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Deborah Simmons — Life As It Happens

Deborah Simmons

Deborah Simmons was a senior correspondent who reported on City Hall and wrote about education, culture, sports and family-related topics.

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In this April 18, 2019, photo Broderick Hansen is held by his mother Jennifer Hansen as Kristen Sklenar delivers a measles vaccine in Omaha, Neb. (Kent Sievers/Omaha World-Herald via AP) **FILE**

Educating the masses about vaccinations

- The Washington Times

If we really and truly want to curb the current measles outbreak and better educate U.S. residents about vaccinations in general, why not use our good ol' reliable, trusty dusty Postal Service?

A voter marks a ballot for the New Hampshire primary inside a voting booth at a polling place Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/David Goldman) ** FILE **

Is U.S. ready for 2020 elections?

- The Washington Times

There was a time when blacks weren't permitted to vote in America, and the truth and consequences of even trying to vote are etched in the nation's history and Americans' memories.

Opponents of a proposal to makes changes to the sex education guidance for teachers, rallied at the Capitol Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Sacramento, Calif. The California State Board of Education is set to vote Wednesday on new guidance for teaching sex education in public schools. The guidance is not mandatory but it gives teachers ideas about how to teach a wide range of health topic including speaking to children about gender identity. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) **FILE**

Parents can't be ignorant of their child's sexual education

- The Washington Times

One of the reasons kids, teens and adults know more about sex and sexual relations is because parents shirk their responsibilities: 1., by not accepting their responsibility to be their children's first teachers, and 2., by not paying attention to what their children's teachers are and are not teaching.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker speaks during an Iowa Democratic Party Black Caucus Reception, Tuesday, April 16, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The election 2020 gunfight

- The Washington Times

The Fat Lady can't even begin to think about what dress rehearsal for election night will look like in 2020 — perhaps a politically correct rainbow affair for the inclusive crowd or a crimson gown for the conservatives.

In this Dec. 6, 2016, file photo, Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh delivers an address during her inauguration ceremony inside the War Memorial Building in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Catherine Pugh must relinquish her position

- The Washington Times

When men and women wearing jackets identifying themselves as agents of the FBI or IRS or police or sheriff, your best defense is to read whatever court documents they proffer, open your door and grant them access.

Catherine Pugh must let the mayor go

The Washington Times

When men and women wearing jackets identifying themselves as agents of the FBI or IRS or police or sheriff, your best defense is to read whatever court documents they proffer, open your door and grant them access.

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser pauses during a news conference at One Judiciary Square in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. (Associated Press) **FILE**

D.C. should bolster school choice

- The Washington Times

You don't have to be a top chef to know that, like oil and water, President Trump and left-of-center Democrats don't go well together — and that sensitive palates find the taste of anchovies yucky.

Democratic presidential candidate and former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke speaks during a campaign event in Sioux City, Iowa, on Thursday, April 4, 2019. (Justin Wan/Sioux City Journal via AP) **FILE**

Term limits would drain the swamp

- The Washington Times

As the "Democratic Demolition Coalition" grows, another group of get-out-the-vote movers and shakers is on the move, too. Supporters of term limits are making their voices heard. One of them is James Baker, who lost to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in the 2018 Democratic primary and was a write-in candidate in the general election.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, left, and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford speak at a news conference in Annapolis, Md., Monday, April 8, 2019, the final day of the state's 2019 legislative session. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark) **FILE**

Larry Hogan's smart BW Parkway push

- The Washington Times

Enter Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is so fed up with the NPS ignoring the dangerous and gridlocked realities of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway that he has urged the state's congressional delegation into action.

In this Feb. 20, 2019, photo a worker carries interior doors to install in a just completed new home in north Dallas. On Wednesday, March 13, the Commerce Department reports on U.S. construction spending in January.  (AP Photo/LM Otero) **FILE**

Give manual labor a chance

- The Washington Times

The job market is calling for laborers and manufacturing workers. All those boxes delivered by FedEx, Amazon and the U.S. Postal Service don't appear by osmosis.

This Tuesday, March 12, 2019 photo shows the University Village area of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. USC is one of many colleges and companies moving swiftly to distance themselves from employees swept up in a nationwide college admissions scheme, many charged with taking bribes and others from well-to-do and celebrity parents accused of angling to get their children into top schools. By Wednesday, March 13, USC had fired senior associate athletic director Donna Heinel and water polo coach Jovan Vavic. USC's interim President Wanda Austin said about a half-dozen current applicants affiliated with Singer's firm will be barred from admission. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)may be connected to the scheme alleged by the government. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) **FILE**

Education system scandals is true March Madness

- The Washington Times

Every liberal and conservative, progressive and libertarian should agree that cheating a child of their education is wrong. It's simply wrong. Yet it happens, sometimes is even encouraged, in schools across the country.

Musician R. Kelly arrives at the Daley Center for a hearing in his child support case at the Daley Center, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Chicago. Kelly was charged last month with sexually abusing four females dating back to 1998, including three underage girls. He's pleaded not guilty.  (AP Photo/Matt Marton) **FILE**

R. Kelly unplugged

- The Washington Times

The reality is this: R. Kelly is in denial and scared to death of facing the music that he and his entourage wrote the score to.

File - In this Jan. 30, 2019, file photo, a sign posted at The Vancouver Clinic in Vancouver, Wash., warns patients and visitors of a measles outbreak. The focus on measles in the Pacific Northwest intensified Friday, March 1, 2019, as public health officials in Oregon announced a new case of the highly contagious disease unrelated to an ongoing outbreak in Washington state that's sickened 68 people so far. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus, File) **FILE**

Measles vaccinations: Bolster them now

- The Washington Times

There is no cure for measles. So you see, when it comes to "one of the most contagious diseases known to man," an ounce of prevention against measles, two doses, is worth a pound of cure.