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Tag: working capital

  • This Museum of the Bible curator takes care of some of the oldest artifacts in the world – WTOP News

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    Bobby Duke spends most of his adventures as chief curatorial officer of the Museum of the Bible studying and teaching about the priceless artifacts in its collection.

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    This museum curator takes care of some of the oldest artifacts in DC

    In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s “Working Capital” series profiles the people whose jobs make the D.C. region run.

    Bobby Duke thinks many of the world’s treasures belong in a museum for everyone to see. In that way, he is similar to some of the silver screen’s famed history lovers — but he’s no Indiana Jones.

    “I don’t wear a fedora. I don’t have a whip, and I don’t have this John Williams theme music in the background,” Duke said.

    Even with a name fit for a hero, Duke spends most of his adventures as chief curatorial officer of the Museum of the Bible studying and teaching about the priceless artifacts in its collection.

    “It wasn’t like when I was in fourth grade, I said, ‘someday I want to be a chief curatorial officer!’” he joked with WTOP. “It’s not something you aspire to, but it’s something that you realize.”

    “For me,” he said, “being at the Museum of the Bible, having a Ph.D. in Hebrew, having researched the Dead Sea Scrolls, it kind of all comes together.”

    For nearly two decades, Duke worked at the School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University, where he served as dean.

    Duke studied Near Eastern languages including Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Greek at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received his Ph.D. He also studied the Hebrew Bible at Jerusalem University College and earned a theology degree from Multnomah University.

    “I was a researcher, I was a professor, and all of those experiences have now been woven together to give me the job skills necessary for what I do here at Museum of the Bible,” Duke said.

    He now oversees all exhibits, education and research across the museum’s collections.

    Duke said he learned early on that he liked studying the documents in a lab rather than digging in the Israeli heat looking for new scrolls and artifacts.

    “I became a tech scholar versus an archaeologist, because getting up at 4:30 every morning, digging in 100-degree temperature for weeks and weeks on end was something that I did not see in my future permanently,” Duke said, adding that he still visits dig sites every year.

    The museum supports two digs in Israel: Tel Shimron and El-Araj, which is likely biblical Bethsaida, the hometown of apostle Peter on the Sea of Galilee.

    “We have an annual lecture every year from both of those sites, just so we can take the discoveries in the field and bring it back here for our guests at Museum of the Bible,” Duke said.

    When he is not at dig sites, Duke is simulating them for children’s programs at the museum. The “Dip Deep program” allows students to experiences of archaeology through hands-on exploration.

    A recent exhibit at the museum was the return of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a particular focus of study for Duke, whose writing about the ancient texts is widely respected.

    Duke also conducts research and explained that new technology has opened the door to many possibilities. The museum operates a digital imaging lab that allows researchers to reconstruct items, like ancient Torah scrolls.

    “One of our items in our collection, we’ll actually be heading out in 2026 to Stanford (University) for some special multispectral imaging because it’s what we call a palimpsest. That means a text was written and then it was overwritten, and then it was overwritten again,” Duke explained.

    Museum researchers hope digital imaging will reveal all of those layers.

    “We’re in a season of scholarship around the world where it does take a team,” Duke said. “One of the things I’m excited about is that it really causes a sense of humility across scholars, because to really do the work we need to do, you need people that are chemists and biologists … to be able to get to the information that we need as text scholars.”

    Duke said he is thrilled that D.C. was chosen as the location for the Museum of the Bible, which opened to the public in 2017.

    “You cannot do a mediocre museum in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “You’re here right in the shadows of the Smithsonian. We have so many great museums, and it is a wonderful community.”

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    © 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Luke Lukert

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  • This NICU nurse takes care of infants all while flying hundreds of feet in the air – WTOP News

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    Many nurses in the D.C. area are responsible for taking care of people struggling with severe illnesses, but only a few are doing it for the youngest patients, all while traveling over 100 miles per hour, hundreds of feet above the ground.

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    NICU nurse saves tiny lives midair

    In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s “Working Capital” series profiles the people whose jobs make the D.C. region run.

    Many nurses in the D.C. area are responsible for taking care of people struggling with severe illnesses, but only a few are doing it for the youngest patients all while traveling over a 100 miles per hour, hundreds of feet above the ground.

    For the past 27 years, Janice Berry has been a neonatal intensive care unit transport nurse at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. She originally worked on the floor for about 12 years before turning in her scrubs for a navy blue flight suit.

    Berry joined the NICU at Children’s National in 1986 after attending nursing school at Clemson University.

    She has taken thousands of flights by helicopter all over the Capital region to pick up infants fighting for their lives.

    “Thankfully, with a helicopter, it really cuts a two-and-a-half-hour driving time down to about 40 minutes,” Berry said.

    On a typical day for the veteran nurse, she and her team will get a briefing from the pilots about the conditions of the aircraft as well as any weather issues that they may run into.

    They pack up the portable isolation box that NICU babies usually need, though theirs comes with a seat belt for the ride.

    “We generally have a basic idea of what’s going on with the baby, what kind of equipment, what size team that we’re going to need for that transport,” Berry told WTOP. “Sometimes, it’s just myself and a paramedic and either the driver or the pilot. Sometimes we’ll need respiratory therapy, and occasionally we’ll bring a doctor with us as well.”

    Additional nurses, breathing specialists and physicians take the ride, depending on the case.

    While most NICU nurses deal with their patients’ health complications, Berry and other transport nurses have the added complication of performing their care for the infants while flying through the air and dealing with turbulence.

    As well as a nurse, Berry is part safety officer, having learned extensively about flying during her time.

    “When we’re on the aircraft, we’re looking out for any potential problems. All of us are part of that team that helps keep this patient safe and are able to mitigate those safety concerns,” she said.

    If the weather is detrimental to flying and could cause any safety concerns, they will take an ambulance instead of the usual helicopter that you may see zipping around the D.C. skies.

    “Once I got here and I saw what the transport team did, and how they functioned, and everything that they got to do — which is a really unique job — that was what my goal was and what I strived for,” Berry said.

    After a number of years of bedside nursing, she took the position on the transport team.

    “I really appreciate that it’s different every day,” Berry said.

    “Since we are based in the NICU, I go out as a children’s nurse, meet the families, talk to them about Children’s (National) and the wonderful care that we’re going to give this baby, and help to reassure them. Because generally, this is not a normal birth plan for anyone to have their child transported right after delivery,” she added.

    Following up with the families is one of her favorite parts of the job.

    “I was invited to a first birthday party recently for someone I transported, which was pretty amazing to get to see that full circle moment of my little guy doing great,” Berry said.

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    Luke Lukert

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  • Behind the scenes of National Harbor’s holiday tree lighting and fireworks kickoff – WTOP News

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    In today’s special “Working Capital” edition of “Matt About Town,” we got to experience what it’s like to be responsible for setting up one of the D.C. area’s coolest holiday tree displays, by posing as interim “holiday celebration planners” for the day in National Harbor.

    In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s “Working Capital” series profiles the people whose jobs make the D.C. region run.

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    Behind the scenes: National Harbor tree lighting and holiday fireworks kickoff

    Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be responsible for setting up one of the D.C. area’s coolest holiday tree displays? Or what it’s like to throw the switch that sets off a fireworks show in the nation’s capital?

    In today’s special “Working Capital” edition of “Matt About Town,” we got to experience both, posing as interim “holiday celebration planners” for the day in National Harbor!

    Every Saturday from now through Dec. 27, National Harbor in Maryland will be having their “Holidays at National Harbor” events, featuring a unique 3-minute LED Christmas tree light show every half hour, and a fireworks show at 5:30 p.m.

    As we found out, a ton of work takes place behind the scenes to make it all happen, from rigging nearly 1,000 pyrotechnic devices to assembling and programming more than 90,000 lights that operate in sync!

    Find out more about National Harbor’s holiday season events on their website.

    Hear “Matt About Town” first every Tuesday and Thursday on 103.5 FM!

    If you have a story idea you’d like Matt to cover, email him, or chat with him on Instagram and TikTok.

    Check out all “Matt About Town” episodes here!

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Matt Kaufax

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  • Working Capital: The Baltimore Ravens have a secret weapon working on their jerseys – WTOP News

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    Ebony Short applied to the Baltimore Ravens’ director of uniform services out of curiosity. It’s a job, she said, that’s not as far away from the theater scene as one would think.

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    The Ravens’ secret weapon? The official team seamstress

    In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s series “Working Capital” profiles the people doing the work that makes the region unique.

    Ebony Short didn’t grow up thinking she would work in sports. The Baltimore City native went to design school in New York and did costume work for a company behind some of the unique outfits seen in Broadway shows, including The Lion King and Cinderella.

    She was in the midst of moving to California when she stopped at home to visit family and stumbled upon the opportunity. She applied to the Baltimore Ravens’ director of uniform services opening out of curiosity more than anything else.

    “What was great was that it just looked like I could see potential for growth, that it could be even bigger than what I think that they maybe even realized,” Short said. “At first it was like, ‘We just need someone that can kind of like hem and put things together.’ But now it’s grown into this thing where we are customizing the majority of our gear for the guys.”

    The gear being jerseys, pants and every other aspect of uniform equipment a player might wear.

    “We do a lot of special alterations,” Short said. “We’ll make padding. We make about 3,500 pads a year.”

    The pads go inside jerseys, pants — she’s even had to sew them into socks. Anyone that’s bought a football jersey to support their favorite team knows the sizes are fairly uniform, and anyone who has watched football knows players come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes players are between jersey sizes. One size might be too tight and restrictive, the next size might be too loose.

    “The primary goal is to help create performance wear so that these guys can go out and perform to their best ability,” Short said. “So we accommodate that in whatever way that looks like.”

    Ebony Short alters a uniform for a Baltimore Ravens player as part of her job customizing the team’s gear. (WTOP/John Domen)

    Sometimes that means altering specific parts of the jersey.

    “Some things we’ll do is open up arm holes, because our linemen don’t have as much mobility from their uniform that’s restricting them,” she said. “And if there’s one thing you don’t want as a player it’s to be restricted by your uniform. Or if it’s a little loose and they’re being held and the referees aren’t calling it — you want to be able to cover all of the, like, possibilities of what their performance would look like.”

    It’s a job she admitted she never even knew existed, and one that’s evolved a lot in the years since. It’s also not as far away from the theater scene she got her start in as you would think.

    “I can’t stick rhinestones on the guys, which would be fun,” she said with a smile. “But I think most of the creation comes into, like, the problem-solving.

    “In a lot of ways, it’s very similar to theater,” she added. “Some of the magic of theater is that you don’t know how the trick happened. And so I think here is the same thing. … We have these things that we have to solve, but we also don’t want people to know how the trick happened.”

    Short has a good reason for not knowing the job even existed; as far as most NFL teams are concerned, it doesn’t. Most teams just have an equipment guy figure it out.

    “We’ve had some teams that are like, ‘We’ll send you jerseys, can you just help us figure this out?’” she said. “Or the best part is, when we’ve got guys who played with us before, and they go to other teams and they’re like, ‘I want my stuff like the Ravens.’”

    The job can easily run 60 hours a week during the season, and she doesn’t do it all alone. And in a sport known for being a copy cat league, she think it’s only a matter of time before more teams employ someone like her. But for now, she’s quite happy having a unique role.

    “I feel like it gives us an advantage,” she said. “They get similar uniforms, and the positions are similar, so the body types are also similar.”

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    John Domen

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  • Surge of service — one lineman’s mission to keep the lights on – WTOP News

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    Surge of service — one lineman’s mission to keep the lights on

    In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s “Working Capital” series profiles the people whose jobs make the D.C. region run.

    In Upper Marlboro, James Wells and fellow lineman Jennings Buckeler moved with quiet precision, like surgeons of the grid. The two threaded a new lifeline of electricity from the pole to the home, reconnecting a family to the power they’d lost. No words were needed as they clipped, wired, and tested before the house came alive again.

    It’s dangerous work, climbing into the bucket of box truck in the worst weather and handling thousands of volts of electricity. But it’s a job that, in many cases, means the difference between life and death for those it helps. James Wells of Pepco is one of the unsung heroes who keeps the lights on for millions. Pepco serves nearly 900,000 customers in Maryland alone, making the work of linemen like Wells essential to everyday life.

    “The joy I get from serving the community, powering the DMV area, it’s a humbling experience,” Wells said.

    Wells grew up in Southern Maryland and said he’s known many people throughout his life who worked in the power industry. He never imagined becoming a lineman himself, but eight years ago, at age 23, he decided to give it a try and began working for Pepco.

    “I haven’t looked back since,” Wells said.

    He said what draws him to the work is not only the ability to help his community, but also the thrill of working with electricity, often high above the street and in the worst conditions.

    “I feed off the adrenaline. This line of work suits me very well,” Wells said.

    Getting to this point wasn’t easy. It took more than five years of training before he was given the keys to his own work truck and allowed to respond to calls without supervision.

    While there is some classroom instruction, Wells said most of the training is on the job. And when dealing with high-voltage electricity, there’s no room for complacency.

    “You’ve got to mentally prepare yourself for this line of work,” he said.

    Though the adrenaline excites him, Wells said safety is always his top priority.

    “When you’re coming up to a job, I mean before anything, you’ve got to make sure the scene’s safe, to yourself and the public,” he said.

    So, for someone who enjoys the dangerous part of the job, what’s the biggest challenge? He joked that it’s the desk work.

    “The most difficult part of the job is not actually doing the work, but the stuff behind the scenes that people don’t see,” Wells said.

    It’s dangerous work, climbing into the bucket of box truck in the worst weather and handling thousands of volts of electricity.
    (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

    WTOP/Mike Murillo

    But it’s a job that, in many cases, means the difference between life and death for those it helps.
    (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

    WTOP/Mike Murillo

    Pepco linemen keep the lights on for millions.
    (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

    WTOP/Mike Murillo

    Pepco serves nearly 900,000 customers in Maryland alone.
    (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

    WTOP/Mike Murillo

    Linemen work hard to help their community.
    (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

    WTOP/Mike Murillo

    “If you’re looking to get into this industry, it’s a great industry with a lot of opportunities, and you’ve got longevity,” Wells said.
    (WTOP/Mike Murillo)

    WTOP/Mike Murillo

    As they work, Wells and Buckeler seem to be in sync, knowing without words what’s needed next in the repair process. Wells said that connection comes from the “brotherhood” at Pepco’s Forestville location, where he’s based.

    “Everybody looks after everybody. A lot of senior guys are passing down knowledge to the younger generation,” he said.

    Even when the weather is nice and power is stable in the D.C. region, Wells is still on call. Pepco line workers are often deployed to other states when storms or disasters strike and extra help is needed.

    Wells has responded to emergencies in Chicago and New Jersey. While the work is rewarding, it’s also exhausting.

    “A lot of long days and longer nights. You’re literally waking up, going to work for 16 hours, and then going back to a hotel to sleep,” he said.

    Fortunately, Wells said he has a strong support system at home.

    “People who know this line of work know that shift work is coming, and they’re always there for you, in your corner, no matter what, no matter the long hours,” he said.

    Though he doesn’t speak directly about what’s next, Wells said he sees himself staying in the industry for the long haul. The combination of adrenaline, purpose, and community connection keeps him grounded in the work.

    “If you’re looking to get into this industry, it’s a great industry with a lot of opportunities, and you’ve got longevity,” he said.

    And there are perks, like the views from high above the ground. One of his favorite days on the job? The Fourth of July.

    “You’re up in there working, and you see fireworks going off all around you. It makes you feel like you’re home away from home,” he said.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Mike Murillo

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