Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement
Author profile

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

In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo, actress Lori Loughlin, center, poses with daughters Olivia Jade Giannulli, left, and Isabella Rose Giannulli at the 2019 "An Unforgettable Evening" in Beverly Hills, Calif. Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were charged along with nearly 50 other people Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the most elite schools in the country, federal prosecutors said. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) **FILE**

Community service benefits young students and athletes

Young people like Mayce Wood and others who volunteer to do good for their communities' sake aren't so jaded. They don't just see a need; they feel the need. Sometimes, again too often, young people only do things merely because an adult tells them to do it.

December 2, 2019
Dan Villegas stocks items in preparation for a holiday sale at a Walmart Supercenter, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, in Las Vegas. Black Friday once again kicks off the start of the holiday shopping season. But it will be the shortest season since 2013 because of Thanksgiving falling on the fourth Thursday in November, the latest possible date it can be. (AP Photo/John Locher) **FILE**

Thanksgiving postscript

As the turkey's roasting -- or frying, if that's your thing -- and the family's trying to keep young ones and grandfolks occupied with that old invention called television, there are behind-the-scenes fixins and people to be grateful for.

November 28, 2019
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg fills out paperwork, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., to appear on the ballot in Arkansas' March 3 presidential primary. Bloomberg hasn't formally announced a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, but his trip to Arkansas is the latest indication that he is leaning toward a run. (Staton Breidenthal/The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP) **FILE**

Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump, meet Gladys Harrison of Nebraska

Republicans, Democrats, independents: Lend me your eyes and ears -- and if Michael Bloomberg and President Trump are paying attention, here's the American voter you both need to court. Her name is Gladys Harrison, and she lives in Omaha, Nebraska, where she runs a restaurant called Big Mama's Kitchen and Catering.

November 25, 2019
At-large D.C. Council member David Grosso said "public financing of campaigns would give greater voice to all voters and reduce the disproportionate influence of big city donors in D.C. politics" under a bill he has crafted. (The Washington Times) **FILE**

Divisive Democrats in D.C. City Hall?

Leave it to a D.C. politician to pick up on the far left's scent. As if Ms. Pelosi had handed him a rod and staff, D.C. Council member David Grosso appears to be training for a run against the chairman of the council.

November 21, 2019
In this Feb. 14, 1984 file photo, first lady Nancy Reagan sits with a fourth and fifth grade class at Island Park Elementary School on Mercer Island, Wash., where she participated in a drug education class. At left is Amy Clarfeld, 10, and Andrew Cary, 10, is at right. During a visit with schoolchildren in Oakland, Calif., Reagan later recalled, "A little girl raised her hand and said, 'Mrs. Reagan, what do you do if somebody offers you drugs?' And I said, 'Well, you just say no.' And there it was born." (AP Photo/Barry Sweet, File) **FILE**

Drug testing Ohio school kids

Now the opioid crisis is upon us, with folks old and young using what they know are deadly compounds. America's opioid epidemic is so out of control, antidotes such as naloxone are part of first responder and schoolhouses across the country. So, what's a schoolhouse of 550-plus eighth- and ninth-graders to do? Just say no?

November 14, 2019
A man sits alone inside a Metrobus in downtown Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) **FILE**

When the public strikes against the public

Some transit workers in Northern Virginia are jawing about their pay or lack thereof. Indeed, one bus driver told WRC-TV that he and his coworkers plan to strike later this week if they don't get a raise in pay that's comparable to the cost of living. Unfortunately, that action would mean that riders of Metrobus and the Fairfax Connector would be inconvenienced. What a bother for negotiators on both sides.

November 11, 2019
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris speaks during the Iowa Democratic Party's Liberty and Justice Celebration, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) **FILE**

Kamala Harris’ school-dazed proposal

Sen. Kamala Harris, the California Democrat who wants to occupy the Oval Office, has proposed building her own school-to-prison pipeline and she wants you to pay for it.

November 7, 2019
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan speaks at Maryland's State Capitol, in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) ** FILE **

Flagging the thin blue line

The crime-related headlines about Germantown, Maryland, could be a testament to those routinely published about for D.C. Yet the politician chiefly responsible for ensuring public safety in Germantown has decided to backhand law enforcers and effectively stifle their free speech.

November 4, 2019
Job searches may be in vain if the D.C. Department of Employment Services isn't doing its own job. (The Washington Times/File)

D.C. Council probes job training agency

When "Ruth Black" lost her job a few years back, she began staying in close contact with the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES). Now 58 years old, she's still in search of employment -- and she's at wit's end.

October 31, 2019
Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joins striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members for a speech on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) **FILE**

Democrats’ education plans should focus on students

The truth is that Ms. Warren would have gained a measure of respect had she said "I'm here to stand with children," because it's children who deserve her time and attention and it's children who will, at some point, have to pay the salaries and benefits of future teachers, presidents and members of Congress.

October 24, 2019
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his companies have been the target of verbal attacks by the president. (Associated Press/File)

Why fake news is newsworthy

Fake news doesn't always spin on what politicians and their friends actually say. Often, it spins on what they don't want you to know.

October 21, 2019
NBA players use their smartphones to film fans gathers outside the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Shanghai, China, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday that the league is still expecting them to play as scheduled this week, even while the rift between the league and Chinese officials continued in ways that clearly suggested the two planned games in Shanghai and Shenzhen were anything but guaranteed. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

It’s un-American to tell China’s critics to ‘shoosh’

"Shoosh," as Big Mama would say. "This is 'Merica, and in 'Merica we have the right to free speech." We do, indeed, and that's why Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey is one of my heroes of the week for tweeting that we Americans, here and abroad, should support the protesters in Hong Kong demanding the basic human right to speak their minds.

October 10, 2019
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**

Dan Snyder’s Washington Redskins and the sad lessons to learn

If he plans to hold on to the Redskins as owner and continue to turn a profit, he must play his hand like a kicker who guides his foot to avoid the left post, the right post and the horizontal bar. Mr. Snyder should look at the franchise as a team and determine which sectors aren't winning and why.

October 7, 2019

D.C. overspends on bureaucracy, not student achievement

It's time for parents and other taxpayers to adopt the erstwhile financial control board's cardinal rule, because here's what happens when school funding doesn't follow students into their classrooms. The central bureaucracy sucks it up, and -- worse -- the educrats bleed the system and create a deficit.

September 30, 2019
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, left, testifies next to veteran Kerwin Miller, of Washington, and Roger Pilon, with the Constitutional Studies department of the Cato Institute, during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on statehood for the District of Columbia, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) ** FILE **

D.C. should stay a federal district as it was written in Constitution

Understand, the founders of the capital never intended for D.C. to be a state but a federal district to house the federal government. Yet, some advocates for statehood want to flip the script of the U.S. Constitution, and some quasi-supporters even want to grant the District's nonvoting House delegate full voting rights.

September 19, 2019