By Alex Baca (Housing Program Organizer) • March 17, 2020
Greater Greater Washington talks about our urban places, how they enhance or detract from our everyday lives, and how that experience differs among groups of people. All of the ways this happens have been upended in recent days, in some ways temporarily (we hope), and some permanently.
By Ron Thompson (Transportation Equity Organizer) • March 17, 2020
Recently, the fight over the 9th Street bikeway, a critical piece in the Eastern Downtown Protected Bike Lane, boiled over into another conversation over race, power, and space in the District of Columbia. The conversation, like previous ones, should leave no one feeling like a winner.
We’re in the middle of Women’s History Month. And, the District has a unique place in the world of women’s cycling as it was here that the “women’s bicycle” was invented and down Pennsylvania Avenue that women first publicly rode a true bicycle. To be clear, the inventor of the drop-frame is somewhat in dispute, but many ascribe it to one of two Washingtonians.
The bill expands access to unemployment insurance and family and medical leave, sets up a grant program for businesses, makes price-gouging illegal, prohibits evictions and utility shut-offs, and makes some administrative changes like allowing for virtual voting in the Council. (Martin Austermuhle / WAMU)
Metro will cut rail system hours to 8am to 11pm every day and will run 15 minute headways on all lines. Metro buses will operate on a Sunday schedule and operators will be allowed to skip stops to avoid overcrowding. Rail ridership is down 70% compared to normal weekdays due to coronavirus precautions. (Justin George / Post)
Governor Lawrence Hogan announced that the state’s primary elections will be moved from April 28th to June 2nd while a coronavirus response is developed. He also said that Maryalnd may consider turning vehicle emission sites into drive-through test centers for the virus once there is sufficient testing capacity in the state. (Caitlynn Peetz and Andrew Schotz / Bethesda Beat)
The state closed schools for two weeks due to coronavirus concerns, and now is asking the US Department of Education to waive requirements for mandatory standardized testing in order to be sure that high schools seniors can still graduate on time. (Perry Stein / Post)
City workers from the Department of Human Services conducted a homeless encampment cleaning on 17th Street near Dupont Circle on Tuesday morning, despite the declared state of emergency. The city has since removed other scheduled encampment sweeps from their calendar through the end of the month. (Amanda Michelle Gomez / City Paper)
Maryland, DC, and Virginia have all temporarily halted eviction proceedings, but advocates say that job losses caused by the coronavirus could make tenants unable to pay back rent, and are calling for payment flexibility, grants, or lease extensions to keep people in their homes. (Ally Schweitzer / WAMU)
The Maryland legislature passed a major education funding proposal in the last few hours before closing the session. The bill would spend $4 billion over the next 10 years to revamp the state’s public schools. (Pamela Wood and Luke Broadwater / Baltimore Sun)
Marc Elrich’s proposed budget would raise Montgomery County property taxes, with revenue mostly going to the county school system, but also to further investment in affordable housing and FLASH buses. All but one member of the County Council opposes the hikes given the economic strain coronavirus has caused in the nation. (Alex Koma / WBJ)
