Deborah Simmons

School shootings, violence relay silenced message

Mark President Trump's words. He laid out a new goal in the ongoing debate about gun violence.

February 15, 2018

D.C. ‘fair’ elections bill is unfair

There is something called free speech that is being stifled in the call for "fair" elections.

February 14, 2018

Fund DCTAG with Washington, D.C., money, Mayor Muriel Bowser

When news broke Monday that some D.C. officials cried foul because President Trump's budget proposes cutting federal funding of a special college tuition program, I took it personally.

February 13, 2018

Donald Trump budget goes for broke

President Trump's fiscal 2019 budget forces hard choices on many Americans.

February 12, 2018

Raise the education bar in D.C.

There is a new stream of red tape in D.C. education: the Office of Raising the Bar and Lowering the Standards.

February 8, 2018

Chelsea Manning takes on Ben Cardin

Ben Cardin, the Maryland Democrat who announced Monday that he's seeking a third term in the Senate, can't touch Chelsea Manning's coming out party.

February 5, 2018

Super Bowl LII guide

The Super Bowl ain't what it used to be with more viewers tuning out each year, but this year's game is at least quasi-symbolic with the majestic eagle, America's national emblem, up against iconic foot soldiers, America's patriots.

February 1, 2018

D.C. teachers, administrators run amok

The official audit for D.C. Public Schools: All but two of 19 DCPS high schools violated policies that led to seniors receiving diplomas they had not earned.

January 30, 2018

State of the Union in song and prayer

On Thursday, comes an annual Washington tradition: the National Prayer Breakfast. It's an event where men and women of the clergy, politicians and others break bread at the Washington Hilton.

January 29, 2018

The race for infrastructure jobs

The smart people of the District may be onto something. At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, announced a new public-partnership, the DC Infrastructure Academy, a program pegged to plug people into demanding jobs.

January 25, 2018

U.S. Conference of Mayors gives Donald Trump the middle finger

The mayors of America's cities small and large are holding a confab just two blocks from the White House but won't enter its gates because the Justice Department wants them to fill out some forms.

January 24, 2018

Congressional Black Caucus could turn history again

There's not much ado about President's Trump's State of the Union address right now, but there will be. Some members of Congress are considering boycotting his Jan. 30 speech.

January 22, 2018

Amazon HQ2 pros and cons

Amazon has narrowed its long list of 238 potential sites for its second headquarters (HQ2) to a long short list of 20, and at first blush it appears as though an East Coast presence is a prime (get it?) destination in Amazon's future.

January 18, 2018

Metro’s dead zones must be killed

Metro must kill the dead zones, because the transit agency clearly is jammed between a ROCC and a hard place. ROCC stands for Metro's Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC), and it's the center's job to speak by radio with train operators and workers, firefighters and other first responders when something goes awry.

January 17, 2018

Reclaim the mantle: It takes a village

Here we are again with nightmarish news of children being abused and neglected. A few such stories follow, including one of four dead sisters.

January 16, 2018

Immigration temporary protective status-Salvadoran debate

An estimated 10,000 D.C. residents of Salvadoran descent are likely becoming news watchers now that the State Department has warned Americans against traveling to the Central American country and the Trump administration has told them they have until September 2019 to get their immigration papers in order or be shipped out.

January 15, 2018