title: Alex Landi

text: In 2019, Landi had a recurring role in the second season of Netflix's "Insatiable". In 2021, he began portraying Bret Nam on The CW's "Walker".


title: Special 26

text: Special 26 is an Indian Hindi-language 2013 period heist thriller film written and directed by Neeraj Pandey. Based on the 1987 Opera House heist. The plot follows, A team of tricksters ( Akshay Kumar with Anupam Kher ) pose as CBI officers and conduct raids to rob politicians and businessmen of their black money. With the real CBI ( Manoj Bajpayee ) on their trail, they decide to pull off their biggest heist. The film also stars Jimmy Sheirgill, Kajal Aggarwal, Rajesh Sharma, Divya Dutta and Kishor Kadam.


title: Special 26

text: Filming began on 23 February 2012 in Delhi. The film was shot in Chandni Chowk, near Jama Masjid, and Mumbai. Theatrical trailer was released online on 20 December 2012. The film was distributed all over India by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Wide Frame Pictures


title: Special 26

text: "Special 26" was released on 8 February 2013. It received widespread acclaim from the critics, who praised the writing and direction of the film for its realistic plot and intelligently scripted. Several critics called it one of the best film of the year. It also became a commercial success, grossing 103 crore worldwide.


title: Special 26

text: In 2018, it was partially remade in Tamil as "Thaanaa Serndha Koottam" starring Suriya in Kumar's role.


title: Special 26

text: The story of the film opens on 18 March 1987, where a walk-in CBI interview is taking place, held by Ajay "Ajju" Singh (Akshay Kumar) and Pramod Kumar "P. K." Sharma (Anupam Kher). The film then goes into flashback.


title: Special 26

text: Ajay calls a local police station to obtain more manpower for a CBI raid. He speaks to SI Ranveer Singh (Jimmy Sheirgill) who agrees to send the required number of support officers. Ajay, with accomplices P. K. Sharma, Joginder Khurana (Rajesh Sharma) and Iqbal Ali (Kishor Kadam), meet the supporting officers and conduct the raid.


title: Special 26

text: Following the successful raid at a minister's house, it's revealed that Ajay and P. K. are fake CBI officers, along with their two accomplices. They then move to different parts of the country where they belong to and merge into their everyday lifestyles. Ajay's love interest, Priya Chauhan (Kajal Aggarwal), an about-to-be-married teacher, is introduced here. The crew meets again in Chandigarh at the behest of P. K. for his daughter's wedding.


title: Special 26

text: Ranveer with his senior officer meet the minister of the earlier raid, who reveals that he doesn't want the news to appear in the public domain because he wants to protect his image. The senior officer suspends Ranveer with his colleague Shanti (Divya Dutta) for being irresponsible.


title: Special 26

text: Waseem Khan (Manoj Bajpayee), an honest CBI officer lives with his wife (Neetu Singh) and child in New Delhi. A disgraced Ranveer meets Khan, and they join hands to apprehend Ajay and his accomplices.


title: Special 26

text: Meanwhile, the next raid planned by Ajay is conducted on a traders' business in Calcutta posing as officers from the Income Tax Department. Following the more difficult but successful raid, Khan insists that this should be reported in the newspaper, despite nobody coming forward to report it themselves, as black money is involved. Upon seeing this in the newspaper, Ajay and P. K. decide to conduct their "big job," a final raid in Bombay. Meanwhile, Ranveer finds information about P. K. and Khan orders wire-tapping his phone. When P. K. is talking to Ajju on the phone, Khan procures several details about them. Under Khan's orders, officers track the crew to Bombay to a hotel where they're staying. They plan to raid and hence rob a big jewellery store.


title: Special 26

text: Ajay, followed by a CBI officer, goes to a newspaper to advertise for "50 dynamic graduates" with details of an interview. Khan embeds his officers among the candidates and they are selected. Khan finds out the details of the training process, which includes a mock raid. It is stated that, on the day, the candidates will be trained and then led out for the mock raid in the afternoon.


title: Special 26

text: To find out more, Khan and Ranveer go to the hotel and force their way into Sharma's room. He divulges the information about the raid, following a threat of violence. He also mentions that Ajay is taking revenge on the CBI for not appointing him. Khan orders Sharma to ensure everything proceeds as normal.


title: Special 26

text: On the day of the raid, Khan takes charge of the jewellery store and replaces the goods with fake jewellery, with the originals being moved to the jewellery store's own workshop. Ajay informs the recruits that he will come in a different vehicle to them. P. K. leaves with the recruits in a bus, but leaves the bus at police headquarters, saying that he will arrive with Ajay. He also states that nobody should leave the bus until they arrive and that he is going to verify the paperwork for the raid at the Police HQ. In reality, he goes to meet Ranveer and Shanti. With Ajay, a raid of the workshop is carried out. Ajay then goes and meets Priya, who is ready for departure at the airport.


title: Special 26

text: Meanwhile, at the jewellery store, Khan is informed that the raid was conducted at the workshop and all jewellery in the workshop along with the jewellery that was moved were stolen. Khan works it all out for himself, realizing that Ranveer was part of the gang and he wasn't a real police officer and they were set up right from the beginning. Khan starts laughing loudly and applauds the entire robbery plan and execution. Later, Khan receives a money order for Rs. 100 that Ajay had taken from him with the message that he could not steal the honest earnings of an officer. The film ends with Khan being told over the phone that the CBI has information about the perpetrators. At the same time, Ajay and P. K. are seen enjoying a cricket match happily at the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium.


title: Special 26

text: The film takes its foundations from the robbery of 19 March 1987, when 26 people posing as CBI officials raided a jewellery store in Opera House, Bombay.


title: Special 26

text: Manoj Bajpai was signed to play the CBI officer, and Anupam Kher plays a vital role. Kajal Aggarwal plays a specially-written role of Ajay Singh's love interest.


title: Special 26

text: Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan were reported to have been considered for the lead role. It went to Akshay Kumar as he was Pandey's first choice. Kajal Aggarwal is playing the role of a school teacher. Akshay Kumar slashed his fee by half for "Special Chabbis".


title: Special 26

text: Shooting began on 23 February 2012 in Delhi. The first schedule of the film was shot in Chandni Chowk, following which the unit moved to Jama Masjid.


title: Special 26

text: The soundtrack album of "Special 26" was composed by noted South Indian film composer M. M. Keeravani credited as M. M. Kreem. Himesh Reshammiya, was roped in as the guest composer for the song "Gore Mukhde Pe Zulfen" which was written by Shabbir Ahmed, and the rest of them were penned by Irshad Kamil. All the songs were recorded at Prasad Film Laboratories in Hyderabad, and Silver Harmony in Mumbai. The music rights were acquired by T-Series and the album was released on 9 January 2013, at a promotional event held in PVR, Mumbai. The background score of the film is composed by Surinder Sodhi.


title: Special 26

text: "Special Chabbis" released on for around . The producers have investment on "Special Chabbis", as the film has fetched around from sale of the territory rights across India. "Special 26" was made on a budget of around , with a publicity and advertising budget of around .


title: Special 26

text: The theatrical trailer was released online on 20 December 2012. The first promos of "Nautanki Saala" and "Chashme Baddoor" were attached to "Special 26". The movie was distributed all over India by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Wide Frame Pictures. Akshay Kumar, with the rest of the cast of "Special Chabbis", were scheduled to visit the crime spot of the incident that inspired the film. A special screening was held for CBI officials on 5 February 2013.


title: Special 26

text: Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the score of 4 out of 5, and said ""Special Chabbis" is an intelligently woven, slick and smart period thriller with its subject matter as its USP. It's sure to get listed as one of the most gripping heist dramas based on real life occurrences."


title: Special 26

text: Anupama Chopra, writing for "Hindustan Times", gave 3.5 stars out of 5, calling it one of the best films of the year and praising its attention to detail, its character building, the plot's steady but sure sense of immediacy and urgency, and the elaborate cat-and-mouse chase between the conmen and the police. She criticises the unnecessary addition of the love angle in an otherwise gripping script, along with the unconvincing nature of its climax.


title: Special 26

text: Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it 4 out of 5 stars, and wrote, ""Special 26" is an intelligently scripted, superbly acted, enthralling and believable heist film that is more than just that."


title: Special 26

text: Kaushik Ramesh of Planet Bollywood gave the film 8 out of 10 and summarised, "The unfolding of each scene brings with it certain unforeseeable surprises, course changing and effective. The adrenalizing screenplay makes you spontaneously acknowledge the genius in the director Neeraj Pandey who clearly emerges as the hero to watch out for."


title: Special 26

text: Resham Sengar of Zee News rated the film 4 out of 5, stating, "Very rarely would you come across a logically scripted and intelligently-directed drama thriller churned out from the good ol' Hindi cine factory these days. And here's a promising Neeraj Pandey for you who is back with a bang (and bang on target) with another awe inspiring film "Special 26"."


title: Special 26

text: Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 3.5 out of 5, saying ""Special Chabbis" works on account of its meaty, realistic plot and nicely fleshed out characters. This is solid, assured filmmaking, evident in the meticulous detailing of its 80s production design. The film charms you with its subtle humor, through characters played by Jimmy Shergill and Divya Dutta."


title: Special 26

text: Madhureeta Mukherjee of "The Times of India" gave the movie 3.5 out of 5 stars, while adding, ""Special 26" doesn't stun you with a social message like Pandey's 'A Wednesday!', but it grips, excites and ahh...climaxes too! And no ... you can't fake this one! Catch it for pure cinematic orgasm."


title: Special 26

text: Sukanya Verma for Rediff.com gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and said, ""Special Chabbis" is one of the finest films of the year so far."


title: Special 26

text: "Special 26" opened at 30% occupancy on Thursday morning but it improved steadily till the evening shows to 60% due to positive reviews. The film netted on its first day and further grow to make in its first weekend. The film collected around nett on Monday. It netted around in its first week. In its second weekend it has a collection of around to bring its ten-day figure to around nett. In its second week, the film netted taking its total business to nearly in India. It eventually netted around with a distributor share of in domestic market.


title: Special 26

text: "Special 26" had low opening overseas with a collection of $1.25 million its first weekend. It further netted around $2.35 million in ten days. Its final overseas collections was US$2.75 million.


title: Special 26

text: "Special 26" was remade in Tamil titled "Thaanaa Serndha Koottam" (2018) starring Suriya and Keerthy Suresh in lead roles, and was directed by Vignesh Shivan. The film was released on 12 January 2018.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a 2018 coming-of-age drama film directed by Desiree Akhavan and written by Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele, based on the 2012 novel by Emily M. Danforth. It stars Chloë Grace Moretz, John Gallagher Jr., Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Marin Ireland, Owen Campbell, Kerry Butler, Quinn Shephard, Emily Skeggs, Melanie Ehrlich, and Jennifer Ehle. Moretz plays a teenager sent to a gay conversion therapy centre. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018. It was released in the United States on August 3, 2018, by FilmRise, and United Kingdom on September 7, 2018, by Vertigo Releasing. It received positive reviews and has grossed $1.4 million globally.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: In 1993, teenager Cameron Post is secretly involved in a romantic same-sex relationship with her girlfriend, Coley Taylor. On homecoming night, Cameron's boyfriend walks in on them having sex in Coley's car, ultimately outing them both. Cameron's aunt Ruth, a devout Christian, sends Cameron to God's Promise, a gay conversion therapy center for teenagers. It is run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh and her brother Reverend Rick who claims that his sister's methods cured him of his own homosexuality after two members of his church "rescued" him from a gay bar. Cameron's roommate Erin represses her homosexuality and earnestly believes in the camp's program.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: Cameron befriends two of her fellow "disciples," Jane Fonda, who was raised in a hippie commune, and Adam Red Eagle, a Lakota two-spirit whose father has converted to Christianity. The three teenagers bond over their mutual rebelliousness and skepticism of the camp's purpose.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: During a group session, Cameron admits that she thinks Coley is "perfect" and is told by Dr. Marsh that her homosexuality stems from a misplaced urge to be like Coley. She covertly phones Coley during a visit to a restaurant and apologizes for how things turned out. Coley says she sent Cameron a letter, but the call is interrupted. After disrupting a kitchen chore session, Cameron has her mail privileges unexpectedly granted by Dr. Marsh. She reads Coley's letter only to find that Coley blames her for "seducing" her into sin. Jane reads the letter with Cameron and then destroys it, calling Coley weak-willed and treacherous. Crying, Cameron calls her aunt and asks to be brought home. Ruth turns her down.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: Cameron tries to adapt better to life at God's Promise, exercising with Erin to Christian work-out tapes. One night while Cameron is having a sexual dream, Erin wakes her up and then both girls kiss. Erin puts her hand in Cameron's sheets and pants to make love to her. Cameron has an orgasm but Erin regrets it and asks Cameron not to tell anyone because she wants to change.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: Another disciple, Mark, who has been expecting to return home shortly, is informed by letter that he must remain at the camp because his father still considers him effeminate. In a group session, Mark breaks down and begins behaving erratically until he is forcibly restrained by Dr. Marsh. That night, Cameron finds large quantities of blood in one of the bathrooms.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: The next morning, Dr. Marsh and Reverend Rick call a meeting, announcing that Mark was badly injured during the night and is stable in a hospital, but do not explain what happened. Two of the "disciples" disrupt the meeting and a series of one-to-one meetings is held instead. During their one-to-one, Rick explains to Cameron that Mark mutilated his own genitals and nearly died before Adam found him. Cameron asks why the staff wasn't monitoring Mark more closely and asks Rick if he and Dr. Marsh have any idea what they are doing. Rick cannot answer her questions and bursts into tears. A government inquiry is launched into Mark's self-mutilation, but the investigator is unwilling to accept Cameron's argument that God's Promise is inherently emotionally abusive.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: Disillusioned, Cameron, Jane and Adam decide to run away from the camp under the pretense of an early morning hike. They walk to a nearby road and hitchhike away from the camp.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: In November 2016, it was announced Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, John Gallagher Jr., Forrest Goodluck and Jennifer Ehle had all been cast in the film, with Desiree Akhavan directing the film, from a screenplay co-written with Cecilia Frugiuele.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Jonathan Montepare and Frugiuele served as producers, with Akhavan and Olivier Kaempfer as executive producers, under their Beachside and Parkville Pictures banners.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for US Drama, the festival's highest honor. Shortly after, FilmRise and Vertigo Releasing acquired US and UK distribution rights to the film, respectively. The film went onto screen at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2018.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: It was originally scheduled to be released in the United States on August 10, 2018, at Kaleidoscope Film Festival in Arkansas, however it was pushed forward by a week to August 3, 2018. It was scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2018, but was pushed back to September 7, 2018.


title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post (film)

text: "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" has received positive reviews from film critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes it has a score of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""The Miseducation of Cameron Post" tells its timely coming-of-age story with wit, compassion, and an affecting overall generosity of spirit." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 69 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Golden Brown

text: "Golden Brown" is a song by the English rock band the Stranglers released as a 7-inch single on EMI's Liberty label in 1982, noted for its distinctive harpsichord instrumentation. It was the second single released from the band's sixth studio album "La folie" (1981) and peaked at No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, the band's highest ever placing in that chart. It has also been recorded by many other artists.


title: Golden Brown

text: The main body of the song is in time, with the instrumental sections alternating with three bars of and then one bar of , while the vocal sections stay in straight , and is pitched halfway between the keys of E minor and E-flat minor. The music was largely written by keyboardist Dave Greenfield and drummer Jet Black, with lyrics by singer/guitarist Hugh Cornwell.


title: Golden Brown

text: The song has been described as "the most unlikely single from punk rock band The Stranglers. Full of harpsichords straight out of classic Baroque music."


title: Golden Brown

text: In his book "The Stranglers Song by Song" (2001), Hugh Cornwell states, Golden Brown' works on two levels. It's about heroin and also about a girl." Essentially the lyrics describe how "both provided me with pleasurable times."


title: Golden Brown

text: Originally featured on the group's album "La folie", which was released in November 1981, and later on the US pressings of "Feline" (1983), "Golden Brown" was released as a single in January 1982, and was accompanied by a music video. It was a top 10 hit around the world. David Hamilton, disc jockey on the comparatively conservative BBC Radio 2, which was a middle-of-the-road music radio station at that time, made the single his "record of the week".


title: Golden Brown

text: The single reached No. 2 in the official UK Singles Chart in February 1982, remaining there for two weeks behind double A-sided record "Town Called Malice/Precious" by the Jam. In a 2017 interview for Dutch television station Top 2000 a gogo, Hugh Cornwell says he believes that the song would have got to Number 1 if bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel had not told the press that the song was about heroin, at which point broadcasters removed it from their playlists, prejudicing sales. "I would have waited till it got to Number 1 and then said it," he commented.


title: Golden Brown

text: In 1995, Black, Burnel and Greenfield appeared with impressionist Rory Bremner on his satirical Christmas special performing a parody version of the song about future Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was then Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.


title: Golden Brown

text: In a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the nation's favourite singles to have peaked at number two, conducted in late 2012, "Golden Brown" ranked fifth behind "Vienna", "Fairytale of New York", "Sit Down" and "American Pie", and just ahead of "Waterloo Sunset" and "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever".


title: Golden Brown

text: In January 2014, "NME" ranked the song at No. 488 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".


title: Golden Brown

text: The video for "Golden Brown" was directed by Lindsey Clennell. It depicts the band members both as explorers in an Arabian country in the 1920s and performers for a fictional "Radio Cairo".


title: Golden Brown

text: In addition to the Pyramids, the video is intercut with stock footage of the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah in Bukhara, the Shah Mosque in Isfahan, the Great Sphinx, Feluccas sailing, Bedouins riding, and camel racing in the United Arab Emirates. The performance scenes were filmed in the Leighton House Museum in Holland Park, London, which was also used in the filming of the video for "Gold" by Spandau Ballet in 1983.


title: Golden Brown

text: In 1996 British hip hop group Kaleef's re-working of the song reached number 22 in the UK Charts. The following year, a cover version by soul singer Omar reached number 37.


title: Golden Brown

text: In 2020 British YouTuber and saxophonist Laurence Mason's cover of "Golden Brown", in the style of classical American jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, was viewed over a million times, leading to a commercial release via Amazon and iTunes, and as a vinyl single under the title "Take Vibe EP". The vinyl release stayed two weeks in the Official Vinyl Singles Chart's Top 40, peaking at No 24.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving since 2015 as the eighth mayor of the District of Columbia. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 2007 to 2015. She is the second female mayor of the District of Columbia after Sharon Pratt, and the first woman to be reelected to that position.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Elected to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in 2004, Bowser was elected to the council in a special election in 2007, to succeed Adrian Fenty, who had been elected mayor. She was reelected in 2008 and 2012 and ran for mayor in the 2014 election. She defeated incumbent mayor Vincent C. Gray in the Democratic primary and won the general election against three independent and two minor party candidates with 55% of the vote. In 2018, she won a second term with 76.4% of the vote, then a third term in 2022 with 74.6% of the vote.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: The youngest of six children of Joe and Joan Bowser, Bowser was born in Washington, and grew up in North Michigan Park in northeast D.C. In 1990, she graduated from Elizabeth Seton High School, a private all-girls Catholic high school located in Bladensburg, Maryland. She received a college scholarship due to her above average grades. Bowser graduated from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a bachelor's degree in history, and she graduated from the American University School of Public Affairs with a Masters in Public Policy. Regarding on her early life, she never envisioned herself as a politician or mayor, but possibly as an agency administrator.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser began her political career in 2004, running unopposed for the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC). She represented district 4B09, which includes the neighborhood of Riggs Park. She was unopposed again in 2006 when she ran for re-election.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Adrian Fenty, Member of the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 4, ran for Mayor of the District of Columbia. Bowser was his campaign coordinator for Ward 4. When Fenty was elected mayor in 2006, a special election was called to fill his council seat. Bowser, among many others, announced her candidacy for it.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: During a political forum with 17 of the 19 council candidates in attendance, Bowser was the only candidate present who supported Fenty's proposed takeover of the District public school system, saying that the school system needed to change.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: When Fenty announced his support of Bowser, some critics said that, if elected, she would always vote as Fenty wished, ignoring the needs of her constituents.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Other critics took note of developers who had contributed to Bowser's campaign, claiming she would favor developers over her constituents. While an ANC commissioner, Bowser had voted in favor of a zoning variance for a condominium development to be built by a developer who had contributed several hundred dollars to her campaign, which some critics derided as a conflict of interest. Bowser maintained that she had supported the development project before running for Council.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: The editorial page of "The Washington Post" favored Bowser in the election. The local councils of the AFL–CIO, Service Employees International Union, and the Fraternal Order of Police also endorsed Bowser in the election, but the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees endorsed her opponent, Michael A. Brown.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2008, Bowser announced her reelection campaign for the council. Three individuals ran against her in the Democratic primary, namely: Baruti Akil Jahi, former president of the Shepherd Park Citizens Association; Malik Mendenhall-Johnson, then serving as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner of 4B04; and Paul E. Montague, who had been Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner of 4B07 before being recalled in 2004. Both Jahi and Mendenhall-Johnson criticized Bowser, saying she was a rubber stamp for Mayor Fenty and that she was unconcerned with her constituents' needs.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: "The Washington Post"s editorial department endorsed Bowser's candidacy. The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club also voted to endorse Bowser's reelection.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser won the Democratic Party primary election, receiving 75 percent of votes. Jahi received 19%, Montague received 3%, and Mendenhall-Johnson received 2%. With no one else appearing on the subsequent general election ballot, Bowser won the general election with 97 percent of the vote.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2011, Bowser was appointed to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority board of governors, a position she held until 2015.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser ran for reelection in 2012. Bowser said she would not turn down donations from corporations. Candidate Max Skolnik criticized Bowser for receiving campaign contributions from developers, corporate bundlers, and lobbyists, saying that Bowser would favor the interests of these corporate donors. Bowser said she was not in favor of banning corporations from making political donations altogether, saying that doing so would make it more difficult to track where campaign donations come from. She also said that corporations are banned from donating to federal elections, but that corporations still find ways to give to campaigns.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser's candidacy was endorsed by the editorial boards of "The Washington Post" and the "Washington City Paper."


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser won the Democratic primary with 66% of the vote, to Renee L. Bowser's (no relation) 13%, Max Skolnik's 9%, Baruti Jahi's 5%, Judi Jones' 3%, and Calvin Gurley's 2%. Unopposed in the general election, she was elected with 97% of the vote.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: On March 23, 2013, Bowser announced that she would run for Mayor of the District of Columbia in the 2014 election. Her campaign's chair was former council member William Lightfoot.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser emphasized that she can connect with longtime residents concerned about the rapid changes occurring in the District, while still celebrating the changes that had occurred. Bowser disdained business-as-usual and corruption in the District's government. She favored free Metro fares for students. She was against increasing the minimum wage only for employees of large retailers. Bowser was criticized for being too inexperienced for the position, with too few legislative accomplishments while on the council, and for having a platform that was short on details. She limited the number of debates by only agreeing to participate after the field of candidates had been set, which postponed the first debate until August.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser was endorsed by EMILY's List and the editorial board of "The Washington Post". She won the Democratic mayoral primary election with 43 percent of the vote. To raise funds for her campaign she accepted contributions in excess of legal limits, for which she was fined after winning the election.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In the general election, Bowser was on the ballot with Independents David Catania, Nestor Djonkam and Carol Schwartz, D.C. Statehood Green Faith Dane and Libertarian Bruce Majors. No Republican filed. Bowser won the election with 80,824 votes (54.53%) to Catania's 35% and Schwartz's 7%, and took office on January 2, 2015.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2017, Bowser proposed several animal regulations, including a ban on backyard chickens, a requirement that all cats be licensed, and a provision that seemed to outlaw leaving dog feces in private yards for more than 24 hours. Following public backlash, the City Administrator clarified that "this is not a war on pets" and the proposals were withdrawn. Later the same year, the Department of Health began to enforce an existing law banning dogs from outdoor bar patios. Following public objections, the D.C. Council changed the law to allow business owners to decide whether or not to allow dogs.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Asserting legal authority that was questioned by the D.C. Council, in 2019 Bowser illegally took control of the art collection owned by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and sought to bring the organization under her control. Bowser's power struggle saw staff of the Commission locked out of their jobs without warning. Bowser used her third ever veto to block legislation that would have preserved the independence of the organization, which also provides grants to hundreds of artists.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In February 2018, Bowser announced the formation of a work group, with members drawn from various agencies, to explore the benefits of, and prepare the District for, autonomous vehicle technology. The city and the Southwest Business Improvement District are also exploring possibilities for a pilot shuttle program along 10th Street, S.W., possibly to supplement an existing service that connects visitors to popular District destinations. A "Request for Information" was released to firms with expertise in autonomous vehicle development.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser released the first budget of her second term in March 2019. The budget increased spending by 8.2% though revenue growth was expected around three percent. D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson said the budget was not sustainable and fiscally irresponsible. Bowser responded by hailing her plan to make the DC Circulator free of charge.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: On multiple occasions, D.C. government agencies under Bowser's authority and led by her appointees lost millions in federal money because deadlines were missed. Over the course of Bowser's first administration, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development offered the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development millions for lead remediation of its aging housing supply. The DHCD target of remediating lead paint in 225 homes was not met, federal grant money was not spent, and eventually the program closed.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2019, local organizations providing assistance to at risk populations missed out in $3.75 million when the responsible D.C. Government body failed to submit a timely application. Eleanor Holmes Norton and other D.C. officials pleaded with federal authorities to grant D.C. leniency so that local programs including Reading Partners D.C., The Literacy Lab, and City Year D.C. could receive funding.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2015, Bowser's allies formed FreshPAC, a political action committee intended to advance her agenda. The initiative was the first PAC in District politics so closely aligned with a sitting mayor and created by a former campaign treasurer. Thanks to a legislative loophole regulating off-year fundraising, FreshPAC accepted unlimited contributions. Bowser supporters had quickly raised more than $300,000 and had a goal of collecting $1 million by year's end. FreshPAC was chaired by Earle "Chico" Horton III, a lobbyist for a major corporation that sought Bowser's support. Many of the highest donors participated in a trip to China with the mayor. Following outcry from the "Washington Post", members of the D.C. Council, and other stakeholders, FreshPAC was shut down in November 2015. Bowser said she thought FreshPAC was a good thing but its message was distorted.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2017, the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance fined Bowser's campaign committee $13,000 for accepting contributions beyond legal maximums during her 2014 mayoral campaign. The excess contributions totaled more than $11,000 from more than a dozen developers and contractors, as well as from landlord Sanford Capital, whom the Bowser administration had been slow to fine despite being responsible for more than 1,000 housing code violations. Some of the same contributors later contributed to FreshPAC. Bowser's campaign returned the illegal contributions.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2018, the D.C. Council unanimously passed campaign finance legislation that sought to remove the influence of developers and other large donors from politics by publicly financing campaigns. Bowser was staunchly opposed to the act and said that she would not provide financing for implementation of the law.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2016, the head of D.C.'s Department of General Services resigned and contracting officials were fired following the award of a large construction project. One of the fired employees filed a $10 million whistleblower lawsuit alleging that he had been terminated for the failure to channel contracts to Fort Myer Construction, a major Bowser campaign donor; the other made similar allegations in an administrative proceeding. The episode prompted an investigation by Councilmember Mary Cheh. In 2017, Cheh's report found that in addition to the questionable firings, a city employee had illegally shared confidential information with Fort Myer about a competitor's bid on a separate project. The report found that the D.C. City Administrator - the top Bowser appointed official - had urged quick settlement of unresolved contract disputes with Fort Myer in an attempt to appease it. These actions led to a $4 million in payouts to the firm, an outcome that the District has previously opposed. After fighting unsuccessfully to keep the findings from public view, Bowser refused to comment on any of the points in the report.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Black residents in D.C. were killed by COVID-19 at 5.9 times the rate of white people, the worst disparity in any major city. An investigation attributed the unequal toll to multiple strategic missteps by Bowser's administration. Among the shortcomings, a testing site was not established anywhere east of the Anacostia River and Bowser's health team was slow to solicit bids. In a rush to reopen the District in June 2020, her administration removed data from the government's website to avoid displaying how it had failed to meet a key metric.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In November 2020, Bowser traveled to Delaware with senior staff for a celebration of Joe Biden's victory despite the elevated risk of Coronavirus in the state and a travel advisory discouraging visits. Bowser claimed the trip to the festivities were "essential" while critics pointed out that she violated her own protocols.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: As the pandemic subsided and vaccines became more readily available, Bowser's instructions on masking created confusion among business owners and the public. In April 2021, Bowser issued a mayoral order that patrons could enter dining establishments unmasked if they provided proof of vaccination upon request. After confused businesses owners asked for clarification, the mayoral order was removed.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant, in July 2021 Bowser announced a new indoor mask mandate. On the day that the reinstated mandate took effect, Bowser was found to have officiated an indoor wedding while unmasked.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: During her first year as mayor, the district saw a 40% increase in homicides. Bowser sought to address the spike by proposing legislation allowing law enforcement officials to perform warrantless searches of violent ex-offenders. The bill was widely opposed by citizen's groups and the D.C. Council, and did not pass.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2016, District homicides fell by 17%, to 135, and dropped again in 2017 to 116, or about the same level prior to a 2015 spike. There were 160 homicides in 2018, an increase of 40 percent from the previous year and the most since 2015. Murders continued to rise in 2019, and by September 19, the homicide rate in the District reached 125, a 17 percent increase from the previous year. 2021 marked the fourth straight year of increasing homicides, including a weekend in May in which 11 people were shot in the District. By July 2021, DC had recorded 100 homicides, the earliest point in the year it had reached this milestone since 2003, and 217 killings were recorded by the end of the year, the highest in nearly two decades.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2021, carjackings in DC skyrocketed, reaching more than four times the level of the previous year. Following a tragic attack in which a Pakistani Uber driver named Mohammad Anwar was killed as the result of a brazen carjacking, Bowser released a tweet explaining that carjackings were a crime of opportunity, giving the impression that Anwar was responsible for his own death. Bowser later deleted the tweet, claiming that it was scheduled to go out before the death, but did not apologize or immediately offer any condolences to Anwar's family or condemnation of his killers, who are black, sparking backlash and accusations of racial bias.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2021, the District's forensic crime lab lost its accreditation following a probe that determined the lab concealed conflicting findings and pressured examiners to change results in a firearms case and other mistakes.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: The investigation led to a criminal investigation of the lab's errors and the resignation of its head, Dr. Jenifer Smith. Days after the news about the lab was first reported, Bowser honored Smith as part of the “Washington Women of Excellence Awards.”


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In February 2015, Bowser cancelled the creation of a public facility for art exhibitions, lectures and educational activities by the Institute for Contemporary Expression. Approved by Gray, the project involved a privately funded conversion of the historic but unused Franklin School and had its first event planned for September 2015. Bowser cited financial concerns for the decision, but critics noted that several of the firms who earlier competed unsuccessfully for the property were among her donors. As of October 2015, proposals were still being considered.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In September 2015, Bowser announced a deal with Monumental Sports owner Ted Leonsis to build a practice facility for the Washington Wizards. Under the deal, District taxpayers would pay 90 percent of the estimated $55 million cost. The government's portion was split between direct government expenditure and Events DC, a D.C.-government-funded body which operates with an independent board. In July 2016, before construction had started, it was announced that costs would exceed estimates by $10 million while the number of seats in the facility would likely decrease. Under the agreement with the developer, the District will be responsible for cost overruns. Once the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena was completed, operations costs exceeded estimates and the Events DC board approved more than $1 million in additional costs to cover the shortfall. A contract for a firm to find naming rights for the facility was funded at $180,000 per year.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In May 2019, the D.C. auditor found that the Housing Production Trust Fund, which gives developers funding for affordable housing, had awarded funding to proposals that scored poorly and in one case received the lowest score. The successful but low rated projects were all proposed by developers who had made contributions to the mayor's campaign.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2015, D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson routinely bent or broke school placement rules to give preferential treatment to well-connected parents seeking prized enrollments at particular D.C. public schools. Two senior Bowser appointees were among seven parents who benefited from Henderson's misuse of authority by being permitted to bypass the competitive DCPS lottery system. Deputy Mayor Courtney Snowden, who makes $196,000 a year, jumped a waitlist of more than 1000 names to enroll her child. In 2018, it was revealed that Bowser's recently appointed Schools chancellor Antwan Wilson had similarly manipulated the system to transfer Wilson's teenage daughter to a preferred school. Wilson and other staff resigned while Bowser refused a request to testify about Wilson's statement that she was aware of the placement, calling an inquiry "political circus." By 2018, management of D.C. Public Schools prompted investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Education and the D.C. Office of the Inspector General.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In February 2016, Bowser's appointee as medical director of the fire department resigned from her post after one year on the job. Explaining her decision, Jullette Saussy said that she could not be complicit in a failed agency and that its performance was putting Washingtonian's lives at risk. In response, Bowser's spokesperson said that she was committed to achieving change.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In February 2022, Bowser reappointed Karima Holmes to lead the Office of Unified Communications, a position she previously held for six years. During her earlier period as director, the city's 911 system fell short of national standards and resulted in fatal consequences when first responders were sent to the wrong address.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In January 2018, Bowser announced a $4.7 million investment in two islands in the Anacostia River, 45 acre Kingman Island and 5 acre Heritage Island. She also designated portions of each island as a "state conservation area," which restricts their use to limited purposes including recreation and education. The funds will be used for improvements to the islands, including outdoor classrooms, walkways, a floating lab platform and bathrooms.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In early 2018, the members of the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability voted unanimously not to renew the contract of Traci Hughes, head of D.C.'s government transparency entity, the Office of Open Government. Activists said Hughes was being punished for her enforcement of District regulations on government transparency. In the preceding year, she had faulted at least two public boards controlled by Bowser appointees for failure to comply with the city's Open Meetings Act, and had issued a decision that the board of United Medical Center, the District's troubled public hospital, had broken that law by secretly discussing and voting to close the facility's nursery and delivery rooms. Hughes said after her dismissal that she had had to resist pressure to ease off in her role of policing District agencies' compliance with the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act; and that she had been subjected to "personal attacks in an effort to keep [her] from issuing an opinion" relating to Open Meetings Act compliance by the D.C. Commission on Selection and Tenure of Administrative Law Judges.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser is a strong advocate of gun control, characterizing herself in her inaugural speech in January 2015 as "a mayor who hates guns." Bowser has encouraged the D.C. Council to ban bump stocks, with the aim of forcing congressional Republicans to take a stand on the record on gun control and gun violence. Bowser was also "unusually supportive" of the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C. in March 2018, and in 2018 was said to be positioning herself as a national figure in the gun control movement.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2016, United Medical Center was the sole government-owned hospital in D.C. In March of that year, on the advice of the Director of Health Care Finance, the D.C Council awarded the management of UMC to Veritas, a two-year-old politically connected firm. The husband of the Veritas CEO was a major donor to the Bowser campaign in 2014, and a longtime health-care executive with experience overseeing troubled hospitals. Veritas however failed to improve the quality of care and its tenure saw several cases of preventable patient deaths and negligence. By March 2017, the director of D.C.’s Department of Health was warning the UMC board about serious safety lapses in the hospital's obstetrics unit. By August, the Department of Health had shut down the ward due to its failure to meet minimum standards. Earlier, in July 2017, the hospital allowed a week to pass between the death of a nursing home patient and notification to his family. In August, another patient died under questionable circumstances. In September, the nurses union voted "no confidence" in the hospital's leadership and said that unsafe nurse-patient ratios and a lack of proper equipment were unaddressed. Bowser administration officials refused repeated requests to disclose the specific medical lapses and ultimately the council voted to remove Veritas.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: The opioid epidemic ravaged D.C., with a higher rate of fatal overdoses in 2017 among African Americans in D.C. than whites in West Virginia or New Hampshire. Though funding was available, the Department of Behavioral Health failed to establish adequate treatment programs. In December 2018, the District announced an "ambitious" plan aiming to cut opioid deaths by half within about two years, using a combination of treatment, tracking and education. The plan was written by a "group of D.C. agencies, doctors, substance abuse treatment providers, council members and individuals in recovery." Several of the plan's recommendations were described as "vague," or merely expanding on existing programs.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Upon taking office in 2015, Bowser set a goal to halve the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the District by 2020. In 2019, the District continued to have one of the highest rates in the country. The number of diagnoses in the previous year was 360, decreasing by 13 and 5 during each of the previous two years of Bowser's term.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser pledged to end chronic homelessness in the District. In 2018, the results of an annual survey required by federal law reflected a 7.6% drop in the homeless population from 2017, following a 17.3% drop the year before. The estimated total homeless population of 6,904 was, however, still slightly higher than it had been in 2013.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser's approach to resolving the homelessness issue, focusing on homeless families, has been the subject of criticism. During the winter of 2015, the District saw an increase of more than 250 percent over any previous year, in homeless families housed in shelters and overflow motel rooms, although part of the increase was due to the administration's decision to move families into motel rooms before freezing temperatures would require it do so under the law. In February 2016, Bowser unveiled a plan to provide housing for homeless families following the closure of District of Columbia General Hospital. Without any community consultation or input, Bowser announced the location of one shelter in each of the District's eight wards and refused to say how the sites were selected. In March 2016, it was revealed that many of the sites selected were connected to Bowser's contributors. Under Bowser's plan, the monthly cost per unit was $4,500 on average each year for at least the next 20 years. Frustrated by the D.C. Council's efforts to devise its own plan, Bowser lashed out with expletives at Chairman Phil Mendelson.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2018, Bowser nominated Joshua Lopez, former chief campaign aide to both Bowser and ex-Mayor Adrian Fenty, to serve on the board of the D.C. Housing Authority, which reviews contracts and sets policy for public housing. Over the objections of certain council members who considered Lopez unqualified for the position, Bowser proceeded with the nomination, which the Council approved by a vote of 10–3. In April 2018, Lopez held a loudspeaker at a rally while a representative of the Nation of Islam spoke, calling Councilmember Elissa Silverman "a fake jew." Bowser called upon Lopez to apologize but resisted public calls for his resignation.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In October 2021, the Chair of the D.C. Housing Authority, Neil Albert, abruptly resigned after it was revealed that he had channeled multiple contracts to a romantic partner. While Chair, Albert had awarded the Housing Authority's headquarters to a developer, who hired his partner as the architect of record. Bowser had championed Albert's accomplishments in the months before his departure and responded to news that Albert's home had been raided by the FBI with a statement that she holds employees to high standards. Bowser's replacement for Albert, Dionne Bussey-Reeder, owed thousands in unpaid income taxes leading the government to place liens on her property, in violation of DCHA bylaws.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Upon the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, and following statements by the President-elect threatening to pull federal funding from sanctuary cities, Bowser issued a statement reaffirming the District's status as a sanctuary city. Soon thereafter Bowser was confronted by a throng of about 100 protesters who were angry that she had not responded more forcefully—as had mayors of some other sanctuary cities—in denouncing Trump's policies and in defending immigrants. In January 2017, following Trump's inauguration and the issuance of a Presidential Executive Order threatening to withhold Federal funding from sanctuary cities, Bowser affirmed that the District would maintain its status as such.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In November 2017, Bowser announced that the District was joining seven other cities in a partnership with the National Immigration Forum to assist some 2,000 green card holders who work for the D.C. Government, as well as family members, in applying for U.S. citizenship. The partnership would provide information, legal help, citizenship test coaching and assist in finding language classes. Participation in the program could save an applicant as much as $2,000 in legal fees.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2022, the governors of Texas and Arizona instituted policies to offer migrants released by federal authorities in their states free bus rides to Washington, D.C. Since April 2022, over 9,000 migrants have been sent to D.C. from the two states. Bowser stated that the city and the nation was facing a "migrant crisis" and criticized the governors of Texas and Arizona for what she characterized as "political gamesmanship." Bowser has twice requested assistance from the National Guard in managing the migrants and was denied both times. On September 8, 2022, Bowser declared a public emergency in D.C. and established an Office of Migrant Services to provide services to migrants arriving from Texas and Arizona.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser has shown strong police support and has not complied with numerous legal requirements regarding transparency in policing. Her administration repeatedly blocked the release of stop and frisk data as required by the NEAR Act.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Although Bowser supported the outfitting of Metropolitan Police Department with body cameras, out of 25 involved officer shootings from 2016-2018, only three instances of body cam footage were released as of April 2019.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Mayor Bowser demonstrated support for the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests. She renamed the stretch of 16th Street NW in front of the White House, "Black Lives Matter Plaza" and had a mural painted spanning the entire street. DC-based leaders of Black Lives Matter said the act was a distraction from real policy changes and called on the Mayor to defund the police. In response, Black Lives Matter organizers painted "DEFUND THE POLICE" in the same bright letters, feet away from the mural Bowser ordered.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: On January 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters and insurrectionists stormed the US Capitol, in protest of the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Democrat Joe Biden defeated incumbent Republican President Donald Trump. Bowser imposed a curfew in response, to 6:00 pm that night and end at 6:00 am the following day, though it was ignored by numerous pro-Trump rioters and insurrectionists.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: During the 2021 Cuban protests in July, the words "CUBA LIBRE" (translated to "FREE CUBA") were painted in front of the Cuban embassy in support of the Cuban people and opposition to the country's communist regime. By July 20, the words were removed by the Bowser administration, who classified the words as "unauthorized". Bowser received criticism for her double standard of praising Raul Castro in 2016, her allowance of painting "Black Lives Matter" on the same street and her future plans to make the area a permanent dedication to Black Lives Matter.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In January 2016, traffic throughout the D.C. region was paralyzed by an inch of snow on untreated roads. More than 1,000 accidents were reported and some commuters abandoned their cars amidst impassable roads. Bowser apologized for an inadequate response in the District, explaining that "we should have been there earlier."


title: Muriel Bowser

text: For a larger storm later in the same season, a report by the D.C. auditor found that the District had spent over $40 million on removal, much of it charged to the District's credit cards. The District incurred tens of thousands of dollars in credit card fees. In an unprecedented move, JPMorgan Chase shut off the government's line of credit until some of the card balances could be paid. Some of the contractors who benefited most from the snow removal expenses were important Bowser donors, the D.C. auditor found.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In October 2015, Bowser changed her position to support the $6.4-billion merger between two public utilities, Exelon and Pepco. Opponents of the merger decried the lack of transparency in the deal and Bowser's reversal. Community activists raised ethics concerns, claiming that Bowser was swayed by a $25 million pledge to rename the future MLS Soccer Stadium as Pepco Park. In December 2015, it was revealed that Exelon had paid the chairman of FreshPAC, a political action committee affiliated with Bowser's allies, as a lobbyist.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In December 2017, Bowser ordered that 30,000 employees of the District receive sexual harassment training by February 2018. Under the order, 1,500 supervisors must also complete advanced, in-person training. At the time, Bowser administration personnel could not say how much taxpayers had paid to resolve sexual harassment claims against the city, or how many such claims there had been. In March 2018, it was reported that taxpayers had recently spent at least $735,000 to settle such suits. Bowser's aides acknowledged they did not have a full grasp of the problem, and the city plans to set up a system to track complaints and settlements.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2015, Bowser announced Vision Zero, a traffic safety initiative that aims to eliminate all traffic fatalities by 2024. To launch the event, Bowser, supporters, and D.C. government employees stood at intersections and waved green signs imploring motorists to slow down. The following year, the number of traffic fatalities increased from 26 to 28 and the number of crash injuries increased from 12,122 to 12,430. Pedestrian fatalities within the total dropped from 15 to 9, during a period when pedestrian deaths nationally had jumped upward by 11 percent. In 2017, traffic fatalities continued to rise. Following a pair of biking fatalities in the summer of 2018, cyclists protested that Bowser had failed at promoting traffic safety. In 2019, a prominent bike advocate was struck and killed by a driver along a stretch of road that was known to be dangerous.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In May 2020, Bowser announced that the default speed limits in D.C. would be reduced to 20 mph, claiming that "slower speeds can help improve safety". While overall traffic declined during the pandemic, DC reported 37 traffic fatalities in 2020, the most in over a decade. 2021 was deadlier, and by mid-November, the number of traffic deaths had already reached 2020's level.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: As part of her first State of the District Address in March 2015, Bowser promised to get the DC Streetcar "up and running." In September, Bowser as well as the director of the D.C. Department of Transportation promised that the streetcar would be operational by the end of the year. The H Street/Benning line began public service operations on February 27, 2016.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: After Bowser took office in 2015, she created a new cabinet post to focus on development in the city's poorest areas. She named former Council candidate Courtney Snowden to the new position. In 2017, the Inspector General found that Snowden had improperly used city employees to care for her child. Bowser said that appropriate management action had been taken in response to staff babysitting, without specifying what was done.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In October 2017, Bowser announced a $3 million infusion into housing and retail projects in D.C. Wards 7 and 8 in an effort to remedy the scarcity of grocery stores in the District's poorest wards. District Wards 7 and 8 have only three grocery stores between them, or 50,000 people for every grocery store, compared to 10,000 per store in wealthy Ward 3. Bowser awarded $2.1 million to the Jair Lynch group for redevelopment of a shopping center, and $880,000 to South Capitol Affordable Housing to assist in building out the Good Food Markets project, which also includes 195 units of affordable housing as well as commercial space. Previous attempts to attract grocery stores to these areas have failed.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In April 2016, the D.C. Trust, a government-funded entity that disbursed grants throughout the District to non-profits providing youth services, declared bankruptcy and announced plans to dissolve. The decision was attributed in part to overspending by and for staff at the agency. The agency, also known as the City Youth Investment Trust Corp., had suffered a history of abuse and mismanagement. Former councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. was found guilty on felony charges for embezzling $350,000 of the trust's funds between 2007 and 2009. In 2013, Congressional investigators concluded that the agency lacked controls to properly administer a $20 million-a-year, federally funded school-voucher program. Then in January 2016, the agency's board, four of whom had been appointed by Mayor Bowser, learned that a former executive director and a former senior financial officer had used funds to pay tens of thousands of dollars in credit-card charges, including some for personal use. Bowser had recently provided $700,000 in taxpayer funding to the agency. The board members did not know how much of the funding remained or how youth services could be continued.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2019, a 9 year old and a 10 year old were handcuffed by the Metropolitan Police Department in separate incidents, sparking public outrage after videos of the incidents were circulated. While the Attorney General said that he would review department policies, Bowser said that "every case is different" and asked whether it was appropriate to circulate photos of juveniles.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In mid-May 2016, ahead of the 2016 District of Columbia Democratic primary, Bowser endorsed Hillary Clinton's presidential candidacy.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser delivered a speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, in which she advocated for D.C. statehood.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In late January 2020, Bowser endorsed Michael Bloomberg's campaign in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. In March, after Bloomberg had withdrawn from the race, she endorsed Joe Biden's campaign.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: At the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Bowser delivered a speech remotely from Black Lives Matter Plaza.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: Bowser filed to run for re-election in 2018. James Butler, Ernest E. Johnson, and Jeremiah D. Stanback filed to run against her in the Democratic Party primary election. Ann C. Wilcox filed to run as a D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate. No one filed as a mayoral candidate in either the Republican Party primary election or the Libertarian Party primary election. Noting the nominal opposition and some "stumbles" during her first term, "The Washington Post" endorsed Bowser's re-election, citing the District's economic prosperity and Bowser's having fulfilled her promise to restore integrity to government. She then won the June 19 Democratic Primary with 83% of the vote, after her most formidable potential challenger, former mayor Vincent C. Gray, declined to enter the race. She went on to win the November 8 general election with just under 80% of the vote against two Independent candidates and one Libertarian.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: During the election, Bowser sought to unseat incumbent Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who had frequently questioned the mayor. Bowser endorsed political newcomer Dionne Reeder and provided her with volunteer and fundraising support. Reeder lost by a significant margin and Bowser was not able to deliver a victory in her home base of Ward 4.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In 2015, Bowser bought a home in Colonial Village, moving from a Riggs Park duplex where she had lived since 2000.


title: Muriel Bowser

text: In May 2018, Bowser announced that she had adopted a baby whom she named Miranda Elizabeth Bowser. Bowser's eldest sister, Mercia, died of COVID-19 on February 24, 2021. Mayor Bowser wrote, "Mercia was loved immensely and will be missed greatly, as she joins the legion of angels who have gone home too soon due to the pandemic."


title: Roy Choi

text: Roy Choi (born February 24, 1970) is a Korean-American chef who gained prominence as the creator of the gourmet Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi. Choi is a chef who is celebrated for "food that isn't fancy" and is known as one of the founders of the gourmet food truck movement. In 2019, Choi began presenting a cooking series on Netflix with Jon Favreau titled "The Chef Show".


title: Roy Choi

text: Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea, to South Korean father Soo Myung Choi and North Korean mother Jai Nam Choi. Choi's parents met in the US but after marrying moved back to Korea. The family ended up emigrating from South Korea permanently in 1972.


title: Roy Choi

text: Choi was raised in Los Angeles and Southern California. As Choi grew up, his parents had many businesses: a liquor store, dry-cleaning shop, a Korean restaurant, and after selling jewelry door to door, finally a successful jewelry company. His parents owned a Korean restaurant called Silver Garden in Anaheim, California for three years when he was young. Choi's mother made kimchi that was so popular within their community that they packaged it and sold it locally. His favorite childhood memory is making dumplings at the age of eight at his family's own restaurant. His family moved many times while he was young.


title: Roy Choi

text: His family once lived near Olympic Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, as well as in South Central, the Crenshaw District and West Hollywood.


title: Roy Choi

text: Choi attended a gifted-students program, but changed schools in his early teens when his parents achieved prosperity in the jewelry business and moved their family into a neighborhood in Orange County called Villa Park, Choi began getting into trouble, with his marks slipping as he began taking drugs and hanging out with a different crowd. At age 15, Choi's parents sent him to Southern California Military Academy in Signal Hill, California. He remembers this as a positive experience.


title: Roy Choi

text: After high school, Choi went to Korea and taught English there. He then attended California State University, Fullerton, graduating with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. Choi attended Western State University law school, and dropped out after one semester. At 24, Choi said he became obsessed with Emeril Lagasse's "Essence of Emeril" show. The show inspired him to enroll in culinary school. "Emeril saved my life," Choi said.


title: Roy Choi

text: In 1996, Choi began studying at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He enjoyed the highly structured block programs, where there was no "wiggle room." During his studies, he worked as an intern at three-Michelin-star restaurant Le Bernardin, in New York City.


title: Roy Choi

text: Choi gained experience as a journeyman hotel chef, and in 2001, started working for Hilton Hotels. After being promoted within the company, Choi became chef de cuisine at the Beverly Hilton in 2007. It was there that Choi met his future business partner, Mark Manguera. Choi also worked at the Embassy Suites in Sacramento and the Rock Sugar Pan Asian Kitchen in Los Angeles.


title: Roy Choi

text: After this classical training and years of background in four and five star cooking, Choi said that the shift to the food trucks, initially based on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice was great. Choi's company, Kogi, was founded in 2008 with partners Mark Manguera and his wife, Caroline Shin-Manguera.


title: Roy Choi

text: He was named one of the top ten "Best New Chefs" of 2010 by "Food and Wine" magazine, and is the first food truck operator to win that distinction. Choi currently runs Sunny Spot, in Venice, CA, which is Caribbean-inspired. He ran the Los Angeles-area restaurant Chego! which featured rice bowls, and A-Frame which conveyed the Hawaiian idea of aloha and was built in a former IHOP, in addition to Pot at the Line Hotel in Koreatown. In December, 2018, Choi opened a restaurant named Best Friend in Las Vegas, NV. His cooking style fuses Mexican and Korean flavors and dishes.


title: Roy Choi

text: In June 2013, Choi along with fellow chefs Wolfgang Puck and David Chang, convened at the Hotel Bel-Air to fuse different styles such as ggaejjang style and kochujang onto the Hotel Bel-Air menu.


title: Roy Choi

text: In November 2013, Choi released his autobiography that is part memoir part cookbook called "L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food".


title: Roy Choi

text: Choi said he didn't start out to write a book, but that he kept getting asked the same questions about his food, its flavors, and how it is prepared. While Choi doesn't see the book as social commentary, he felt it was important to show the "real deal" of the duality he felt growing up as an immigrant in the 1970s; the foods served in the restaurant were quite different from what the family ate at home. The book also talks about the culture of Los Angeles and how it has changed since the 1970s.


title: Roy Choi

text: The Jon Favreau movie "Chef" (2014) was loosely inspired by Choi and the food truck movement. Choi worked as a technical advisor to Favreau on cooking and restaurant scenes and appears in the end credits. In addition to touring all of Choi's restaurants, Favreau attended a French culinary school and trained in several of Choi's kitchens. In 2019, Favreau and Choi collaborated on a cooking show on Netflix: "The Chef Show".


title: Roy Choi

text: "Time" had included Choi in their TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world for 2011 and 2016. Fellow chef and author Anthony Bourdain wrote that "Roy Choi first changed the world when he elevated the food-truck concept from "roach coach" to highly sought-after, ultra-hot-yet-democratic rolling restaurant." In 2015, Choi and chef Daniel Patterson opened a restaurant called LocoL in Watts, Los Angeles, with the goal of bringing quality, healthy, and inspired fast-food to inner-city neighborhoods.


title: Roy Choi

text: Choi is a supporter of 3 Worlds Cafe, a South Central community coffee and smoothie shop that is a collaboration between Choi, the neighborhood-based Coalition for Responsible Community Development, fruit conglomerate Dole Packaged Foods and nearby Jefferson High School.


title: Roy Choi

text: During his difficult teen years and later as a young adult, Choi said he had many addictions. He was addicted to crack for a short time, marijuana and gambling, which lasted three years in his early 20s. Choi says that his current addiction is feeding people.


title: Etoricoxib

text: Etoricoxib, sold under the trade name Arcoxia, is a selective COX-2 inhibitor from McOLSON Research Laboratories. Currently it is approved in more than 80 countries worldwide but not in the US, where the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required additional safety and efficacy data for etoricoxib before it will issue approval.


title: Etoricoxib

text: Etoricoxib is indicated for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, chronic low back pain, acute pain, and gout. Approved indications differ by country. In the U.K. and Germany, it is also "used for the short term treatment of moderate pain after dental surgery" of adults.


title: Etoricoxib

text: A Cochrane review assessed the benefits of single-dose etoricoxib in reduction of acute post-operative pain in adults. Single-dose oral etoricoxib provides four times more pain relief post-operatively than placebo, with equivalent levels of adverse events. Etoricoxib given at a dose of 120 mg is as effective or even better than other analgesics that are commonly used.


title: Etoricoxib

text: Like all other NSAIDs the COX-2 inhibitors too have their share of adverse effects. Fixed drug eruption and generalised erythema, acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), erythema multiforme like eruption and drug induced pretibial erythema are some serious side effects reported, besides the usual innocuous ones.


title: Etoricoxib

text: Like any other selective COX-2 inhibitor ("coxib"), etoricoxib selectively inhibits isoform 2 of the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX-2). It has approximately 106-fold selectivity for COX-2 inhibition over COX-1. This reduces the generation of prostaglandins (PGs) from arachidonic acid. Among the different functions exerted by PGs, their role in the inflammation cascade should be highlighted.


title: Etoricoxib

text: Selective COX-2 inhibitors show less activity on COX-1 compared to traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID). This reduced activity is the cause of reduced gastrointestinal side effects, as demonstrated in several large clinical trials performed with different coxibs.


title: Etoricoxib

text: Some clinical trials and meta-analysis showed that treatment with some coxibs (in particular rofecoxib) led to increased incidence of adverse cardiovascular events compared to placebo. Because of these results, some drugs were withdrawn from the market (rofecoxib, in September 2004 and valdecoxib in April 2005). In addition, the United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency started revision processes of the entire class of both NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors.


title: London on da Track

text: London Tyler Holmes (born March 27, 1991), known professionally as London on da Track, is an American record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug and has also worked with Kodak Black, Birdman, Lil Wayne, Lil Baby, Rich Homie Quan, Gucci Mane, Giggs, Drake, Post Malone, T.I., 21 Savage, 50 Cent, Sfera Ebbasta, Summer Walker and Ariana Grande, among others.


title: London on da Track

text: Holmes was born on March 27, 1991 in Memphis, Tennessee, but moved to Atlanta at age 10. He learned to play piano and keyboards during church. After high school, Holmes briefly attended Full Sail University in Florida, although he never graduated.


title: London on da Track

text: London began rapping at the age of sixteen with the group Dem Guyz. The group used to download beats on SoundClick for 99 cents, although most of the beats cost $100 for exclusive rights. As a way to save money, London drew upon his experience playing piano arrangements in church and began making beats for rappers. With the help of online software he was able to refine his craft. He gained local acclaim when he began producing beats for the Rich Kidz . Soon after, others began asking for his compositions. Early on in his career, London would give away his beats for free as a means to build connections and garner more publicity. The first song he produced that received radio play was "Pieon" by Rich Kidz. The success of "Pieon" motivated London to continue producing. In 2011, he recorded his first of many collaborations with Young Thug, "Curtains". London continued to give his beats away for free before signing his first label deal with Cash Money Records.


title: London on da Track

text: In August 2014, American rapper and Cash Money Records chief executive officer (CEO) Bryan "Birdman" Williams, called London "the best producer in the business, as we speak today". London's frequent collaborator, Atlanta-based rapper Young Thug has stated London is his favorite producer to work with and will go down as "the greatest producer ever". "Complex" included him on their 2013 list of "25 New Producers To Watch For". In August 2014, three singles, produced by London on da Track, charted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 at the same time, with "Lifestyle" at 16, "About the Money" at 42, and "Hookah" at 85. In 2018, he appeared in "". That same year, he was named to Spotify's Secret Genius Ambassador's list. In 2019, he appeared in Netflix's "Rhythm + Flow", as a producer advisor in the finale.


title: London on da Track

text: In 2020, London worked with Ariana Grande on a song called "Positions", The song debuted at No. 1 on the US ""Billboard" Hot 100", becoming his first chart topper as a composer, lyricist and a producer. The song also debuted at No. 1 on the ""Billboard" Global 200" and ""Billboard" Global Excl. U.S." chart.


title: London on da Track

text: Holmes has 4 children; a daughter with singer Summer Walker born in 2021, as well as another daughter and 2 sons from previous relationships.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: "1-800-273-8255" (also known simply as "1-800") is a song by American rapper Logic, featuring guest vocals from Canadian singer Alessia Cara and American singer Khalid. It was released on April 27, 2017, through Visionary Music Group and Def Jam Recordings, as the third single from Logic's third studio album, "Everybody". The song's title is the previous phone number for the American National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL), now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Although the lifeline has since changed its phone number to 988 in July 2022, the original number still remains in use today. It was written by the three recording artists alongside Dylan Wiggins, Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers, and 6ix, who produced the track with Logic. "1-800-273-8255" eventually peaked at number 3 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and received nominations for Song of the Year and Best Music Video at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: So the first hook and verse is from the perspective of someone who is calling the hotline and they want to commit suicide. They want to kill themselves. They want to end their life. When I jumped on a tour bus that started in Los Angeles, California and I ended in New York City and did a fan tour where I went to fans' houses and shared meals with them, hung out with them, played them my album before it came out. Them along with other people on tour, just fans that I met randomly, they've said things like, "Your music has saved my life. You've saved my life." And I was always like, "Aw so nice of you. Thanks." And I give them a hug and shit but in my mind, I'm like, "What the fuck?" And they're really serious. And they tat shit on their arms and get shit like lyrics that save their life and in my mind, I was like, "Man I wasn't even trying to save nobody's life." And then it hit me, the power that I have as an artist with a voice. I wasn't even trying to save your life. Now what can happen if I actually did? In the second verse logic talks about the other side of the hotline and the operator saying "I want you to be alive You don't gotta die today and lemme tell you why". It then goes into a very strong verse on why he shouldn't do it. The last hook is the person finally realizing that they do matter and not doing the deed they wanted to do.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: The song's accompanying music video premiered on August 17, 2017, on Logic's Vevo channel on YouTube. The music video was directed by Andy Hines and centers around a young man who struggles with feeling accepted due to his sexuality. The video features appearances from Coy Stewart, Nolan Gould, Don Cheadle, Luis Guzmán and Matthew Modine.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: "1-800-273-8255" debuted at number 61 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 67 the Canadian Hot 100 for the chart dated May 20, 2017. Following the album's release it went up to number 47 and 40 respectively. On August 20, 2018, the single was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over five million units in the United States. Following the song's performance at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, the song jumped to number nine, becoming Logic and Khalid's first top 10 single, and Alessia Cara's fourth. It later reached the top three on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming all three's highest-charting single; it performed well at radio, especially contemporary hit radio, where it reached number three on the Mainstream Top 40.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: According to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL), in the three weeks following the single's release, calls directed to the NSPL rose by 27%, while visits to their website increased from 300,000 to 400,000 over the following months. According to "Billboard", the hotline received the second-highest daily call volume ever with over 4,573 calls on the day that the song was released.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: Lifeline's Director of Communications Frances Gonzalez reported that, following the night of the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, the NSPL experienced a 50% surge in the number of calls to their hotline. This was reportedly as a result of the performance of the song by Logic, Cara, and Khalid during the show as well as the speech given by recording artist and activist Kesha, who was tasked with presenting the performers.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: During the 60th Annual Grammy Awards, Logic performed the song alongside Alessia Cara and Khalid, as a tribute to Soundgarden lead vocalist Chris Cornell and Linkin Park lead vocalist Chester Bennington, who both died by suicide in 2017. It was performed after the annual in memoriam tribute, which ended with Bennington. Logic concluded his performance by making an extended statement, proclaiming his support for gender equality and racial equality while saying "black is beautiful" compared to how "hate is ugly."


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: A December 2021 article in the British Medical Journal found that each of these events -- the release of "1-800-273-8255," the performance during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, and the 2018 Grammys performance -- was correlated with increases in calls to the helpline, and with a reduction in suicides overall.


title: 1-800-273-8255 (song)

text: A Spanish remix featuring Colombian singer Juanes was released on October 13, 2017. Rapper Lil Durk has also remixed the hit single on his mixtape "Just Cause Y'all Waited" and titled it "1 (773) Vulture".


title: Aditi

text: Aditi (Sanskrit: अदिति, lit. 'boundless' or 'limitless' or 'innocence') is an important Vedic goddess in Hinduism.


title: Aditi

text: She is the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos. She is the goddess of motherhood, consciousness, unconsciousness, the past, the future, and fertility. She is the mother of the celestial deities known as the adityas, and is referred to as the mother of many deities. As celestial mother of numerous beings, the synthesis of all things, she is associated with space ("akasha") and with mystic speech ("Vāc"). She may be seen as a feminine form of Brahma, and associated with the primal substance ("mulaprakriti") in the Vedanta. She is mentioned more than 250 times in the "Rigveda," the verses replete with her praise.


title: Aditi

text: Aditi is the daughter of Daksha and Asikni (Panchajani). The "Puranas", such as the "Shiva Purana" and the "Bhagavata Purana", suggest that Daksha married all of his daughters off to different people, including Aditi and 12 others to Sage Kashyapa. When Kashyapa was living with Aditi and Diti in his ashrama, he was really pleased with Aditi's services, and told her to ask for a boon. Aditi prayed for one ideal son. Accordingly, Indra was born. Later, Aditi gave birth to the twelve adityas, namely Varuna, Parjanya, Mitra, Amsha, Pushan, Dhatri, Aryaman, Surya, Bhaga, Savitr, Vamana, and Viṣṇu. Her 16 younger sisters were also married to Sage Kashyapa.


title: Aditi

text: The first mention of Aditi is found in "Rigveda", which is dated by mainstream consensus to have been composed between 1800 and 1200 BC. She is portrayed as the mother of the Adityas, a group of societal Rigvedic deities, including Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Daksha, Bhaga, Amsha, and sometimes Surya and Savitar. As the mother of the societal deities, she represented the compliance to social behavior. Her motherhood was also an important attribute, and later was expanded so that she became the mother of all deities.


title: Aditi

text: According to the Shatapatha Brahmana (a commentary on the Shukla Yajurveda), Aditi is also invoked during ritual sacrificial offerings as being synonymous with the Earth:


title: Aditi

text: Aditi and the sage Kashyapa had 33 sons, out of whom twelve are called Âdityas including Surya, eleven are called Rudras, and eight are called Vasus.


title: Aditi

text: Aditi is said to be the mother of the great god Indra, the mother of kings (Mandala 2.27) and the mother of gods (Mandala 1.113.19). In the "Vedas", Aditi is Devamata (mother of the celestial gods) as from and in her cosmic matrix all the heavenly bodies were born. She is preeminently the mother of 12 Âdityas, whose names include , , , , Savitar, Bhaga, , , Mitra, and .


title: Aditi

text: She is also the mother of the Vamana, "avatar" of Vishnu. Accordingly, the Vamana "avatar", as the son of Aditi was born in the month of Shravana (fifth month of the Hindu Calendar, also called Avani) under the star Shravana. Many auspicious signs appeared in the heavens, foretelling the good fortune of this child.


title: Aditi

text: In the "Rigveda", Aditi is one of the most important figures of all. As a mothering presence, Aditi is often asked to guard the one who petitions her (Mandala 1.106.7; Mandala 8.18.6) or to provide him or her with wealth, safety, and abundance (Mandala 10.100; 1.94.15).


title: Aditi

text: Aditi is usually mentioned in the "Rigveda" along with other gods and goddesses. There is no one hymn addressed exclusively to her, unlike other Vedic gods. Since She is perhaps not related to a particular natural phenomenon like other gods. Compared to Ushas and Prithvi, Aditi can be defined as the cosmic creator.


title: Aditi

text: The verse "Daksha sprang from Aditi and Aditi from Daksha" is seen by Theosophists as a reference to "the eternal cyclic re-birth of the same divine Essence" and divine wisdom.


title: Aditi

text: The name Aditi includes the root "da" (to bind or fetter) and suggests another attribute of her character. As A-diti, she is an unbound, free soul and it is evident in the hymns to her that she is often called to free the petitioner from different hindrances, especially sin and sickness. (Mandala 2.27.14). In one hymn, she is asked to free a petitioner who has been tied up like a thief (Mandala 8.67.14). As one who unbinds, her role is similar to her son Varuna's as guardian of Rta, cosmic moral order. She is called the supporter of creatures (Mandala 1.136).


title: Aditi

text: Aditi was attributed the status of "first deity" by the Vedic culture, although she is not the only one attributed this status in the "Vedas". She is addressed in the Rigveda as "mighty" and revered as the eternal mother of all creation.


title: Aditi

text: Like many other Hindu gods and goddesses, Aditi has a "vahana" (a mount). Aditi flies across the boundless sky on a phoenix. The phoenix symbolizes strength, honour, but most importantly, reflects Aditi's nature of cyclical rebirth and infinite creation.


title: Aditi

text: Aditi is described to possess a pair of earrings, which are stolen from her by the asura named Naraka. Krishna returns the earrings to her after slaying the asura with his consort, Satyabhama.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: Neville Longbottom is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" book series. He is described as a round-faced Gryffindor student in the central character Harry Potter's year. Throughout the series, Neville is often portrayed as a bumbling and disorganised character, and a rather mediocre student, though he is highly gifted at Herbology. However, the character's personality appears to undergo a transition after he joins Dumbledore's Army in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix". The encouragement he receives gives him confidence in his magical abilities, turning him into a more competent wizard. Eventually, Neville becomes the leader of Dumbledore's Army during Harry, Ron and Hermione's absence searching for Horcruxes. Neville is instrumental in the downfall of Lord Voldemort and eventually destroys the final Horcrux, which allows Harry to defeat The Dark Lord once and for all. Neville is portrayed in the film adaptations by Matthew Lewis.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: Although a secondary character in the first four books, Neville appears often in the role of comic relief. He is one of Harry's strongest supporters over the course of the series, and becomes close friends with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna as well. Neville played a significant part in the two final books and the fight against Lord Voldemort, destroying the final Horcrux, Nagini, with the Sword of Gryffindor. The Sword appearing for Neville in his time of need was Neville's justification that he was a true Gryffindor, as he had always doubted his placement in the house since the beginning, wondering why he wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: Rowling revealed in an interview that "there's a lot of Neville in me - this feeling of just never being quite good enough... I felt that a lot when I was younger". For that reason, she wanted Neville to do something brave in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", in which Neville "finds true moral courage in standing up to his closest friends - the people who are on his side" towards the climax of the novel. She also said in that interview that this was "...a very important moment for me too in the first book".


title: Neville Longbottom

text: Neville Longbottom first appears in "Philosopher's Stone" before the initial journey in the Hogwarts Express, in which he is seen being accompanied by his grandmother looking for his toad pet Trevor. He befriends Harry, Ron and Hermione, and takes part in some of the trio's first adventures. Neville makes one significant contribution in his first year at Hogwarts: by attempting to stand up to the trio when he sees them about to break the rules and possibly do more harm to Gryffindor house, he earns the respect of Albus Dumbledore. For this act Dumbledore mentions him especially at the end of year dinner, pointing out the bravery required to stand up to one's friends and awarding him the final 10 points necessary for Gryffindor house to beat Slytherin.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: In "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", despite being a Pure-blood wizard, Neville fears that Slytherin's monster would attack him because he is "almost a Squib", as he is a poorly skilled student. However, in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin is one of the first to help Neville develop his true power by asking him to confront and destroy a Boggart, which Neville successfully did. In "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", it is revealed that Neville was raised by his grandmother because his parents were tortured to the point of insanity by Barty Crouch, Jr. and Rodolphus, Rabastan and Bellatrix Lestrange with the Cruciatus Curse for information on Voldemort's whereabouts following his downfall. During one of Crouch Jr.'s Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons while impersonating Alastor Moody, Neville is terrified upon seeing Crouch Jr. demonstrate the effects of the curse on a spider. He invites Hermione to the Yule Ball but is declined, so Neville is accompanied by Ginny at the Ball instead.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" Neville's magical abilities improve dramatically under the tutelage of Harry during meetings of Dumbledore's Army, and then devotes himself to Harry's training regimen. He also receives far greater characterisation than he has in the past, with Harry, and thus the reader, coming to understand him on a deeper level, beginning when Harry's friends see the state of Neville's parents at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: In the climax of the book, Neville participates in the battle in the Department of Mysteries, in which he accidentally breaks the prophecy made about Harry and Voldemort. Dumbledore, to whom the prophecy was originally made, explains that it concerns ""the Chosen One"", a wizard that would have the power to vanquish Voldemort. This "Chosen One" would be born "as the seventh month dies", and thus could refer to either Neville, born on 30 July 1980, or Harry, born on 31 July. According to Rowling, this "does not give Neville either hidden powers or a mysterious destiny ... Neville remains the tantalising 'might-have-been.' "


title: Neville Longbottom

text: Neville receives a new wand in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" as the old one, which was actually his father's, was broken during the struggle with Death Eaters in the previous book. During the train ride to Hogwarts, Neville is invited by Horace Slughorn to join the Slug Club, but apparently does not pass Slughorn's first test as he is not invited again. It is revealed that Neville achieved an "Outstanding" in Herbology, and he did well in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, earning an "Exceeds Expectations." Neville wants the D.A. meetings to continue, as he feels they have helped him and the others to improve their skills, however they stop as Harry now says there is no need as they now have a ""proper teacher"". When a group of Death Eaters guided by Draco Malfoy attack the castle, Neville answers the call for help, and he fights against the Death Eaters once again, though he suffers minor injuries. During Dumbledore's funeral Neville is accompanied and assisted by Luna, and Harry felt a "great rush of affection" for them because they were the only two D.A. members that helped Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in the struggle with the Death Eaters.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: With Harry's absence and the control of Hogwarts in the hands of Severus Snape and Death Eaters Alecto and Amycus Carrow in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", Neville spends much of his seventh year at Hogwarts as the resistance leader against Voldemort's takeover. Together with Ginny and Luna, Neville reactivates Dumbledore's Army, stepping into the leadership position in Harry's absence and helping students who were tormented under the new regime. Neville reveals that the Carrows beat him and that the Death Eaters targeted his grandmother when Neville was acting up at school. Neville goes into hiding in the Room of Requirement, which he shows an incredible ability to control. Upon Harry's return to Hogwarts, Neville sends messages to the D.A., which in turn gathers the Order of the Phoenix.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: During the Battle of Hogwarts, he is spotted twice by Harry using his knowledge of Herbology to help ward off the attackers. He is later seen helping Oliver Wood carry the body of Colin Creevey. When Voldemort returns with Harry's apparently lifeless body, Neville defies him, and decapitates Nagini with the Sword of Godric Gryffindor (which he draws from the Sorting Hat), thus destroying the final Horcrux and making Voldemort mortal once again. When the battle goes to the Great Hall, he is shown assisting Ron in taking down Fenrir Greyback. After the battle is won, Neville is shown surrounded by a group of admirers.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: In the epilogue of "Deathly Hallows", Ginny mentions that Neville has gone on to be the Herbology professor at Hogwarts. In an interview, Rowling also mentioned that he shows off his D.A. coin to many admiring students and tells them about his adventures. Rowling revealed more information about Neville when she stated that he married Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff classmate, who became the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. The couple live over the pub, a fact that Rowling thought people would find "particularly cool".


title: Neville Longbottom

text: Although Neville does not appear onstage in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, he is mentioned as part of a pivotal plot element. Time travelers Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy prevent Cedric Diggory from winning the Tri-Wizard Tournament, in order to save his life. But Diggory is publicly humiliated, setting him on a path to becoming a Death Eater. When Scorpius returns to his own time, he learns that Diggory's only significant act as a Death Eater was to murder Neville, who was considered unimportant; but Neville's absence from the Battle of Hogwarts results in a timeline where Harry was killed, Voldemort conquered the wizarding world, and Albus no longer exists.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: Neville has been played by Matthew Lewis in all of the "Harry Potter" films to date. Lewis' portrayal of Neville has been "clowned up", as he wears yellow and crooked false teeth, two-sizes-too-big shoes and has plastic bits placed behind his ears in order to make them stick out more. Prior to the release of the fifth film, Lewis commented on Neville's character development that he thinks "it's amazing that the character of Neville has really shaken off his klutz image (to an extent.) It very good to see him finally being a help as opposed to making things worse, I'm looking forward to the 5th film, it will be interesting to almost play a different character." When asked if he feels related to Neville, Lewis replied that he is "clumsy and terribly forgetful" just like his character is, but that he does not have "the same nervous disposition as Neville", and that it is interesting to play somebody that, despite being picked on at school, still does the right thing.


title: Neville Longbottom

text: The narrative describes Neville as round-faced. In "Prisoner of Azkaban", Harry draws some physical comparison between Neville and Peter Pettigrew. In a 2000 interview, Rowling recalled a conversation with a reader, to whom she described Neville as "short and plump and blond".