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Deborah Simmons

dsimmons@washingtontimes.com

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

Articles by Deborah Simmons

Washington Metropolitan Police Chief of Police Robert Contee, center, is joined by U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, left, and others during a news conference to discuss preparations for a weekend rally planned by allies of Donald Trump who support the so-called "political prisoners" of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington, (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

D.C. Police Chief Contee faces major test

Getting and sustaining a tight grip on crime is no easy task for police chiefs in major urban areas, and the nation's capital is no exception.

September 27, 2021
In this July 24, 2020, file photo, Fairfax County Public School buses are lined up at a maintenance facility in Lorton, Va. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

Trying to get school kids from Point A to Point B is easy

Grown folk are acting as though getting school kids from Point A to Point B on regular school days is a death-defying act, whether in an urban school district like D.C. or a suburban system like neighboring Montgomery County.

September 20, 2021
Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke (4) runs during an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021 in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

Washington QBs vs. the NY Giants

Washington quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's on-field thigh injury put the NFL team in an all-too-familiar position in asking a familiar question: Who's next?

September 15, 2021
Washington, D.C., Council Chairman Phil Mendelson testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 12, 2016, before a House Oversight Government Operations subcommittee hearing on whether the District of Columbia government truly has the power to spend local tax dollars without approval by Congress. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ** FILE **

Redrawing boundaries for D.C. wards

Before month's end, the U.S. Census data should be is the hands of D.C. officials and available for city residents to begin registering public comments about proposed boundaries for the city's eights wards.

September 12, 2021
In this March 15, 2021, file photo, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser takes a question during a coronavirus update at a news conference in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ** FILE **

What do D.C. students know?

Do D.C. students benefit from D.C. education reforms? D.C. teachers can't answer the question. They don't know.

September 9, 2021
Senate Appropriations Committee member Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, April 20, 2021 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP) **FILE**

Chris Van Hollen crime-mental health bill misses mark

The key problem with Mr. Van Hollen's bill is that the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees social programs, would lead the federal pack (because of the mental health angle) to say that police are part of the problem if and when a "situation" escalates. His proposal would create a $100 million federal program to bolster local agencies that look to alternatives for a law enforcement response.

April 22, 2021
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser testifies before a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on the District of Columbia statehood bill, Monday, March 22, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Carlos Barria/Pool via AP) **FILE**

The cost of D.C. living

The cost of living in the nation's capital is on the rise, whether you want it to or not. Why? The cost of the pandemic is reaping much of the blame. Like most big cities, the District was shuffling personnel and agreements involving public, private and public-private ventures.

April 19, 2021
President Joe Biden participates virtually in the CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, April 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

President Biden stumbles again

President Biden did it again. He stumbled on his way up, but this time instead of the stairs of Air Force One, he let his mouth get in his way. Mr. Biden weighed in on the fatal shooting this weekend of a young Black man named Daunte Wright.

April 12, 2021
In this April 28, 2020 file photo, Democrat Kweisi Mfume reacts while speaking to reporters during an election night news conference after he won the 7th Congressional District special election, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File). **FILE**

Baltimore’s Kweisi Mfume waiting on federal cash

Baltimore calculates that it expects to receive $670 million from President Biden's American Rescue Plan -- and for a city whose pre-pandemic unemployment rate stood at 12% for Black residents compared to 4% for Whites, it can surely use some help. Is a rehash of the Lyndon Baines Johnson's Great Society the most effective and efficient road to travel? Rep. Kweisi Mfume seems to think so.

April 8, 2021
D.C. Council members were swept up in a flurry of activity at the John A. Wilson Building on Tuesday as they worked to resolve matters before the start of their two-month summer recess. (Associated Press/File) **FILE**

D.C. loses track of who knows how much money

What's the point of a bunch of rules and regs regarding construction, housing and professional licensing if there's no long, stiff arm of law enforcement to verify?

April 1, 2021
In this Feb. 11, 2021 file photo, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt speaks during a news conference in Oklahoma City. As the coronavirus swept across Oklahoma and the nation last spring, Gov. Kevin Stitt’s office was inundated with correspondence from frightened residents seeking stricter lockdowns to control the spread of the virus. At the same time, the governor was also weighing requests from dozens of business leaders asking him to make sure their businesses stayed open. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki File) **FILE**

One-size schooling doesn’t fit all during the pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has been a tough lesson for parents, teachers and politicians. The old-school one-size-fits-all way of education does not work. Charter school advocates have been saying as much all along.

March 29, 2021
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder talks with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, right, before an NFL football game between the Redskins and the Cowboys in Landover, Md., Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. (AP Photo/Mark Tenally) **FILE**

Washington Football Team’s fishbowl is shrinking again

Dan Snyder is on the hit list again. This time, it's the cancel culture's Time's Up who has drawn a bull's-eye on his back. The organization, whose supporters include Hollywood bigwigs Shonda Rhimes and Mark Walhberg, say the owner of the NFL's Washington Football Team is making a power grab.

March 25, 2021
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser gives a coronavirus update at a news conference, Monday, March 15, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Summer employment or political sham?

It's that time of year again, when mayors tout their summer jobs programs — and how things will turn out during the second summer of the COVID-19 pandemic is as uncertain as the first and as questionable as school openings.

March 22, 2021
President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, right, meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and members of the House of Representatives in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 4, 2021, on infrastructure. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) **FILE **

Who’s going to rebuild our infrastructure?

Mayors and governors, in particular, love ribbon-cutting ceremonies. President Biden is no different. Mr. Biden calls his infrastructure plan the "Build Back Better Plan." But it's really not a plan. It's a vision. Mr. Biden's vision to live "greener."

March 18, 2021
First lady Jill Biden speaks with students as she tours Fort LeBoeuf Middle School in Waterford, Pa., Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP) **FILE**

Ask questions before schools reopen

Now that President Biden has signed the $1.9 trillion stimulus package and speechified during prime time, it's time for average Americans to ask a few sensible and detailed questions.

March 11, 2021
In this image made from video, an empty classroom is shown at David Ellis Academy in Detroit, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. It's coming up on a year since most of the students at the pre-K through 8th grade public charter school last had an in-person school day. (AP Photo/Mike Householder) ** FILE **

Schools must leave no child behind

Students registered in public school systems around the nation are "missing" school due to closures blamed on COVID-19. But that the very public education systems designed to rescue children and save them from themselves leave kids behind is jolting.

March 4, 2021