians have access to clean water.”

Schwalb’s suit is asking for an unidentified amount of civil penalties against the company, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court on Oct. 10. Fort Myer Construction did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. 

The case represents not only some of the District’s most substantial environmental action against the company, but also a major clash with one of its most favored contractors. Whether it’s simple road paving or major construction projects, Fort Myer has demonstrated a unique knack for winning business in the city over the past few decades. Twenty years ago, as the company dealt with accusations that it bribed D.C. officials, it said that D.C. government contracts represented roughly half of all its operating income.

For more about what the well-connected company is accused of doing, and what kind of penalties it could face, check out our full story online.

—Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Andrew Ciolli, a former warden in two Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities where D.C. residents are incarcerated, oversaw a culture of abuse and mistreatment at those facilities. Despite troubling findings from BOP’s own investigators, the agency promoted Ciolli to run its national training program. [Marshall Project]
• The Washington Post’s embattled new publisher, Will Lewis, is under direction from owner Jeff Bezos to expand the business via acquisitions that could drive revenue and subscriptions. The paper’s chief growth officer, Karl Wells, told the newsroom this week that through September, the Post has added 4,000 subscribers and is cracking down on the 160,000 free subscriptions to federal offices and employees. [NYT, WBJ]
• Paying for panda privilege: Members of the National Zoo can get a sneak peek of the new pandas that arrived this week from China. Bao Li and Qing Bao will make their public debuts Jan. 24. Members can reserve a timed entry pass to see the pandas from Jan. 10 to 19; annual memberships range from $72 to $122. [Axios]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Mayor Muriel Bowser is in Mexico City this week for a conference put on by her longtime pal (and 2020 presidential endorsee) Mike Bloomberg. Bloomberg Philanthropies covered the cost of the trip, per Bowser’s office, except for “one staff flight” that’s on the city’s tab. [Axios]
• A task force made up of several city agencies is trying to take a more holistic approach to public safety, offering Narcan and removing abandoned furniture, one neighborhood at a time. [WTOP]
• The Washington Informer is celebrating its 60th anniversary with memories of its founder, activist Calvin Rolark. [Informer]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Chef Paolo Dungca, who cut his teeth at Bad Saint, is opening new eateries left and right. Kayu, which sits above Dungca’s Filipino cafe on H Street NE, Hiraya, just opened. Next month he’ll introduce Union Market goers to a new food stall: Little Hiraya. [Axios] 
• Charlottesville’s Three Notch’d Brewing is opening its first D.C.-area restaurant at the Crossing Clarendon. [WBJ]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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Good Tuesday afternoon, D.C. Yesterday was Indigenous Peoples’ Day, but there are still plenty of ways to celebrate Native people all year long. Here’s some news you might have missed while you were drinking beer at the Snallygaster festival (or reading about the mythical creature’s racist roots). 

Insults to Injury

Not only did the Commanders lose to the Ravens on Sunday (snapping a four-game win streak), but now we have to declare a “Baltimore Club Music Day” on Mayor Brandon Scott’s next birthday. The Ravens beat the Commanders 30-23 at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, and Mayor Muriel Bowser lost a bet to Scott that also involved crab cakes and half-smokes. 

After the game, a man in a Lamar Jackson jersey was caught on video attacking two guys in Commanders gear. “I don’t lose!” the Ravens fan yells into the camera. Internet sleuths think they’ve identified the man as an employee of a Baltimore-based insurance company. Baltimore Police are investigating the assault.

Jesus Was (probably?) Gay

Tens of thousands of Christian nationalists gathered on the National Mall on Saturday for a rally dubbed “Esther Call on the Mall.” The event was organized by leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation, a network of far-right evangelical Christians who want to establish a government (and a larger society) dominated by Christians. Many of its adherents believe God speaks to them in dreams and that Donald Trump has been chosen by God to be president.

“Many people may not agree with his character, but if you look at [the Old Testament king] David, he was a murderer and an adulterer,” Linda Ilias, who had traveled from Florida, told Mother Jones reporter Kiera Butler. “But God saw his potential. God saw that he was [the] true king, and he … called his potential out of him, and he became the king of Israel. And so Donald Trump, I believe the Lord chose him.”

Speakers at the event included a who’s who of batty conservative leaders from the anti-LGBTQIA “apostle” Jenny Donnelly and to pastor Lou Engle, also an outspoken opponent of queer and trans rights and abortion, to Lance Wallnau, another self-proclaimed “apostle” who has claimed that Kamala Harris practices witchcraft and represents “the spirit of Jezebel.”

And Runnin Runnin’ and Runnin’ Runnin’

Washingtonian is out with a comprehensive guide to running in the D.C. area, including lists of the best trails, road races, and clubs. Catch up on some tips from a pro. Read some reflections on “the People’s Marathon,” including from the guy who juggles while he runs. And find out why some people aren’t happy about the new fad of replacing dating apps with run clubs.

Pot Shot

The Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration is continuing its enforcement against unlicensed cannabis shops. This month, ABCA and D.C. police officers shut down Dreams Smoke Shop and In the Cut. Officers found a handgun and ammo at In the Cut, leading to the arrest of Rodney Marshall.

Cannabis regulators also suspended the alcohol license for Power Night Club on Bladensburg Road NE after investigators found 62 pounds of cannabis, 111 jars of THC waxes, 308 edibles, and three firearms in the club, according to the Outlaw Report.

—Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Two giant pandas arrived in D.C. today from China. Qing Bao and Bao Li, both 3 years old, will live at the National Zoo, replacing the three pandas who returned to China last fall. Bao Li, the new male panda, is the son of Bao Bao, who was born in D.C. in 2013. It’ll be about 30 days before the public can see them. [NPR, Post, NBC Washington]
• D.C. has increased homeless encampment clearings this year following a Supreme Court ruling that allows cities to criminalize sleeping outside. Data shows that there have been an average of eight “encampment engagements” per month since July, up from 6.8 such actions per month last year. [Axios]
• Four Capital Bikeshare stations now have solar canopies as part of a pilot program to charge e-bikes. [WTOP]
• Shuttered developer Neighborhood Development Company has handed over its rights to develop Parcel 13 on St. Elizabeths East to Buwa Binitie’s firm, Dantes Partners. The politically connected Binitie started his real estate career with Neighborhood Development Company under its CEO, Adrian Washington. It’s unclear if the project as planned, which included a 421-unit apartment building and ground floor retail, will remain the same. [WBJ, Bisnow]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• The D.C. Council will take up legislation Tuesday aimed at avoiding future budget cuts to the District’s pay equity fund for early childhood educators. A task force working on the issue forwarded recommendations to make the fund more sustainable moving forward, reducing some minimum salaries for daycare workers. [WUSA9, WJLA]
• A former official in the D.C. Office of Contracting and Procurement won a $3.4 million judgment from a jury after claiming she was fired for blowing the whistle on improper practices. Maureen Hill has been fighting the case since her 2017 termination, arguing that the Department of Health illegally split up big contracts to avoid sending them to the Council for review. [Post]
• Longtime Ward 8 activist and top Initiative 83 booster Philip Pannell argues that the D.C. Democratic Party “needs to stop operating as if it were a fraternity, gang or segregated country club” and drop its opposition to independents voting in party primaries. [EOTR News]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Kau Kau, a takeout-only ghost kitchen from the TaKorean team, is serving up Hawaiian comfort food. Dishes include bulgogi, hoisin-caramelized tofu,  and loco moco, a hamburger steak with brown gravy and fried egg. All plates come with creamy mac salad, two scoops of white rice, and iceberg lettuce salad. [Washingtonian]
• Louisiana-based chicken finger chain Raising Cane’s is planning to open a location in Chinatown in the fall of 2025. [WBJ]
• The annual Chefs for Equity event will benefit the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s efforts to promote LGBTQIA equality. The Oct. 21 event will feature 150 chefs, bakers, mixologists, sommeliers, and restaurateurs.  [Blade]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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Around 11 a.m. on Sept. 4, a fight broke out in the basement of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. 

The church is home to the Downtown Day Services Center, a key gathering place for homeless people managed by the neighborhood’s Business Improvement District, and things were getting heated in the center’s cafeteria. According to witness accounts forwarded to Loose Lips, a BID outreach worker punched one of the center’s clients in the face after an argument, prompting a brief wrestling match.

“Eventually the BID worker got the client in a front headlock position and began to yell expletives and insults at the client,” according to a statement from a witness shared with the BID and later provided to LL. “That included, ‘What are you going to do now?’ while still having the client in a headlock.”

Security guards and other outreach workers on the scene quickly broke up the scuffle. But the resulting fallout roiled the BID and its partner organizations working on homelessness services downtown, according to internal emails and two sources familiar with the situation. Supervisors at the center raised concerns that “this is the second incident where [the BID worker] physically engaged a client,” and expressed doubt about his “ability to work safely in this environment,” per one email to the BID’s leaders.

Debra Kilpatrick Byrd, then the BID’s director of homeless services, followed up with an email on Sept. 18, arguing that her employee was “defending himself as he was being physically harmed by the consumer.” She added that she’d reported the incident to the police and filed the appropriate internal reports. “Please rest assured that I acknowledge the seriousness of these incidents and they were addressed immediately,” Byrd wrote.

By the next day, Byrd’s tune changed. She acknowledged that she “made an error” and that no reports had been filed either internally or with the Metropolitan Police Department. After gathering “additional details” and reviewing the witness statements submitted to the BID, she chose to put the BID employee on administrative leave. “I deeply regret that your team had this unfortunate experience,” Byrd wrote to another homeless outreach organization that works at the Day Services Center. (An MPD spokesperson tells LL they have no records of any report filed involving this incident at the center.)

Byrd and the worker involved in the scuffle have both left the BID’s employment in the weeks since this back-and-forth, a BID spokesperson tells LL. They declined to comment further, calling it a “personnel matter involving private information.” 

The sources familiar with the dispute say the perception within the BID and its partner organizations is that Byrd sought to bury and quickly move past this incident, but that became untenable after video of the scuffle was shared with BID leaders. LL’s sources suspect this whole drama contributed to her departure.

This dustup didn’t happen in a vacuum. For more about how tensions are rising around homelessness downtown, as exacerbated by new policies at MLK Library, check out our full story online.

—Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

Editor’s note: City Paper is off for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. District Line Daily will return to your inboxes Tuesday.

• This one time, on the Circulator, a guy lost his pants. Spoiler alert: He got them back. [51st]
• “The traffic is bad,” report says. Yeah we know. [NBC Washington]
• We have very different definitions of “cool.” [Axios]
• Early voting in D.C. starts today. You can drop your ballot in any of the drop boxes around town. Plug in your address to find a box near your house. [BOE]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• The D.C. Housing Authority is less of a mess than it was two years ago, when it drew a damning audit from its federal overseers. New Director Keith Pettigrew has more openly acknowledged DCHA’s problems, but are his proposed solutions going to work? [GGWash]
• D.C.’s youth jail, the Youth Services Center in Northeast, keeps seeing fights and drug overdoses due to a mix of overcrowding and understaffing. Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker has pledged a new focus on oversight of the agency that manages it, the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, as he takes over the responsibility from embattled Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White. [WJLA]
• Winter is on the horizon, and D.C.’s homeless shelters are already nearing capacity. The city expects to be able to add enough beds to meet the need as temperatures start to drop, but advocates are still wary. [Street Sense]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Kelly Laczko and her wife, Kethida Laczko, have taken over the space formerly known as Duplex Diner to keep the neighborhood spot alive and queer, with its Beyoncé-themed bathroom and Kamala Harris-inspired cocktails. (We just can’t get away from politics at our bars!). The couple hopes to open in the coming months. [Washingtonian]
• Snallygaster beer festival is returning to Pennsylvania Avenue this weekend. [WTOP]
• As the old saying goes, if your web traffic is slipping, just do a bagel ranking. [Post]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

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Washington City Paper has big plans. Your contributions will help us execute them. By supporting District Line Daily, you show your commitment to independent journalism. Thank you for your continued support.

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The Metropolitan Police Department released body camera footage Tuesday of a police pursuit that resulted in the death of a man riding a moped.

Around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 31, Officer Matthew Givens attempted to stop a driver of a gray Jeep without its headlights on in the 1600 block of K Street NW. The driver did not stop and continued on “at a low rate of speed,” according to MPD. Givens pursued the driver with his emergency lights on, occasionally activating his siren and horn.

The driver continued for a few blocks downtown with Givens in pursuit. At 15th and L streets NW, the driver ran a red light and struck a moped rider before fleeing the scene, according to MPD.

The moped rider, Alpha Kake, 25, was unconscious but breathing when Givens approached him near the intersection of 15th and L streets NW. He was taken to the hospital. Kake died of his injuries on Oct. 1.

Before paramedics arrived, as Givens tended to Kake, he told other officers that “I tried to affect a traffic stop and the car fled, ran a red light and hit him,” referring to Kake.

Later, when Givens was speaking to a supervisor about the incident, he said after he turned his lights on, the Jeep “didn’t flee. It just drove slow but didn’t pull over. It didn’t flee or nothing; it just drove slow, and I kept hitting my siren, horn.”

Givens said the driver of the Jeep turned right onto 16th Street NW, “and when we got to 16th and L, they hit the right and gunned it and in this intersection they hit the scooter.” He estimated that he was about a block behind the driver of the Jeep when they hit Kake.

Givens told the supervisor that he was trying to give a “look out for a fleeing vehicle” when the Jeep hit the moped rider.

MPD is investigating the incident as an officer-involved death, and its Internal Affairs Division will determine whether Givens is in some way responsible. Givens has been with the department since 2012, according to employment records. 

Under MPD’s general orders, officers are prohibited from pursuing a vehicle “for the sole purpose of affecting a traffic stop.” Officer Terence Sutton was convicted of second-degree murder in late 2022 for a pursuit that led to the death of another moped rider, Karon Hylton-Brown. But that chase lasted for three minutes and spanned several blocks near Kennedy Street NW, with Sutton reaching speeds of up to 45 miles per hour.

Police are still searching for the driver of the Jeep who struck Kake.

—Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Retired professor and alleged jewel thief Lawrence Gray pleaded no contest in Rhode Island to stealing a diamond and sapphire brooch that belonged to a woman who hosted him for a wedding. Gray’s alleged thievery extends from Rhode Island to New York to D.C., where he has been accused of stealing jewels and a watch from his late romantic partner and Georgetown socialite Jacqueline Quillen. Gray has said he doesn’t consider his pleas an acknowledgment of guilt and denied that he stole from anyone. [Post]
• Nearly 70 percent of Metro bus riders do not pay a fare, according to WMATA, a dramatic increase from about 17 percent before the pandemic. The D.C. Council previously attempted to eliminate bus fares, but that law has been delayed amid pushback from Metro and Mayor Muriel Bowser. [Post]
• Attorney General Brian Schwalb, along with attorneys general in 13 states, is suing TikTok, calling the social media platform “digital nicotine.” Schwalb claims in the lawsuit that the platform is addictive and psychologically damaging for kids and misleads parents about safety on the app in order to generate profits. [WTOP, OAG]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah says the city has completed its review of grants and contracts related to violence interruption programs (initiated in the wake of Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White’s bribery charges) and hasn’t found any additional wrongdoing. But people managing these programs told a Council committee that there still needs to be more city oversight and staffing for them to really succeed. [Post]
• D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson is offering an anonymous survey to Metropolitan Police Department officers as she seeks help identifying cops who might have ties to white supremacist groups. An MPD lieutenant warned his subordinates against participating in it. [NBC Washington]
• Weeks after Mayor Bowser enraged lawmakers by telling them budget mistakes blew up plans to fund new housing vouchers, Council Chair Phil Mendelson is exploring ways to force the Department of Human Services to spend money on this rental assistance anyway. [Informer]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• The intimate, ’70s-inspired cocktail and record bar Cana opened in Adams Morgan in mid-September and reservations are already hard to come by. The 42-seat hot spot celebrates Brazilian fare from drinks to food—both of which are “relatively underrepresented stateside,” writes Tierney Plumb. [Eater]
• Trick or treat: There are plenty of Halloween and Día de Muertos-themed pop-ups popping up all over town this month. [City Cast]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)