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DC lowers turnout projections for inauguration

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Posted: Mon 7:06 AM, Jan 21, 2013
FILE - This Jan. 20, 2009 file-pool, photo shows President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama waving as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue en route to the White House from the Capitol in Washington. At some point on Inauguration Day, if all goes expected, the president�s limousine will slow to a stop on its journey down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. A Secret Service agent will open the rear passenger door, and the newly sworn-in president will emerge from his car for a several-minute stroll. The crowd will cheer. The president will wave. In that moment, Pennsylvania Avenue is America�s red carpet. And the president is the only celebrity on it. The victory walk has become an iconic inaugural moment, one expected by the public and the press.  And though the tradition dates only to President Jimmy Carter, it has already developed an air of inevitability and predictable patterns.   (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File, Pool)

FILE - This Jan. 20, 2009 file-pool, photo shows President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama waving as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue en route to the White House from the Capitol in Washington. At some point on Inauguration Day, if all goes expected, the president�s limousine will slow to a stop on its journey down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House. A Secret Service agent will open the rear passenger door, and the newly sworn-in president will emerge from his car for a several-minute stroll. The crowd will cheer. The president will wave. In that moment, Pennsylvania Avenue is America�s red carpet. And the president is the only celebrity on it. The victory walk has become an iconic inaugural moment, one expected by the public and the press. And though the tradition dates only to President Jimmy Carter, it has already developed an air of inevitability and predictable patterns. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) — District of Columbia officials have lowered their turnout estimate for Monday's presidential inauguration.

The district's homeland security director, Chris Geldart, said Sunday that officials now expect between 500,000 and 700,000 people to attend. That's fewer than the 600,000 to 800,000 people initially anticipated.

The estimates are based in part on the number of charter buses arriving in the city, as well as the number of hotel and restaurant reservations.

Geldart says the lowered crowd estimate isn't changing any of the security preparations or planning.

For President Barack Obama's first swearing-in in 2009, 1.8 million people packed the National Mall.

Associated Press
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