The Guardian: ‘A matter for democracy’: why DC’s bid for statehood is returning to the House
DC has been trying to make its case to join the union for decades as its residents have long found themselves in a constitutional black hole
District Links: Council panel backs $15M cut to mayor’s proposed MPD budget; Tom Cotton…
Happy Thursday. The DC Council remains in the early stages of its budget deliberations, but it's already making waves with a $15M cut to the mayor's proposed spending for the Metropolitan Police Department.
Press Release: Norton, Beyer Federal Police Body Camera Bill Passes House as Part of Police Reform…
News Release — DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton
June 25, 2020
Contact: Sharon Eliza Nichols
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) announced that their Federal Police Camera and…
Washington Post: Sen. Tom Cotton praises Wyoming as ‘working-class state’ in arguing against D.C.…
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) argued Thursday that the District of Columbia does not deserve to be a state, asserting that while Wyoming has a smaller population, it has a greater right because it’s a “well-rounded working-class state.”
Street Sense: Bowser’s budget cuts funding for affordable housing. Advocates say DC’s Black…
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget will reduce funding for affordable housing in fiscal year 2021 and disproportionately hurt the District’s Black residents, housing experts say.
Street Sense: 2-day sit-in across from the Wilson Building protests DC police budget expansion
On the evening of June 16, more than 100 people gathered in Freedom Plaza, across the street from the Wilson Building and down the block from the White House, to watch the documentary “13th” and television series “Trigger Warning with…
Washington Post: Protesters denounce Abraham Lincoln statue in D.C., urge removal of Emancipation…
Police in the nation’s capital were bracing Thursday night for protesters who planned to denounce and urge the removal of a statue of Abraham Lincoln, paid for by people who had been enslaved, that celebrates emancipation and depicts the…
Washington Post: Howard University to bring students back in fall for a mix of in-person and online…
Students will return to Howard University in August for a mix of in-person and online classes, the school announced Thursday, but campus life will be far from normal.
WTOP: Stakeholders react to $15M in proposed cuts to DC police budget
After weeks of demonstrations, hundreds of citizens offering public testimony and calls to “defund the police,” a D.C. committee that oversees the police department budget has proposed cutting its expected increased funding by $15 million.…
Washington Post: D.C. activists and lawmakers confront challenges of ‘defund police’ movement
D.C. lawmakers on Thursday advanced measures to cut $15 million from the police department budget, a change that defund-the-police activists dismissed as insufficient and the police chief warned could result in the loss of hundreds of…
WTOP: ‘An American issue’: DC statehood bill supporters rally on eve of House vote
A host of local and federal leaders gathered on Thursday to praise the D.C. statehood bill, which is expected to pass the House on Friday for the first time ever, and to throw elbows at the bill’s critics.
WTOP: DC eyes fate of Emancipation statue in Lincoln Park
A statue of President Abraham Lincoln standing over a freed slave in D.C. is under renewed scrutiny, with protesters announcing their intention to tear down the monument Thursday.
Washington Post: Now fenced in, church across from White House is at the center of a new controversy
Leaders of the yellow church that has been at the center of the District’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations say they are concerned about how police cleared protesters from the area earlier this week — and upset that the city built a fence…
DCist: D.C. Lawmakers Take Steps To Limit Police Budget, Review Police Chief Next Year
The D.C. Council’s judiciary committee unanimously voted Thursday to approve a $15 million reduction to the Metropolitan Police Department’s proposed budget for next year and to require the current police chief to undergo a review every…
Washington Business Journal: Smithsonian completes $250 million-plus deal for new headquarters
The Smithsonian Institution has paid nearly $253.7 million for the majority of a two-building Southwest D.C. office campus to serve as its consolidated headquarters after getting the green light from Congress late last year to move forward…
WAMU: For Thousands Of Eligible D.C. Residents, A COVID-19 Stimulus Check May Never Arrive
In April, millions of Americans began receiving economic stimulus checks to help them weather the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus. But some 12 million who are eligible — including as many as 46,000 D.C. residents — may be left…
Petula Dvorak in The Post: Toppling more statues isn’t working when there’s other work to be done
The toppling of statues may have reached its tipping point.
DCist: D.C. Residents Serving Felony Sentences Could Soon Be Allowed To Vote
As of January, thousands of District residents who are incarcerated in federal prisons on felony convictions would have their rights to vote restored under legislation the D.C. Council is slated to adopt this summer. Currently,…
Washington Post: D.C. attorney general sues oil and gas companies, alleging industry misled public…
The D.C. attorney general sued four of the world’s largest oil and gas companies Thursday, asserting that they have engaged in a multimillion-dollar campaign over decades to deceive District consumers about the effects of fossil fuels on…
DCist: Downtown’s Franklin Park Will Close For A Year To Undergo A Major Renovation
Franklin Park, located at 14th Street and K St NW, will close for a year on July 1 and undergo an ambitious renovation.