PARTY! Come celebrate 15 years of The Hill is Home Thursday, May 16, 6-9 p.m., at Eastern Market’s North Hall! Get your tickets here!
Read a retrospective on our 15 years that Robert wrote here.
And learn a little more about how THIH got started from me on WAMU here.
Could the people vying to recall Ward 6 councilmember Charles Allen be breaking the law? Washington City Paper examines the recent claims from Neighbors United for Ward 6. The main complaint focuses on the recall campaign and their newer coalition being deliberately murky in reporting the financial information of their donors. Benign and fixable mistake or ethically murky?
More teens arrested as a result of the CVS hold-up on April 16. We’re up to nine. Hoodline
What’s been snarling traffic all week? It’s the bluest week of all: Police Week. NBC-KGET
Check out the calendar here to see which event has paralyzed your day.
The employees at both Wydown locations had been actively trying to unionize. On May 7, the union announced, via ex-Twitter, “After three long weeks, we have an election date! We will be voting by mail-in ballot, and the votes will be counted June 10th. Thanks again to all of you for supporting our cause!” However, yesterday, the Wydown owners abuptly announced they would be closing their doors effective today, via email:
The email, sent by co-owner Alex McCracken yesterday, May 14, at 7:58 p.m., and shared by the account Wydown United on Ex-Twitter and Instagram, announced that the shops had had their last day yesterday and everyone was let go effective immediately. You can also read a client-directed version of this letter on the Wydown’s website. Workers at both cafes are currently protesting outside the store.
Yesterday morning, there was a protest at 15th and East Capitol Streets. We are told this was near the home of a Department of State official, but we will not be sharing their name at this time. You can see a photo of the protest on our Instagram here.
Another reader shared a photo of the Watkins Rec fence, which was knocked down overnight. The fence was recently fixed and seems to be a regular target for vandalism. You can see it on our ex-Twitter here. DGS replied shortly after we posted, saying “We expect better work and repairs than this. We have immediately flagged this concern to our Facilities management team to investigate further and address it. Thank you for reaching out!”
The field is very crowded when it comes to replacing Vince Gray, whom, due to health concerns, will not be seeking re-election for Ward 7 councilmember. Hill Rag
Recently, Greater Greater Washington endorsed Eboni-Rose Thompson, whom we have seen as a very able State Board of Education representative for Ward 7. It is peculiar that they chose to endorse a candidate who, out of the field of ten, seems least aligned with transportation–– one of GGW’s chief concerns for the District. Formerly-leftist but now just kind of winging-it man Matt Yglesias said what I just said, but nastily:
The bottom line is this: Ward 7 needs a candidate who is willing and able not just to fight for their Ward, represent them to the best of their abilities and involve them in the fabric of governance, but also someone who is savvy enough to involve long-time residents and transplants, as well as to foster a strong culture of community outreach so that all their constituents feel like they have a champion on their side at the dais.