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In this week’s edition:
WpGet the full experience.Choose your planArrowRightThe sports teams and the ultra-loud musicianWhat it’s like to be an undercover Trump jurorUsing unpassable border policy to block Ukraine aidThis ultra-loud street musician rules downtown
Who owns the commons of a city? More specifically, who owns the sonic commons? Erik Wemple’s own ear was caught by a passing line in coverage of the prospective decision by Washington Wizards and Capitals majority owner Ted Leonsis to move the teams out of downtown D.C. to the relative peace and quiet of Virginia: Leonis was “particularly bothered by buskers, who played loud music outside his office.”
Erik discovered the problem was really one particular act — a man named David Halmon, who performs with two young and talented kids at top volume outside the arena. Though appreciated by visiting fans, his incredibly loud music pervades the entire area, to the point where a restaurant has had to offer discounts to deafened guests, a homeowner has spent thousands on soundproofing and the Leonsis team has funded a more organized busker program for the area — all to no avail. The city, meanwhile, has been reluctant to intervene: “The message from D.C. government is to go right ahead and monopolize public space with strepitous tunes,” Erik writes.
What you have, in other words, is an urban story with everything: adorable pint-size rappers, angry go-go music boosters, jolly hockey fans, frustrated sports team executives, a performer so loud that noise complaints follow him even to Ocean City in the summer — and a city that just might lose two beloved teams to the burbs. Erik, with amazing photos by Tom Brenner, captures the whole divisive scene.
Chaser: The Editorial Board spent a whole year looking at how to animate moribund downtown areas — including a cool interactive look at one surprising U.S. city doing it right.
Life as an undercover Trump juror
Picture this: You, a normal American, get picked to serve on a jury in a case where the defendant is seen as so likely to mobilize an army of supporters against you that lawyers, reporters, your fellow jurors and even the judge do not know your real name. You are instructed not to tell anyone, even your own family, that you are serving on the case. On days you serve, you will be “picked up at a series of undisclosed........