Guest List: Today’s Newsmakers

• Charles Meng. Washington might have survived the recession in better shape than the rest of the country, but the executive director of the Arlington Food Assistance Center sees another side of the economy. As the construction boom in the suburbs has faded, jobs for the working poor have vanished, creating a strain on the area’s food banks—one that will only get worse if gas prices go up, straining already-thin incomes.

• Trish Mayhugh. The Towson mother of three is one of the neighborhood advocates who have pushed Baltimore to think more carefully about the relationships among its colleges and universities and longtime residents. A new coalition, the Greater Towson Residential Task Force, is bringing together students and university and city officials to try to ease the friction between college students and the communities they live in. If it works, we’d love to see what solutions the task force might have for Washington universities and their neighbors.

• Bill Atkins. Who knew there was a museum dedicated to John Wayne in Bowie? Atkins, a commercial-real-estate agent, was a Marine at Camp Pendelton when Wayne shot Flying Leathernecks there, and he’s emerged as one of the country’s biggest Wayne fans, running the museum out of his office. So if the remake of True Grit didn’t do it for you, there’s a shrine for you to pay your respects within driving distance.

• Brendan and Sean Tuohey. The brothers run a charity that brings together children in war-torn regions—from the Middle East to Belfast to South Africa—through sports. Now their international work is about to get international attention: Prince William and Kate Middleton have tapped PeacePlayers as one of the charities they’ll support through their wedding next month. We wish them luck—and expect royal-wedding gossip!

• Ronald Machen. The US Attorney just indicted 13 gang members from DC and Maryland—bringing an end, we hope, to a spate of deadly shootings. The joint operation by District police and the US marshals include 38 total charges. We’ll be curious to see how the case plays out—and whether this will deal a real blow to violent crime in Washington or just stop one feud.

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