BIG PEPCO NEWS: If you're angry about high electricity bills, the D.C. Court of Appeals just tossed out the Public Service Commission's last two-year rate increase (for years 2024-2026) for Pepco on procedural grounds.
BUT: I'm told no immediate bill changes for D.C. customers.
The Mayor needs to level with us about MPD collaboration with ICE – and rescind the orders that continue to allow it.
brianneknadeau.com/report-resci...
📬 This week's newsletter is here:
🔌 What can you do about your expensive Pepco bill?
🏛️ One year later, 7 fired federal workers share where they are
👀 A new bill would require more transparency on federal agents in D.C.
Get the next edition in your inbox: www.51st.news/signup
Screenshots from The 51st story: https://51st.news/dc-pepco-bills-increase-this-winter/
Yes, your utility bills are higher.
No, it's not just because it's been cold.
Great reporting by @51st.news: 51st.news/dc-pepco-bills-increase-this-winter
Update: The ACLU of D.C. and other groups say ICE is defying a December order from a federal judge requiring immigration agents in D.C. to get a warrant or have probable cause that a person is a flight risk before making an arrest. They want the judge to enforce the order.
🚨 Deadloch 🚨 S2 🚨 Trailer! 🐊
Congratulations!! I can’t wait to read it!
Today is pub day for The Price of Mercy.
A book into which I have poured 2 years of my life and my best knowledge is starting to arrive at people's doorsteps and show up in bookstores today.
It couldn't be coming at a better moment in my opinion. But let me take 2 seconds to tell you why.
The 51st is a worker-led nonprofit newsroom — so our team is deeply involved in both the day-to-day and major decisions involved in running the organization.
See if you can spot us in this @innovationrji.bsky.social research 👀
BREAKING: We are filing an unprecedented civil RICO lawsuit to dismantle a fraudulent slumlord empire in DC.
The Razjooyans spun a web of brazen fraud and severe housing neglect that exploits tenants, lenders, and the District — and worsens DC's housing crisis.
We will shut it down.
NEWS: @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social is suing notorious D.C. slumlord Sam Razjooyan and two family members under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law used to dismantle the mob. He says they ran a "sprawling illegal enterprise" that mostly impacted low-income residents.
The bill in the Senate this week that will attempt to interfere in DC's tax code is chaotic, bad, and should get voted down — but don't take our word for it.
Here's a running thread of the people and organizations who want Senators to VOTE NO on S.J. Res102: 🧵
Brandi Carlile's accompaniment for "America the Beautiful" before the game last night was SistaStrings. The duo, Chauntee and Monique Ross, played another American anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," on the Library's Stradivarius instruments in 2024.
Here's a clip of that impromptu performance. ⬇️
Ring trying to compete with Flock launching a nationwide surveillance system via doorbell cameras under the guise of looking for a missing dog.
*whispers* this isn’t about dogs
Rock me, I’m a dais
[On yesterday’s date in 1998, Austrian 1980s-era hitmaker Falco died.]
Refresh your earworm memory: bit.ly/2UrwLdc
Planned changes to D.C.'s Temporary Cash Assistance for Needy Families will impact 15,000 children, pushing them deeper into poverty.
@childrenslawcenter.org CEO Judith Sandalow and United Planning Organization CEO Andrea Thomas explain in this opinion piece:
📬 This week's newsletter:
✊ Solidarity with Washington Post journalists
🗳️ How candidates say they'd have handled the snowstorm
🥊 The D.C. Council lawyers up against Mayor Bowser
📆 What to do during Black History Month
Get the next edition in your inbox: www.51st.news/signup
Do you think DC needs journalists covering local DC news? Subscribe to @51st.news!
If you live in the DC area, you should definitely do this
As the @51st.news's first full-time reporter, I don't actually disagree with this. We're building something new one brick at a time, but at this point it's simply not a one-for-one replacement for what's being lost at the Post. (Please read and support us, though!)
We’re working on it! But growing the newsroom our city deserves takes time, and way more resources than we currently have. BUT every member helps get us closer to building a newsroom Bezos can’t destroy: 51st.news/signup
We fought hard to deliver a locally funded Child Tax Credit for families struggling with the cost of living in DC.
Now, House Republicans have passed a measure that pulls that support and undermines our tax code. DC families deserve better, and we won't stop fighting to keep money in their pockets.
ICE tear gassed a bunch of children on Saturday. This was a massive escalation of force. They were shooting tear gas at the back of the crowd, it took these unmasked people maybe 3-5 minutes in the cloud of tear gas to escape in without trampling. www.theverge.com/policy/87278...
Weekend protests in Portland against federal immigration actions were again met with thick clouds of tear gas outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. Here's what to know about how the city is reacting to tear gas, ICE’s use of force and other factors tied to the facility.
DC neighbors - you helped @51st.news hire our first full-time reporter last year. He's covered local DC for more than a decade. Want to ask him anything?
Last year, congressional republicans barred DC from utilizing nearly $1 billion of its own revenue and attempting to block another.
Congress should respect D.C.’s decision-making and allow our self-governing!
www.cbpp.org/blog/congres...
I was not far from the ICE building when they started launching gas at the crowd from atop the building, and I did not hear any warning over the building loud speakers. I heard someone in the crowd say “they’re coming out” right before flash bangs hit the pavement.
www.opb.org/article/2026...
I am reminded that I meant to share this the other day www.forbes.com/sites/thomas...
I just got tear gassed along with thousands of union members, many of whom had their families with them. Federal agents at the ICE facility tear gassed children. We must abolish ICE, DHS, and we must have prosecutions. I expect to see enforcement of our city code prohibiting the use of tear gas.
Just got gassed pretty good at the labor union anti-ICE protest in Portland. Massive march, 5-10k strong. Vibes were very much liberal rather than radical. Lots of kids and older folks.
They gassed the whole crowd as soon as it marched on ICE, in broad daylight.
