Deborah Simmons — Life As It Happens
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'Overhauling' DCRA will not solve safety issues
Three months ago, I asked a simple question following a house fire that killed a 9-year-old boy: Who knew what all was going on inside the row house?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
D.C. wants to run up public money on adequate dog shelters as if public well never runs dry
The idiots in City Hall are at it again, planning to spend the public's money as if they're Paris Hilton and drumming up other policies as if the public well will never run dry.
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.
The Joker and Victor Hugo's 'L'Homme Qui Rit'
The Army is concerned about Joaquin Phoenix's "Joker," which is due to hit movie theaters next Friday, and the "disturbing and very specific chatter" online that was discovered recently.
D.C. protesters: Climate change activists or glue sniffers?
The Super Glue Gang advocates climate change. They've decided that God can't make up his mind and that Mother Nature is confused.
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.
Vaping the new crack cocaine?
Remember the push for the V chip? The TV technology that helped parents control what their children were watching on television? Well, for young people, vaping seems to be the new crack cocaine.
D.C. charter school children should be the focus, not the buildings
What's equally bad is that the District is breaking both the spirit and the letter of the law when it closes a traditional public school and then forces charter schools to apply to occupy it, as if the children who would attend the school are, here again, foreigners.
Washington Redskins stadium talks should resume in D.C.
RFK Stadium is headed for the graveyard. Sniff, sniff. Plans call for the aged structure to be demolished in 2021. Up 'til then, though, Dan Snyder has a decision to make, Congress has a decision to make about the site and both should place their bets on a guaranteed moneymaker -- a new home for the Washington Redskins.
Dave Chapelle's 'Sticks & Stones,' guns and scaredy cats
To his credit, Mr. Chappelle's standup routines about the so-called cancel culture on Netflix's "Sticks & Stones" special has a lot of eyeballs rolling. Give him and public schools a hand, because much is -- and will become -- history. Now let's be frank in the here and now.
The NFL at 100
The 100th anniversary of the National Football League kicks off Thursday, and it's hoped you're not one of those fans who let the league's Kaepernick thing become and remain a cloud over your enthusiasm for football, American football.
D.C. politicians need to step aside until rowhouse fire probe is done
There's much to unpack in this deadly case beyond who knew about 708 Kennedy and why nothing was done until tragedy struck.
The Congressional Black Caucus is not black America's BFF
Does black America have a BFF?
Jeffrey Epstein, R. Kelly and the feds
Federal authorities shouldn't be alarmed, but they should be mindful following the probe into the Jeffrey Epstein death case: R&B crooner R. Kelly isn't doing too well.
