WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022
Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 13 • January 12 - 18, 2023
Damar Hamlin
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Maryland Dems Celebrate Wins, Exhort Action at Legislative Luncheon Micha Green WI Managing Editor
5 Governor-Elect Wes Moore speaks at the Maryland Dems Annual Legislative Luncheon on Jan. 10. (Rob Roberts/ The Washington Informer).
Celebrating practically painting the state blue, after two years away due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maryland Democratic Party returned in-person, for the annual legislative luncheon on Jan. 10. A day before the kickoff of the 445th legislative session for the Maryland General Assembly, the luncheon featured a lineup packed with local leaders who commended the Party’s wins and emphasized the need to get to work. “This is not just that the Democratic Party knows how to win elections. It’s that we know how to govern,” said Maryland Gov.-Elect Wes Moore (D), the event’s keynote speaker. “We know how to put together policies so that every single part of the state knows that we see them, that we hear them and we are prioritizing the way we talk about their future.” From the beginning of the luncheon’s program, speakers walked a fine line of celebrating good times and reiterating the importance of not getting too comfortable.
Community Activists Re-Launch ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’ Campaign James Wright WI Staff Writer In response to the ongoing gun violence taking the lives of children in the District, community leaders re-launched the “Thou Shalt Not Kill” campaign in an effort to try to stem the tide on Jan. 10. The re-launch took place at the Busboys & Poets in Historic Anacostia in Ward 8, with the owner
of the eatery Andy Shallal serving as the host and one of the main facilitators of the event. Joining Shallal in the ef5 Philip Pannell, Andy Shallal and William Lightfoot talk about stemming gun fort are former homicides in the District at the launch of the “Thou Shalt Not Kill” campaign at At-Large D.C. the Busboys & Poets in Ward 8. (Ja’mon Jackson/ The Washington Informer) CouncilmemParade Committee and publisher of the ber William Lightfoot, Anacostia Coordinating Washington Informer served as a speaker Council Executive Director Philip at the event along with Councilmember Pannell and community activist Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8). Pannell, 72, said homicide due to guns Stuart Anderson. Denise Rolark Barnes, the co-chair of the Mar- must be dealt with. tin Luther King Jr. Peace Walk & CAMPAIGN Page 52
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Alleged Killer of Karon Blake Not Yet Identified, Charged Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
When public officials, advocates and relatives of Karon Blake converged on Turkey Thicket Recreation Center for a community meeting on Tuesday night, the name of Karon’s alleged killer still hadn’t been released to the public, nor had they been criminally charged. Throughout much of that evening, community members from across the District interrupted the dialogue and belted chants in their appeal for the alleged shooter’s name -- at times to the chagrin of some of Karon’s family members. Some people also took to the micro-
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5 Brookland Middle School student Karon Blake, 13, was killed by an alleged, unnamed vigilante during the early morning hours of Jan. 7 in Northeast, D.C. (Courtesy Photo/ via MPD Critically Missing in August 2021)
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