Deborah Simmons

We can deport the Chandra Levy suspect, but who else is in our ‘safe spaces’?

Remember Ingmar Guandique-Blanco, the man convicted and then cleared of killing congressional intern Chandra Levy? Well, he's back home in El Salvador, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers, who footed the bill for his deportation, federal officials said Monday. Published May 8, 2017

Haitians deserve America’s help

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) wants you to know something — and, interestingly enough, it has little to do with the political alignment of members voting against the House replacement of Obamacare on Thursday. Published May 4, 2017

The Obama-Clinton factor in Maryland elections

The 2018 elections are but a sneeze away, and the Democratic Party hardly wants a Republican replay of 2016. Published May 1, 2017

Putting Metro back on track

Paul Wiedefeld, the man hired to put the D.C., Maryland and Virginia mass transit system back on track, delivered a three-pronged plan Thursday to begin the long arduous process. Published April 20, 2017

Opioid use and abuse are the problem

"It's killing people left and right," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan pointed out a couple of months ago, when he outlined his fight against opioids. Published April 17, 2017

VA’s troubles hit home with D.C. facility’s woes

The Department of Veterans Affairs system of hospitals and clinics, America's leading health care system for military veterans, is front-page news again. Published April 13, 2017

Spring cleaning: Now’s the time to get D.C.’s summer jobs program right

Thanks to Jimmy Carter and his willing partners in the House and Senate, an estimated 4 million disadvantaged people received job training and employment opportunities during his four years as president. Published April 10, 2017

D.C. budget needs these 3 things

The opening salvos on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's fiscal 2018 spending plan were frighteningly tame, considering there's nothing on the chopping block, nothing bolstering parents' cries for school choice and nothing that declares a war on strenuous oversight. Published April 6, 2017

Muriel Bowser’s spending blueprint, at first blush

In case you missed it or even care, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released her fiscal 2018 spending proposal Tuesday, and at first flush her plan is aligns with the city's rosy outlook in recent years. Published April 4, 2017

D.C. parking, red-light ticket scam

The facts first: The D.C. Council is considering legislation that would exempt residents from fines on certain traffic tickets, such as those that double for parking tickets, speeding tickets and red-light running tickets. (A breather for sure.) Published April 3, 2017

D.C. parking, red-light ticket sham

Hip, hip, hooray! D.C. officials want to give folks who get parking, red-light and speeding tickets a break. (Well, some folks.) Published April 3, 2017

Our children are starving — for food, for protection, for parents, for hope.

We can argue and debate until the cows (don't) come home about why we're allowing our children to starve, but that won't change the bottom line that we are facing the broadest and deepest global humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was established in 1945. Published March 30, 2017

Metropolitan Police’s official stats prove there is an uptick in missing kids in D.C.

When it comes to missing children in D.C., the numbers don't lie. Published March 30, 2017

Banita Jacks tragedy illustrates shortcomings of government ‘home visit’ policies

The Banita Jacks case left the public-at-large asking variations of the same question, "What in Hell went wrong?" -- a question that government and social services advocates rarely answer truthfully. They'd rather try to legislate an issue away or rewrite policy than solve a real problem. Published March 27, 2017

D.C. minimum wage law forces bean counters to face harsh reality

The city's chief bean counters have revealed the winners and losers of the District's minimum wage legislation, which gradually ratchets up the floor to $15 an hour. Published March 23, 2017

Bad news on minimum wage front

Well, the results are in: D.C. residents are going to be whacked by the minimum-wage bully stick. Published March 23, 2017

School rape is a safety and security issue, stupid

There are so many hot-button issues tied to the investigation of the rape of a 14-year-old girl in a Maryland high school that it's easy to lose sight of the horror of the crime itself. Published March 22, 2017

D.L. Hughley slams FBI for trumping Tom Brady jerseys vis-a-vis D.C. missing children

"Damn they found #TomBradys missing super bowl Jersey? If only all those black and brown teenage girls reported missing in DC had jerseys on!" Published March 22, 2017

School rape case raises important questions

Much of the heated discussion about America and its immigration laws turns on Hispanics and Muslims, and people with Hispanic-sounding names and Muslim-sounding names. Published March 20, 2017

3 things: Trump’s education spending plan

Did President Trump really take a "meat cleaver" to federal education spending, as American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said? Or did Mr. Trump, after becoming president, consider the hand that states, localities and parents had been dealt and deliver a blueprint that returns the power and authority to them? Published March 17, 2017