Washington, D.C. News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME XIII NUMBER 1 FEBRUARY 1, 2025
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, a science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
- Washington, D.C. News Edition of Continental Newstime
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* Congressional News Briefs … Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has announced that she is following the course of legislation she recently introduced that would replace the jurisdiction of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District over the prosecution of local crimes with a prosecutor’s office in the District of Columbia, designated under local law. The Norton bill provides that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would retain authority to prosecute federal crimes, a smaller part of its caseload. The Congresswoman explains that her proposal would carry out the wishes of 82 percent of District voters, as expressed in a 2002 advisory referendum, and she contends that even territories of the U.S. have local prosecutors to prosecute local crimes. Called the District of Columbia Prosecutor Home Rule Bill, the legislation, Norton estimates, would save the federal government tens of millions of dollars annually by economizing on staff expenses and the number of Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. She notes that previously the House Committee on Oversight and Reform expressed sympathy for the measure when part of Norton’s District of Columbia Home Rule Expansion Bill that it passed out of Committee. The Congresswoman suggests that the current division of authority makes no sense, because the District’s own Attorney-General exercises authority to prosecute most crimes committed by juveniles and some crimes committed by adults, while the U.S. Attorney’s Office exercises authority to prosecute some crimes committed by juveniles and most crimes committed by adults. Concentrating all authority to prosecute local crimes in the District of Columbia, Norton further reasons, would give Washington, D.C. residents influence in the enforcement of all their laws. The Congresswoman also reports that the current House of Representatives, just as two previous Congresses, has passed her bill to revoke the independent real-estate leasing authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on the ground that the General Services Administration (GSA) was specifically established with real-estate leasing authority. In stating her position, Norton observes, “House passage brings the federal government a step closer to eliminating the inefficient, wasteful, and redundant involvement of the Securities and Exchange Commission in real-estate decisions. The SEC should focus on its core mission of protecting investors; maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitating capital formation—not on real-estate procurements.” She insists, “Congress created this problem by granting the SEC leasing authority, and now Congress must fix it by revoking that authority. I look forward to Senate passage of this important bill.” She informs that the GSA, as the U.S. government’s civilian real-estate agency, under her bill, would arrange SEC real-estate procurements, with the SEC able to provide input. Short of that, she charges, “the SEC has wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars as it has stumbled through leasing mistake after leasing mistake.” Citing “an improper sole-source procurement of nearly one million square feet of leased space” as the motivation for her reform proposal, the Congresswoman emphasizes, “Then-SEC Chairwoman Mary L. Schapiro promised in a Congressional hearing that the SEC would allow GSA to handle its real-estate procurements to avoid such issues in the future. However, the SEC effectively vetoed a multi-million-dollar procurement completed on its behalf by GSA. The SEC then refused to document its concerns to Congress, and justified its actions using the leasing authority it had previously promised not to use.” Norton recounts that chapter ended as follows: “In September, 2021, after much back and forth between the two agencies, GSA entered into a headquarters lease for the SEC, and the SEC said it will use GSA in future real-estate procurements.” In other developments, Norton has taken issue with Arizona Representative Andy Biggs over his introduction of a bill that she categorizes as anti-home-rule and that was marked up during the previous Congress by the House Committee on Oversight & Accountability. On its surface, she notes, the bill “would exempt certain organizations doing business in D.C. from registering with the District, the same requirement states regularly enforce.” However, the Congresswoman’s suspicion is that “(t)he bill appears to be politically-motivated, introduced in response to a reported investigation by the D.C. Attorney-General into a conservative legal activist for misusing charitable funds for the activist’s personal benefit.” Saying that the D.C. Attorney-General is only enforcing the District’s Nonprofit Corporation Act, not distinguishable from every state’s requirement that business organizations, for-profit and non-profit alike, doing business in their jurisdiction register there, Norton declares, “The intent of this bill is to reduce D.C.’s authority to apply its laws to nonprofits that are formed under the laws of another jurisdiction doing business in D.C., and I strongly oppose it.” Having marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day pressing Congress to further Dr. King’s causes of voting rights and D.C. home rule by passing her D.C. Statehood Bill, House Bill 51, the Congresswoman has also introduced the District of Columbia Federal Officials Residency Requirement Equality Bill, to require U.S. District Court judges, Circuit Court judges, the U.S. Attorney, the two U.S. Marshals, and the U.S. Court Clerk who serve the District of Columbia to reside in the District. Her
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view is: “These federal officials serve D.C. directly as a hometown, not as a federal jurisdiction. They should be a part of the community they serve and should fully understand the unique issues facing District of Columbia residents, which can only be fully realized by residing in the District of Columbia.” It’s her practice to recommend nominees for positions in D.C. who commit to living in the District during their terms in office, and she underscores: “Congress, through laws requiring residency in virtually every other jurisdiction, and the courts, through the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, have recognized the importance of federal officials’ connections with the communities they serve. The District of Columbia should be treated no differently,” she says.
* District Government News Briefs … When the District Council Executive Administration & Labor Committee last met on January 27, it addressed Rules of Organization and Procedure for the Committee. Also last meeting on January 27, the Youth Affairs Committee took up its Staff Appointment Resolution of 2025 and also dealt with its Rules of Organization and Procedure. When the DC Council met on January 28 in a virtual meeting, it conducted a Public Hearing on the matter of expulsion of Council Member Trayon White, Sr., who had pleaded not guilty to a federal bribery charge, for Code of Conduct Violations, on the recommendation of an ad hoc Council Committee. And the Council has a virtual legislative meeting planned for 12 Noon on February 4. The District Council Committee on Business & Economic Development is set to hold a Performance Oversight Hearing and to receive testimony from Events DC and the Public Service Commission during a virtual meeting on February 7 starting at 9:30 AM. The Committee of the Whole next meets on February 18 at 11 AM. In addition, Mayor Muriel Bowser announces that families have until February 10 to apply for reduced rates for summer-camp registration and that registration for DC Department of Parks and Recreation Summer Camps opens on February 14, with a lottery system operating through March 3, 2025. Meantime, camp offerings are due to be published on February 3. In other developments, the Mayor reports that not only is the DC Department of Forensic Biology and Forensic Chemistry accredited by the American National Standards Institute, but its National Accreditation Board has likewise re-accredited the DC Department’s Latent Fingerprint Unit, finding that its forensic work is precise and reliable, is consistent with best practices, and conforms to the highest-quality standards. The Mayor vowed to “keep our focus on holding people accountable, delivering justice, and keeping our city safe.” Besides, with almost 250 DC restaurants taking part in promotions encouraged by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and with this Winter Restaurant Week extending through February 2, the Mayor calls attention to this opportunity to experience the District’s culinary scene and support local businesses at the same time.
* School District News Briefs … The DC State Board of Education, which is under the leadership of President Jacque Patterson, held its College, Career, and Life Readiness Committee Meeting yesterday at 4 PM, the meeting focusing on discussion and consideration of the priorities the State Board has identified. The Board’s next Public Meeting is scheduled at 5:30 PM on February 19 in the Marion S. Barry, Jr. Building (441 4th Street, NW). Led overall by Chancellor Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee, the DC Public Schools Office of External Affairs operates a program called Parent University, which includes workshop opportunities for families to discuss strategies and learn others from the District’s Central Office teams. What is more, the Chancellor reports a snapshot of the District that reveals the existence of 11 dual-language programs, 44 industry certifications and 27 career pathways, 33 unique Advanced Placement Courses available at all District high schools, and 3 city-wide Early College Programs and Dual Enrollment opportunities at 17 area colleges and universities.
*Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions at Washington/Reagan National Airport, as of 4:52 PM on January 28, are mostly cloudy, with a temperature of 48 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 39 percent, wind out of the south at 8 miles per hour, barometric pressure of 29.72 inches, a dewpoint of 24 degrees, and visibility of 10 miles. The over-night forecast calls for partly-cloudy skies, a low temperature of about 34 degrees, and light southwest wind increasing to 9 to 14 miles per hour in the evening. Look for daytime high temperatures of 57 degrees on January 29 and January 31, a daytime high temperature of 46 degrees on January 30 and 43 degrees on February 1. From January 29 through January 31, expect over-night low temperatures ranging between 30 and 38 degrees, with a 20-percent chance of rain and snow on January 30, followed by a 50-percent chance of rain. A 90-percent chance of rain is anticipated during the daytime hours of January 31; a 60-percent chance of rain, that night. Sunny skies are forecast on January 29 and January 30, and mostly-sunny skies are expected on February 1, but that night expect the over-night low temperature to drop to 27 degrees. Mostly-cloudy skies are anticipated on February 2, the diurnal temperature variation being 7 degrees, from a high of 44 degrees to an over-night low temperature of 37 degrees.
* Sports … Although the Commanders’ drive for a Super Bowl appearance ended on January 26, they entered the National Football Conference Championship Game having won 5 straight games in the regular season and after defeating the Detroit Lions by a score of 45-31 in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs, before the Eagles eliminated them 55-23. In the NHL, the Capitals host the Jets today with face-off at 7 PM (Eastern Time), and over in the NBA, the Wizards visit the Timberwolves this evening.
Please E-mail continentalnewstime@gmail.com for a copy of Boris Grann and Neil Strahl’s cartoon feature.
One of the questions Ralph Nader is yet to answer about his book, “Let’s Start the Revolution”:
“Can that ‘left/right coalition’ you mention hang together once formed on certain issues when one side fails to rein in its desire to initiate new spending programs and the other side objects that it’s their money that is to be spent?”
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* Proverbs (chapter 28/verse 22): “He that hastes to be rich has an evil eye, and considers not that poverty shall come upon him.” hastes=hurries.
[A timely warning against get-rich-quick schemes]
A free copy of the Etna, California News Edition of Continental Newstime [dated August 14, 2020] containing the newspaper feature of outdoor writer Lee Snyder is also available by
E-mail request to info@continentalnewsservice.com
*Free
Marion, Montana News Edition
of Continental Newstime newsmagazine
VOLUME I NUMBER 1 AUGUST 17, 2022
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This is not the whole newspaper, but a special complimentary, on-line edition of the general-interest, periodic newsmagazine, Continental Newstime. The rest of the newspaper includes national and world news, newsmaker profiles, commentary/analysis, periodic interviews, travel and entertainment features, an intermittent science column, humor, sports, cartoons, comic strips, and puzzles, and averages 26 pages per month. Continental Features/Continental News Service publishes, on a monthly rotational basis, special, complimentary on-line newspapers: Washington DC News Edition, Chicago News Edition, Honolulu News Edition, Atlanta News Edition, Anchorage News Edition, Boston News Edition, Seattle News Edition, Miami News Edition, San Diego News Edition, Rochester (N.Y.) News Edition, Minneapolis News Edition, and Houston News Edition.
Marion, Montana News Edition of Continental Newstime
Editor-in-Chief: Gary P. Salamone
Continental Features/Continental News Service
501 W. Broadway, Plaza A, PMB# 265
San Diego, CA 92101
(858) 492-8696
E-mail: info@continentalnewsservice.com
* Congressional News Briefs … Marion’s agent in the U.S. House of Representatives, Matt Rosendale, decided he was not going to sugar-coat House Bill 5376. While House Democrats said they were acting to pass the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the Congressman contended that legislation increasing the size of government, raising taxes on hard-working Americans and spending billions of taxpayer dollars on the Left’s Green New Deal was actually an “Inflation Acceleration Act” and he cast a vote against the bill. Warning that the spending would “cripple our nation’s budget,” he noted that the legislation “will also raise an army of 87,000 IRS agents to squeeze more taxes out of already-hurting American families. With frivolous spending and an enlarged, aggressive IRS, the only climate that will be changing over the next year will be the economic climate, and it will get worse.” He offered this solution: “To reduce inflation, Congress must freeze spending, a concept the Left does not understand. Reining in federal spending and reducing taxes to lower inflation will reaffirm confidence in those investing in our economy.” On his part, Senator Steve Daines, commenting on the $739-billion, so-called Inflation Reduction Act of President Joseph Biden and Senate Democrats that he opposed, asserted that Senate Democrats voted against Daines’ amendment to eliminate policies that would increase costs on Made in Montana energy and other amendments that would render the bill “less painful for Montanans.” He characterized, as “supersizing the IRS,’ the plan to hire more than 80,000 Internal Revenue Service agents “to audit small and medium-size businesses and assert control over the lives and finances of Montanans.” He termed a subsidy for “rich people” the provision to offer $7,500 tax credits to individuals making up to $150,000, so they can purchase expensive electric vehicles. Considering the bill “a slap in the face of Montana families,” the Senator added, “The Democrats’ reckless tax-and-spend bill is bad for Montana families, bad for Montana energy jobs and bad for Montanans’ pocketbooks.” Working with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, Senator Daines has introduced bipartisan legislation, known as the BABES (Bottles and Breastfeeding Equipment Screening) Enhancement Act, to require the Transportation Security Administration to clarify and update guidance, every five years, on handling breast milk, baby formula, and other related nutrition products based on consultation with leading maternal-health experts. Calling the legislation a “Bill to Support Montana Moms,” Daines informs that companion legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives, and the measure is endorsed by such organizations as the March of Dimes and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Senator Jon Tester, in turn, as the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, announces that the $792.1-billion Defense Appropriations Bill earmarks almost $182 million for Montana priorities, saying, “This legislation will keep America safe by investing in Malmstrom Air Force Base, giving our troops a well-deserved pay raise [4.6 percent], ensuring our servicemen and women are well-equipped with the most up-to-date technology, and shifting resources towards programs that’ll maintain our fighting edge over adversaries like China and Russia.” For example, over in Columbia Falls, uAvionix is due to receive $7 million to develop Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System communications. In addition, he reports that, for Montana, the American Rescue Plan Act means $266 million to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas of the state, something that is “one of the biggest keys to success for Montana’s students, families, and small businesses.”
* State Government News Briefs … Governor Greg Gianforte has expressed the view that the Montana Supreme Court, after upholding a district-court order temporarily blocking three pro-life bills he signed into law—the Court should not delay bringing into line its 1999 ruling in Armstrong v. State with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision finding that there is no constitutional right to abortion and that the states are entitled to restrict abortion. In other developments, the state legislature has highlighted a recent report by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology that acknowledges findings of the Department of Environmental Quality that the ingestion of too much manganese through drinking water may be harmful, at the same time the Bureau notes that the mineral, naturally present in many common foods, is essential for proper nutrition and that too little may be harmful, as well. Some research shows that adults and children drinking water with high manganese concentrations for sustained periods may suffer from memory and attention problems and motor-skill deficits. But, since most Montanans tap groundwater supplies for their drinking water, they mainly avoid high levels of manganese. Those that do not? The Bureau’s Ground Water Assessment Program reports that 7 percent of the water samples it tested exceeded the recommended health-standard limit for
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adults and children older than 6 years of age. Checking 3,858 water samples from across the state, the Bureau gives assurance that manganese concentrations were low and safe for 85 percent of the well samples it analyzed and that lower concentrations were recorded in samples from western Montana aquifers; higher concentrations, in the eastern part of the state. Specifically, certain aquifers near Flathead Lake, north and west of Great Falls, and in the Missouri River Valley yielded more samples with elevated manganese concentrations. The Safe Drinking Water Act categorizes manganese as a secondary water contaminant, like iron, pH and sulfate, meaning it is safe to drink, but may damage water equipment and transmit an unpleasant odor and taste. The state legislature reports that 380 Montana schools, to date, have tested water fixtures for the primary water contaminant, lead and are implementing remedies for contaminated fixtures.
* County Government News Briefs … The Flathead County Board of Commissioners [Brad W. Abell, Pamela Holmquist, and Randy Brodehl], at its last meeting on August 11, considered six different lakeshore permits, including one at McGregor Lake, one at Flathead Lake, and another at Whitefish Lake; conferred with Erik Mack, of the Planning & Zoning Office, who reported an uptick in zoning violations; discussed giving authorization to publish a Notice of Public Hearing on Road Abandonment concerning an unnamed portion of road off Highway 93 West; took up the matter of authorization to publish a Call for Bids for the estimated $120,000 Fall, 2022 Pavement Striping Project; was due to hear from Liz Wood, of Mountain Climber Transit, on ridership increases, and from Ashley Cummins, Director of the County Library, who reported approximately 1,000 daily patron visits system-wide and who provided an update on the Library Board vacancy; planned to meet with Sheriff Brian Heino; and, among other County business, was tasked to sign a Behavioral Health Hospital Provider Agreement with Logan Health.
* School District News Briefs … The Marion Elementary School District, with the library closed during the summer due to remodeling, plans a Back to School Kick Off Event on September 1, with school starting on September 6. Earlier this month, the District posted a notice that it was hiring for full-time teaching positions in physical education and in the sixth-grade classroom. The School Board is scheduled to meet again on September 12. Meantime, in the Kalispell Public Schools District, Flathead High School announces that classes resume either on August 31 or September 1, depending on the grade level.
* Sports … The Flathead High School Boys Varsity Football Team is set to play Skyview on August 27 at 7 PM and is due to visit Gallatin on September 2 for a 7 PM kickoff.
* Weather … The National Weather Service reports that current conditions 17 miles west-southwest of Kalispell, as of 3:15 PM on August 17, are sunny, with a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit, relative humidity of 15 percent, barometric pressure of 29.95 inches, visibility of 10 miles, wind out of the south-southeast at 3 miles per hour, and a dewpoint of 36 degrees. The over-night forecast calls for clear skies, northeast wind of 3 to 5 miles per hour and a low temperature of about 55 degrees. Tomorrow, look for sunny skies, with a daily high temperature of about 91 degrees, calm wind becoming east-northeast wind of about 6 miles per hour in the morning. Thursday night, expect mostly-clear skies, with a low temperature of about 56 degrees and northeast wind of 3 to 6 miles per hour.
* Community Calendar … August 19—Pachyderm Meeting of Flathead County Republicans (12 Noon-1 PM) at the Eagles (37 First Street W, Kalispell); August 27—Pheasants Forever Chapter #138 Banquet (5 PM-9 PM), at the Fairgrounds; September 16/17—Quilt Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 17—Glacier Rabbit Show, at the Fairgrounds; September 30—Kalispell Ski Swap, at the Fairgrounds.
Dry Tortugas [Reprinted and Updated] by Lee Snyder
Named “Las Tortugas” (the turtles) by 16th-century Spanish explorers who found the harmless reptiles nesting on its shores, the Dry Tortugas is a collection of several sandy spits and tree-dotted islands. Fort Jefferson, once famous as a 19th-century “American Devil’s Island,” remains one of the world’s largest brick structures. The red brick fort is most famous as the jail where Dr. Mudd was held after treating Lincoln’s assassin for a broken leg.
Fort Jeff, past National Monument, is now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, which, together with the water and island reefs, is one of this nation’s most remote and unique units of our National Park system. While sharks are still occasionally found swimming in the moat, tourists are more likely seen snorkeling around the fort’s outer boundary viewing a dazzling array of fish, coral and sponges. Today, the Coast Guard’s close scrutiny of increasing public pressure allows visitors to see what underwater Florida is supposed to be. Divers claim the park waters are the liveliest anywhere in the state. “Little Africa,” an unspoiled section of coral reef near Loggerhead Key, the largest island in the chain, boasts expanses of staghorn and elkhorn coral more like those found in Caribbean than in Florida waters.
Nearly 27,000 people—mostly fishermen, yachtsmen, and divers—visit the park by boat each year.
But, for a six-week period, the bulk of the visitors attend for another reason. Spring in the Tortugas is definitely a birdwatcher’s delight. Florida’s peninsular shape is like an appendage reaching out into the ocean. Its islands are the first safety offered travelers crossing the Gulf of Mexico…. The “funneling effect” allows for close inspections of the birds in their most colorful breeding plumage—an opportunity that draws enthusiastic birders from all over the world….On any given spring day in the Tortugas, birders with four, five and six hundred birds on their lists are found. Listers with seven and eight hundred on their lists are usually there as guides, having visited the islands years before. But, even so, an errant species from South America, the Bahamas or Cuba could fly by adding to all lists.
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