Latest news with #RichardLewis
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Dupont Circle Park will officially close for DC's WorldPride weekend
WASHINGTON () — After days of uncertainty and unanswered questions, the National Park Service has officially announced that Dupont Circle Park will close for WorldPride weekend. This announcement came after the United States Park Police (USPP) requested the closure over safety concerns. Park police said closing the circle was necessary for the maintenance of public health and safety and protection of natural and cultural resources in the park. Park police added the temporary closure throughout the weekend will 'secure the park, deter potential violence, reduce the risk of destructive acts and decrease the need for extensive law enforcement presences.' PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Uncertainty lingers over Dupont Circle's status ahead of WorldPride Parade The decision stemmed from previous Pride weekends, when D.C. police said groups of people damaged property, looted and participated in underage drinking. The historic fountain at the center of the circle was reportedly damaged, and there were reports of gunfire. Significant road closures for WorldPride Parade, Block Party In a letter to park police on April 22, D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith wrote, 'Every year, the situation has strained our personnel as the large crowds continued to linger around the park and spill into the nearby roadway causing further disturbances.' Days later, D.C. police rescinded their request to install anti-scale fencing around the perimeter of Dupont Circle after pushback from the community. However, the final decision was up to the United States Park Police. Around 5 a.m. on Friday, officers surrounded Dupont Circle with police tape, and fencing began going up around the park. USPP said the park will remain closed through Sunday, June 8, around 6 p.m. Richard Lewis, who lived in the community for nearly two decades, said he is truly disappointed. 'Very disappointed in the agencies that were involved in this lack of decision making, the back and forth. The public outcry apparently doesn't seem to matter. There are ways of doing and protecting the property without closing it,' said Lewis. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Uncertainty lingers over Dupont Circle's status ahead of WorldPride Parade
WASHINGTON () — With just two days left until the Parade in Washington, D.C., accessibility to Dupont Circle remains unclear, and city leaders are sending mixed signals about what to expect. Earlier this week, both D.C. and U.S. Park police over the weekend due to safety concerns. The decision stemmed from previous Pride weekends, when police said the area saw property damage, looting, underage drinking, and even reports of gunfire. The historic fountain at the center of the circle was reportedly damaged as well. PREVIOUS COVERAGE | DC police recinds request to close Dupont Circle park during WorldPride after pushback from DC community But following public pushback, including opposition from Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker, D.C. police have backed off their initial request. While the National Park Service has not yet made a final decision, many residents are calling for a solution that balances celebration and safety. 'It's a symbol for the gay community. It's a symbol for this neighborhood. It's one of the best neighborhoods in the city,' said Richard Lewis, who has lived near Dupont Circle for more than 20 years. 'I was disgusted and embarrassed [by the behavior last year]. I thought, this is not how we treat our neighborhoods. It was a slap to the gay community, knowing fully well that the parade wasn't even there.' Instead of a full closure, some neighbors are advocating for a compromise — keeping the park open, but with increased law enforcement. WorldPride underway in DC for first time 'I understand both sides of the story,' added Lewis. 'I'd like to see it remain open with increased police presence so people know there's accountability and that they shouldn't be damaging public or private property.' In a statement, Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith confirmed the department's shift, saying, 'After hearing from community leaders and residents, I am formally withdrawing MPD's request to close Dupont Circle Park… While US Park Police will make the final call, MPD will have resources available if needed.' As of now, with a little more than 48 hours until the start of the parade, no final word has come from the National Park Service or U.S. Park Police about whether the park will remain open or closed. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Business Wire
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Redwood Services Announces Strategic Investment from Altas Partners
MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Redwood Services ('Redwood'), a leading national platform in the essential home services sector, today announced a significant equity investment from Altas Partners ('Altas'), a North American investment firm. The transaction, expected to close in the second quarter of 2025 pending regulatory approvals, marks the expansion of Redwood's investor group alongside founding backer Union Main Group. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Today, Redwood supports over 2,500 employees and generates more than $500 million in annual revenue. Over the years, Redwood has built a proven partnership model and a robust national platform—with an emphasis on scaling with discipline, preserving culture, and driving and supporting consistent performance across its family of brands. 'Altas is the ideal partner as we embark on our next phase of growth,' said Richard Lewis, Founder and CEO of Redwood Services. 'We've built a nationwide, people-first platform that empowers elite contractors through local alignment and world-class support. Our Partner Support Center helps our Partners unlock their full potential, enabling them to deliver exceptional service and build lasting customer relationships. We're proud of what we've built, and we're just getting started.' The investment will enable Redwood to further strengthen its infrastructure, expand strategic partnerships, accelerate tuck-in acquisitions across the U.S., and continue to help its local brands operate at the highest level. 'Altas shares our vision and deeply values what we've built,' said Adam Hanover, Co-Founder and CEO of Union Main Group and Chairman of Redwood's Board. 'Their experience scaling businesses from our size to several times larger—combined with their genuine respect for Redwood's culture, partnership model, and Partner Support Center team—makes them an ideal partner for this next chapter. We're excited to welcome them to the team.' Altas brings a distinct approach to partnerships given its focus on completing only one or two significant investments each year, allowing for deep engagement and meaningful collaboration. Altas has a strong track record of helping leading services businesses like Redwood grow significantly larger and more valuable—by enhancing capabilities while preserving each company's unique culture. In recent years, this approach has led to the development of the leading commercial roofing service provider and the leading independent fire and life safety provider in the U.S. 'We've spent several years studying the home services and residential HVAC space, and Redwood stands out as one of the premier platforms in the industry,' said Michael Korzinstone, Partner at Altas. 'Redwood's impressive team, disciplined approach to growth, strong local alignment, and mission-driven culture set it apart from others in the industry. Given our track record of helping scale leading services businesses in other sectors, we are confident we can provide the support and capabilities to help Redwood accelerate its growth while preserving what makes it exceptional.' Advisors Piper Sandler & Co. served as Redwood's financial advisor. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Burch, Porter & Johnson, PLLC served as legal counsel to Redwood. Baird and Deutsche Bank served as Altas' financial advisors. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Altas. About Redwood Services Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Memphis, Redwood Services is a nationwide people-focused platform dedicated to empowering elite contractors in the essential home services industry. Redwood provides world-class resources, coaching, and strategic partnerships to 19 leading companies across the United States, enabling its Partners to deliver exceptional HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services to residential customers. Redwood's mission is to unleash the full potential of its Partners, supporting them in providing high-quality service and building lasting relationships with customers. For more information, visit About Altas Partners Altas Partners is a North American investment firm focused on selectively acquiring significant interests in high-quality businesses with meaningful growth potential. Altas focuses on sub-sectors where it has deep expertise, seeking one or two compelling investment opportunities each year. The Firm's patient investment philosophy and engaged approach to ownership distinguish Altas as a buyer of choice for many management teams and founders. The Firm was founded in 2012 and operates from offices in Toronto and New York. Altas manages more than $10 billion on behalf of leading institutional and family office investors from around the world. For more information, visit About Union Main Group Union Main Group is a long-term holding company that owns and operates a concentrated portfolio of essential business services companies. Founded and led by Marc and Adam Hanover, Union Main is backed by a close-knit group of entrepreneurial investors, including Bill Conway (Co-Founder, The Carlyle Group), Pitt Hyde (Founder, AutoZone), and Mitchell Blutt and Kevin Livingston (Founders, Consonance Capital). Union Main builds and scales businesses in partnership with exceptional operators, and has selectively partnered with large-cap investment firms—while continuing to hold significant stakes as its companies enter new chapters of growth. For more information, visit
Euronews
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Brussels, my love? A democratic Syria - realistic or just a pipe dream?
ADVERTISEMENT For the first time, a Syrian government representative participated in an international conference on the war-torn country. It happened in Brussels, where support for the new Syria was discussed. But the latest slide into violence prompted difficult questions about the EU's recent decisions to lift sanctions, making some EU member states uncomfortable. Are these political gestures premature? Is Syria ready for a new beginning or not? A lot of questions for our panel in this edition: Richard Lewis, senior associate at the Brussels School of Governance, Sarah Wheaton, chief policy correspondent at Politico and Petras Auštrevičius, member of the European Parliament representing Renew Europe from Lithuania. A new era is dawning in Syria. A few days ago, the new leader of the war-torn country signed a provisional constitution governing the five-year transition period. This declaration came three months after the rebels unexpectedly toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad. This led to calls for a new inclusive Syria that respects individual rights, including those of women. The new leadership faces a daunting task: 80% of the electricity grids, 60% of the water networks and almost half of the health infrastructure have been destroyed. 16.7 million people are in urgent need of aid - the highest number recorded since the conflict began 14 years ago. But Syria continues to be rocked by violence. In early March, security forces killed almost 1,500 civilians, most of them members of the Alawite minority to which the Assad family belongs. Is this the 'justice for the victims and survivors' promised by the new rulers? Is the process of healing and overcoming division realistic or just a pipe dream? Second topic: This week marked the 11th anniversary of the day Vladimir Putin illegally annexed Crimea. A military operation that would directly lead to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine eight years later. That same Vladimir Putin spoke to Donald Trump on Tuesday in an apparent effort to end the fighting in Ukraine on his terms. Carving up Ukraine among Trump and Putin smacks of the famous Yalta Conference where the presumptive victors of World War II divided Europe into spheres of influence. The difference? Back in 1945, there was a European at the table: Winston Churchill. Finally, the panel discussed the bribery allegations against Huawei. Just two years after Qatargate rocked Europe, new allegations of bribery, this time linked to the Chinese telecoms giant, have once again sent shockwaves through the Brussels institutions. Belgian investigators are probing 'active corruption within the European Parliament'. Police raided more than 20 addresses in Belgium and Portugal and several people were arrested. The whole case breathes new life into longstanding concerns over shady lobbying practices in Brussels. Is pay-to-play made too easy in the EU institutions? And what about those ethics lessons learned from the Qatargate scandal?
The Independent
23-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mea Culpa: Where no man has gone, still
Last week, we reminded readers of when America first sent a person into orbit. At least, we did in the body of the article. In the caption for the accompanying picture of astronaut John Glenn entering his spaceship in 1962, we told readers he was 'bound for Mercury'. Thanks to Richard Lewis for pointing out that this was wrong. Of course, no country has yet attempted to send a human the 192 million miles from Earth to the sun's closest neighbour. It was later in 1962 that Nasa sent an uncrewed probe to fly past Venus for the first time. It wasn't until 1974 that they got near Mercury, still with no crew, with the Mariner 10 spacecraft. Wild claim: The introduction to a liveblog on our site began: 'Ukraine needs to 'tone down' its criticism of Donald Trump, the White House has claimed, after the US president launched an extraordinary attack on Volodymyr Zelensky.' We said 'claimed' where we should have said 'said'. The White House adviser we quoted was offering an opinion. A claim is a statement presented as truth without evidence. We should be careful to keep that meaning in place for when we need it. Lowest of the low: 'Battered British army is at its lowest nadir since 1940', read a headline in Friday's Independent. 'Nadir' means the lowest point, so the adjective here does not add any meaning. Removing the adjective would have left us with a headline that made no sense, so the fix would have been to replace 'nadir' with 'point'. We repeated the tautology in the article text, where the same fix could have been applied. Thanks to Iain Brodie and John Harrison for flagging this one. Out the back: In an article recounting Rachel Reeves's questionable grip on the facts of her early career, we said the revelation of her inaccurate CV claims has forced the chancellor to 'back-peddle'. This mistake left the impression that Reeves was involved in some sort of illicit sales role (incidentally, not a claim she had made). We meant 'backpedal' – a term for retraction which has outlasted the need for a hyphen. Dismissed: We made two poor choices in one troubled News in Brief item about a woman receiving a payout after being unfairly dismissed while pregnant. We said she had 'been compensated nearly £94,000'. We meant she was 'compensated by nearly £94,000'. The need for this rule is best demonstrated by replacing the cash figure with a word for something a person may be compensated by. 'She was compensated a redundancy package,' for example. Further down, we said a judge had ruled that the woman's 'pregnant condition' was the reason for her sacking. 'Condition' was added unnecessarily here as its plural form is so often added to 'weather'. We disparage it in both cases. 'Pregnancy' would have been clearer. Marching on: In a report on a football match, we said Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was given his directions by the referee. We chose to say that 'the referee marched the midfielder', which lands somewhere between two well-known phrases that fit the context. Bellingham could have been 'given his marching orders' or been 'marched off the field'. Stephen Hall suggests we may have been trying to innovate and avoid turning to cliched phrases. We thank him for being generous. The phrase we used had less to offer than either of these. It lacked the whimsy of the former and the clarity of the latter. In the same article, we said Bellingham's marching orders came after he 'protested the refereeing'. As has been noted before in this column, the standard British English is to 'protest against'. Though the 'against' may be dropped eventually due to American influence, for now, we come down on the side of the status quo.
