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☆ A Fabled Washington Home, Kept Empty by a 22-Year Battle
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Elizabeth Williamson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President-elect John F. Kennedy was there for dinner the night before his inauguration. “It was a special place to grow up,” said Donald Graham, a former publisher of The Washington Post, remembering his childhood home. After she died in 2001 her estate sold the home to Mark Ein, a venture capitalist and philanthropist who owns Washington City Paper and has a stake in the city’s N.F.L. Mr. Ein, then a bachelor, had no plans to entertain in Mrs. Graham’s grand style and did not move in. But after he married Sally Stiebel in the home’s garden in 2013, the couple decided to raise their family there.

Persons: John F, Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Truman Capote, Princess Diana, ”, Donald Graham, Katharine Graham, Graham’s, Philip Graham, Mark Ein, Ein, Sally Stiebel Organizations: The Washington, Beaux, Arts, The, Washington, Citi D.C Locations: Washington, Georgetown

☆ 'Twilight' put Forks, WA, on the map. Now, local residents want to put an end to the 'vampire tourism' boom.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-20 | by ( Eve Crosbie | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

However, not all residents of Forks' roughly 3,400-strong population are happy about the attention their hometown is getting, with some locals hitting out at "vampire tourism," The Times of London reported. "I work at the local school — which the Twilight characters 'went to' — and they'd be out there, crying about how much they loved this vampire guy." At the height of the "Twilight" hysteria, Forks wasted no time in embracing its new fame, with new "Twilight" tours showing off famous locations from the films. AdvertisementMeyer chose to set "Twilight" in Forks after searching Google for the place with the highest rainfall levels in the US. The spot provided the perfect setting for her vampire characters, who mustn't be exposed to sunlight, so they could go about their lives without being detected by humans.

Persons: —, Stephanie Meyer's, Forks, Leslie Graham, Dora Maxfield, they'd, Maxfield, Christina Horsten, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Lissy Andros, Andros, Meyer Organizations: Service, Business, Information Center, Times, Getty, Publishers, Office Mojo, Google Locations: Washington, Forks, London, Forks , Washington, Oregon, Canada, Texas

☆ Jeff Horwitz — Reporter at The Wall Street Journal
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Jeff Horwitz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jeff HorwitzJeff Horwitz is a technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal based in San Francisco, where he covers Meta and social-media platforms. His work on the Facebook Files won a George Polk Award, a Gerald Loeb Award and the Chris Welles Memorial Prize, among other recognitions. Previously he was a financial and enterprise reporter for the Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Jeff has also worked for American Banker, Legal Times, the San Bernardino Sun and the Washington City Paper.

Persons: Jeff Horwitz Jeff Horwitz, George Polk, Gerald Loeb, Chris Welles, Jeff Organizations: Wall, Journal, Facebook, George, Associated Press, American Banker, Legal Times, San Bernardino Sun, Washington City Locations: San Francisco, Washington ,

☆ Bezos makes third losing bet on real estate
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It’s not the only questionable real estate decision Bezos has made in the past several years. He announced in a Thursday Instagram post that he will move to Miami, leaving the Washington city where he founded Amazon in 1994. Bezos grew up in the south-Florida city in the early 1980s, and he will return to a two-mansion compound worth some $147 million, according to Bloomberg. Miami-based real estate had a renaissance during the pandemic as people sought warmer climates where they could be outside. Still, the founder is no stranger to real estate bets that don’t always make financial sense.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, It’s, Bezos, Ken Griffin, David Tepper, lockdowns, That’ll, don’t, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Amazon, Bloomberg, U.S . Federal Housing Finance Agency, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Dade, University of Miami, Homes, Climate, U.S . Federal Aviation Administration, Shepard, Thomson Locations: Miami, Seattle, Florida, Washington, Bezos, Indian, Arlington , Virginia, Arlington, Cape Canaveral

☆ Where Amazon opens offices, free bananas follow. You can thank Jeff Bezos.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But one of its most distinct offerings is much simpler: A stand for distributing free bananas. On Thursday, during the ribbon-cutting for Metropolitan Park, the first phase of the new Virginia headquarters, the bananas were free to Amazon employees and visitors, including Virginia Gov. The idea came from Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos, who wanted to offer a free snack that was healthy and didn't come heavily packaged, Amazon told Insider. Bananas have another advantage, Amazon told Insider: You don't need to wash them before taking a bite. A banana stand also popped up temporarily at Washington DC's Union Station in 2017 as the company was facing increasing criticism from Congress, according to the New York Times.

Persons: Amazon's, Jeff Bezos, —, Glenn Youngkin Organizations: Service, Metropolitan Park, Virginia Gov, Amazon, Amazon's HQ2, Metropolitan, Washington City Business, ., Washington DC's, New York Times, Business Locations: Arlington , Virginia, Virginia, Arlington, New York City, Seattle, Bellevue, Nashville, Tokyo, Washington, DC's NoMa

☆ Inside the Wild World of Celebrity Keynote Speakers: Drugs, Alcohol
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( David Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

"I never saw myself as a speaker, let alone a motivational speaker," Leonard tells me while his assistant irons his jeans. 'When I ramble," Hunter told me, "hit me in the leg!" Every plane had been grounded, including the one stuck on the tarmac with an increasingly inebriated Hunter Thompson trapped inside. But by far the most all-consuming task was booking gigs for Hunter Thompson. Just before a debate with G. Gordon Liddy at Brown University, Hunter demanded that Betsy Berg, whom I now worked alongside at GTN, score him some crystal meth.

☆ Bikini baristas won a $500,000 payout in a lawsuit after a city imposed a dress code on restaurant workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A group of bikini baristas won a $500,000 payout from a Washington city after it imposed a dress code. Everett banned workers from showing midriffs and buttocks and required they wear shorts and tank tops. In 2017, seven bikini baristas and the owner of some drive-thru coffee stands filed a lawsuit against the City of Everett after it passed dress code ordinances that banned workers at quick service facilities from wearing bikinis. The ordinances required staff to cover their shoulders, midriffs, and buttocks and wear at least shorts and tank tops. These incidents weren't related to the baristas who filed the lawsuit, Rammerman said.

☆ Washington, D.C., council pulls crime bill that Senate is poised to block
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The Democratic-controlled Washington city council on Monday withdrew a bill aimed at overhauling the city's criminal code, which Congress had been set to overturn in a move that President Joe Biden had vowed not to block. "The bill has been pulled back from Congress," council chair Phil Mendelson said at a news conference, adding that he had sent a letter to the U.S. Senate advising that the bill had been withdrawn. Biden said last week he would not veto Congress' move if the Senate approved overturning the city bill. "If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did, I'll sign it." Congressional oversight of Washington, D.C., is written in to the U.S. Constitution, and the city's 700,000 residents do not have voting representation in Congress.

☆ Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the great cloud slowdown won't last forever as he shares his plan for a big bounce back
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft's earnings report Tuesday showed slowing cloud growth in a reality check for Wall Street. However, Microsoft's CEO and analysts think cloud is poised for a bounce-back after some hard times. Bernstein analysts wrote that Microsoft was the "canary in the coal mine" for cloud. Most analysts seem to agree with Nadella's approach, arguing that the cloud spending slowdown is temporary and not reflective of any longer-term trend. "We still think MSFT is well-placed to capture long-term opportunities," Bernstein analysts wrote to clients.

☆ Virginia McLaurin, who famously danced with the Obamas in White House visit, dies at 113
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

— Virginia McLaurin, the centenarian who danced excitedly with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama during a 2016 White House visit, has died. “We know you’re up there dancing.”McLaurin visited the White House for a Black History Month reception in February 2016, when she was 106. “I thought I would never live to get in the White House,” she said. Shortly after the White House visit, Menkart suggested they contact the mayor’s office and the Washington Post, which interviewed her and published a story. According to the Obama White House archives, she was a foster grandparent and a mentor to special-needs students, helping children with reading and social skills.

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