Diana Mayhew, president and CEO of @CherryBlossFest is making the announcement: March 20-April 17 are the official dates. 🌸
.@MayorBowser says the festival will be in person this year. Mayor seems particularly jubilant this morning, thanking partners and stakeholders and reiterating that the city is, indeed, open and welcoming of visitors.
.@CMBrookePinto is excited for the festival but esp for the color pink. She also notes increase in traffic as a positive-- feels like times before pandemic.
BREAKING: @lacroixwater is releasing a new Cherry Blossom flavor?! Way to bury this news!!! 🌸
They are currently showing a video that will probably be used to introduce future press conferences for the next month or so.
@JapanEmbDC spokesperson comments how weird and wonderful it is to not see people in little boxes.
This year, it marks 110 years since the gift of cherry blossoms. It's a "lasting symbol of the special friendship" and they are the root of this celebration. 🌸
.@wmata is offering a commemorative @CherryBlossFest artwork card, if that is your thing. (It is.)
THE STARS OF THE SHOW: @NatlParkService will now be making the peak dates announcement.
"The 3700 cherry trees are cultural treasures, rooted in history and tradition."
@NationalMallNPS will be sharing Cherry Talks with rangers plus Junior Ranger activity zones and badge will be available to teach about the history and lore of the blossoms.
To determine peak, @NatlParkService looks at the historical data, the March forecast and more to help predict:
Dates are.....
Mach 22-25, 2022!!! 🌸
March, even. Yay typos!
Peak bloom, of course, is 70% of the canopy in bloom, which means that we'll have a very bloomy March 🌸
And no, we're not crying. You're crying. Is this spring fever?
.@MayorBowser says that she wants DC to be the face of spring for the nation. DC will always be home to festivals AND demonstrations, "and we will do it all at once."
Resources have been deployed as a "layer of mitigation strategy."
@DCPoliceDept Chief Contee says, "sometimes you don't know what you don't know." Coordination w/fed partners to have a successful SOTU/1A activities and will keep posture in place as long as needed.
Q: If convoy shows up with 100+ cars, will they be allowed into DC?
A: Yes
Q: Will protesters re: Ukraine be allowed to gather?
A: Some places will be restricted but cannot disclose much more.
Q: Re-Fence @CapitolPolice
A: Security fence is *temporary* and installed. Decision will be forthcoming after event is over.
"This will not be resolved at the police station... at the courthouse... it will require our entire community to be involved... this cycle must be broken in our communities." @CEXAlsobrooks on today's announcement of a joint safety initiative.
"Playtime is over. This is not a video game... We gotta come together [and] everybody has a responsibility....
I do not allow my children to cut up, as a father."
"We can arrest people, but are children receiving the healing that they need?"
"What has changed [since last year's carjacking-related death]? Arrests have gone up, but what else has changed?"
Carjacking Taskforce is expanding, has been working
Increased cross-border initiatives with PG County
Chief Congee, visibly upset: "IT'S THE SAME KIDS."
@Pash_DC says we are in the middle of a winter surge. Good news: Hospitalization rate is low at 2.6%, vax rate creeps up-- currently at 65.8% full vaccinated.
Would like to note that the link that the Press Sec tweeted does not automatically go to this conference, so please follow here.
Locally, only 25 confirmed cases of Omicron, might have 50 additional ones. Only a matter of time until Omicron is dominant variant. Jump in rates is mostly winter surge.
Tonight's temperatures will drop only into the mid-30s; however, the forecast calls for wind, which makes the temperature much colder if you're outside. Here is our perennial post on what to do if you see someone out in the cold: thehillishome.com/2016/01/what-t…
A kind reminder: NO ONE wants to be homeless. No one wants to be outdoors on an inclement night like tonight. Shelters can sometimes be crowded and unsafe for our unhoused neighbors, which is why many choose to live outdoors.
Ideally, we should have housing in place and Mayor Bowser has recently opened shelters and unveiled her Home for the Holidays campaign earlier in the month: wjla.com/news/local/bow…