The funding would help chip away at a maintenance backlog of $405 million, and pay for new playgrounds, sports facilities and more.

The National Park Service has released its initial peak bloom prediction.

The peak is earlier than the historical average.

The National Park Service announced today that a Massachusetts-based company will take over the Georgetown waterfont site currently operated by Jack’s Boathouse.

Written by DCist Contributor Ben Schuman-Stoler We all know about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, but probably mostly as a stop on the round-the-Mall tour we give visiting family and friends. If they ask, we tell them that a young woman won a competition in the ’80s. They say, “Wow, that’s interesting. What a great memorial.” But it remains an emotional site, its message solemn and powerful, which we were reminded of when two acts of…

Teresa Chambers, the whistleblowing former U.S. Parks Police chief is in court once again fighting for her old job back. Chambers, who was suspended last December — and ultimately fired in July by the Interior Department, had complained publicly that her agency was understaffed and underfunded, leaving security of Washington’s memorials and park land in jeopardy. This, of course, didn’t sit too well with her superiors. Her suspension and firing, brought politicians into the fray,…