RECIPIENT OF THE DC BLACK MBA ASSOCIATION 2023 LEGACY AWARD
Serving Our Community in the DMV
Vol 60 No 9
Nikki Giovanni Page 4
December 12 - 18, 2024
A Vindicated Mayor Bowser Celebrates Downward Crime Trends
SOUTHEAST SANTA
Amid D.C. Jail Deaths, Still Some Concern about Pre-Trial Detention By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
5D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (left) and Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela A. Smith (right) tout a whole-of-government approach as paramount in addressing public safety concerns. Smith reiterated that point during the Dec. 9 public safety briefing, acknowledging D.C. Council legislation that paved the way for District agencies to collaborate on crime reduction. (WI File Photo/Ja’Mon Jackson)
With the new year just weeks away, the Bowser administration continues to celebrate a significant reduction in violent crime to pre-pandemic levels. As of Dec. 9, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has recorded a 35% year-to-date reduction in violent crime, and a similar downward trend of 11% for property crime, 39% for robberies, 40% for carjackings, 29% for assault with dangerous weapons, and 26% for sex abuse.
In a Historic Dialogue, Black State Legislators Talk About Politics and Leadership
5MSNBC Host Symone Sanders-Townsend moderating the opening plenary at the 48th Annual National Black Conference of State Legislators on Dec. 4, featuring panelists Bobby Joe Champion, president of the Minnesota Senate; Don L. Scott Jr. the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates; Joanna McClinton, speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Adrienne A. Jones, speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates and Chris Welch, speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
5 Southeast Santa Stuart Anderson greets Christmas Tree purchaser Aisha Swann with her son at the Sandlot in Southeast on Nov. 30. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
Months after Eagle By James Wright Academy’s Closure, D.C. WI Staff Writer Council Explores Charter Maryland Del. Karen Toles (D) has been the witness of African American history since joining Accountability her state’s General Assembly in 2022, representing CRIME Page 40
District 25 in Prince George’s County. She is serving under the Maryland’s first Black governor, Wes Moore, and lights up when her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sister, Vice President Kamala Harris, is mentioned as the first African American female to get a major party nomination for president. However, Toles was smiling quietly and proudly on Dec. 4 at the National Black Caucus of State Legislators 48 th Annual Legislative Conference at the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Northwest during the opening plenary when her colleague, Maryland Del. Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), participated in a discussion with seven Black state legislative leaders. Jones was elected as speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates in 2019 becoming the first Black and first female to serve in that position.
BLACK LEADERS Page 40
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
Five months later, Sharnetta Boone-Ruffin says her daughter continues to ask about her old school --- the shuttered Eagle Academy Public Charter School (PCS). “[She’s] still asking for their teachers. Still asking for their principals,” Boone-Ruffin recently told members of a D.C. Council committee. “Still asking for their staff members and their loving, nurturing environment that they loved and [where] they created these core moments together.” Boone-Ruffin, an Eagle Academy PCS parent and former board member, recently testified before the council's Committee of the Whole about the months leading up to the public charter school’s abrupt closure. On Aug. 20, Eagle Academy PCS’ board voted to
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