DC Fire Chief Dean retires

By Jack Pointer
September 3, 2020 | 8:31 PM

D.C.’s Fire and EMS Chief Gregory Dean is retiring.

Spokesman Doug Buchanan confirmed multiple reports that Dean, who joined the District’s Fire and EMS Department in 2015, would be stepping down. No reason was provided in the decision.

Dean’s arrival came as the department struggled with lagging response times for emergency medical services.

The District has since made progress with the help of a private ambulance company and by directing more non-emergency patients toward rideshares.

Before coming to D.C., Dean had served for a decade as the Fire EMS chief in Seattle.

Multiple sources tell WTOP that Assistant Chief John Donnelly will replace the 70-year-old on an acting basis.

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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