The Washington Post - 29.08.2019

District law requires compa- nies with large public contracts to subcontract some work to small local businesses to create new jobs, expand the tax base and grow the local economy. However, Veterans Services appears to have no employees, according to interviews and Dis- trict records. Until recently, the company’s website touted execu- tives who didn’t work there. The man who leads it, Emmanuel Bailey, is a Maryland resident who is employed by an Intralot subsidiary, public records and company financial statements show. In other documents and in response to questions from The Washington Post, Intralot officials said the work on the new sports gambling and lottery contract will be performed by DC09, a company that a business agree- SEE GAMBLING ON A

BY STEVE THOMPSON

The Greek company Intralot,
which last month received a
$215 million contract to bring
sports gambling to the nation’s
capital and to continue running
its lottery, s ays more t han half t he
work will go to a small D.C. firm
— a condition that helped the
gaming giant win the no-bid
contract.
The firm, Veterans Services
Corp., will “perform the ENTIRE
subcontract with its own organi-
zation and resources,” according
to a document signed this sum-
mer by a top Intralot executive.

Near miss for Puerto Rico Hurricane Dorian

appeared to spare the U.S. territory from a

direct hit as it wove an erratic path. A

Heating up in Ga. Two races are pending after

Sen. Johnny Isakson announced his exit. A

LOCAL LIVING

Fr om scent and sound to colors and patterns, here are 10 ways to make your home more serene.

STYLE

Stephanie Grisham heads communications for the White House. So why is she nearly invisible? C

In the News

THE NATION

Congressional Democrats balked at reports that President Trump has assured aides he will pardon them of potential illegality as the administration rushes to build a border wall. A HHS officials accused a medical center in Ver mont of violating a Cath olic nurse’s rights by ask ing her to assist with an abortion. A In his upcoming book, former defense secretary Jim Mattis warns of the dangers of a leader who won’t work with allies. A

THE WORLD

U.S. military cyberforces in June knocked out a key data base used by Iran to pre vent it from interfering with shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf, officials said. A At least 27 people died when a bar in the Mexi can state of Veracruz was set ablaze after its exits were blocked. A Italy is on the verge of having a new govern ment after two parties formed a coalition that shuts the far right out of power. A

THE ECONOMY

Amazon has introduced a feature that pitches the eretailer’s own private label brands right before customers add rival products to their carts. A Facebook announced that it will require buyers of political ads to provide more informa tion about who paid for them. A

THE REGION A ride-share driver and his passenger were slain in Prince George’s Coun ty. B The D.C. mayor defended a city agency that failed to follow through on a warning of

dangerous conditions at a rowhouse before a fatal fire there. B Following criticism of the response to a mass shooting in Virginia Beach’s municipal offices, the city manager resigned. B The fourth attacker in the beating of a black man at the Charlottes ville white supremacist rally was sentenced to just over two years in prison. B

STYLE Eddie Murphy, who is credited with keeping “Saturday Night Live” alive in the early ’80s, will return to host the show in December. C

Inside

RICARDO ARDUENGO/REUTERS

BUSINESS NEWS ....................... A COMICS .......................................C OPINION PAGES.........................A LOTTERIES...................................B OBITUARIES ................................ B TELEVISION ................................. C WORLD NEWS..............................A

ABCDE

Prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington. SU V1 V2 V3 V

Sunny 84/64 • Tomorrow: Sunny, warmer 89/69 B8 Democracy Dies in Darkness THURSDAY, AUGUST 29 , 2019. $

BY KARLA ADAM

AND MICHAEL BIRNBAUM

london — British Prime Minis- ter Boris Johnson sparked angry talk of a “coup” Wednesday after he moved to shut down Parlia- ment for several weeks in an ex- traordinary effort to silence rebel lawmakers and ram through Brit- ain’s d eparture f rom the E uropean Union. The decision to shutter the leg- islature for more than a month, starting no later than Sept. 12, stifled dissenters as the days ticked toward Britain’s most mo- mentous deadline in generations. Outraged lawmakers said it con- centrates power in Johnson’s hands and sharply curtails their ability to thwart a no-deal Brexit. Some spoke of a constitutional crisis. It a lso suggested that Johnson’s bumbling e xterior conceals a ruth- less tactician, ready to exploit any opening to bring about the split from the E.U. and consolidate power. Absent a delay, Britain will leave the European Union on Oct. 31. If it leaves without a transition deal, analysts say, the country could f ace food a nd fuel shortages. The economic turmoil could spread to the E.U. nations, which collectively are the United States’ biggest trading partner. Many ob- servers fear that with a hardened border, fresh violence could flare in Northern Ireland. And because President Trump has embraced Brexit and Johnson, the break with Europe would become a ma- SEE BRITAIN ON A

BY DREW HARWELL

The doorbell-camera company
Ring has forged video-sharing
partnerships with more than 400
police forces across the United
States, granting t hem potential ac-
cess to homeowners’ camera foot-
age and a powerful role in what
the company calls the nation’s
“new neighborhood watch.”
The partnerships let police re-
quest the video recorded by home-
owners’ cameras within a specific
time and area, helping officers see
footage from the company’s mil-
lions of Internet-connected cam-
eras installed nationwide, the
company said. Officers don’t re-
ceive ongoing or live-video access,
and homeowners can decline the
requests, which Ring sends via
email thanking them for “making
your neighborhood a safer place.”
The number of police deals,
which has not previously been
reported, is likely to fuel broader
questions about privacy, surveil-
lance, and the expanding reach of
tech giants and local police. The
rapid growth of the program,
which began in spring 2018, sur-
prised some civil liberties advo-
cates, who thought that fewer
than 300 agencies had signed on.
Ring is owned by Amazon,
which b ought t he firm last year for
more than $800 million, financial
filings show. Amazon founder Jeff
Bezos owns The Washington Post.
Ring officials and law enforce-
ment partners portray the vast
camera network as an irrepress-
ible shield f or neighborhoods, say-
ing it can assist police investiga-
tors and protect homes from c rim-
inals, intruders and thieves.
“The mission has always been
making the neighborhood safer,”
said Eric Kuhn, the general man-
ager of Neighbors, Ring’s crime-
SEE DOORBELL ON A

BY TIM CRAIG

IN AUSTIN

C

hristopher Paul hasn’t felt a police officer tapping at h is foot in more than a month — the tap, tap, tap that usually meant he was about to get another citation that he was never going to pay. Living on the streets for five years after he lost his graphic design job, Paul has been having undisturbed nights since the Austin City Council and mayor eased restrictions on “public camping” t his summer, a move that liberal lawmakers billed as a humane and pragmatic reform of the criminal jus- tice system. But the change has drawn the ire of Republicans and local business own-

ers who decry it as a threat to public safety and the local economy, exposing a partisan clash over how to manage poverty and affordable housing in America’s cities. Since Austin’s public-camping ban was relaxed, “people can sleep much better in the open, and they are a lot safer than somewhere hiding in a back alley,” s aid Paul, who estimates that he received 20 citations for illegal camping before the rule change went into effect July 1. But as Paul, 50, sprawled out shirtless on the sidewalk on a 100-degree day, shop owner Craig Staley stood a few feet away on Congress Avenue reconsidering his party affiliation. “I got two emails last month from cus-

tomers who said, ‘I can’t go to your store anymore because it smells like urine,’ ” s aid Staley, who operates Royal Blue Grocery. “I am a Democrat at heart; I have been in Austin, Te xas, for over 30 years. But I am telling you, I am feeling a lot more red these days when it comes to my business.” With an estimated 2,200 homeless adults sleeping on sidewalks and in makeshift tent cities, Austin has become the latest flash point in the national debate over whether homeless residents have a constitutional right to sleep on public streets, particularly SEE HOMELESS ON A

Austin joins rights battle

of urban homelessness

Allowing outdoor sleeping tests local businesses and forces hard look at what’s criminal

TAMIR KALIFA FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Drastic

move

toward

Brexit

Now at your

front door:

More eyes

for police

For D.C. sports betting,

a company with no sta≠

As Amazon unit shares doorbell cameras’ video, critics fear for privacy PARLIAMENT TO BE SUSPENDED

Johnson accused of ‘coup’ in stifling dissent

Alvin Sanderson, 64, has been on the street in Austin since he was freed from prison in 20 14. His story of being swept away in a flash flood helped convince city lawmakers that they needed to bring homelessness out of the shadows.

Local partner aided Greek gaming firm’s contract bid, but is it doing actual work?

BY JESSICA CONTRERA

Everyone knows there’s a prob- lem with Chubbs. Dirt is smeared across his face. His tongue is rolling out of his mouth. He’s surrounded by signs that say “NO EXCESSIVE BARK- ING.” But the 5-month-old golden retriever does not know how to read. At a dog park in one of Maryland’s wealthiest suburbs, he spends this sunny August morning rolling on his back. He opens his mouth, and then, he does it. He woofs. Twice. “CHUBBS!” four humans around him yell, trying to stop him from doing what dogs do — just not in Chevy Chase Village this summer. Here in this community of the rich and powerful, where the av- erage household income is $460,000, barking is the subject of a ferocious (fur-ocious?) debate — one that has divided the two-

legged one-percenters for nearly a year. The drama began last fall when the village spent $134,000 to turn a muddy triangle of land into a park where pups could run off- leash in a fenced refuge. Chase tennis balls. Sniff one another’s butts. But after about a month, signs decrying the barking of those dogs began appearing around the park. The village police started receiving almost daily calls about the noise, mostly from one partic- ular neighbor whose house backs up to the park. By spring, the tension had escalated so much that the Chevy Chase Village Board o f Managers called a public hearing. Then another in June. And another in July. At the center of it all is Elissa Leonard, chair of the village board and wife to Jerome H. Powell, who is also a chair — of the Federal Reserve. In recent months, her husband has been SEE DOG PARK ON A

A dog park divides the rich and powerful

A battle over barking involves the wife of the Federal Reserve chairman and lawyers galore in a well-heeled Maryland suburb

BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST Chevy Chase Village, Md., created a dog park last year. The noise and traffic proved to be too much for some neighbors, and the village spent $1,300 to study barking and parking.

NoMa encampments: D.C. advocates for the homeless criticize “cold, callous letter.” B