jonetta rose barras: Battling the local and federal hits to health care in DC
Oct. 1, 2025, may go down as some sort of health care D-Day in DC. By some estimates more than 50,000 residents who are currently enrolled in Medicaid, the DC Health Care Alliance or below-market Affordable Care Act coverage through the DC…
District Links: Dozens of congressional Dems vow to boycott DC restaurants involved in union…
A new interactive tool developed by the DC government provides neighborhood-level insights into access to schools, parks, transit services, grocery stores, medical care and other key elements of the physical and built environment.
District Links: Council gives initial OK to bill restricting student cellphone use; MPD drops…
The DC Council gave initial approval yesterday to legislation that would bar DC students from using personal cellphones at school as of fall 2026.
District Links: Council votes to delay next rise in tipped minimum wage; DC’s newest…
The DC Council today gave an initial nod to legislation formally naming the recently opened high school on MacArthur Boulevard in honor of legendary Georgetown University men's basketball coach and DC native John R. Thompson Jr.
District Links: Bowser marks redesign of ‘Dave Thomas Circle’ bottleneck; council to…
Mayor Muriel Bowser and other DC officials today celebrated the transformation of one of the District's busiest and most dangerous intersections thanks to a yearslong project that invoked eminent domain to displace the iconic Wendy's…
District Links: Trump administration lists DC as ‘sanctuary jurisdiction,’ demands…
The Trump administration included DC on a newly posted list of "sanctuary jurisdictions" — accompanied by a warning from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that local officials will soon receive formal notification of alleged…
jonetta rose barras: Kicking the can down the road on DC’s budget
At first blush, it’s easy to be content with the fact that Mayor Muriel Bowser and her team, including City Administrator Kevin Donahue and Budget Director Jenny Reed, managed to avoid layoffs and furloughs during this current fiscal year…
District Links: Mayor’s scaled-back plan for DC Archives draws criticism from project…
Mayor Muriel Bowser's budget proposal to shelve existing plans for a new DC Archives building at the University of the District of Columbia is drawing objections from an advocacy group that helped galvanize support for the planned…
District Links: Auditor faults DC jail conditions as Bowser looks to private sector to build…
A new report issued today by the DC auditor blasting conditions at the DC jail comes as Mayor Muriel Bowser is proposing to enlist a private-sector partner to finance and build a replacement for the deteriorating facility.
District Links: Mayor’s long-awaited budget plan avoids layoffs and furloughs despite midyear…
Mayor Muriel Bowser today presented the DC Council with her budget proposals for fiscal year 2026, along with a supplemental budget for the current year that limits spending in line with congressional mandates without resorting to layoffs…
District Links: Panel floats redevelopment ideas for Forrestal Complex recommended for sale; Bowser…
The U.S. Department of Energy's headquarters at the northern end of L'Enfant Plaza is among three federal buildings in DC identified yesterday for possible consolidation and disposition by the bipartisan Public Buildings Reform Board.
Rachel White: Youth homelessness has lifelong consequences. Our elected officials must do more to…
DC youth need secure housing so they can spend their time, attention and energy on building their futures — not merely surviving. Youth experiencing homelessness are full of potential, dreams and aspirations. However, due to circumstances…
District Links: Organizers say they’ll redraft RFK initiative amid legal obstacles; Nadeau…
Organizers of the proposed "Use of RFK Site for Homes Not Stadiums" ballot initiative say they'll modify their proposed language in the wake of advisory opinions from Attorney General Brian Schwalb and the DC Council's general counsel that…
District Links: DC tops ranking of big-city park systems; House panel votes to undo DC laws on…
DC ranks as the nation's "best big-city park system" for the fifth year in a row, according to the latest survey from the Trust for Public Land.
District Links: DC’s population rise last year ranks 12th among U.S. cities; Trump hosts White…
With population growth reported last year for most cities and towns across the country, the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent analysis places DC among the top 15 in terms of the numerical increase.
District Links: Rent-control database set for public debut after nearly a decade of delays; WaPo…
A decade after the DC Council directed the Department of Housing and Community Development to create a publicly accessible online database of rent-controlled units, the website — dubbed RentRegistry — is set for an official debut on June…
District Links: FBI will soon leave its ‘unsafe’ Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters,…
The FBI will soon leave its iconic headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue downtown, with plans to transfer 1,500 agents out of the Washington area, the agency's director announced via a Fox Business interview set to air on Sunday.
jonetta rose barras: Is it time to reform the ballot initiative process in DC?
Mayor Muriel Bowser has pledged to include in her proposed Fiscal Year 2026 Budget and Financial Plan the repeal of Initiative 82, the citizen ballot measure that has wreaked havoc on the restaurant and hospitality industry. Even if…
District Links: Mayor’s formal budget submission expected just after Memorial Day;…
DC budget watchers can make their post-Memorial Day plans now: That's the apparent timetable for Mayor Muriel Bowser's formal submission of her budget plan to the DC Council, which will kick off the 70-day clock for the legislature to…
District Links: Council advances bill to restrict cellphones at schools; departing U.S. attorney…
The DC Council is moving forward with legislation to remove students' personal cellphones from classrooms as of fall 2026, but some legislators are pressing for a faster timetable for implementation.