Harry Jaffe: As the fallout from the shooting of 14-year-old DeOnté Rawlings continues, it’s now Mayor Adrian Fenty taking some of the heat. According to Jaffe, Fenty’s decision to pay for Rawlings’ funeral and invite his sisters to speak at a press conference has soured some police officers on the young mayor, who saw the moves as an indication of where Fenty’s allegiances were. “How can Fenty rebuild trust with the police?” asks Jaffe. “’Let…

Jonetta Rose Barras: In a powerfully introspective column, Rose Barras details a recent trip to her destroyed family home in New Orleans. In recounting her visit to the site, Rose Barras writes of the struggles endured by her mother and sister in trying to return and rebuild, drawing comparisons to the District’s own troubles. “Truth told, New Orleans looks and feels like Ward 8 circa 1985: few quality retail outlets, high crime, high unemployment, poor…

Tom Knott: Once again, Tom Knott has managed to take what seems to be an isolated incident and turn it into evidence that liberalism of any sort is just evil. This week, Knott recounts the badly-handled trial of a Liberian immigrant accused of raping a seven-year-old girl in Montgomery County. Due to some bad decision by the trial judge, the charges were eventually dropped, though the county has stated that it will appeal. Regardless, it’s…

Jonetta Rose Barras: “The District government is spending millions to send children to a controversial special education residential facility in Massachusetts that uses electric shock to discipline students.” Wow. Talk about an opening sentence. Rose Barras dedicated her column this week to the 10 District students who have been sent to the facility — the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center in Canton, Ma. — arguing that its unorthodox methods of treatment are reason enough to bring…

Written by DCist contributor Sara Mead The District of Columbia’s Public Schools open today for the 2007-08 school year, the first for DCPS under control of Mayor Adrian Fenty and the leadership of Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Questions that have become an annual start of school ritual in D.C.—Will students have textbooks? Will there be enough teachers? Will the bathrooms work?—take on added weight this year, because their answers offer the first tangible results by…

We read all the local columnists, so you don’t have to. This week we find meat-eaters being compared to Michael Vick, a lot of bum opinions on city schools and District residents being called “granola.” Courtland Milloy: According to Milloy’s Wednesday column in the Post, your choice to eat a hamburger isn’t all that different than Michael Vick’s decision to brutally fight, torture and kill dogs for money. “We’ll kill a duck, deer, turkey –…

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Over the past few weeks, events have conspired to place race squarely at the center of the debate over public education in the District of Columbia. After appointing Michelle Rhee the first ever Chancellor of District Schools, Mayor Fenty found himself faced with a barrage of criticism and innuendo from the Washington Post drawing attention to the fact that she was not…

Last night the five mayoral candidates — Adrian Fenty, Marie Johns, Vincent Orange, Linda Cropp, and Michael Brown — squared off in the first debate of the 2005-2006 campaign season. Facing an audience of 700 at the University of the District of Columbia, the candidates debated education, school modernization, economic development, affordable housing, crime, and yes, the stadium. Moderated by the Post’s Colbert King, the candidates gave brief opening questions, faced withering questions from…

We’re finally within 365 days of when District residents head to the polls to choose their next mayor, and what better way to celebrate than an old-fashioned debate? Yes, tonight marks the official beginning of the 2006 campaign season, and all five officially-announced mayoral candidates will be taking each other on in what promises to be a battle royale over school modernization, taxes, development, crime, and affordable housing. Ok, it may not be that exciting….

It was exactly one year ago today that the long-awaited news came through — baseball was coming back to the District. Amidst festive supporters singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams rose to a podium at the now gone City Museum, a red Nationals hat perched upon his head. This was his moment, his legacy, and he was ready to savor it. One year later, the Washington Nationals are games…