City Desk did a survey of ANC commissioners in Ward 8 today to find out: As the D.C. Council considers what, if any, action to take against Marion Barry following the release of the Bennett Report, what do you think should happen to him?
Mary Buckley, of ANC 8B: Buckley says "everyone should be treated the [...]
The man with an arm like a hammer
Whose back taxes caused quite the clamor
The infamous Cho
Does not have to go
Spend 40 long years in the slammer
D.C. has a new place to eat
(Its transport was quite the mean feat)
You know what'd be hot?
Some food from this 'bot
To make morning breakfast complete
Gee, what was this statement from [...]
"I am a different kind of council member. I ran to get resources, to uplift people of Ward 8 to do everything I can to empower them."–Councilmember Marion S. Barry Jr. on the dais yesterday in response to Robert Bennett's testimony.
By resources, Barry means the thousands of dollars in city funds he funneled to a [...]
Though celebrations and acknowledgments of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday have died down, City Desk feels the need to squeeze in at least one more tidbit on MLK—or at least the avenue named for him in Southeast D.C.
The blog South East Socialite conducted a poll this week to find out what visions residents in Congress [...]
According to new D.C. Police data [PDF], there has been a total of 36 hate crimes committed in the District as of September 30. That's about the same for 2008 and 2007's totals of 38.
By far, the majority of hate crimes have revolved around sexual orientation. As of Sept. 30, there have been 31 such [...]
The Issue: The latest brush-up in the library turf wars is in Ward 8. In September, City Desk reported that some residents were unhappy with the new Washington Highlands Library’s futuristic pod design. The plan is still to raze the old library on 115 Atlantic St. SW and replace it with the new design [...]
The infamous Chevron gas station near the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Malcolm X Avenue SE, which has inspired enough hate-laced prose to fill the Library of Congress, has undergone a makeover. Is it just a fresh coat of paint, or has the station cleaned up its act? According to commentators on [...]
The Issue: Is Ward 8 taking on more than its fair share of social housing? So Others Might Eat (SOME), a D.C. nonprofit group, bought a rundown residential property about a year ago on Mellon Street in southeast with the intention of turning the space into long-term housing for adults with special needs. The complex [...]
I guess I didn't get the memo.
Apparently, this is not the time to ask Councilmember Marion Barry or his staff about Sharon Bowen. Barry paid Bowen $50,000 to work on poverty issues in 2007 and 2008. Bowen was another Barry girlfriend.
Why not today? HBO is premiering a documentary on Barry's life. It's either that or [...]
The Washington Post has uncovered more of the twists and turns from the love-hate triangle between Councilmember Marion Barry, his ex-girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, and her ex-husband Delonta Brighthaupt. The newspaper has obtained e-mails from Barry and his staff that were critical of Watts-Brighthaupt's contract work. The Post writes:
"Barry's complaints included Watts-Brighthaupt's spelling, grammar, tendency to [...]
Yesterday, news broke that Federal lawmen are looking into the allegations surrounding Councilmember Marion Barry's contracts with former girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt as well as his guardianship over half a dozen nonprofits. While two of his associates—Brenda Richardson and Jackie Ward—have referred comment to their attorneys, we expected Barry to do something more media friendly.
In the [...]
So Marion Barry funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to not-quite-organized non-profits. All the nonprofits were founded in his ward. Most of them operate out of his constituent services office on MLK Avenue. In this week's LL column, we probe further into how these non-profits came to exist.
Guess what? All the major players staffing the [...]
On June 30, Councilmember Marion Barry used his office to bounce his on-again-off-again girlfriend's ex-husband from the Wilson Building. At the time, he claimed that Delonta Brighthaupt had threatened him on the phone and in person.
Barry never got into detail with council staff. But it was enough for Brighthaupt to get barred that night from [...]
You can call Councilmember Marion Barry a lot of things: Civil Rights Leader, Mayor-for-Life, Addict, Male Slut. You can now add Incurable Optimist to the list. In his rocky relationship with Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, he endured one rejection after another. And the man kept coming back.
A Hotel spat in Denver where he threw her out of [...]
