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Ball don’t lie: Game of 1-on-1 offered to settle Maryland and Virginia’s battle for new FBI HQ

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore jokingly challenged Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to a game of basketball Friday to determine which state will get to be the new home of the FBI. The Maryland Democrat tweeted a short video of him making a shot at the Capital One Arena before the Washington Wizards played the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Youngkin, a Republican, accepted the challenge by tweeting of short clip of him draining a shot while he was on the campaign trail.

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It was a moment of levity in an otherwise tense bidding war between the two states. Maryland officials said changes to the scoring process last year unfairly tipped the process toward Virginia’s Springfield site. Both states made their final pitches to the General Services Administration on Wednesday. Maryland leaders wrote a three-page letter Thursday asking President Biden to get involved in the decision, explaining what he expects out of the process and make a public statement about racial equity. The debate got a bit heated as Virginia leaders argued that the Springfield site would bring federal facilities to one of the most diverse areas of the country, putting it in line with the president’s guidance on taking racial equity into consideration. Maryland countered saying diversity is not the same as equity, pointing out that Prince George’s County is majority Black. Now, it seems the decision could come down to a game of HORSE … heck, maybe just the coin toss.

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

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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