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Investment in Anacostia Includes Private, Public Sectors
Stephanie Kaye

July 26, 2009 - New investment is providing hope in D.C.'s Anacostia neighborhood.

The National Endowment for the Arts gave fifty thousand dollars to Duane Gautier, president of ARCH Development. The organization runs art and photo galleries, artists housing and well as a job education and information center.

On the arts side, Gautier believes a "creative economy" attracts business to places like Anacostia. But reluctant landholders are blocking progress. He says investment, including plans for the area's only sit-down restaurant, is making its way east of the Anacostia River. And former NBA player Mark Davis may bring more jobs.

But with multi-million dollar government-based developments going up, and often unused, Gautier hopes D.C. will start providing small loans to help new businesses get off the ground.

Stephanie Kaye reports...

D.C. Voting Rights Movement Looks Beyond Beltway

July 26, 2009 - With the D.C. voting rights bill stalled in Congress, local advocates are taking their message beyond the beltway. Eugene Kinlow is outreach director for D.C. Vote, a vocal advocate of District voting rights. He says the group has retooled its campaign kit. It's recruiting college students from across the country to be their most ardent advocates. After all, he says, it's the elected officials beyond the District who will have to vote on the issue.

"Winning this issue is not anything that really is going to happen in Washington, D.C.," he says. "It's going to happen because constituents in other states who have elected officials have to embrace this issue, and they're not going to embrace it unless they've been educated."

Kinlow says activists like Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton are doing many of the things they can inside the beltway, but that now it's time to work on their "outside game."

Mana Rabie reports...

Eagle Population In Virginia Is Booming, But Birds Are Losing Their Habitats

July 26, 2009 - In the 1970s, there were only 30 nesting pairs of eagles in the entire commonwealth of Virginia. Conservationist Ed Clark says that, today, that number is 700.

"And all of this is a testament to the effectiveness of conservation measures," he says.

But this resurgence in the local eagle population has created other problems. Developers are gobbling up the eagles' natural habitat and many are being removed from their nests. Clark's animal hospital is seeing a huge spike in the number of injured eagles it treats.

"We're getting almost one a week," he says. "So this is certainly going to be a record breaking year for us."

This weekend, Clark released three rehabilitated bald eagles into the wild at Mason Neck State Park in Fairfax County.

David Schultz reports...

Alexandria Police Chief Arrested for Driving While Intoxicated

July 26, 2009 - Alexandria Police chief David Baker was arrested last night in Arlington for driving under the influence. Baker was driving an unmarked city vehicle around 11 p.m. last night when he was involved in a collision near the intersection of Interstate 66 and North Fairfax Drive. Arlington County Police officials say Baker had a blood alcohol content of 0.19, which is more than twice the legal limit in Virginia. Baker was arrested and later released on bond.

Alexandria City Manager Jim Hartmann placed the chief on paid administrative leave, appointing executive deputy chief Earl Cook as acting chief. The city manager says he hopes to complete an administrative review this week to determine if Baker will be allowed to retain his post as chief of police, a job he's held since 2006.

Michael Pope reports...