KLMNO

METRO

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/LOCAL EZ RE K B

JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON

Carl Bernstein’s new

memoir is an ode to D.C.,

the city that taught him

how to be a reporter. B3

VIRGINIA

Arlington suspends a

substitute teacher who

backed Russia’s invasion

of Ukraine during class. B5

OBITUARIES

Joni James, 91, a 1950s

pop singer, scored a No. 1

hit with “Why Don’t You

46 Believe Me?” B6

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56

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62

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55

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

High today at

approx. 3 p.m.

63

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Precip: 0%

Wind: WNW

6-12 mph

Courtland

Milloy

He is away. His column will resume

when he returns.

New cases in region

Through 5 p.m. Tuesday, 1,910 new

coronavirus cases were reported in

the District, Maryland and Virginia,

bringing the total number of cases

in the region to 2,778,709.

D.C. MD. VA.

+59 +355 +1,496

134,623 1,002,6341,641,452

Coronavirus-related deaths

As of 5 p.m. Tuesday:

D.C. MD.* VA.

+1 +13 +4 0

1,319 14,135 18,811

* The state’s total includes probable

covid-19 deaths.

BY KARINA ELWOOD

The National Cherry Blossom Festival

will be in full bloom this year, hosting a

fully in-person festival again for the first

time since the coronavirus pandemic

started.

On Tuesday, National Cherry Blossom

Festival and city leaders announced that

the event, which had been virtual in 2020

and 2021, will be held in person begin-

ning March 20 in coordination with the

National Park Service’s prediction for

peak bloom, or the time at which more

than 70 percent of the blossoms along

the Tidal Basin have flowered.

The Park Service predicted peak

bloom to occur between March 22

and 25. The Washington Post’s Capital

Weather Gang has predicted peak bloom

for March 24, or within a five-day

window of March 22 and 26.

The festival is one of Washington’s

most cherished traditions as the pink

flowers signal the transition to spring

and mark the start of the city’s tourism

season. The festival — like other large

events around the world — was shut-

tered by the pandemic and forced to find

alternative ways to celebrate.

But as coronavirus cases in the Wash-

ington region trend down and leaders lift

restrictions, the festival will be back this

year with the theme “Rediscover Spring”

and dozens of events and performances,

including the opening ceremony, kite

festival and parade.

Organizers and leaders gathered Tues-

day morning in the sky lounge of an

apartment complex overlooking the Tid-

al Basin, some dressed in bright pink

attire and enjoying refreshments — in-

cluding cherry blossom-flavored spar-

kling water — to announce the peak

blossom dates and festival plans.

“This year’s festival is about uniting

the community as well as rediscovering

SEE FESTIVAL ON B5

A full slate to celebrate full bloom

National Cherry Blossom

Festival to host in-person

events as virus wanes

ASTRID RIECKEN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Buds pop up on the c herry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin. The National Cherry Blossom Festival and city leaders announced

the festival will be held fully in person beginning March 20, after being virtual in 2020 and 202 1.

BY ERIN COX

The more Maryland Del. Brian

M. Crosby let himself consider

the groggy, discombobulated mis-

ery of adjusting to daylight saving

time, the more ridiculous it

seemed.

“Frankly, I always hated chang-

ing my clock,” he said. “If you sit

down and think about it, I bet you

do, too. Why do we do this? Do

you have kids? Do you like getting

your kids up early?”

And so Crosby (D-St. Mary’s)

steered Maryland into a nation-

wide debate that — in just four

years — spread to Congress and

legislatures in 41 of the 48 states

that observe daylight saving time.

This month, Crosby won over the

state’s House of Delegates, which

voted to permanently shift day-

time so that an extra hour of

sunlight lands in the afternoon

year-round — pending congres-

sional approval.

The national surge to make

daylight saving time permanent

unites unlikely bedfellows who

say Americans can transcend our

political divides to abolish the

century-old practice of changing

our clocks. Research has linked

the time-shift to an uptick in

everything from heart attacks

and miscarriages to fatal traffic

accidents and workplace injuries.

But debate rages over whether

the healthier solution is to aban-

don daylight saving time or make

it year round.

Most proposals, such as Cros-

by’s, favor locking daylight saving

in permanently to shift sunshine

later, a trend that alarms sleep

experts who fear long-term

SEE TIME ON B2

Daylight saving p ush signals a time for change

BY TEO ARMUS

richmond — Gov. Glenn Young-

kin (R) on Tuesday issued his first

veto since taking office, blocking

part of an effort by one of the

most liberal jurisdictions in Vir-

ginia to ramp up independent

accountability of its police force.

The bill he vetoed would have

allowed the Arlington County

Board, rather than the county

manager, to hire an auditor to

investigate possible police mis-

conduct. The measure received

bipartisan support, passing the

GOP-controlled House of Del-

egates on a 65-to-35 vote.

Yet Youngkin appeared to tie

the bill — an esoteric but note-

worthy move that would have

given that auditor more inde-

pendence — to much broader

debates over how local govern-

ments should scrutinize police.

“The best way to ensure that

any bad actors within law en-

forcement are held accountable

is to stand up for law enforce-

ment, not tear them down or

subject them to politically-moti-

vated inquiries,” Youngkin said in

a statement Tuesday.

Arlington will still be able to

hire an independent policing au-

ditor, who will work with a new

civilian panel to look into officers

accused of misconduct. But that

individual will instead report to

the county manager, who is also

responsible for hiring the police

chief and overseeing law enforce-

ment in the Northern Virginia

suburb.

Arlington County Board Chair

Katie Cristol (D) said such a

chain of command will weaken

the role of the auditor. The posi-

tion, like the civilian panel, had

been judiciously designed after

months of community input, she

said.

“The independence of our in-

dependent policing auditor ... is

integral to the very carefully

crafted ordinance we put togeth-

er,” Cristol added.

Arlington lawmakers had vot-

ed in July to create a civilian

oversight board, one of several

efforts related to justice and po-

licing in response to widespread

racial justice demonstrations in

2020. Like other jurisdictions
      around the country that have
      taken that step, activists and
      elected officials engaged in ex-
      haustive debates about what
      SEE VETO ON B4

Youngkin

issues his

first veto

in o∞ce

BILL ON ARLINGTON

POLICING OVERSIGHT

Democrats accuse him of

stoking partisan divisions

Although most Americans who

celebrate Lent will begin on

Wednesday, the majorities of peo-

ple living in Russia and Ukraine

belong to Orthodox Christian

SEE FASTING ON B6

on April 17. The weeks of Lent

serve as a period of reflection on

the biblical story of Jesus’s time in

the desert, where he fasted and

prayed before his death and res-

urrection.

Lent, including President Biden

who is Catholic, Ash Wednesday

marks the beginning of the peri-

od of weeks leading up to Easter

Sunday, which most Christians in

the United States will celebrate

AMANDA ANDRADE-RHOADES FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

A woman named Myroslava, who declined to provide her last name, prays Sunday at the Ukrainian

Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Northeast Washington.

BY TEO ARMUS AND

MICHAEL BRICE-SADDLER

The U.S. Department of Labor
is planning to roll out millions in
funding to promote equity in
unemployment insurance pro-
grams — and the District and
Virginia will be two of the first to
benefit.
Employment agencies for the
two jurisdictions were among the
first selected to receive these new
federal grants, which are meant
to help claimants from tradition-
ally marginalized backgrounds
access unemployment benefits,
Labor officials announced Tues-
day.
After the coronavirus pandem-
ic put an unprecedented strain on
unemployment programs around
the country, researchers have
pointed to mounting inequities in
who applies for benefits — and
how much funding is disbursed.
The first-of-their-kind grants, in-
cluding $6.84 million for Virginia
and more than $2.28 million for
the District, are meant to address
those disparities.
“Throughout the pandemic,
the unemployment insurance
system provided a critical lifeline
for millions of workers, yet far too
many workers struggled to access
benefits quickly,” U.S. Labor Sec-
retary Marty Walsh said in a
statement. “To become a more
robust safety net and economic
stabilizer, our unemployment in-
surance system must serve all
workers fairly and equitably.”
More than 49 states and juris-
dictions applied for the equity
grants. Labor officials said D.C.,
Virginia, Pennsylvania and Or-
egon were the first to be selected
because their agencies presented
the most thorough applications.
More than $20.5 million was
distributed in the initial round,
and other remaining applications
will be approved on a rolling
basis.
“We had to spend a lot of time
going back and forth with states
about looking at where they think
this will actually move the needle,
and what the need is,” said Mi-
chele Evermore, deputy director
for policy in the Labor Depart-
ment’s Office of Unemployment
Insurance. “Equity is something
we’ve never measured or en-
forced on.”
The District’s Department of
Employment Services said it
SEE GRANT ON B5

D.C., Va.

awarded

millions

in grants

Federal funds allocated

to promote equity in

unemployment benefits

call for fasting.

The ancient Christian practice

of fasting allows believers to

heighten their senses and focus

their spiritual energies, said the

Rev. Mark Morozowich, a theolo-

gian at the Catholic University of

America. He said that Ukrainian

Catholics like him began Lent on

Monday, unlike Roman Catholics

who begin on Wednesday, but

different groups of Christians will

be engaged in similar spiritual

acts during the Lenten period.

“The world is called to deeper

prayer,” said Morozowich, who is

dean of CU’s School of Theology

and Religious Studies. “As we

continue to stand by our Ukraini-

an brothers and sisters, and as

the world shows to Russian au-

thorities that this is intolerable,

we have the chance to ... try to

build a world that’s built on mu-

tual respect and order, not based

on tyranny and fear, one that is

built on respect and love for our

fellow human beings.”

For Christians who observe

BY SARAH PULLIAM BAILEY

Pope Francis and other Chris-
tian leaders around the globe
have encouraged believers to fast
and pray for Ukrainians on Ash
Wednesday, a day when many
Christians are reminded of their
mortality with a swipe of ashes to
their foreheads.
The last two years have led
clergy scrambling to find ways to
distribute ashes safely during the
pandemic. This year, Christian
leaders’ attention has turned to
the recent attacks from Russia on
Ukraine with calls for prayers for
peace.
“May the Queen of Peace pre-
serve the world from the madness
of war,” Pope Francis wrote in his

Before Lent, movement

grows to fast for Ukraine

Those who follow m any

branches of Christianity

answer the pope’s call