Last week, I wrote about the DC Court of Appeals' ruling that tossed out the approval of the latest Pepco rate hikes.
On Friday, a motion was filed to the DC Public Service Commission's (PSC) to restore rates to what they were before this rate hike, & issue a refund to customers.
As I was being handcuffed, I asked the Spanish-speaking ICE officer what crime I had committed that led to my arrest, and he responded that I am a criminal because I am in the country illegally. I responded that if I am deported to Mexico, I will invite the officer to my home to eat carne asada. One of the other officers who did not speak Spanish said in English, “Oh, you want to make me into carne asada?” Because I understand some English, I told the officer, no, that is not what I said, and the Spanish-speaking officer did not correct him. I insisted that the English-speaking officer misheard me and was incorrectly stating what I had said.
Here's one of the more ridiculous ICE incidents I've run across:
A Mexican man was arrested by agents while waiting at a NE bus stop. He told them he'd serve them carne asada if he was deported there and they visited...but they claim he threatened to *turn them* into carne asada
Also follow fellow local journalists like @alexkoma.bsky.social with WAMU and @samdelgado.bsky.social with 51st who also so great reporting on the utility fighting going on in DC between Pepco as well as Washington Gas.
bsky.app/profile/alex...
Big thanks to everyone who took the time out of their day to explain the details of this case this year, and to @spotlightdc.bsky.social for funding that work for this article and the longer investigation from this summer 👇
Support local media!
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7686...
Last summer, I wrote about how DC utility watchdogs were suing the District over approving a $190 million Pepco rate hike.
This week, courts agreed with watchdogs and vacated the rate hike approval. Read all the details @wcp.bsky.social
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7808...
"The AG’s case confirms much of City Paper’s previous reporting, including accounts from tenants in multiple Razjooyan-managed buildings who endured months without heat, repeated flooding, inhumane conditions, and threats of eviction."
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7794...
The 51st has produced so much valuable reporting in just a single year, with only one full-time reporter. Can you imagine what a second year could look like if this newsroom had triple the reporting capacity?
The good news is that we don't have to imagine — we can make it happen. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
6/ The Post has lost over 375,000 subscribers in just over a year. If 10% of those readers subscribed to The 51st instead, we could hire 10 reporters and five editors, dramatically scaling our coverage of the city at this critical time. 51st.news/signup
All That’s Left of You is a moving multi-generational saga about a Palestinian family under Israeli occupation.
Writer-director Cherien Dabis nearly gets into sanctimonious territory, writes critic Alan Zilberman, but “relents by finally following the nature of her characters.”
buff.ly/BefBi4S
The more info we get about this raid, the worse it becomes. ICE had NO valid warrant (administrative warrants do not authorize forceful entry into a home), the guy's sole prior conviction was a since-dismissed drug charge from 2008, AND he had checked in with ICE just days earlier.
According to @rcfp.org, 24 donors gave a total of $1,094.95 in honor of my reporting and lawsuit against MPD!
Let’s keep it going! www.rcfp.org/donate/
“The team also found that displacement increased a homeless person’s likelihood of dying prematurely… as much as a 25% increase over 10 years.”
“We know more housing is what’s going to solve this problem,” Radu said. “That is the root-cause intervention.”
This year, our newsroom showed up when it counted. We broke stories, uplifted local voices, and held power to account.
Every dollar brings us closer to our $36,260 goal. Give today:
We’re excited to announce the latest SpotlightDC-funded project: Dream City, a new independent podcast that will explore the inner workings of D.C.’s political and business worlds.
🚨ALERTA: Gran presencia de agentes federales/ICE y de la policía local (MPD) entra la cuadra 1800 de Columbia Rd en Adams Morgan. Según informes, los agentes están deteniendo a personas, entrando en edificios y confiscando patinetes. Recomendamos evitar esta zona. 1/
So excited to drop @wcp.bsky.social's 2025 People Issue. These Washingtonians represent the best of D.C. and I was so honored to interview graffiti artist Luis Del Valle, King Molasses, & author Carolivia Herron.
Photos by @darrow-m.bsky.social
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7737...
I've received some medical news that is not good and need some time to tackle it. So apologies if I owe you an email, I will get back to you asap
Sean Charles Dunn’s moment of culinary resistance — he wouldn't be subservient, one could say — has become a symbol of D.C.’s refusal to accept the federal occupation quietly.
Earlier today, D.C.'s own "sandwich guy" was found not guilty of the charges against him.
News: Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George has started telling people she’s running for mayor, per several sources, confirming months of speculation about her political future.
She’d be the first major candidate to declare for 2026. Now the question: what will Bowser do?
100%
Adding insult to injury, Cigna's AI phone answering service refuses to transfer me to the company's grievance department to file a complaint about the lack of human oversight over its AI claims document scanning software.
A computer can never be held accountable.
No human reviewed my claim denial, which is alarming considering the well-documented rates of AI hallucination in medical applications.
Exact rates depend on the model and the application, but many are in the double digits. A human found mine in <5 min.
www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...
There is no customer review phone number or portal I can find to lodge a complaint about hallucinations or other AI issues at Cigna. A customer service rep told me "it's all internal."
A computer can never be accountable.
Medical billing errors are not a new phenomenon, but it is wildly irresponsible of our health care companies & insurance providers to rely on software knwon to actively introduce errors.
Thanks to this, I now have to pay interest to CareCredit while I wait for Cigna to review the claim adjustment.
TIL that the AI software my health insurance company (Cigna) uses to scan the documents hallucinated a medical code ahout eye glasses into my claim for my custom finger braces. This AI hallucination caused Cigna to deny my request they reimburse the $1,196 I spent & that's covered per my policy.
White shepherd service dog sits in front of a giant jack-o-lantern
Everyone please wish a v happy 4th bday to my favorite spooky ghost 👻
several people have emailed us to say that the sudden shut down of a giant book distributor is making public libraries scramble for books www.404media.co/libraries-sc...
"Our residents are afraid and they are angry. They want the executive to be forthcoming about current policies," says @brianneknadeau.bsky.social opening a hearing on human rights violations during the federal takeover of D.C. and the local government's cooperation with federal agents.
If benefits aren't restored, 141,000 DC residents won't be able to put food on their tables to feed their families. There is no scenario where this ends well, and the federal government has the tools to avoid such a clear and cruel outcome.
Four weeks into the federal shutdown, rent is about to be due and next month’s SNAP benefits are at risk.
We previously made this list of ways to give and receive help locally — but need your help: Where else can our neighbors find food?
Share any meal or grocery distributions you know of ⬇️
