District Digest

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All rides on the DC Circulator will be free until the end of February. Photo courtesy: DCCirculator.com

Free DC Circulator rides through February

All rides on the DC Circulator will be free until February 28, 2019 as part of the Mayor’s Fair Shot February initiative. “We’re kicking off Fair Shot February by making it easier for Washingtonians to get where they need to go and connect to opportunities across DC,”  said Mayor Bowser. “A free Circulator is one way we can use our resources to break down barriers to opportunity…”

The DC Circulator system operates six distinct routes across Washington, DC, and into Rosslyn, VA, and provides close to five million trips a year, offering public transportation to many of the District’s main attractions and connecting residents and visitors to business, culture, and entertainment corridors. Visit DC Circulator’s interactive map to find the nearest Circulator stop to any destination in DC.

D.C. matters to be heard in full House committee

“There are no longer appropriations subcommittees or appropriations bills devoted exclusively to the District,” boasted Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton this week. 

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform has removed the District from jurisdiction of any of the Committee’s subcommittees and plans to hear D.C. matters in the full Committee.  In the last Congress, D.C. was under the jurisdiction of the Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee.

“By placing the District in the full Committee, Chairman Cummings… has signaled that this Committee will allow the District to operate without Congressional interference until we achieve statehood,” Norton said in a release.

New appointments in Mayor Bowser’s administration

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a series of appointments in her Administration:

  • Lindsey Parker, former deputy chief of staff to the Mayor, is now the acting Chief Technology Officer.
  • Andrew Trueblood, former chief of staff to the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development, is now the acting Director of Planning.
  • Dr. Lewis Ferebee, former superintendent of schools in Indianapolis, is now the acting Chancellor of DC Public schools.
  • Kimberly A. Basset, former Director of the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Policy and Initiatives, is now the Secretary of the District of Columbia. 

My School DC lottery application period now open

The My School DC (www.myschooldc.org) lottery application for school year 2019-2020 is now open. The application deadlines are February 1, 2019 for grades 9-12 and March 1, 2019 for grades PK3-8.  My School DC is the city’s common application and public school lottery for DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the majority of public charter schools (grades PK3-12).

Families must use the My School DC lottery application to apply to DCPS PK3 / PK4 programs (including programs at in-boundary DCPS schools); DCPS citywide and out-of-boundary schools (PK3-12); DCPS selective high schools (9-12); and all participating public charter schools (PK3-12). For questions or help with your application, call the My School DC hotline at (202) 888-6336, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or email [email protected]

Georgetown ‘Exorcist’ steps designated as historic landmark

At its meeting on Jan. 24, the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) voted to designate the steps in Georgetown, famously depicted as the scene of Father Damien Karras’ death in the original 1973 horror film, The Exorcist, as the city’s first local landmark of 2019.   The site also includes the Georgetown Car Barn, so named because the building once stored streetcars for the Capital Traction Company, a former transit provider.