Guest List: Today’s Newsmakers

– Captain Robert Clark. The commandant of the United States Naval Academy must be happy this morning: U.S. News & World Report has named the Academy the most popular liberal-arts college in the country, based on the high number of accepted students who enroll there. Turns out spit and polish count for a lot when it comes to picking a school.

– Bonnie Casper. The Bethesda-based incoming president of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors can look forward to a good year—the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index just declared that the Washington area has the strongest real-estate market in the country. Between November 2009 and November 2010, home values rose 3½ percent, the biggest rise in America ahead of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco.

 – Delegate Jim Le Munyon. The Virginia Republican won his colleagues’ support for an amendment to the U.S. constitution that would let states band together to nullify federal laws. The bill isn’t exactly a precursor to secession—Le Munyon’s beefs include Virginia’s inability to open high-occupancy vehicle ramps on Route 66—but it’s an indication of state and local frustration with federal rulemaking.

– Clinton Terry. The Alexandria-based “mixologist” is representing PX at the Cocktail World Cup this year. Let’s hope he keeps the crown in the region—PX’s Todd Thrasher led the winning American team last year. A victory for him is a victory for Washington’s burgeoning craft-cocktails scene.

– Robert Kabel. The chairman of the D.C. Republican Party is urging Democrat Eleanor Holmes Norton to work with Congressional Republicans on winning voting rights for District residents. Asking Norton to keep up the fight is sensible, but we’re curious to know which Republican leaders of the new Congress Kabel thinks Norton will have the best luck with, after they stripped her of her vote in the House.

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