Guest List: Today’s Newsmakers

The Washingtonians in headlines today we’d like to have dinner with tonight

Written by Alyssa Rosenberg | Published on January 13, 2011

• DLA Piper partner Berl Bernhard. One of the key issues that may lead to a football lockout next season is the question of whether to expand the season from 16 games to 18. Players say the already-dangerous game will lead to more injuries if the regular season goes longer, while owners would love to add another hometown game. Unlike current owners, who can only speculate about the impact of an expanded season, Bernhard can speak to it: He owned the Washington Federals in the United States Football League, and the team played 18-game seasons. We’d love the benefit of his experience in this debate.

• Prince George’s County councilwoman Andrea Harrison. The new chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has focused on transportation since she was elected to her Prince George’s post in 2008. Now, she’ll have a chance to shape transportation policy—and other regional priorities—from her new post as head of the 21-jurisdiction board, which is fresh off a victorious push for major changes in WMATA governance.

• Carla Hall. The Silver Spring confectioner is tearing it up on Top Chef: All Stars, taking home two of the last three weeks’ wins. And this morning, DC City Council Chairman Kwame Brown swore her in as the District’s 2011 Secretary of Love and Relationships, a gig she’s inheriting from none other than Dr. Ruth. We know Hall’s a sweetheart, and as a local celeb, she’s well-poised to plug DC as a dating destination—but those are some intimidatingly sexually frank shoes to fill. We wish her luck!

• Teresa Chambers. The Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that the former chief of the U.S. Park Police was improperly fired for protesting staff cuts in an interview with the Washington Post. Her reinstatement will prompt a reshuffle in the Park Police, which replaced her. And it could spark a debate about what constitutes whistleblowing, and how whistleblowers should be protected.

• Virginia State Senators Charles Colgan and Patricia Ticer. The rest of the country may be taking a break between the Congressional midterms and the 2012 Presidential election, but Virginia’s political landscape is still settling: Republican Bill Stanley beat Democrat Hank Davis in a special election Tuesday. And retirements by Colgan, a Republican, and Ticer, a Democrat, may change the balance further. Republicans are worried that Colgan’s Prince William seat could go to a Democrat. Between them, they have 50 years in the state Senate. We’d love to hear from them how the Virginia legislature has changed—and where the state’s politics might go in the future.

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