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Ryan M. McDermott

rmcdermott@washingtontimes.com

Articles by Ryan M. McDermott

Officer Edward Nero, center, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, arrives at a courthouse to receive a verdict in his trial in Baltimore, Monday, May 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Edward Nero found not guilty in death of Freddie Gray

Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero has been found not guilty of assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in the death of Freddie Gray.

May 23, 2016

FILE - In this May 3, 2016 file photo, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld attends a National Transportation Safety Board meeting in Washington. Washington's beleaguered subway system will experience a year of rolling shutdowns and slowdowns as officials try to improve its safety and reliability. Wiedefeld announced the maintenance plan on Friday, May 6, 2016. He says doing track work at night and on the weekends when the system is closed simply doesn't provide enough time to catch up on maintenance. Instead, stations will be closed or trains will be sharing a single track in each direction for days or weeks at a time. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Paul Wiedefeld, Metro GM, fires 20 managers ahead of massive overhaul

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld fired 20 managers Friday and reduced the number of people who report directly to him in an effort to streamline the transit agency ahead of a yearlong overhaul of the subway system prompted by decades of lax safety management.

May 20, 2016

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson testified on Capitol Hill in May before a House Oversight Government Operations subcommittee hearing on whether the District of Columbia government truly has the power to spend local tax dollars without approval by Congress. (Associated Press/File)

D.C. officials eye eminent domain in homeless shelter plan

D.C. lawmakers say they can use "quick take" eminent domain, if necessary, to acquire privately-held property and expedite construction of two homeless shelters under the city council's new plan to close the rundown facility at the former D.C. General Hospital by 2018.

May 18, 2016

In addition to lowering costs, D.C. Council chairman Phil Mendelson said his revision would meet Mayor Muriel Bowser's schedule for closing the former D.C. General Hospital, which has been used as a temporary homeless shelter for more than a decade. (The Washington Times) **FILE**

D.C. Council moves to revise Mayor Muriel Bowser’s homeless proposal

The D.C. Council on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to an overhaul of Mayor Muriel Bowser's plan to close the dilapidated homeless shelter at the former D.C. General Hospital and build seven smaller facilities across the city to house its residents.

May 17, 2016

These undated photos provided by the Baltimore Police Department, show Baltimore police officers, top row from left, Caesar R. Goodson Jr., Garrett E. Miller and Edward M. Nero, and bottom row from left, William G. Porter, Brian W. Rice and Alicia D. White, charged with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the police-custody death of Freddie Gray. (Baltimore Police Department via AP, File)

Baltimore cop says fellow officer did not touch, arrest Freddie Gray last April

A Baltimore judge on Monday refused a defense motion to acquit a police officer accused of assault and reckless endangerment in last year's arrest and death of Freddie Gray.

May 16, 2016

Photos by Ryan M. McDermott / The Washington Times
The proposed shelter, at 2105-2107 10th St. NW, would house up to 30 families in the refurbished Morning Bright Church. The site will be developed by Suman Sorg through 2101 Morning Bright LLC, and cost taxpayers about $38 million over a 30-year lease.
It is part of a $22 million-a-year initiative developed by Ms. Bowser to close the ramshackle 285-room facility at D.C. General and transfer families into new shelters in seven of the Districts eight wards.

Ward 1 D.C. residents divided over proposed site for homeless shelter

Ward 1 residents are split over whether a proposed shelter at a renovated church will benefit both the community and the homeless families set to live there.

May 15, 2016

Howard County school nails financial management competition

Students at a Howard County high school last week beat out several thousand other teams across the country in a competition to demonstrate personal financial lessons they've learned in school.

May 13, 2016

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) questions Secret Service Director Julia Pierson as she testifies in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill to discuss the recent White House perimeter breach when an armed Texas man made it into the White House earlier this month, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, September 30, 2014. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Congress eyes law to bar D.C. from spending local funds without approval

The Republican-run House of Representatives is weighing legislation that would bar the Democrat-led D.C. government from spending local taxes without congressional approval.

May 12, 2016

In this photo taken March 12, 2015, passengers wait on the platform before boarding a train at the U Street Metro Station in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) ** FILE **

D.C. Metro ‘finances worse than operations,’ privatization on the table

Metro faces an $18 billion capital deficit over the next 10 years, news that shook regional lawmakers and prompted one to suggest privatizing the long-troubled transit agency.

May 11, 2016

From left, attorney Marc Zayon, Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero, and attorney Jason Silverstein, walk to Courthouse East before hearing on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 in Baltimore. A judge will rule on several motions ahead of the trial for Nero, one of the police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Nero faces assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Gray died April 19, 2015, a week after suffering a critical spinal injury in the back of a police van. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun via AP) WASHINGTON EXAMINER OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Edward Nero, Baltimore police officer, opts for judge in his trial in the death of Freddie Gray

A Baltimore Police officer has opted that his trial in connection with the death of Freddie Gray be decided by a judge rather than a jury.

May 10, 2016

ADVANCE FOR WEEKEND EDITIONS - In this April 12, 2016 photo, teachers aid Jennifer Waller helps Tyshawn Kennedy, 9, with his writing skills during Boys-2-Men, an after-school program at the Family Life Center at the Church in the Round in Aliquippa, Pa. (Lucy Schaly/Beaver County Times via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Mentor gap seen in D.C. as students far outpace volunteers

Volunteerism is alive but unwell in the District with regard to public and charter school students — more than 30,000 of whom lack mentors and tutors because of a dearth of volunteers.

May 9, 2016

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (Associated Press)

D.C. leaders ask Congress to drop riders from federal budget affecting the District’s laws

D.C. leaders renewed their annual call for Congress to refrain from attaching riders to the federal budget that would target local laws.

May 9, 2016

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2015 file photo, a subway train arrives at the L'Enfant Metro Station in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File) **FILE**

Federal Transit Administration threatens to withhold funding, shut down Metro

The Federal Transit Administration has threatened to withhold funding from Metro and shut it down if it does not comply with safety directives issued by federal overseers on Saturday.

May 8, 2016

Metro's general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, listens to a question during a news conference to announce that the DC Metrorail service will be shut down for a full day at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority headquarters, on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, in Washington. Wiedefeld said the system would be shut down for an emergency inspection of the system’s third rail power cables. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Metro announces new overhaul plan

Metro will implement long-term single tracking, suspend service at some stations and close down the entire system at midnight seven days a week to overhaul the ailing subway over the next year.

May 6, 2016

Police take Eulalio Tordil, 62, a suspect in three fatal shootings in the Washington, D.C., area into custody in Bethesda, Md., Friday, May 6, 2016. Tordil is an employee of the Federal Protective Service, which provides security at federal properties. He was put on administrative duties in March after a protective order was issued against him. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Montgomery County shootings: 2 dead, 2 hurt in separate incidents

Two were killed and two injured Friday in shootings at a Bethesda mall and a nearby shopping center, which authorities say could be connected to the fatal shooting of a woman by her estranged husband outside a high school the previous day.

May 6, 2016

(Associated Press/File)

Smoke hampers Metro subway service between Eastern Market, L’Enfant Plaza in D.C.

Service on a portion of three of Metro's rail lines was suspended Thursday evening due to a smoke incident.

May 5, 2016

Shooting reported at High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland

Prince George's County Police are searching for a man who shot and killed a woman and injured a man outside of High Point High School in Beltsville, Maryland on Thursday evening.

May 5, 2016

D.C. police Chief Cathy L. Lanier. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Anthony Payne fatally run over by hijacked Metro bus in D.C.; Keith Loving charged

Anthony Payne was killed Tuesday when a man hijacked a Metro bus, jumped the curb of a gas station and used the vehicle to pin the 40-year-old Northwest, D.C., resident against a dumpster.

May 4, 2016

A passenger is seen riding a subway train as it leaves the L'Enfant Metro Station in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, part of the public mass transit network for Washington. The transit network in the nation's capital, remains hobbled after an electrical malfunction that filled a L'Enfant Metro subway station with smoke, killing one woman and sending dozens of people to hospitals. The NTSB is investigating the incident, which happened at the beginning of the Monday afternoon rush hour. It led to the first fatality on Washington's Metro system since a 2009 crash that killed eight passengers and a train operator. NTSB investigator Michael Flanigon told reporters that an electrical &quot;arcing&quot; involving the high-voltage third rail led a train to stop in a tunnel and filled the tunnel with smoke. An arcing occurs when electricity from the third rail comes into contact with another substance that conducts electricity, such as water. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

NTSB report: Lax safety allowed deadly smoke incident in Metro tunnel in 2015

Lax safety oversight by Metro and federal officials allowed a prolonged short circuit to cause the January 2015 smoke incident that killed one passenger and injured 86 others at the L'Enfant Plaza subway station.

May 3, 2016

Police work at a crime scene after authorities say a man attacked a bus driver, stole the bus, then struck and killed a man after the bus jumped a curb at a gas station at the corner of Helen Burroughs Avenue and Minnesota Avenue in Northwest Washington, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Metro bus carjacked Tuesday morning in D.C.

A man attacked a bus driver, stole the bus, then struck and killed a pedestrian after the bus jumped a curb at a gas station in Northeast on Tuesday, police said.

May 3, 2016