Interesting: For all the hate D.C.'s traffic cameras get, there seems to be some evidence drivers are responding by not speeding, running red lights and so on. Below is data on traffic camera tickets from 12/2024 to 12/2025. There was a pretty steady decline for most of 2025.

SOME RCV NEWS: The D.C. Board of Elections has issued emergency rules spelling out how ranked-choice voting will work when it's first used for the June 16 election. There's details on what happens if there's an overvote, an undervote, if a voter skips a ranking, and more.

NEWS: Former At-Large D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who lost her re-election bid in 2022, says she'll run in the June 16 special election to finish out Kenyan McDuffie's term. (Recall it was McDuffie who beat her in 2022.) elissafordc.substack.com/p/i-have-som...

For libraries, e-books are dramatically more expensive than print copies. But readers want more digital access — creating a fiscal challenge in systems like D.C.'s. The Council is considering: Could D.C. team up with a bloc of states to negotiate a better deal? @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:

The fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minnesota intensified criticism of President Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown, nationwide and locally. But D.C. officials still won’t say exactly when and how local police have worked with federal agents — including ICE, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports.

If they're going classical, might as well stick with the OG design

I'm not sure what sends more shivers down my spine: Windy weather like what we've got today, or that email from your kid's third-grade teacher to all the parents that has "lice" as one of the headers.

NEWS: The Washington Commanders have released initial renderings of their new stadium at RFK. And it looks like they've included columns along the exterior, likely in response to President Trump's desire for a classical look on the stadium.

Solid turnout and energy at @janeese4dc.bsky.social’s official mayoral campaign launch at the Howard Theatre tonight.

Interesting: The proposed @dcaffordability.bsky.social ballot initiative that would freeze rents in D.C. for two years and change income targets for affordable housing programs is facing potentially significant legal hurdles to getting on the ballot for this year (or ever).

NEWS: MPD tells me it has completed its investigation into the two shootings last year (in October and November) where federal agents fired their guns at drivers they said were threatening them with their cars. Any decision on possible charges is left to U.S. Attorney for D.C.

So 56,000 Greenlanders who may not even want to be part of the U.S. would get statehood, but 700,000 D.C. residents who are already Americans but don’t enjoy the same democratic rights as all others won’t get it?

I don’t have any real thoughts about the makeover of CBS News, but this part of the @nytimes.com story on it really struck me as an unflattering insight into the people leading the charge. And if I worked for either CBS or The Free Press, I’d be angry about this. It’s a terrible look.

It's looking like the D.C. Council will vote next Tuesday to appoint an interim at-large councilmember in the seat once occupied by Kenyan McDuffie. I'm hearing that a list of 41 contenders has been whittled down to three to five finalists.

In D.C. mayoral race news, @janeese4dc.bsky.social has officially qualified for public financing and got her first payouts: $80,000 in a base payment and $898,038 in matching public funds for the contributions she received from D.C. residents. (The match is $5 for every $1 raised.)

Interesting: At the end of December D.C. awarded a $750,000 contract to @genslerdesign.bsky.social to create a Master Plan for the RFK stadium campus, where the new Commanders stadium and related retail and residential development will be. An initial public draft should come in August.

D.C. has awarded Torti Gallas a $259,000 contract to conduct a land use and market study on H Street NE, in part because "recent spikes in vacancy" among businesses and the need for an "updated strategy to support corridor retail and future development."

Interesting detail: The D.C. Board of Elections confirms that election results will be much slower under ranked-choice voting. They "will not be known until all eligible ballots have been received and counted." In D.C., mail ballots can come in up to 10 days after election.

Interesting: D.C. Police Chief Jeffery Carroll is not responding to detailed written questions from the D.C. Council about MPD's cooperation with federal agencies on immigration enforcement. "The council and the public need answers to these questions," says Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto today.

NEWS: The D.C. Board of Elections has published its new website with information on ranked-choice voting and a interactive sample ballot where you get to rank five of your favorite singers. (Aretha, no contest. No Mariah on there? Sad.) Check it out here: vr.dcboe.org/253434754272...

Another proposed ballot initiative in D.C.: This one would push D.C. to use city-owned land to build housing that would then be sold to low-income residents with the goal of keeping monthly payments to $700.

Reporters with @nytimes.com challenged Trump on his recent claims that there's been no homicides in D.C. in recent months, but he pleaded ignorance on homicides that are regularly reported by the press and MPD.

I suppose there's only so many ways to cleverly come up with a bill name that's also an acronym spelling out the intended target of the legislation, in this case rats.

You’ve probably noticed that your electric and gas bills have been getting more and more expensive recently... well, now your water bill might do the same. In our latest D.C. Explained, @maustermuhle.bsky.social breaks down what's going on at D.C. Water. 51st.news/your-dc-wate...

Interesting: Former At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie has officially changed his voter registration to Democratic, a step towards launching his expected D.C. mayoral campaign. A tipster also tells me he was seen recently with a camera crew, likely filming a campaign launch video.

It was big news when Trump took over the Kennedy Center. But for some Black Washingtonians, it's even bigger news that he's taking over D.C.'s public golf courses – including the Langston Golf Course in Northeast, a historic course for Black golfers. In @51st.news: 51st.news/trump-take-o...

Interesting detail: In the 100 weed shops that have been closed, D.C. has seized 710 pounds of cannabis, 6,300 pounds of edibles, 144 pounds of magic mushrooms and mushroom edibles, and 12 guns. All told, 56 people have been arrested.

Asked about her reaction to what happened in Minneapolis yesterday, @mayorbowser.dc.gov says it was "completely avoidable." "You have people unaccustomed to urban policing trying to police in an urban environment. What I saw was completely avoidable and a woman died," she says.

NEWS: In a report detailing an October public hearing on MPD's cooperation with ICE, @brianneknadeau.bsky.social says that @mayorbowser.dc.gov should rescind the mayoral order that allows local police to work with federal agencies and the D.C. Council should strengthen the sanctuary-city law.

D.C. has been aggressively closing down illicit weed shops for more than a year now, so much so that today @mayorbowser.dc.gov is celebrating the 100th such closure.

An additional note on police shooting at cars: Back in the mid-1990s D.C. police shot at people in cars for alleged vehicular attacks 54 times, leading to deaths, lawsuits, and a change in department policy to largely require that officers not shoot at fleeing drivers.

Regarding today’s shooting in Minneapolis, recall that in mid-October a federal agent shot and almost killed D.C. driver Phillip Brown under similar circumstances. The agent claimed Brown was driving towards him as he tried to flee from a police stop.

Fascinating: A mid-December report from @dcpolicycenter.bsky.social shows how the number of births has been dropping in D.C. in recent years, which will have significant impacts for the city's child care, pre-K, and school systems. (Read the report here: www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications...)

Update: Mendelson says he know has a list of 30 people who could fill McDuffie's former seat on an interim basis. (Through the special election in June.) But other councilmembers sound unhappy that he's centralizing the process in his office, and keeping the list to himself.

Interesting: In its annual report, the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability says the D.C. Council's move in early 2025 to allow it to conduct more business behind closed doors is a "notable departure from the prevailing national trajectory of transparency reform."

A hiccup for a vote on the D.C. tipped wage: A legal assessment from @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social says that a proposed ballot initiative that would increase the minimum wage to $25 and phase out the tipped wage (again) can't get on the ballot because it would cover D.C. government employees.

On Interim D.C. Police Chief Jeffrey Carroll, @chmnmendelson.bsky.social says @mayorbowser.dc.gov "needs to make a selection and submit that to the council for approval." Under D.C. law, agency heads can only act in an interim capacity for 6 months without being nominated for council confirmation.

Interesting: @chmnmendelson.bsky.social says that he has gotten interest from 29 individuals who want the interim appointment to fill McDuffie's now-empty seat until the June special election. He says he intends for a council vote on an interim replacement to happen this month.

The D.C. Council is down to 12 members: Kenyan McDuffie's resignation takes effect today. That sets up a somewhat convoluted process to appoint an interim at-large councilmember, who will serve until the special election in June. (Whoever wins that serves through January 2027.)

Why D.C.'s mayor doesn't have an official residence is a very D.C. story that involved fights over the location, local and federal concerns, and more: dcist.com/story/12/04/...

A DC Water policy change this year left renters without access to water at home for weeks due to their landlords' inaction. Four days after we published this story from @maustermuhle.bsky.social, the D.C. Council amended the municipal regulations. Help us make more impact in 2026? 51st.news/signup

Interesting: An administrative judge in D.C. has reversed MPD's firing of an officer who in late 2023 drove his department-issued vehicle while under the influence to try and interfere with D.C. police who had stopped his fiancée for allegedly driving under the influence.

Subscribe to @51st.news, damn it! That’s a direct order from your favorite former DCist editor.

This Petworth home wins the holiday season.

NEWS: The Trump administration has canceled the 50-year lease given to the National Links Trust to manage the D.C. golf courses at East Potomac Park, Rock Creek, and Langston. The group won the leases five years ago, and had started work renovating the Rock Creek course.

Interesting: Here's the solicitation put out by the D.C. Board of Elections earlier this month for a consultant to help implement ranked-choice voting for 2026. "This is a significant undertaking, and a RCV expert can help make this transition to RCV voting smoother," it says.

Per the D.C. CFO, the impact of the federal government layoffs may finally be hitting the city's revenues. He says in a new revenue estimate that sales/withholding tax collections for October were down, potentially reflecting the layoffs taking effect.

What. A. Year. It. Has. Been. Locals have lost jobs because of the slashing of the federal workforce. D.C.'s local laws and budget have been targeted by the GOP. And Trump flooded the streets with federal troops. I can't imagine a more important time for independent media.

There's been another setback for the @dcaffordability.bsky.social ballot initiative that would impose a two-year rent freeze in D.C., among other provisions. A legal assessment from @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social says a provision changing how D.C. spends money on affordable housing is unlawful.