WASHINGTON — An election. Protests. Commuter changes. A D.C. legend lost.
Take a look back at the local news stories that dominated the headlines in 2017.
10. Southwest Waterfront transforms with opening of the Wharf
Three years after groundbreaking, the District’s largest new development project, an entire community known as District Wharf, opened in October.
The development includes office buildings, restaurants, two music venues and access to the Potomac River. Nearly 2,000 residents will call the new apartments and condos home.
The $2.5 billion project includes 3 million square feet and redeveloped a mile of riverfront. And that’s just Phase 1.
(Matthew Borkoski/PN Hoffman)
9. Game 5 strikes again; Nationals knocked out of playoffs
It came down to Game 5. And again the Washington Nationals weren’t able to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs.
At the start of the 2017 season, the Nationals were among the favorites to go to the World Series.
Despite adding new relief pitchers to the bullpen midseason, the Nats just couldn’t clinch that final victory to move on to the second round.
“They lost because they’re the Nats, and because these things happen to the Nats in the precise combination required each year to ensure they lose in the most painful fashion possible,” wrote Noah Frank, WTOP.com sports editor.
(AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
8. Northern Virginia helps turns state blue in historic 2017 election
Democrats scored victories in contested House races across Virginia, ousting Republican incumbents and nearly regaining control of the chamber on Nov. 7, 2017.
But voters didn’t just pick Democrats.
They voted for women and they voted to break barriers, selecting the first Latinas, the first Asian-American women, the first lesbian and the first transgender woman to ever serve in the once staid and conservative southern legislature.
In Northern Virginia, Democratic women topped seven Republicans.
A series of recounts could further dilute Republican’s more than decadelong hold on the House of Delegates. Such a change in power could offer up new legislative options — like Medicaid expansion and new funding for Metro — to incoming governor Ralph Northam that weren’t available to his predecessor, Terry McAuliffe.
Northern Virginia voters also helped push Northam and fellow Democrats Mark Herring and Justin Fairfax to victory for the statewide offices of attorney general and lieutenant governor respectively.
Despite the cold rain that fell throughout the day of polling, voters turned out in heavy numbers to cast what they considered to be ballots against President Donald Trump and his policies.
“I don’t identify very strongly with one party or the other. But I don’t support the current president and I know that he endorsed the Republican candidate Gillespie,” said one Fairfax County voter.
(AP/Cliff Owen)
(AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
7. MS-13 behind string of brutal killings in region
10 charged in connection with killing of Md. girl
MS-13 member charged with murder in grisly decapitation
5 MS-13 members face federal charges in Va. man’s death
8 Md. MS-13 members charged in string of killings
38 MS-13 members arrested as part of national crackdown
These headlines from WTOP tell the story of MS-13. In 2017, the Latin street gang long considered a low priority for local police came roaring back to life — the death toll a public exclamation of their numbers and strength in the D.C. region.
Drug running, extortion and sex trafficking are just some of the gang’s criminal enterprises.
A recent rash of young immigrants from Central America has provided the gang with fresh recruits. El Salvador, where the gang has a heavy presence, is the most common country of origin for foreign-born residents in the D.C. area. A crackdown in El Salvador on the gang is also believed to be contributing the group’s activity in the United States.
And new recruits are often asked to prove their allegiance by carrying out violent acts.
(AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File
6. Voice of a D.C. icon falls silent
Local newsman and D.C. legend Jim Vance lost his battle with cancer in July.
Vance was 75.
With more than 45 years at the NBC Washington news desk, he was D.C.’s longest serving news anchor.
“Jim Vance was not only the soul of NBC4 but of the entire Washington area. His smooth voice, brilliant mind and unforgettable laugh leaves each of us with a tremendous void,” Jackie Bradford, NBC Washington’s President and General Manager, said in announcing his death.
He survived to see his likeness enshrined on that D.C. landmark, Ben’s Chili Bowl, in June.
(WTOP/Kate Ryan)
WTOP/Kate Ryan
5. Sticker shock: $40 tolls mar debut of express lane on I-66On Dec. 4, for the first time in decades, solo drivers could legally travel Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway during the morning rush hour.
The caveat: They had to pay a toll.
Demand was high for the new commuting option and tolls climbed quickly during the first four-hour span to almost $35. The next day the maximum toll hit a whopping $40, quickly followed by cries from state and local lawmakers calling for caps and changes to the rush hour window.
The response from the state’s top transportation official:
“If you don’t want to pay it, it’s pretty simple: put somebody else in your car.” Transportation Sec. Aubrey Layne has said the lanes are working as designed, moving traffic along at a faster pace and encouraging carpooling.
(WTOP/Dave Dildine)
WTOP/Dave Dildine
4. Track coach, school aide indicted on a charge of sexual abuse, exploitation of students
A former Charles County school aide and coach, Carlos Bell, was arrested in late June on charges of sexually assaulting students. He would later be indicted on 206 counts related to the abuse of 42 children, who ranged in age from 11 to 17.
Bell pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of producing child pornography. Federal investigators identified at least 10 victims.
Several of Bell’s victims were exploited while police had the evidence needed to arrest him, a WTOP investigation revealed.
(WTOP/Mike Murillo)
WTOP/Mike Murillo
3. Gunfire at the ballpark
Gunfire pierced a quiet morning at a popular park in Alexandria where Republican members of Congress were practicing for a charity baseball game.
A rifle-wielding man fired on the men, who dove for cover in the dugout. Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 3 House Republican, was critically injured but would survive his gunshot wounds and would later go on to throw out the first pitch at a Nationals baseball game.
Five others were injured including Roger Williams, a Texas congressman, and his aide Zachary Barth, who was shot in the leg. Two Capitol Police officers were wounded and a former congressional staffer turned lobbyist Matt Mika was shot in the chest.
The gunman was killed in a shootout with police. James T. Hodgkinson, of Illinois, ran a home-inspection business but had been living out of a van for several months in Alexandria.
A report issued in October found that Hodgkinson fired at least 70 rounds. Police officers fired at least 40 — three of which hit the gunman in the chest and hips.
The report found that Hodgkinson was “fueled by rage against Republican legislators.”
(AP/Alex Brandon)
AP/Alex Brandon
2. Ghosts of racism re-emerge in Charlottesville
The nation’s racial tensions spilled out on the streets of a Virginia college town for all the world to see in August.
White nationalists gathered in Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee in a city park. Violence quickly erupted as skinheads and neo-Nazis brawled with counter protesters while police stood by and didn’t intervene.
Protesters threw punches and launched water bottles. Others used sticks and billy clubs to strike opponents.
Three deaths were linked to the violence — two state troopers who died in a helicopter crash — and a Charlottesville woman, Heather Heyer, who was killed when a car drove through a crowd of pedestrians.
A report that reviewed the police response found that planning for the event was inadequate, city and state police did not coordinate and that officers lacked necessary training and equipment. The city police chief was also blamed for not moving swiftly to intervene as the protesters fought in the street.
Themes of race and the state’s Confederate past rippled throughout the primary contest for governor in the months before the rally. And the violence erupted amid an ongoing debate in the state whether to remove monuments and statues celebrating that past.
(AP/Steve Helber)
AP/Steve Helber
1. Trump takes oath of office as protesters descended on DC
President Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 45th president of the United States on a chilly Jan. 20.
A smaller crowd greeted him than other presidents in recent years.
He delivered a dark inaugural address touching on the shuttering of factories and the loss of the wealth of the middle class. He pledged to serve all Americans, whom he said all bleed the same red blood of patriots.
Meanwhile, rioting began even before Trump took the oath of office. Protesters used crowbars and hammers to break storefronts and damage vehicles. The protesters clashed with police, six of whom were injured.
Protests continued throughout the afternoon as different groups converged on the Franklin and McPherson Square areas. They set fire to newspaper boxes and a limo.
By Friday evening, 217 people had been arrested.
The next day, an estimated 500,000 people descended on the National Mall to take part in the Women’s March.
The unexpectedly large crowd forced organizers to reroute the march and spurred long lines at suburban Metro stations.
(The Associated Press/Evan Vucci and WTOP/Kate Ryan)
(AP/Steve Helber)
