Deborah Simmons
Articles by Deborah Simmons
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Thanksgiving leftovers, other still tasty tidbits
So you ate too much of the turkey and the trimmings, and none of your NFL teams won on Thursday. Don't hold it in. Published November 27, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: The other faces of Marion Barry
Marion Barry was many things to many people. Published November 24, 2014
Marion Barry: A deal-maker who championed home rule
Marion Barry, 78, collapsed shortly after midnight Sunday, and before the clock struck 2 a.m., he was pronounced dead. Some might say that heaven and hell prepared a place for him, as he often was at odds with other Democrats and liberals and the D.C. business community that was used to running the city. Published November 23, 2014
Marion Barry, former D.C. mayor, dies at 78
Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, who rose from the sharecroppers' shacks of Itta Bena, Mississippi, to the executive suite of the District's City Hall and overcame an embarrassing public drug arrest while in office to return as D.C. mayor and council member, died early Sunday. He was 78. Published November 23, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Obama moving too fast if immigration system is broken
President Obama wants to exercise his questionable executive prerogatives by unilaterally giving more than 5 million undocumented and illegal immigrants the right to stay here without fact-checking. Published November 20, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Civil rights, civil forfeiture, civil wrongs
There is more than your freedom and liberty at stake if and when you are hauled off to jail. Published November 17, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Relisha Rudd and lawmakers’ committee assignments
Every time the mayor and council members discuss the city's homeless policies, they should think of Relisha Rudd. Published November 13, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Veterans Day is a time for honor, respect and thanks
America has had a national holiday for veterans since Nov. 11, 1919, in honor of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month a year earlier, when our armistice with Germany to end World War I took effect. Published November 10, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Midterm genderisms, Muriel Bowser, Sharon Pratt
Whether voters and candidates sport high heels and rouge lips or wear boxers and briefs, gender didn't play a huge role in the midterm congressional elections. Published November 6, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Why Native American, Latino, black voters matter
The Fat Lady is in final dress rehearsal, and what a multiethnic event it is. Published November 3, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Just vote no on marijuana
On Tuesday, voters will decide whether to take the next giant leap in the pro-marijuana movement by approving ballot measures that call for legalizing recreational use. Published October 30, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Affordable housing facts and myths
Affordable housing means different things to different people. Published October 27, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Elect candidates who support kids, learning
There is a candidate running for a high office in the nation's capital who wants a "moratorium on school closings and new charter schools." I won't name the candidate because the focus should not be on the candidate, but on the fact that such a stance is anti-children. Published October 23, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Indiana serial killer has a textbook case
This is a lesson for us all, even those of us who do not live in Indiana or claim to be a Hoosier. Published October 20, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Handgun laws and D.C. distractions
D.C. officials have a tough time trying to comply with the U.S. Constitution when it comes to gun rights. Published October 16, 2014
DEBORAH SIMMONS: Stop muddying the Ebola issue
Ebola has not yet been contained, people are dying at a breathtaking clip and nobody has come forward to announce the comforting words, "We are prepared to combat Ebola with a vaccine called ..." The Ebola issue also is being muddied by politics, racial hatred and ethnic bias, and ordinarily respected partisan mouthpieces. Published October 13, 2014
SIMMONS: Unarmed police are sitting ducks, Mr. Grosso
David Grosso, a freshman at-large council member, wants members of the Metropolitan Police Department to serve but not protect. He wants to take their guns away, and he wants us to participate in a love-in of the '60s and '70s variety. Mr. Grosso must be having flashbacks from innocently being in the vicinity of second-hand reefer smoke. Published October 9, 2014
SIMMONS: Black Rep. Marcia Fudge delivers bootstrap talks to blacks
Marcia Fudge, the congresswoman from suburban Cleveland, ventured into the Land of Bootstraps during last month's annual Congressional Black Caucus weekend. Published October 7, 2014
SIMMONS: Obama, other out-of-towners enter D.C. mayor’s race
The titular head of the national Democratic Party endorsed Muriel Bowser for D.C. mayor Monday, and last week, the Democratic governor of Vermont endorsed one of Ms. Bowser's independent opponents, a former Republican named David Catania. Published October 6, 2014
SIMMONS: Ebola: The real life ‘Outbreak’
In 1995, Hollywood premiered a film titled "Outbreak," and it was a huge hit, though not the kind of hit that garners Oscars. Published October 2, 2014