Lewis T. Tait Jr. and Ryane Nickens: DC must address root causes of public safety crisis by…
Gun violence. Rising rents. Wildfire smoke. If your only perspective of DC over the past year came straight from the headlines, you might wonder: What crisis is next? Amid rising concerns around public safety, many voices have clamored for…
District Links: Council opens discussion on sweeping public safety bill ahead of Feb. 6 vote; former…
The DC Council opened discussion on the sweeping Secure DC Omnibus legislation yesterday afternoon, with an hour or so for questions and answers prior to the Committee of the Whole clearing the bill for consideration at the council's Feb.…
District Links: HUD investigating whether landlords are overcharging voucher holders; Norton bill…
DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Delaware Sen. Tom Carper today announced they are reintroducing legislation to make the District eligible for federal flood mitigation funding.
District Links: Emergency rental assistance gets funding boost amid strong demand; DC Lottery eyes…
When the DC Department of Human Services opened applications Jan. 2 for the city's Emergency Rental Assistance Program, the window closed in just four hours with 3,500 requests — but a funding boost will increase the quarterly allotment…
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…
District Links: Council audit faults city’s ‘broken’ housing inspections process;…
Early this morning, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that DC Public Schools would be closed today for the snow but that the DC government would operate on a normal schedule with supervisors encouraged to offer liberal leave.
jonetta rose barras: Oh SNAP, it’s temporary
Many people — myself included — supported the DC Council’s recent move toward filing a lawsuit against Mayor Muriel Bowser for her unwillingness to follow the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Support Act, which mandated that a portion of any…
District Links: Timely evacuation avoids injuries at day care from gas explosion in Anacostia;…
Mayor Muriel Bowser and others are praising firefighters for evacuating a child care center and adjoining buildings in historic Anacostia this morning in response to a reported gas leak — and less than a half hour before the situation…
District Links: Civil rights group faults use of MPD’s gang database; Fannie Mae eyes early…
The DC Council's Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety voted unanimously this morning to advance wide-reaching Secure DC public safety legislation, even as a coalition of social and racial justice organizations is urging against the…
District Links: MPD pulls use-of-force summaries from website after arbitrator’s adverse…
A Cold Weather Emergency is expected to remain in effect for DC through Thursday, with cold temperatures accompanying the city's first substantial snowfall in two years.
Bisi Oyedele: Public schools in DC must address absenteeism to regain their momentum
Before the pandemic, DC’s public education system was on the upswing. Gains were made on both local and national metrics. The District was widely hailed as the fastest-improving state and urban system in the country. Our progress and…
District Links: DC funds for homebuyer assistance run out less than four months into fiscal year;…
The DC Department of Human Services provided details today on when the nearly 83,000 local households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits can expect to see the temporary increase approved by the DC Council last…
jonetta rose barras: Muriel Bowser’s underwhelming moment
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser stood in a room inside the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall across the street from the Capital One Arena, which could be seen just behind her right shoulder. Former DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams stood to her…
District Links: Pinto aims for votes this month on omnibus public safety bill; new tunnel…
Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto yesterday unveiled a sweeping public safety bill incorporating elements of various proposals offered by Pinto, Mayor Muriel Bowser and others in recent months, with plans for a vote by the Committee on the…
District Links: Council OKs bill to spur enforcement against unlicensed cannabis…
The DC Council yesterday gave initial approval to MacArthur High School as the name for Ward 3's recently opened secondary school, but several legislators dissented despite strong support from the school community.
District Links: Council holds off on authorizing court fight after mayor’s SNAP reversal; DHS…
Ahead of today's legislative meeting, DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson opted to pull two measures that had proved contentious for different reasons — including one that would have authorized a legal fight with the mayor over funding for a…
District Links: Task force launches to develop ideas for Gallery Place/Chinatown; Bowser agrees to…
Mayor Muriel Bowser today launched the new Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force that she announced last month in the wake of Monumental Sports & Entertainment's deal to move the Washington Wizards and Capitals to a new Alexandria arena.
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District Links: Parts of DC’s embattled crime lab regain accreditation lost in 2021; skirmish…
Stripped of its national accreditation in 2021, the District's embattled crime lab has regained key certifications for its forensic biology and chemistry units, paving the way for the Department of Forensic Sciences to conduct its own DNA…
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…
Eboni-Rose Thompson and Allister Chang: DC is taking the right steps to achieve literacy…
I thought my son was doing fine. He was getting A’s on his assignments, and his teacher said he was doing great. It wasn’t until we saw his NAEP score that we learned he wasn’t reading at his grade level — we had missed years of…