The past two weeks have been filled with stories of government offices, agencies, services, workers, monuments, websites, memorials, and parks that have been closed, suspended, furloughed, and even barricaded. Perhaps the most notorious of the actions taken has been the barricading of the open-air World War II memorial in Washington, D.C., where veterans, some in wheelchairs, who had flown in on “Honor Flights” were denied access.  But one government sponsored-event that was spared the impact of the shutdown was the Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon, last held in 2011.  The event’s website (a .gov site) describes the competition:

There was some concern at the outset of the government shutdown that the event, scheduled for October 3-13, would be affected, but a post dated October 1 on the event’s blog allayed such fears.  And not only would the event continue, but federal employees would be allowed to participate [emphasis added]: