Washington Monument

WASHINGTON - Emma Cardini never envisioned herself rappelling down the sides of buildings. She's a civil engineer, not a thrill-seeker. But for a second straight day last week she was a high-wire celebrity and object of fascination for tourists as she made her way up and down the east face of the Washington Monument to document earthquake damage. Cardini, 32, is part of the four-person "difficult access team" using harnesses and ropes to traverse the exterior of the monument and test each individual stone.

One of Washington's enduring summertime scenes - the winding line around the base of the Washington Monument - could fade into history with a new timed-ticket procedure to be tested there beginning this week. The National Park Service plans to begin issuing tickets on Tuesday with a time stamped on them. Once visitors have a ticket, they show up at their appointed time to take the 70-second elevator ride to the top of the popular monument. The park service estimates the wait under the new procedure will be no more than 15 minutes, compared with the two- to three-hour wait common in the summer.

Both functional and decorative, the scaffolding that has covered the Washington Monument since last summer has drawn raves from tourists, residents and architectural critics alike. During the day, the sun glints off the 37 miles of aluminum tubes that cover the 555-foot obelisk. A fine blue mesh overlaid on the metal keeps the workers who scurry around repairing and restoring the monument hidden. At night, bright lights strung throughout the scaffolding cast a shadowy pattern on the famous shrine to the father of the republic.

With memories of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks still in the nation's mind, the National Park Service cautiously reopened a refurbished Washington Monument yesterday, declaring that it would endure as a symbol of democratic freedom. During the four-year repair project, the monument's marble facade was burnished to a brilliant ivory and its interior was given speedy, glass-front elevator cabs. But because of heightened security concerns, a temporary entrance for screening visitors became a key feature of the $10.5 million overhaul.

In this city of spin and scandal, up-to-date satellite technology proved yesterday that at least one institution remains rock-solid: The Washington Monument. While official Washington fence-straddles and shifts positions regularly, the massive obelisk hasn't moved, settled or swayed an inch since it was completed in December 1884, new government satellite-based measurements show. Seeking to give the monument "a space-age address," surveyors from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are spending the week using global positioning satellite equipment to determine its precise location.

"Gepetto" fixes a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, stretched out below the Washington Monument, where it will stay over the weekend. It has 36,000 panels, each the size of a grave. During events, the names of 70,000 AIDS victims will be called out.

WASHINGTON - Retired space shuttle Discovery streaked across the sky one last time Tuesday, piggybacking on a modified Boeing 747 jetliner to Washington Dulles International Airport as it headed for its final resting place: the Smithsonian Institution. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Caroline Boucher, who was visiting from Bangor, Pa. Tourists and locals gathered on the National Mall, on rooftops and at other sites around the nation's capital to see the historic shuttle in flight before it goes on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. A 7-year-old boy dressed as an astronaut posed for pictures as his sister stomped on a toy air pump, firing a foam rocket into the air. Bystanders gazed with binoculars, pointing and taking photos as the conjoined crafts took a tandem flight over Washington at an altitude of 1,500 feet - less than three times the height of the Washington Monument - perfect for viewing.

Hey! What's all the fuss about paying admission to see the Liberty Bell and Valley Forge? Have you been to Washington lately? Tickets to the White House are $2, or $5 for the "early-bird" tour (available only with a coupon from your congressman); $10 if you want to see the President awake and thinking. Admissions at the Capitol: House gallery $2, Senate gallery $3. Want to visit your representative or senator? Interviews are $2.50 per minute or fraction thereof (after all, that's about what a doctor charges)

Philadelphia is home to several monuments dedicated to the men and women who died while in military service, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, located in Washington Square. In 1682, William Penn's surveyor, Thomas Holme, laid out the city grid to include five planned squares, one of which was Southeast Square at Locust and Sixth Streets. For much of the 18th century, this square was a grazing land and a potter's field. During the Revolutionary War, it was used as a burial ground for fallen colonial soldiers.

WASHINGTON - It was altogether a more intimate affair than four years ago. Just a party of untold hundred thousands, chilling in the nation's backyard. President Obama's inauguration Monday brought out a festive crowd of flag-wavers who filled the National Mall to overflowing, hailed his moment with lusty cheers and spent their down time spotting celebrities amid the bunting. No match for the staggering masses and adrenaline-pumping energy of his first turn as president on the west front of the Capitol.

In the Region New CEO at Royal Bank Royal Bank America 's parent company, Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc. , of Narberth, named F. Kevin Tylus its president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Robert R. Tabas, the CEO since 2009, will retire from day-to-day management but remains as chairman, the bank said. Tylus was president of Mercer County, N.J.-based Yardville National Bank when it was acquired in 2007 by PNC Financial Services Group Inc. , which made him a regional president.

WASHINGTON - Retired space shuttle Discovery streaked across the sky one last time Tuesday, piggybacking on a modified Boeing 747 jetliner to Washington Dulles International Airport as it headed for its final resting place: the Smithsonian Institution. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Caroline Boucher, who was visiting from Bangor, Pa. Tourists and locals gathered on the National Mall, on rooftops and at other sites around the nation's capital to see the historic shuttle in flight before it goes on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. A 7-year-old boy dressed as an astronaut posed for pictures as his sister stomped on a toy air pump, firing a foam rocket into the air. Bystanders gazed with binoculars, pointing and taking photos as the conjoined crafts took a tandem flight over Washington at an altitude of 1,500 feet - less than three times the height of the Washington Monument - perfect for viewing.

Storm paralyzes Washington state SEATTLE - A monster Pacific Northwest storm coated the Seattle area in a thick layer of ice Thursday and brought much of Washington state to a standstill, sending hundreds of cars spinning out of control, temporarily shutting down Sea-Tac Airport and knocking down so many trees that members of the Washington State Patrol brought chain saws to work. Oregon experienced torrential rain that swept away a car from a grocery store parking lot, killing a mother and her 1-year-old son. East of Seattle, a man was killed by a falling tree, authorities said.

WASHINGTON - The earthquake-damaged Washington Monument has extensive cracking and chipped stones near its peak that have left it highly vulnerable to rainfall, and inspectors found cracks and loose stones along the entire length of the 555-foot structure, according to a report released Thursday by the National Park Service. The report was prepared by the engineering firm whose employees rappelled down the sides of the monument in September to inspect the damage. It offers the most detailed portrait yet of the condition of the 127-year-old monument, which has been closed to visitors since a 5.8-magnitude quake shook the nation's capital on Aug. 23. The report does not estimate how long repairs would take or how much they would cost.

WASHINGTON - Emma Cardini never envisioned herself rappelling down the sides of buildings. She's a civil engineer, not a thrill-seeker. But for a second straight day last week she was a high-wire celebrity and object of fascination for tourists as she made her way up and down the east face of the Washington Monument to document earthquake damage. Cardini, 32, is part of the four-person "difficult access team" using harnesses and ropes to traverse the exterior of the monument and test each individual stone.

WASHINGTON - In what looked like a scene from a Hollywood action movie, an elite team of professionals rappelled down the Washington Monument on Wednesday - not to carry out a covert mission but to inspect the damage done to the 555-foot marble obelisk by last month's earthquake. As tourists squinted at the tiny figures, two men and two women climbed from a hatch and observation windows at the top of the monument and slowly began lowering themselves with ropes and harnesses down its pyramid-shaped cap, where a large, inch-wide crack was located and where they expected to find the most damage.

WASHINGTON - There was a crack in the Washington Monument, and capstones were broken at the National Cathedral. In the District of Columbia suburbs, some people stayed in shelters because of structural concerns at their apartment buildings. A day after the strongest East Coast earthquake in 67 years, inspectors assessed the damage and found that most problems were minor. But the shaking raised questions about whether this part of the country, with its older architecture and inexperience with seismic activity, is prepared for a truly powerful quake.

MINERAL, Va. - No deaths or serious injuries were reported after tens of millions of people from Georgia to Canada were jolted Tuesday by the strongest earthquake to strike the East Coast since World War II. The White House said advisers told President Obama there were no reports of major damage to the nation's infrastructure, including airports and nuclear facilities, but cracks appeared in the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral, which...

Philadelphia is home to several monuments dedicated to the men and women who died while in military service, including the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, located in Washington Square. In 1682, William Penn's surveyor, Thomas Holme, laid out the city grid to include five planned squares, one of which was Southeast Square at Locust and Sixth Streets. For much of the 18th century, this square was a grazing land and a potter's field. During the Revolutionary War, it was used as a burial ground for fallen colonial soldiers.