Robert White leaves D.C. Council a day before delegate race

At-Large Council member Robert White, the Democratic nominee for D.C.'s seat in the U.S. House, leaves the D.C. Council on Monday, and NBC4 reports he plans to speak outside the John A. Wilson Building at 5 p.m. The D.C. attorney general's office advised that a 1970 law bars the delegate from holding another paid public office on the day of the election, so White had to resign before Tuesday's vote.

Context  What is new is that the departure takes effect today, and attention has turned to who fills his at-large seat, one elected citywide. White won the June Democratic primary to succeed Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton; he said he disagreed with the attorney general's reading of the law but would not risk his ability to serve in Congress. The Washington Sun reports that the D.C. Democratic Party, which would normally choose an interim replacement, said in a Friday statement that the only path to the seat "runs through the D.C. Democratic Party." The Sun also reports talk that At-Large member Christina Henderson, an independent, could switch parties to seek the seat; Henderson has not commented. Legal experts told the Sun the question is untested and could reach court, and a special election is likely in the spring.

The Washington Sun  ·  NBC4 Washington

A new report from the D.C. Neighborhood Parks Task Force, co-chaired by former Mayor Anthony Williams and Ward 3 Council member Matt Frumin, recommends that the National Park Service turn more parks and parcels over to city control. It also suggests expanding the city's Department of Parks and Recreation or creating a "coordinator of the public realm," and raising more revenue from parks the city already runs.

Context  The Park Service, a federal agency, runs about 90% of D.C.'s 8,398 acres of parkland, an arrangement Williams called a leftover from the city's move to home rule in the 1970s. The report counts 105 playgrounds and 122 basketball courts on city land, compared with 19 and 12 on Park Service land. Any transfer would need the federal government's agreement; Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote to the White House last year that upkeep on Park Service land had suffered as staffing fell, and the article includes no response from the Park Service.

Parents at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, described as D.C.'s only dedicated public Montessori school, say a new principal and an amended curriculum are moving it toward a traditional public school model. D.C. Public Schools says it is blending its standard curriculum with Montessori practices because assessment scores are below the city average, and that the school intends to remain an accredited Montessori program.

Context  D.C. Public Schools is the city's traditional public school system, led by Interim Chancellor Kim Jackson. Instructional superintendent Gwendolyn Payton told parents there is no effort to dismantle the Montessori program, and Jackson said school leaders are working with the accrediting body to confirm alignment. Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen wrote to Jackson that the changes are harming the school's ability to deliver its educational method. Principal Shelly Gray declined to comment. Midyear lottery applications are open, and applications for next school year open in mid-December.

The White House announced that President Trump will speak Monday afternoon at the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, the day before the midterm elections, and ABC News lists the remarks at 2 p.m. Eastern along with nine tele-rallies starting at 11 a.m. Trump told reporters in Iowa on Sunday that he wanted to speak there to "show how beautiful it is."

Context  Trump has held more than two dozen rallies for Republican candidates this fall. His administration resurfaced the pool this year; the Associated Press reports the work finished nearly three months late and cost more than 10 times his early estimate of about $1.5 million, and the pool was drained again in July after algae blooms and a peeling liner. Trump has blamed vandals, while the U.S. Attorney's office for D.C. said poor workmanship caused the problems. Democrats including former President Barack Obama have criticized the time Trump spends on construction projects; Trump says renovations relax him and that he finishes them quickly.

AP via WCTV  ·  The Washington Sun  ·  ABC News

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, is being treated at Johns Hopkins after a stroke, and his office said Sunday that he is "awake and alert." His chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said he first felt numbness in his arm at his son's hockey game on Saturday and that doctors are encouraged by his progress.

Context  Murphy, 53, was elected to the House in 2006 and the Senate in 2012, serves on the Appropriations Committee and is not on Tuesday's ballot. Senators from both parties sent good wishes, including Democrat Richard Blumenthal and Republicans Chuck Grassley and Pete Ricketts, and President Trump said he was surprised by the news. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Chris Van Hollen had strokes in 2022 and have since recovered.

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