Northwest DC man dies in Columbia Heights car crash

By H.J. Mai
August 4, 2019 | 6:21 PM

A 39-year-old man died early Sunday morning after the car he was traveling in hit a gate/guard booth in D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, police said.

D.C. police said that at around 4:30 a.m., a 2011 Infiniti M37X was traveling eastbound, at a high rate of speed in the 1200 block of Harvard Street NW.

The driver of the sedan then lost control and crashed into a gate/guard booth in the parking lot of the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, according to authorities.

The front passenger of the Infiniti, 39-year-old Nelson Orellana of Northwest, died at the scene, police said. The driver sustained minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital.

D.C. police is asking anyone with information about the incident to call 202-727-9099.

Below is a map of where the crash happened. [google_map latitude=”38.926708″ longitude=”-77.029025″ zoom=”15″ height=”300px” location_label=”Crash site”]

National Museum of the American Latino to be housed in historic Smithsonian building

By Neal Augenstein
September 1, 2026 | 10:36 AM

The Smithsonian Institution has decided to put the National Museum of the American Latino into an existing, historic building, rather than constructing a new one. The Smithsonian Board of Regents on Monday designated the Arts and Industries Building, a 145-year-old redbrick Victorian structure located between the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum, as the permanent site of the National Museum of the American Latino, which Congress authorized in 2020. In 2022, the Smithsonian narrowed its survey for permanent locations for the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women's History Museum to four locations near the National Mall on land owned by the National Park Service. The Arts and Industries Building, located at 900 Jefferson St. SW, was one of the four sites. New construction on National Park Service land would require congressional approval. However, since the Smithsonian already owns the Arts and Industries Building, the institution can place the National Museum of the American Latino in the existing building without additional legislation.

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