First Drip (11/24/14): Marion Barry dead, Foxx backs transportation deal, more

by

comment

The announcement that Marion Barry had died early Sunday stunned a city where for four decades he had reigned as its invincible and rollicking political star. Through high and low times, the presiding D.C. Council member and former four-term mayor personified his city.

U.S. Transportation Secretary and former Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx asked national transportation leaders in Charlotte on Sunday to help pass a long-term transportation funding bill, saying the current funding system is short-term and prevents states from keeping up with population growth.

Parents and their newly adopted children celebrated National Adoption Day in the Mecklenburg County Courthouse atrium Saturday morning. The nationwide holiday is an effort to raise awareness of the more than 100,000 children in U.S. foster care awaiting permanent homes. About 700 children in Mecklenburg County are in foster care.

Despite a frenzied weekend of negotiations in Vienna capping 14 months of unprecedented diplomatic engagement, Iran and world powers have failed to reach an agreement addressing Western concerns over Tehran's nuclear program. But as yet, no one has has walked away from the table.