News

It just got a little bit easier for people experiencing homelessness to get a housing voucher. After a months-long fight by advocates, the DC Housing Authority (DCHA) will now let voucher applicants move into housing without requiring a…
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Olivia Rodriguez-Nunez still remembers dancing around in a jumper at the age of 4. If she undid the buttons on the side, it felt like she was wearing a dress. The thrill that thought gave her — commonly called gender euphoria — was one of…
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With the recent passage of accountability measures in this year’s Budget Support Act, the final piece of DC’s budget is in place. The DC Council unanimously passed the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Act on June 7. The annual…
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Chuck Hicks has celebrated Juneteenth for more than 30 years. A longtime community activist, he’s the founder and director of the DC Black History Celebration Committee, which organizes events year-round to recognize the contributions and…
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DC’s voucher waitlist is 37,000 people long, but the city government is only planning to fund 20 new vouchers for the residents on it.
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Vicki Paige was determined not to move. As she settled into a wrought-iron garden chair in Columbus Circle across from Union Station, she watched with skepticism as her neighbors packed for the day’s encampment removal. “The police will…
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DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson has leaned into the label of progressive during this election season in which he faces challenger Erin Palmer. An ethics lawyer and Ward 4 advisory neighborhood commissioner, she also claims that political…
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DC residents are one step closer to knowing what their city will spend money on next year. The DC Council took its second vote on the fiscal year 2023 budget on May 24, passing a set of allocations similar to those approved in the…
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Dr. Catherine Crosland, medical director of emergency response sites at Unity Health Care, remembers an older man she used to care for — one of the first people admitted to DC’s Pandemic Emergency Program for Medically Vulnerable…
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The DC Council last week gave initial approval to the city’s budget for the next fiscal year, providing funding for some new housing vouchers sought by advocates but far fewer than they recommended. The council’s version of the…
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Yulyia Demetria needed a job. She didn’t need training, having worked in customer service before. She didn’t need to spend a year learning hard skills. She just needed a steady income to move herself and her son out of a domestic…
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By mid-May, the DC Board of Elections is scheduled to begin mailing out ballots for the June 21 primary. Here’s who made the ballot. In addition to the government positions on the ballot of each of the District’s political parties, the…
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It’s difficult to imagine any mayor’s second term like the one with which Muriel Bowser has grappled. It began in 2019, filled with promise. One year later, it felt like Pandora was once again among us, unleashing all sorts of hellish…
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As local lawmakers start the process of crafting a final budget for fiscal year 2023, D.C. Council committees are recommending some modest increases to housing programs and social services from the funding levels proposed by Mayor Muriel…
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Flo White thought she had it all figured out: go to college part time while working two jobs to pay the rent on her new apartment.  And for a while, it went well. For the first time ever, White felt as though her life was going…
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The DC Board of Elections collaborated in the disenfranchisement of thousands of District voters when it upheld a complaint filed by Bruce Spiva that asserted DC Council member Kenyan McDuffie did not meet the statutory qualifications to…
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Local housing advocates thought they had prevailed in their long-standing push to allow people seeking housing vouchers to self-certify their eligibility, but they’re crying foul after the DC Housing Authority (DCHA) distributed guidance…
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Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget, released on March 16, includes over $1 billion to build, maintain and match DC residents with affordable housing. With the budget now up for DC Council review and debate, housing advocates — led by…
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Salah Czapary is telling a story about the time when he, as a member of the DC Metropolitan Police Department, responded to a 911 call at a nail salon where a customer was engaged in a dispute. “The lady was upset that they didn't offer a…
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The board in charge of the District’s public housing has renewed a promise to prevent the displacement of residents during the planned redevelopment of their neighborhood in Southwest DC. Despite the public commitment, residents of…
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