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Remembering Shellie Bowers: The voice of the Wilson Tigers and the Howard Bison

Andria Moore Jan 7, 2019 966

Some voices are unforgettable. For communities spanning from DC to Virginia to Maryland, Shellie Bowers’ voice was one of them. As a baseball coach, sports announcer, broadcast teacher, tutor, mentor and comedian, Bowers was involved in…

District government

DDOT moves ahead on plans for three new protected bike lanes in Northwest

Emma Whitford Jan 4, 2019 899

Editor's Note: Originally published on Jan. 4, this post has been updated with the new Feb. 13 deadline for public comment. The District is moving forward with plans to expand its network of protected bike lanes with three new routes…

District Links: Pelosi backs statehood bill; higher fines for traffic violations go into effect today; and more reads

Cuneyt Dil Jan 4, 2019 36

TGIF! Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is backing DC’s statehood bill, formally reintroduced yesterday to a Democratic-controlled U.S. House.

District Links: Education top issue as pols sworn-in; DC’s response to opioids; Bowser to seek allowing marriage licenses during shutdown; and more

Cuneyt Dil Jan 3, 2019 28

Good Thursday morning. The podium at the DC inauguration isn’t quite the megaphone to connect with voters. It is, however, an opportunity to impress the city’s political class who gather every four years inside the convention center,…

District government

Council attempts to correct past errors with opioid treatment bill

Candace Y.A. Montague Jan 3, 2019 492

For many years, community health advocates, substance use disorder counselors and health care providers have decried the antiquated laws and stigma that have thwarted their efforts to reduce opioid addiction in the District. As The…

District Links: Bowser and council members to be sworn-in today; WaPo columnist rips into lawmakers considering subsidizing football stadium; and more

Cuneyt Dil Jan 2, 2019 45

Good Wednesday morning and happy new year. Today Muriel Bowser will officially begin her second term, becoming the third elected DC mayor to serve more than four years since the District gained home rule in 1974. The ceremony begins at the …

District Links: DC voting rights aspirations in 2019; fixing DC fire; and more reads

Cuneyt Dil Dec 31, 2018 28

Happy New Year’s Eve! In 2019, statehood will remain a long shot, but here is a menu of smaller and symbolic achievements the city hopes to gain with Democratic control of the House:

District Links: Nominee for DCPS chancellor faces questions about past handling of sex abuse case; Grosso wants special committee on Evans; and more

Cuneyt Dil Dec 24, 2018 30

Happy Christmas Eve. The mayor’s nominee for schools chancellor will have questions to answer for his confirmation next year over how he handled a sexual abuse case when he led Indianapolis Public Schools.

District Links: Jack Evans received stock in firm he tried to help with legislation, WaPo reports; Mendo takes more schools oversight; and more reads

Cuneyt Dil Dec 21, 2018 41

The comprehensive DC politics roundup, by Cuneyt Dil: TGIF! There's front-page news about Jack Evans receiving an estimated $100K in stock from a digital sign company before trying to push for emergency legislation to benefit the company. …

District government

DC Council responds to yearslong advocacy campaign with pilot program to improve public access to bathrooms

Katherine Saltzman Dec 20, 2018 495

The DC Council handed a victory this week to the advocates who have worked for years to spotlight the limited availability of public restrooms in the District and to ensure that those in need have a place to go. “It is shocking that our…

Built Environment

DC aims to finalize public-private partnership for LED streetlights by late 2019

Jake Maher Dec 18, 2018 1,645

The DC government is planning to replace the bulbs in more than 75,000 of the city’s streetlights with cheaper and more energy-efficient LED technology within the next two to three years. The change is expected to cut the city’s annual…

District government

Language access bill poised to help DC schoolchildren and families

Lilah Burke Dec 13, 2018 1,056

A new bill approved last week by the DC Council could add heft to the city's language access services, easing life for schoolchildren and parents who speak little to no English. The Language Access for Education Amendment Act,…

Features

Downtown Holiday Market helps local businesses grow

Jennifer Anne Mitchell Dec 12, 2018 379

Over 150 local artisans and entrepreneurs are getting the chance to showcase their work — and bolster the bottom line — at this year’s Downtown Holiday Market, an annual marketplace set up in front of the National Portrait Gallery and…

Natural Environment

Scott Williamson, Sam Brooks and Bill Updike: Two blocks from the White House, DC is taking the lead on climate

Commentary Dec 12, 2018 618

A rising tide may lift all boats, but it can also drown the people left ashore. The Trump administration recently released a hefty new report finding devastating impacts of climate change across the country — including here in DC, where…

District government

Malcolm X teacher finds ‘sense of home’ in improving education and children’s lives

Andria Moore Dec 11, 2018 1,732

“Jambalaya.” The word typically refers to a large pot of Louisiana-style stew. It’s also the term Abimbola George uses to describe the melting pot of educational programs he’s helped introduce since 2014 at Malcolm X Elementary School in…

Art

Wilson Building display of political cartoonist’s work shows long history of voting rights struggle

Athena Naylor Dec 6, 2018 2,272

Last month’s pivotal midterm election provoked heightened frustration over DC’s lack of a vote in Congress. District residents on Nov. 6 may have found themselves longingly gazing across the Potomac River to spy on Arlington County, where…

District government

Silverman, Evans join unions to rally against East End hospital bill as key council vote approaches

Lilah Burke Dec 4, 2018 942

After winning initial DC Council approval last month in an 10-2 vote, a bill to accelerate the timeline on a new Ward 8 hospital to be run by George Washington Hospital is encountering new resistance. Legislators are expected to consider…

District government

Council set to take second vote Tuesday on amended version of campaign finance reform bill

Kalina Newman Dec 3, 2018 295

The DC Council is moving toward passage of a major omnibus campaign finance reform bill, with a final vote scheduled this week after an initial OK in November. If approved, the legislation would overhaul campaign fundraising in a city long…

Elections

Four candidates vie for vacant Ward 4 State Board of Education seat in Tuesday special election

Taylor Mulcahey Dec 3, 2018 571

Voting isn’t over for residents of DC’s Ward 4. They will take to the polls on Tuesday to choose their representative on the State Board of Education. One month after elections for board seats in wards 1, 3, 5 and 6, this special election…

District government

DC Council bill aims to expand braille instruction for blind, visually impaired students

Taylor Mulcahey Nov 29, 2018 654

As a DC Public Schools student, Alexsandra Alfonso had to overcome unusual educational challenges due to her visual impairments — for instance, she once had to wait a month to receive a textbook in braille. Even so, she graduated with…

Features

Introduced to chess at the age of 3, Ward 7 teen now holds national ranking

Andria Moore Nov 28, 2018 4,845

People look at Zahir Muhammad and automatically assume he plays sports. At 6 feet 3 inches, he towers over most of his peers at DeMatha Catholic High School. But the 16-year old’s sport of choice isn’t basketball or football: it’s chess.…

District government

Hearing reveals frustration about proposed closing of Providence Hospital

Candace Y.A. Montague Nov 27, 2018 1,699

Providence Hospital workers and concerned community members turned out in force at a DC government hearing this month, expressing frustration and disappointment with the planned closure of Providence Hospital in Northeast next month and a…

Features

On Giving Tuesday, Catalogue for Philanthropy highlights recent release of annual Giving Guide to local nonprofits

Katherine Saltzman Nov 27, 2018 271

Since 1983 Shepherd’s Table, a nonprofit in downtown Silver Spring, has provided daily home-cooked meals and other vital resources for low-income communities and homeless individuals. By 2016, demand for its services increased — and the…

News

State Board of Education contenders for vacant Ward 4 seat face community scrutiny at forum

Catherine Douglas Moran Nov 20, 2018 1,217

Election Day may be over, but there’s still more voting to come this year in one corner of DC. Four candidates vying to become the Ward 4 representative on the DC State Board of Education squared off at a recent forum on how they would…

Built Environment

Council castigates DCRA housing enforcement as inadequate amid public complaints that ‘continue unabated’

Kalina Newman Nov 20, 2018 1,232

Just weeks before Monday’s shake-up atop the city’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, DC Council members joined tenants and affordable housing advocates in criticizing the agency for years of overlooked housing violations and…

Features

DC principal wins prestigious educator award that comes with a $25K prize

Andria Moore Nov 20, 2018 1,378

Principal Rachel Tommelleo has the Midas touch of kindness. It’s her compassion for every student that makes her school in Ward 4’s Brightwood neighborhood a warm, welcoming place for each and every student. “If she had it her way, she…

District government

Amid reports of flourishing local trade, DC Council bill would ban sale of ivory, rhinoceros horn

Kalina Newman Nov 19, 2018 556

The DC Council is considering legislation that would make the District the first jurisdiction in the Washington area to ban the trade of ivory and rhinoceros horn, over a year after the nation’s capital was exposed as a black-market hub for…

Features

Local nonprofit aims to help DC’s Central American community with blend of direct services and ‘targeted advocacy’

Kate Oczypok Nov 19, 2018 599

After two decades, Karla still recalls traveling through the desert with her brother and aunt in 1998 on their way from El Salvador, reliant on a “coyote” to get the three of them where they needed to go. Her mother was already in…

News

Citing constitutional grounds, 10 DC residents sue the federal government for voting rights

Lilah Burke Nov 16, 2018 984

Last week an estimated 116 million Americans participated in the 2018 elections, making it the first midterm in history with over 100 million votes cast. Across the country voters turned out for hotly contested House and Senate races,…

District government

DC to enforce plastic straw ban next year with exceptions for disability community

Graham Vyse Nov 16, 2018 2,479

DC is banning plastic straws, and Jack Evans’ social standing is taking a hit. “Many of my friends won’t talk to me anymore,” the Ward 2 DC Council member said with a wry smile during a Committee on Transportation and the Environment…

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Latest

District Links: DC touts two-year-old FEMS transfusion program as lifesaving success; record fireworks show brings air…

Jul 2, 2026 1

The DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department is hailing the success of its two-year-old program that enables paramedics to administer whole blood to critically injured and medically unstable…

Kathy Patterson: The mayor and council are killing a key commission created after 9/11

Jul 1, 2026 112

The DC Council created an expert advisory panel in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This year the mayor and council have agreed to kill the District’s Homeland Security Commission despite…

District Links: DC unveils draft master plan for mixed-use redevelopment of RFK campus; July 4 will feature added…

Jun 30, 2026 22

The DC Office of Planning today released a draft master plan outlining a framework for redevelopment of the RFK campus, anchored by a new Washington Commanders stadium but also incorporating up to…

District Links: Trump unleashes on DC mayoral nominee Lewis George; Trump eyes Sept. 1 construction start at East…

Jun 29, 2026 21

In a Sunday afternoon post on social media, President Donald Trump blasted Democratic mayoral nominee Janeese Lewis George as a "Communist adherent" and vowed to derail any efforts to "resist…

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