The Washington Post - 19.09.2019

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/REGIONAL EZ SU B

JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON

Practicing tai chi and

relaxation among the

National Arboretum’s

bonsai collection. B3

THE DISTRICT

A primer on what to

expect of the first House

hearing on D.C. statehood

in more than 25 years. B3

OBITUARIES

David A. Jones Sr., 88,

built Louisville-based

Humana into a health

61 ° 70 ° 75 ° 67 ° insurance giant. B6

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 4 p.m.

75

°

Precip: 0%

Wind: ENE

6-12 mph

For custodian, a send-o≠ fit for a king

It’s the place

where people have

come to

remember an

astronaut, a civil

rights activist and

a world leader.

It’s where

Martin Luther

King Jr. gave his last Sunday

sermon and the Fourteenth Dalai

Lama spoke.

It’s where U.S. presidents have

mourned and been mourned.

Washington National

Cathedral has long served as the

site of nationally significant

moments involving people with

rare résumés, which makes what

happened there one night this

week a testament to the life that

Edward Magoba created.

SEE VARGAS ON B4

Theresa

Vargas

BY ANN E. MARIMOW

richmond — A federal appeals

court debated Wednesday wheth-

er the Trump administration’s

new restrictions on abortion re-

ferrals illegally interfere with

how health-care providers who

receive government money inter-

act with pregnant women.

At stake in the lawsuit brought

by Baltimore officials is $1.4 mil-

lion in federal funds for commu-

nity clinics and school health

centers that provide pregnancy

tests, contraceptives, cancer

screenings and other services for

thousands of young, low-income

women.

The case is one of several

nationwide involving the admin-

istration’s family planning rules

announced in June 2018 that

make clinics ineligible to receive

federal money if they provide

referrals for abortion services or

otherwise encourage, promote or

advocate abortion as a method of

family planning.

Baltimore officials told the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the 4th

Circuit in filings that restricting

abortion referrals “erects unrea-

sonable barriers to medical ac-

cess and care” and would force

the city to withdraw from the

program rather than withhold

information from patients.

Judge Stephanie Thacker ap-

SEE APPEAL ON B5

Appeals court hears case

over abortion ‘gag rule’

BY FENIT NIRAPPIL

The D.C. Council, frustrated by

roadblocks in its investigation of

possible e thics violations by mem-

ber Jack Evans, voted 12 to 1 this

week to allow city officials to ask a

court to compel the lawmaker’s

private clients t o cooperate.

The lone dissenting vote was

cast by Evans.

It w as one o f several votes taken

by the Ward 2 Democrat that have

pertained to investigations of his

conduct i n office.

The idea of recusal — that the

lawmaker should decline t o act on

a matter that would directly affect

him — was never broached by

Evans or his colleagues on the D .C.

Council during Tuesday’s v ote.

Council rules give lawmakers

discretion to decide when to sit

out votes. But critics say Evans

had an obvious and jaw-dropping

conflict.

“He very c learly a nd openly v ot-

ed in his own interests,” said Am-

ber Harding, a local advocate for

homeless people. “It’s hard for me

to imagine this happening in any

other scenario, where an em-

SEE EVANS ON B4

No recusal

from Evans

amid ethics

inquiries

BY OVETTA WIGGINS

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan

has launched a process to pay

what could be millions of dollars

to five wrongly convicted men

who collectively spent 120 years

in prison for crimes they didn’t

commit.

The men have sought compen-

sation over the past 19 months

from the state Board of Public

Works, which is authorized to

issue such payments but has not

done so since 2004.

Two weeks ago, Hogan (R), who

chairs the board, rejected calls by

a group of mostly Democratic

lawmakers for the panel to act on

the petitions. He said the three-

member panel, which includes

the comptroller and state treasur-

er, does not have the expertise to

determine the amounts of pay-

ments.

Hogan said Wednesday that he

has instructed David Bohannon,

the board’s general counsel, to

prepare a memorandum of un-

derstanding with Thomas Dew-

berry, t he state’s chief administra-

tive law judge, to “immediately”

put in place a procedure to com-

pensate Lamar Johnson, Jerome

Johnson, Walter Lomax, Clarence

Shipley Jr. and Hubert James Wil-

liams.

The governor again faulted the

Democratic-majority legislature

for failing to pass bills that would

have created specific rules for

compensating exonerees.

“These individuals should not

have to wait for the legislature to

finally act,” Hogan said at a meet-

ing of the Board of Public Works.

“There is no question that they

deserve to be compensated.”

Hogan said he will “push hard”

for lawmakers to pass a bill that

provides guidelines for compen-

sating exonerees in the future.

Del. Kathleen M. Dumais (D-

Montgomery), who sponsored

past bills on the topic and plans to

do so again, lashed out at Hogan

for attacking the legislature, not-

SEE COMPENSATION ON B2

Process

launched

to pay Md.

exonerees

BY LORI ARATANI

Metro officials are so con-

cerned about the quality of the

tracks being built for the Silver

Line rail extension that they

have ordered the builder to stop

running test trains, officials

said Wednesday.

The news came on the same

day that board members of the

agency overseeing construction

of the multibillion-dollar rail

project sought to play down re-

ports of problems, suggesting

they were o verblown and that the

staff managing the project de-

serves praise, not criticism.

Asked later about Metro’s di-

rective, Marcia McAllister, a

spokeswoman for the Metropoli-

tan Washington Airports Author-

ity (MWAA), said Metro officials

want to do their own inspections

before they allow test runs to

resume.

A spokesman for the contrac-

tor, Capital Rail Constructors

(CRC), said it has not been told

to stop running test trains.

Asked to respond, MWAA said it

hadn’t told CRC because no test

runs were planned so it didn’t

SEE METRO ON B4

Metro orders halt to Silver Line tests

5 EX-INMATES COULD

RECEIVE MILLIONS

Legislators had criticized

Gov. Hogan over inaction

NATIONAL CATHEDRAL SCHOOL

Edward Magoba became a champion for teenage girls at National

Cathedral School, where he worked 47 years as a driver and

custodian. The cathedral he cleaned was packed for his service.

Transit agency, overseer

at odds over concerns

about flaws in track work

BY FREDRICK KUNKLE

T

he German Panther tank lay in

ambush in the debris-filled

streets of Cologne in the wan-

ing days of World War II, an

American tank in its sights just

70 yards away.

As the Americans rolled forward in

challenge, Cpl. Clarence Smoyer, the tank’s

gunner, spotted the enemy’s gun barrel

pointed his way the instant before he

pulled the trigger.

The shell slammed into the German tank,

followed by two more quick rounds in a

remarkable one-on-one battle that was im-

mortalized on film by an Army cameraman.

The duel knocked out the Panther,

achieved a measure of revenge for the

deaths of other U.S. soldiers in another

tank minutes earlier and brought the end

of World War II a little bit closer.

On Wednesday, Smoyer, the last living

member of the American tank crew, col-

lected a Bronze Star for his heroism that

day. Three more Bronze Stars were award-

ed posthumously to fellow crew members

in his Pershing tank during a ceremony at

the National World War II Memorial. An

Army color guard saluted, a military band

played and an immaculate Sherman tank

was rolled onto the Mall for good measure.

The medals — which already had been

given to the Pershing’s commander and

the cameraman who risked his life to get

SEE CREW ON B5

JAHI CHIKWENDIU/THE WASHINGTON POST

For heroes, a belated honor

U.S. tank crew receives

Bronze Stars 74 years after

gripping World War II

battle was captured on film

Clarence Smoyer, 96, left, was

awarded a Bronze Star on

Wednesday in Washington. Three

medals were also awarded

posthumously to fellow crewmen in

his Pershing tank, honoring their

heroics in battle on March 6, 1945,

during World War II.

KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST

Silver Line extension project

issues include contamination in

the ballast that supports the

track in the new rail yard.

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