The Needle: Hundreds Rally to Protect Hains Point, D.C. and Virginia Sue to Block Trump’s Arch, Joyce Beatty’s Lawyers Suggest Kennedy Center Board Is Hiding Financial Mismanagement, and More
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Gail O'Hara (via Washington CityPaper)
Hands off: Hundreds attended Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s Hains Point Hoopla 4.0 protest and parade, the group’s fourth rally against convicted felon and President Donald Trump’s plans for East Potomac Park and golf course, on Saturday. Meanwhile, Beltway Golfer publisher Alex Dickson, golfer Dave Roberts, and the D.C. Preservation League are suing the Trump administration over the plans. Plus three points for protesters, lawsuits, and judges trying to stop it. +3 [WTOP]
Arching back: On Saturday, Virginia and D.C. sued to stop Trump’s 250-foot arch; Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered a joint briefing schedule for this and the other arch-related lawsuit she’s overseeing. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb and Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones argue that, for three years, “the Arch project will inevitably snarl traffic between the jurisdictions, produce pollution and stormwater runoff in the Potomac, interfere with emergency services, and pose numerous other challenges.” They seek a temporary restraining order that would slow the plans to move ahead with construction. On Friday, the administration submitted a 106-page plan for the arch showing it would be 12 stories high with an observation deck, an “occupied roof,” and two mezzanines. Inside it would have program space, offices, a staff lounge, circular staircases, multiple elevators, and a “fire command center.” Plus two points for lawsuits and judges. +2 [AP News, Post]
Center back: In a court filing on Friday, lawyers for Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, who is suing to block Trump from closing the Kennedy Center, say documents show the closure is intended to mask the center’s decline since Trump took over the board. They say records demonstrate that officials overstated the cost of keeping the center open during renovations and tried to hide the fact that Trump caused its financial collapse. The lawyers accused center management of carrying out a “sham process” by withholding materials from the board that did not support its agenda and closing it to “hide the ongoing mismanagement of this once vibrant institution and to placate its current chairman.” Judge Christopher Cooper is expected to weigh in this week. Minus one point for trying to ruin our public spaces that our tax dollars built. -1 [NYT]
Pool boy: Daily Show correspondent Michael Kosta had one of our fave Halloween costumes this weekend: He dressed as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Speaking of which, Trump chose the “slow, expensive and problem-plagued” landmark as an appropriate symbol of his failed regime to deliver his closing midterm pitch this afternoon (there will be road closures). Plus one point for Kosta turning a botched job into a holiday victory. +1 [Instagram, NBC4]
24 hours … until the midterm elections. Plus 24 points for hope. +24
