WINNER OF THREE SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS
Vol. 56, No. 42 • August 5 - 11, 2021
July/August 2021. Volume 7. Issue 7.
Center Section
Remembering Velvet Lounge
Don't Miss this Month's WI Bridge
D.C. Leaders Say ‘Enough” with Rising Homicide Rates Solutions Offered to End Homicides James Wright WI Staff Writer
5 Police Chief Robert J. Contee III greets the crowd at Kennedy Recreation Center at the Metropolitan Police Department’s National Night Out held throughout the District of Columbia on August 3. (Abdullah Konte/The Washington Informer)
D.C. Convention Reopens with New Ben’s Chili Bowl Location James Wright WI Staff Writer
The Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the District’s downtown reopened Aug. 3 with a new Ben’s Chili Bowl location as one of its newest vendors. “D.C. is open,” Greg O’Dell, the president and CEO of Events DC, the organization that manages the convention center, said at a news conference at the facility. “At one time, we had a hospital here, ready to take on the overflow of COVID patients from other hospitals but we didn’t have to use it. We
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District leaders have had enough of the increasing homicide rate and are asking residents to get more involved in fighting crime and to seek solutions to the violence. “We keep seeing our babies… getting shot,” D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8) said at a news conference on July 17 in the aftermath of the killing of 6-year-old Nyiah Courtney at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X Avenues, Southeast on July 16. “Innocent kids are getting shot. We are
seeing this over and over again. It’s not just the mayor, or the council members or the police but it’s on everybody to get involved to stop this. This ain’t nothing new for us. It’s been going on far too long, and it’s on us to save us. Nobody’s coming to save us but us.” As of Aug. 3, the District homicide tally is 114, up from 109 this time last year, a 5 percent increase, according to D.C. Metropolitan Police Department statistics. While the number of homicides has increased, overall violent crime in the District has decreased 1 percent from this time last year.
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Family and Friends of Murdered Youth Seek End to Violence Sam P.K.Collins WI Staff Writer In the aftermath of a young person’s murder, other youth left to grieve include siblings, cousins and friends -- all attempting to make sense of what has become the recent norm in the Greater Washington Area. For Kiron Andrews, the last few months has meant changes in the daily routine, increasing the focus on extracurricular activities and even standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other youth as a participant 3 Jamal Gomez holding a photo of the late Davon McNeal. (Anthony Tilghman/ The Washington Informer)
in a citywide initiative to end gun violence. “I talk about my problems and face my fears,” Kiron said. Kiron, 12, recently spoke to a group standing on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard in Southeast about how he’s dealt with the loss of his friend and onetime teammate, Karon Brown. Two years ago, Karon, 11, died after being shot outside of a gas station on Naylor Road in Southeast during what had been alleged to be a dispute between children and a group of older men.
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