By Nick Sementelli (Advocacy Committee) • June 10, 2020
On Sunday, May 31st, a driver speeding down North Capitol Street struck another vehicle, then fled the scene on foot. Despite heroic rescue efforts from neighbors who helped suppress the resultant fire and pull the two victims from their car, neither ultimately survived. These deaths continue a tragic trend; since September 2018 there have now been eight fatalities on the corridor.
An organization that calls itself the New England Ratepayer’s Association has recently filed a petition with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to change the way homeowners are compensated for rooftop solar. If passed, the petition will make rooftop solar more expensive across the country.
One of the most complicated (and perhaps uncomfortable) conversations people can have is about death. How will we choose to remember others or have others remember us? As urbanists, we can look at this topic from another lens too: the way we use land for our burial rituals, and how those practices might shift as our population grows and our housing shortage increases.
A recent boost in ridership numbers from protests and reopening efforts across the region has Metro adapting its coronavirus recovery plan to add more capacity on buses and trains. The board is set to review the plan Thursday to see if more significant changes are needed. Some advocates, however, believe Metro’s efforts don’t go far enough to accommodate essential workers and others who need transit. (Justin George / Post)
County Executive Marc Elrich announced that Montgomery County will transition into the second phase of reopening next week. While he did not give many details on the county’s phase 2 plan, Gov Hogan announced that Maryland’s Phase 2 plan would allow indoor dining at restaurants, at 50% capacity. (Bethesda Beat)
A mix of working in public facing “essential” jobs and crowding in homes means the region’s Latinx population is particularly hard hit by Coronavirus (Fatimah Waseem / Reston Now)
In recent years the rate of homelessness among African Americans has increased while it has decreased for other ethnicities. Increasing housing costs, the decrease of social services, and a growing wage gap are noted causes of homelessness, but the unsurprising reason homelessness disproportionally impacts African-Americans is white supremacy. (Alissa Walker / Curbed)
Smithsonian curators are taking the initial steps in collecting artifacts from the recent protests in DC. The curators are building relationships with community members and those ” on the ground” to get a sense of the signs, murals, and other artifacts that they should focus on. (Elliot C. Williams / DCist)
WMATA’s board of directors will vote to allow the agency to buy $6 million in housing tax credits for its soon to be vacated Jackson Graham Building property. Metro and its private partners will sell the tax credits to other developers for housing developments elsewhere. (Alex Koma / Business Journal)
Restaurant operators are claiming that Postmates still charges restaurants a fee between 20% - 33% for each order, despite a 15% commission fee cap on third-party delivery services, signed by Mayor Bowser as part of COVID-19 emergency relief legislation in May. (Laura Hayes / City Paper)
