Results tagged “children>”

So President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama opened up the White House to trick-or-treaters on Saturday, which is pretty cool. Kids from 11 D.C. area schools were invited to come by and meet the first couple as they handed out this administration's version of a Halloween treat: White House M&Ms, a sugar cookie, and ... you guessed it, dried fruit. Talk about boo.

We frequently hear complaints during the school year about groups of kids on their way home from school misbehaving and causing problems on the city's public transit system. And now WMATA is encouraging you to lodge those complaints with Metro Transit Police. Metro has designated a specific phone number, 202-962-2118, to report disruptive behavior on the part of kids. The transit agency also says it will be deploying additional officers to trouble spots during the after-school hours, in an effort to break up trouble before it escalates. “We want to start off the new school year right, and let students and all of our riders know that their safety is our top priority. Everyone should feel secure while riding Metro,” said Metro Transit Police Chief Michael A. Taborn in a statement.

D.C. Fire/EMS crews were dispatched at around noon to the 5000 block of Glover Road NW in Rock Creek Park, for a report of multiple bee stings. According to Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer, a tour group going through the park came across a bee hive, the bees became agitated somehow, and a total of eight people, both adults and children, were stung multiple times. Two children were taken to Children's Hospital, while six others were well enough to skip the ambulance trip. The condition of the two children at the hospital is described as not serious, but they did receive multiple bee stings. No word on how many total people were in the tour group, but it seems fair to guess that nearly all of them will come away with a lifetime fear of bees. Shudder.

You have to sit through an intro from NBC4's Pat Collins to get to it, but this recently released video of D.C. police interviewing Banita Jacks shortly after her arrest truly is chilling, though not for the reasons we expected. Jacks definitely appears to be weak and tired (she had by all accounts been starving herself, too) but what we found most startling was how lucid she actually seems. Given the nature of the crime, we were expecting the rantings of a woman who had little to no grasp on reality, but Jacks actually speaks to detectives in even tempered, complete thoughts, noting that she knows what the discovery of the bodies of her four daughters must look like to police, and explaining that she didn't seek out help when her daughters started dying because she "knew that this was going to happen ... a bunch of trouble for me."

Breaking news from the Washington Post:

A D.C. Superior Court judge on Wednesday found Banita Jacks guilty of killing her four daughters in a case that shook the region for its cruelty.

Continue reading "Banita Jacks Found Guilty of Murdering Her Daughters"

D.C. Police are asking for the community's help searching for 13-year-old Nancy Arriaza, of Indian Head, Md. Nancy was last seen a week ago at her home in Maryland, but D.C. police are involved in the search because she frequently visits people in the 700 block of Longfellow Street NW and the 700 of block Kennedy Street NW in the District.

The three young children whom police were searching for Thursday have been found, WJLA reports. The kids, 4-year-old Keith Dwayne Gray Jr., 2-year-old Mykia Aliyah Gray and 5-month-old Keyon Deone Gray, were reportedly found at the Columbia Heights Community Center at 14th and Girard Streets NW on Thursday evening, and were then taken to a hospital for observation. The adult family member who was supposed to be watching them, 48-year-old Toilynn Braxton, has reportedly been arrested - WJLA says she was wanted on an outstanding warrant after she failed to appear in court this week, and could face more charges stemming from this incident.

D.C. police are looking for help locating three missing children from Northeast D.C. that have been missing since 8:45 a.m. yesterday morning. The kids, four-year-old Keith Gray, two-year-old Mykia Gray and five-month-old Kenyon Gray, were reported missing from 2106 I Street NE around 1:30 a.m. today, according to emails from MPD. The children, all light-complected African-Americans with brown eyes and brown hair, were left in the care of their mother's cousin, Toilynn Braxton, who police say is often seen in the 14th St. NW and Georgia Ave. NW corridor. Police do not suspect foul play, but are asking for the community's help in providing any information as to the kids' whereabouts. Call 311 with any information. Fifth District Commander Greene has also made an urgent plea for assistance in passing out fliers to locate the missing children. Anyone able to assist in passing out fliers is asked to meet at the Command Post at 22nd & I Streets NE.

The AP is reporting a that a group of students have filed a class action lawsuit against Vienna, Va.-based Envision EMI, after they claim the company failed to deliver on promises of special access to President Obama's inauguration in January. The students each paid thousands of dollars for a trip to the inauguration, only to be disappointed: "...the lawsuit says once the students got to Washington, they had no tickets for the inauguration or parade. And the balls they attended were not official events connected to the inauguration." I have a lot sympathy for these kids believing they could buy their way in to a special inaugural experience, and it certainly sounds like this company got greedy and promised way more than they could deliver. But the complaint that the ball they went to wasn't "official" seems pretty naive. There were hundreds of inauguration-themed parties over the course of the four-day long celebration, and only ten of them were "official."

                     

Traditionally, the White House Easter Egg Roll has been attended mostly by D.C. area families who camped out early with their kids to score tickets to the free annual event. But on Monday, the 2009 White House Easter Egg Roll played host to over 30,000 people from 45 states and the District of Columbia, thanks to a new online ticket distribution plan put in place by the new administration. Local parents grumbled, but 4,000 tickets were also distributed separately to students from D.C., Maryland and Virginia public schools. DCist photographer Meaghan Gay was there to capture what an Easter Egg Roll hosted by the Obama family looks like.

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum sent us this photo today of a celebration yesterday in their Space Hall. More than 200 elementary school students danced the afternoon away to the sounds of children's band Rocknoceros to launch the "Flights of Fancy" program, which uses activities, storytime and dramatic play to teach kids about all things air and space. After listening to some Rocknoceros tunes on their web site (and laughing giddily at the silly '80s style design complete with waving space monkeys), we might just get up and dance, too.

Montgomery County Police say they have tentatively identified the two bodies found in Renee Bowman's freezer as two of Bowman's adopted daughters. They also released this undated photo of Jasmine Nicole Bowman, who would now be 9, and Minnet Cecila Bowman, who would be 11. A family friend made the identification, though as the Post points out, it's not yet an official identification. Still, police don't expect to discover the bodies belonged to anyone else once the autopsies are completed.

The Post continues its tireless, grim updates of the Renee Bowman case, with the latest crediting three reporters in the byline and four other individuals as having contributed. New details: a lawyer who represented Bowman in a personal injury case between 2003 and 2005 describes her as being "not the same person" she was then. Bowman is apparently confused about what's going on, even though she told police one of her daughters died of starvation, while the other died from injuries sustained after a fall. Maryland medical examiners have not yet determined causes of death for the two bodies, believed to be those of Bowman's adopted daughters, that were found in a freezer inside her home in Calvert County, Md. With a case like this, you really have to hope that this woman had some sort of psychotic break and suddenly became totally nuts. Otherwise all you're left with is something far more sinister.

The Calvert County, Md. Sheriff's Department has arrested one Renee Bowman, 43, after discovering what appeared to be the bodies of two children in a freezer in Bowman's home over the weekend. Authorities went to the house responding to a report of child abuse, after neighbors found Bowman's 7-year-old adopted daughter alone outside the house, showing signs of abuse and neglect. When they searched the house, they found the remains, and Bowman allegedly told them that the bodies belonged to her two other adopted daughters, and that they had both been in the freezer since February. Bowman used to live in Rockville, in Montgomery County, but moved to Calvert County in February, so charges related to the bodies could ultimately be filed in Montgomery. Bowman is currently being held in Calvert County on charges of first-degree child abuse.

Via the Post, Banita Jacks pleaded not guilty this morning to first-degree murder charges in the deaths of her four daughters. A trial date has been set for Dec. 1, and her attorneys have 15 days to inform Judge Frederick Weisberg if they intend to go forward with an insanity defense. Jacks has also been charged with failing to provide the girls with adequate nutrition and medical attention. The decomposed bodies of the four girls, who had been variously beaten, strangled and stabbed, were discovered in a Southeast rowhouse in January. Authorities now believe they had been dead for six months before they were found.

The Examiner has word of the death of another child who had been recently brought to the attention of the District's troubled Child and Family Services Agency. A 6-year-old girl, identified only by her initials, DHB, swallowed a handful of antidepressants prescribed to her father. She was taken to a hospital last week, and later died. Two weeks before, someone called the city’s child welfare hot line and reported the family was having “a housing issue,” Interim Attorney General Peter Nickles told the paper. A social worker assigned to the case, but who never saw the child, has been suspended and might be fired.

Earlier this month the Post revealed that the majority of mail sent from the District is bastardized with a postmark reading "SOUTHERN MD." or "SUBURBAN MD.," a practice imposed soon after a 2001 anthrax attack in a D.C. postal facility. District officials and voting rights activists were none-too-pleased -- after all, if they take our postmark, what's next? Our women and children?

Sure, Harriette Walters might have stolen upwards of $44 million from the District's coffers, but at least she wasn't stealing directly from low-income school children. According to a WTOP report this morning, District officials have arrested and charged a city official with submitting false expense reports totaling $11,385 for big bills at local restaurants and strip clubs. Emerson Crawley, a program manager at After School for All at Shaw Junior High School, allegedly spent the...

Living in the Nation's Capital, with so many free events going on year-round, it might seem silly to spend a princely sum of money for the privilege of becoming a Member of a local arts organization. But there are a number of good reasons to think about becoming a member -- maybe you're interested in a particular subject that's only shown at a pay-for museum, maybe you're an artist looking to grab a foothold in...

Good morning, Washington. Are ya ready for some embezzlement scandal news? Of course you are! This morning's update comes not from the embattled Office of Tax and Revenue, but rather from the D.C. Public Schools front office, as the Examiner reports that Eugene Smith, the former director of internal audits for DCPS, entered a guilty plea yesterday to charges of stealing nearly $50,000 from a charter school account. Smith was fired by the school system...

Good morning, Washington. Getting going on a Monday is normally difficult enough, but we were having a few technological difficulties this morning as well, so thanks for your patience and bear with this truncated Morning Roundup while we get up to speed. Tax Scandal Triggers Reviews in Counties: Neighboring jurisdictions are apparently taking D.C.'s tax office scandal to heart and initiating big reviews of their agencies. Property tax revenues are slated to be scrutinized in...

Good news in time for Christmas this year; the Warehouse Theater will continue to operate through next summer, according to the institution. The venue is currently hosting Scena Theater's The Maids and will have new shows in February and March. That also means it remains a venue for next year's Fringe Festival. The Warehouse is still looking for a new home. Despite the usual winter doldrums that December brings, there are still a number of...

December begins tomorrow, and that means only one thing: it's time to take that special person in your life to a holiday concert. Do you want to subject him or her to the same old carols, something historical, or something really weird? Here is a list of your options, not including the many performances of Handel's Messiah or The Nutcracker, to be previewed tomorrow. THE BEST OF THE BEST: >> For those who never want...

Good morning, Washington. The pernicious effects of this year's drought could continue to haunt the region during next year's holiday season, according to WTOP. Turns out that young Christmas trees and seedlings being grown in Maryland and Virginia were especially affected by the lack of rainfall, meaning that thousands of area children could suffer the indignity of having to make due with a sub-par decorative plant with which to entice entice Santa to leave them...

This is the sort of tree that gives rise to all sorts of anthropomorphic, evil and/or violent trees in popular entertainment, and inspires waking nightmares in children walking in the woods on cold November evenings. Flickr user brents pix gives the picture the HDR treatment, but with two twists that buck the prevailing trend of overwrought and bizarrely colored HDR shots. First, he presents the photo in black and white (though there is a color version available). Second, he takes a subtle and restrained hand with the effects. He brings out all the craggy details of the tree without pushing into the surreal, making for a chilly and imposing photo.

According to one observer, when the monument the Revisiting Series examined this week was unveiled on M and Connecticut Streets NW, the place was absolutely buzzing. The heroic bronze figure sat draped in his academic robe, book in hand, and looked out on the streets packed with the wide spectrum of adoring fans: men, women, and children “of all races and nationalities.”

My mother and I used to think we were so clever sneaking out of the house after the post-pumpkin pie haze to spend our tryptophan relaxing time at the movie theater, while our extended family lay sprawled on the couches in front of the boob tube ... until a few years later when the entire world caught on and every theater had lines around the block on Turkey Day. Lucky for you, we're in Washington,...

DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week. Indie: Romance & Cigarettes John Turturro's third film as a director is the sort that seems tailor made to become a cult classic. Not nearly polished or glamorous enough to be the sort of Broadway to big screen musical hit that Chicago or Hairspray was, it was too oddball to fit into the heads of most...