jonetta rose barras: Slouching toward the DC general election with controversy
The promise ranked choice voting (RCV) proponents made nearly two years ago was that new people would get elected…
Poor air quality may have more impact on the health of vulnerable communities
By Courtney Curtis, Marymanita Mensah, Johnathan Morales, Daniel Oloju, Shaunavahn Reid, Janae Wilson and Anthony Yang
Global warming is a worldwide problem, but it is felt more acutely in some places than others.
Maranda Ward says…
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After monthslong fight between mayor and council, emergency rental assistance gets more funding
Thousands more District residents who are behind on rent will get help this year than previously expected.
DC will put an extra $20.6 million into the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) in 2024, the Department of Human…
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Council looks to Europe’s social housing as a new solution to DC’s affordability crisis
It’s no secret that it’s expensive to rent in DC, especially for people who make below the city’s median income of $152,000 for a family of four. Despite DC investing hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in building and preserving…
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Community pantries step in with solutions to more than just hunger
By Winnie Chan, Michelle Collins, Shane Gomez and Emily Hawkins
On a brisk spring morning, more than a hundred people snake their way around a group of semitrailers in the shabby parking lot at Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, Maryland.…
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Within days, DC’s rental assistance program maxes out during first application window
The need for rental assistance in the city is high. DC's Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) reopened on Oct. 1 after closing in March due to the volume of applications. But by Oct. 10, the program closed again, due to high demand,…
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District Links
District Links: Initiative to ban foie gras slated for DC’s November ballot; Appeals Court orders halt to White House ballroom construction; and…
The DC Board of Elections announced this week that a ballot measure to ban the local sale of any foie gras produced through force-feeding has qualified for the Nov. 3 general election.
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District Links: New estimates cite $1.4B cost to keep National Guard in DC into 2029; Trump blasts Pirro for dropping Reflecting Pool case; and more
The Metropolitan Police Department will hold events across the city Tuesday evening as part of the 42nd annual National Night Out, a celebration of community-building and public safety partnerships.
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District Links: Budget battle continues as Mendelson faults Bowser for ‘harmful’ criticism of council; Kennedy Center suspends tour…
The rhetorical battle over the District's budget continued yesterday with DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson responding to the pointed criticisms leveled by Mayor Muriel Bowser when she opted not to sign the FY 2027 Local Budget Act.
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Still Broken: DC's Child Welfare System
Still Broken: DC’s Child Welfare System
Over the summer, the DC government announced it had reached a settlement in the 32-year class-action lawsuit that…
Children at risk: 32 years and billions of dollars later, DC fails to protect thousands from abuse and neglect
Outside the three-story, red brick apartment building at 935 Division Ave. NE, it must have seemed like an ordinary…
Children at risk: Abuse and neglect investigations are opened too late and closed too soon
One day in April 2020, a person renting a room from Diamond Taylor and Tyvez Jackson in their apartment at 2812…
Children at risk: City’s child fatality reviews don’t prevent future deaths as intended
Gabriel Eason’s name appeared in broadcast media and newspapers for a few weeks following his death in April 2020…
Children at risk: Foster care in DC is no safe haven
The child who arrived at the home of Magdalena and Gabriel Acevedo entered the city’s foster care system, managed…
Children at risk: As DC’s child welfare system trends toward destruction and death, will city leaders embrace transformational change?
“I'm going to make you two promises in this trial,” DC defense attorney Jonathan Zucker told the jury in his…
jonetta rose barras: Slouching toward the DC general election with controversy
The promise ranked choice voting (RCV) proponents made nearly two years ago was that new people would get elected to more offices with more votes. If the June primary is any indication, that was all talk.
For the most part, the winners…
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Joon Bang: DC spends just 0.3% of its budget on its older residents. It’s time for a Dignity Fund.
People care. That's what our social worker said after sharing her case notes on Ms. Rose, a new client referred to us by a local bank teller.
Ms. Rose (a pseudonym) had returned to the bank multiple times over a week’s time,…
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jonetta rose barras: Are DC elected officials once again inviting congressional meddling with their actions? Maybe.
“The council is bringing this on itself,” Jack Evans, a former Ward 2 legislator and expert on District finances, said earlier this week during an interview with me about yet another congressional encroachment into the local government’s…
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jonetta rose barras: Elissa Silverman returns to the DC Council
It could be, as some people have suggested, that Elissa Silverman's arrival back to the John A. Wilson Building as an at-large councilmember is karma's work.
She might claim otherwise, saying that hard work and determination are what…
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Phillips Collection’s new ‘Miró and the United States’ exhibit focuses on transatlantic cultural exchange rather than conflict
Tellingly, the newest exhibition at The Phillips Collection is titled Miró and the United States, rather than Miró vs. the United States.
The latter framing might be expected in Washington, where so much of public life is structured…
Meet RenRiot: A band reshaping DC’s rock landscape one riff at a time
On a recent Friday night, passionate rebellious screams, high-energy drumming and raw guitar riffs echoed outside of O'Shaughnessy's Pub in Alexandria. It was the bar’s Band Nite, themed “Punk in the Alley,” and inside the small, intimate…
The Keegan Theatre’s ‘An Irish Carol’ is good craic and a holiday tradition worth keeping
With the holiday season in full swing, there’s truly no better way to hold onto the Christmas spirit while also supporting local theater in DC than by attending a performance of An Irish Carol at The Keegan Theatre. This beloved production…
Quicksilver resumes some in-person arts activities for seniors after months of physical isolation
At a time when the world has been preoccupied with the health of seniors, dancer and choreographer Nancy Havlik has continued teaching an unlikely approach to the physical and mental well-being of people over the age of 65 — dance.
…
Teenage spirit: High school sophomore’s desire to help people in need starts close to home
Local Templeton Academy sophomore Miguel Coppedge started a fundraiser last year to benefit children in foster care and families experiencing homelessness. His charity donations are destined for St. Ann’s Center for Youth, Children and…
For one little girl, sexual assaults changed her life until she took control. Now she’s a successful public defender.
“On the day my grandmother caught him fondling me, I was wearing my favorite pink cotton dress. Now pink is a trigger for me.”Roz Overstreet-Gonzalez
Growing up, Roz Overstreet-Gonzalez lived a typical life in San Bernardino,…
What We're Reading: DC Headlines
Washington Post: Two in five D.C. students were chronically absent last year, data show
High schools suffered the most, with 60 percent of older students missing weeks of school
DCist: Chronic Absenteeism Remains Stubbornly High In D.C. Schools
Chronic absenteeism and truancy rates improved slightly in D.C. schools, but is still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to new data on the 2022-2023 school year.
Washington Post: First-time home buyers banked on D.C. aid. Then the city changed the rules.
Six years ago, as Alfred Swailes was entering retirement, he started to think: Would he ever be able to own a home in the city where he spent his whole life?
DCist: Capital One Arena Forever Changed Chinatown. Can It Reverse Downtown’s Post-Pandemic Slump?
On December 2, 1997, 26 years ago this week, the MCI Center opened at the corner of F and 6th Streets Northwest in the District’s Chinatown neighborhood. City officials celebrated, hoping the arena…
Axios: D.C. traffic deaths hit 16-year high
D.C. traffic deaths are up more than 60% this year from the same time in 2022, reaching the highest total in 16 years.
DCist: D.C. Attorney General Warns Retailers Not To Discriminate Against Residents Who Use SNAP Benefits
D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General is warning retailers such as grocery stores and convenience stores to not discriminate against residents who are paying for food with Supplemental Nutrition…
Washington Post: D.C. residents weigh in on Bowser’s bill to address crime trends
Dozens of D.C. residents, business owners and activists on Wednesday sounded off at a hearing on a crime and policing bill introduced last month by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), offering mixed opinions…
Washington Post: In downtown D.C., a long-vacant historic building could pose opportunity
In its past life, the Webster School in downtown Washington had been many things: a segregated school for White children built in 1882, an “Americanization” school for assimilating immigrants after…
DCist: New Bill Would Reduce Responsibilities Of D.C.’s Embattled 911 Agency
A new D.C. Council bill would transfer some 911 dispatching responsibilities away from the troubled Office of Unified Communications and back to the D.C. fire department. The bill, which Ward 1…
City Paper: Litigious Dupont Lawyer Ed Hanlon Claims Brooke Pinto Repeatedly Violated Campaign Finance Law
Hanlon believes Pinto improperly mixed Council and campaign business, filing complaints just as her reelection bid heats up.