Washington Post: 40% of D.C. 911 center shifts understaffed last month, data shows
Multiple callers were kept on hold for three or four minutes, the data shows
Colbert I. King in The Post: The ‘educational crisis’ in D.C. demands more than promises
The racial chasms of about 50 percentage points or more in math and reading proficiencies have been persistent.
District Links: DDOT director among three upcoming Bowser admin departures; DC sees 50% drop in…
This week's heat wave brought DC some record-breaking temperatures for early September, but it also helped fuel renewed complaints about DC Public Schools with faulty air-conditioning systems in some classrooms.
jonetta rose barras: Ruth Simmons’ hardscrabble journey from East Texas sharecropping to the halls…
When the galley for Ruth J. Simmons’ memoir — Up Home: One Girl’s Journey — arrived in my mailbox a few months ago, I couldn’t wait to dive into it. I had been looking forward to reading about the tumultuous battles she had fought and,…
District Links: School nurses fault new staffing model as providing inadequate coverage; Bowser…
As police continue to search for a murder suspect who escaped yesterday from George Washington University Hospital, the Metropolitan Police Department's acting chief acknowledged that officers had not secured the man to a gurney when…
City Paper: A Trio of Bowser’s Top Officials, Including DDOT Director Everett Lott, Are Leaving…
The mayor has seen a variety of prominent departures during her scandal-laden third term in office.
DCist: Some D.C. Classrooms Don’t Have Air Conditioning During Record Heat
As the D.C. region continues to sweat through a record-breaking late-summer heat wave, some D.C. public school students don’t have air conditioning in their classrooms. It’s a problem the city has been grappling with for decades, but this…
DCist: D.C. Council Demands Timeline For Delayed DCPS Food Service Contracts
At a council hearing Wednesday, Chairman Phil Mendelson grilled DCPS officials over ongoing delays in submitting new food service contracts to the council for review, and pushed for a more specific timeline for getting the contracts…
Petula Dvorak in The Post: The key to college success? People have to care about you.
Apathy — not bad policy or low funds — is what usually derails homeless students. Officials fixed Kamari Felton’s financial aid after his story published.
Washington Post: Police didn’t fully secure murder suspect who fled D.C. hospital, chief says
A murder suspect escaped from George Washington University Hospital on Wednesday because D.C. police officers did not secure one of his arms to a gurney as they changed his handcuffs in the emergency room, acting D.C. police chief Pamela…
Axios: D.C. still struggling to manage growing migrant crisis
Migrants are continuing to arrive in D.C., a humanitarian crisis that's also playing out in other big cities and putting pressure on President Biden to do more.
DCist: D.C. School Nurses Say New Staffing Model Is ‘A Recipe For Disaster’
A shortage of D.C. school nurses has become so critical that about half of public and charter schools will not have a nurse on campus full-time this year.
DCist: D.C. Councilmember Renews Push To Ban Solitary Confinement At D.C. Jail
Ward 1 D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau is re-upping a years-long effort to ban solitary confinement at the D.C. Jail and other facilities operated by the city’s Department of Corrections.
City Paper: Neighbors and Colleagues Accuse Ward 2 ANC Joel Causey, Recently Exposed as a Registered…
The debate over a new homeless shelter in Causey’s West End neighborhood has brought simmering tensions to a boil, as acquaintances describe years of troubling behavior.
Washington Post: 97 D.C. neighborhood leaders urge change in city response to 911 calls
Nearly 100 neighborhood representatives in D.C. signed a letter sent to city leaders Tuesday decrying the operations at the city’s 911 center and calling for more transparency.
Courtland Milloy in The Post: Why the racial achievement gap persists in D.C. and how to fix it
Former schools chancellor Kaya Henderson talks about how to engage children in their own education
District Links: Coalition of ANC reps pushes for improved 911 reliability; critics urge action on…
A citywide coalition of 97 advisory neighborhood commissioners is calling on Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Council to resolve "grave concerns" about the performance and dependability of the city's 911 call center operated by the Office of…
Shelley Broderick: For two years DC leaders sat on a plan to improve public safety
In 2022, the District suffered 174 fatal homicide shootings, a 29% increase above 2019 pre-pandemic numbers. Every homicide leaves devastated family, friends and neighborhoods begging our elected officials to do better. In recent months,…
District Links: Late-summer heat leads DC to keep 2 outdoor pools, 18 spray parks open; DPW curbside…
Amid forecasts of a record-setting heatwave this week, the DC Department of Parks and Recreation announced plans to keep two outdoor pools and 18 spray parks open past Labor Day.
DCist: After Delays, D.C. Finally Launches Citywide Curbside Composting Pilot
After years of studying and discussing the idea of launching a curbside composting program, D.C. officials finally began rolling out a pilot program this month. Roughly 9,000 households will be participating — they’ll get food scraps…