Jon Steingart

Represented by Josh Lopez? 😂

This should be embarrassing. A totem to DC’s inadequate storm response.

Correction: all of the stories are published by local newsrooms. Not just the politics stories.

The Needle: Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post Laid Off More Than 300 Journalists, With Significant Cuts Hitting the Metro Section The Needle jumps 111 points for all the essential reporting local journalists recently published.

Today in @wcp.bsky.social’s daily newsletter, all of the politics stories (except those about the Post layoffs) are published by local newsrooms (that’s unusual, usually some are national).

Each of them raises the Needle (an index of DC quality of life) by an unusually large 50 points.

Watergate began as a Metro story

I’m so sorry to see you dropped so rudely. Your coverage was essential reading and I will miss it.

‘It’s an absolute bloodbath’: Washington Post lays off hundreds of workers Former Post executive editor blasts owner Jeff Bezos’s ‘sickening efforts to curry favor’ with Trump

Democracy dies in a billionaire’s profit and loss statement.

“I’m not selling the car. I’m keeping the chassis but replacing the engine, transmission, wheels, body panels, and interior.”

Graphic showing my riding: Capital Bikeshare 2025 on Two Wheels The Messenger Fast, focused, always findings shortcuts. You kind of own this city. Rides: 959 Stations visited: 107 Streak: 53 days Favorite ride: Ebike

I got my 2025 unwrapped from @bikeshare.bsky.social. Did not realize my streak was so long!

One note: I reduced my ebike use when the price increased in August. #bikeDC

I’ve thought it evokes National Baptist Memorial Church at 16th and Columbia

The corner of Columbia Rd, 17th St, and Fuller St. Two vehicles are stuck side by side.

A block away, a two-way street has just one lane, causing both vehicles to get stuck and rendering the street impassable for everyone.

There is an elementary school on this block! (Behind where I stood.) I took this photo at arrival time. This is what DCPS is welcoming students back to.

An impassable protected bike lane next to a clear automobile lane

This is what @ddotdc.bsky.social considers a cleared protected bike lane. It’s blocked by snow where I stood, and halfway down the block, it’s full of snow.

There is no bike lane on this street right now.

(Columbia Rd NW b/w 16th and 17th Sts.)

The contrast between downtown and residential areas is jaw dropping. I helped someone carry a stroller over an impassable sidewalk on Mt. Pleasant Street.

What’s happening at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an absolute disgrace and subversion of civil rights laws.

Its Trump-appointed chair is openly hostile to LGBT people and threw out the agency’s guidance on sexual harassment just so queers could be humiliated at work.

I saw a bike lane plow yesterday in the 15th St PBL, between K and L. No idea what the PBL looks like now.

Digging out from the winter storm would be a great task for the DC National Guard. Too bad they are busy walking around U Street.

The walkways inside Franklin Square are shoveled but the sidewalks of its perimeter have barely been touched.

Be downtown, and fall on your ass.

Spotted a crew clearing a @bikeshare.bsky.social station 👀

Agree with Trindade Deramo, Raj, and Brown in the top three. Not sure how to rank them though. Ditto for needing to hear more.

Apologies to @miguelward1.bsky.social for misspelling your name repeatedly

He mentioned his 311 calls many times 😂

I walked to and from my destination in the street because it had been taken care of better than the sidewalks.

Extra special 🤨 to the buildings where someone shoveled out the driveway but didn’t touch the sidewalk.

That's a wrap for me. Thanks to the candidates for participating and to @dcbikewalkbuspac.bsky.social for hosting.

These were candidates in the Democratic primary for the Ward 1 seat on the DC Council. Election day is June 16, with early voting before then.

Vote for safer streets.

2. Would you prioritize sidewalk repairs in your first year to prioritize safety over driver convenience?

3. Automatic traffic enforcement?

Oh, there was a rapid-fire segment of three questions. All candidates said yes in response to all three.

1. Will you commit to working with the community on an annual bike ride to discuss the state of the bike network in Ward 1?

Some wrap-up notes:

@dcbikewalkbuspac.bsky.social will host a candidate forum for the at large council and mayoral races on March 1, 2-4 pm at the Josephine Butler Parks Center.

It'll have a straw poll at the Shaw library on March 15.

Trinidade Deramo: My focus is going to be on delivering bus infrastructure upgraes that are stuck in the pipeline, waiting for funding. Cites 14th and U Sts as examples where attention is desperately needed.

Note: I did not live-skeet opening/closing statements because those are always contrived.

Brown: Get the Kenyon St bike lanes done, through 16th St and onward.

Raj: My no. 1 priority is our bus shelters. I will fight to raise the cap on the number of shelters. Seating, shade, accessibility -- all needed to make it easier for people to use them.

Closing statements! What will be your big transportation commitment that you do in your first four years?

Reyes: Everyone in Ward 1 that decided to walk, bus, bike, or drive -streets are wide enough- walkable and livable.

Lynch: Dangerous driver off the streets. I'm heartbroken by traffic deaths.

Reyes: We need to update the rent control and build more affordable housing. I will fight to get the Circulator back.

Lynch: I wrote the code and argued the zoning commission case in the 90s requiring housing downtown. We'll bring the same vitality to Ward 1. Pledges at least 5,000 more units.