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Friday, November 20, 2009

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Park Ranger Rededicates Mislabeled Civil War-Era Graves In D.C.

July 12, 2009 - Ranger Ron Harvey is standing over five gravesites at Battleground National Cemetery in Northwest D.C. These soldiers fought in the battle of Fort Stevens in 1864, the only Civil War battle to occur in Washington... But a clerical error left them with mislabeled graves. It took Harvey nine years to discover their true identities. "I spent a lot of my free time down at the National Archives, just going after record after record after record," he says. Harvey's devoted almost a decade to these soldiers, but he says he can't stop now: "I would love to get the descendants of those individuals whose family members are buried here. I would love to get them together and have this one big reunion." Harvey says he also wants to publish an account of his research. David Schultz reports...

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Eastern Market Business Up After Reopening

July 12, 2009 - Two weeks after the reopening of historic Eastern Market on Capitol Hill business is up but the real test depends on the added costs venders might get hit with. They say business on opening weekend and July 4th was up by as much as 70 percent from before the opening when they were stationed at a temporary facility. Saturday was the first 'typical' weekend after the opening and business then was still up by 10, 15, even 20 percent. But venders also say they don't know what their new lease with the city will look like for a few more weeks. And it will be two weeks before anyone sees an electric bill. Most venders weren't overly worried about the new costs. Their main concern, they said, was ensuring fair competition with the outdoor food sellers. Mana Rabiee reports...