Thousands of mourners lined the sidewalk outside the restored Howard Theatre waiting to pay their last respects to Chuck Brown, the D.C. music legend who died earlier this month at age 75.
UPDATE: Oh, it looks like it’s back up. Go, go, go, local political wonks!
Tomorrow, Sulaimon Brown will finally testify in front of Mary Cheh’s Council committee on government operations. And there’ll be something new to talk about: the Post’s Nikita Stewart reports that while preparing for his testimony, Brown located the money orders he claims the Vince Gray campaign gave him to disparage former mayor Adrian Fenty during last fall’s election.
The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation yesterday which would allow it to take Sulaimon Brown and Cherita Whiting to court in order enforce subpoenas to compel their testimony — and the strategy might actually work.
UPDATE: Quick work by the Council! (Hey, maybe they all wanted to go get in line at Shake Shack.) After introducing the bill, Cheh and Tommy Wells had a brief back and forth regarding punishments for ducking the subpoena (basically, anyone doing so would be held in contempt), then the bill passed.
Both Sulaimon Brown and Cherita Whiting, who the Council spent serious time and effort subpoenaing to appear at a hearing on the hiring practices of the Gray administration, didn’t show up as expected at the Wilson Building today.
Somewhat lost in the Sulaimonmania has been the hiring of Cherita Whiting, who got a plum job in the Department of Parks and Recreation before resigning in April because she failed to disclose a 2001 felony conviction. But the Washington Times’ Jeffrey Anderson has remained on the case!
The lengthy quest of Mary Cheh’s office to serve a subpoena to Sulaimon Brown and Cherita Whiting has ended! A statement released this afternoon by the Councilmember says that Brown and Whiting were served notice via certified mail and are expected to appear before the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment on May 13. Mark your calendars, people.