National Mall

You wouldn't think a presidential inauguration would require a survivors group. But shortly after thousands of ticket holders were trapped in an underground tunnel beneath the National Mall on Tuesday, a new Facebook group was born: Survivors of the Purple Tunnel of Doom. Membership as of Thursday evening: 3,950. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.

At night, the National Mall has an allure all its own, from the glow of the floodlit dome of the Capitol to the lights of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial dancing off the Reflecting Pool. The air is clearer, the atmosphere quieter, the feeling more personal than during the day, when tourists crowd the famous landmarks.

Several dozen 2nd Amendment advocates — many with loaded handguns on their hips and rifles dangling from their shoulders — gathered in a Virginia park within view of the U.S. Capitol on Monday, marking a day of protest against what activists called dangerous breaches of the U.S. Constitution. "It's paid for in blood and, if necessary, we'll defend it in blood!" said Bob Wright, speaking of the Constitution, as he and other protesters gathered at Gravelly Point Park, a national park just across the Potomac River from Washington.

A federal agency Thursday gave final approval to the site for a memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the historically hallowed ground of the national Mall--where it will join monuments to America's most revered presidents. "Only in America can the grandson of former slaves end up on the Mall in a prominent position," said John Carter, project manager for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit group that has led the drive to build the monument. "This site puts Dr.

U.S. Park Police announced five arrests Friday in connection with a recent series of armed robberies and sexual assaults of nighttime visitors to the National Mall, the capital city's leading tourist attraction. The Park Police, which patrols the Mall, said the suspects were local teenagers and young adults, one of whom pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery and first-degree sexual abuse in the rape of a 17-year-old girl at gunpoint.

Construction has begun on a landmark African American history museum on a National Mall site, a mile from where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke and even closer to where the nation's largest slave market once stood. That contradiction reflects the complicated story the National Museum of African American History and Culture will try to tell its visitors when it opens in 2015. President Obama joined former First Lady Laura Bush, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and Smithsonian Institution Secretary Wayne Clough for a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday that was punctuated by jazz and a cappella music.

A federal commission has recommended construction of a museum on the National Mall honoring the history of American Latinos. The commission submitted a report to Congress and the White House on Thursday outlining the details of the proposed $600-million National Museum of the American Latino, which has been endorsed by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. It would be part of the Smithsonian Institution, which already has a museum dedicated to American Indians and is planning another focusing on African Americans.

A high-spirited crowd numbering, by some estimates, more than 200,000 swamped the National Mall on Saturday, overwhelming the city's public transportation system as people flocked to what organizers billed as a "comedic call for calm. " Much of the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear," put on by "The Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and his Comedy Central colleague Stephen Colbert, resembled a large-scale variety show, with humorous sketches and surprise musical guests such as Kid Rock, Tony Bennett and Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens.

WASHINGTON - The fight for a national World War I memorial in the nation's capital will continue in the new year. Legislation sent by Congress to President Obama calls for creating a commission to plan for activities to commemorate the centennial of the Great War. A bill approved earlier by the House called for a national memorial in Washington but the provision was stripped out by the Senate. The final measure was approved by the House on Monday.    David DeJonge, president and co-founder of the  WWI Memorial Foundation, said he hopes that a national memorial in Washington will be considered in the next Congress.