Vol 61 No 6
Black Youth, Environmentalists, Entrepreneurs Express Support for ‘Bottle Bill’
Serving Our Community in the DMV
November 20 - 26, 2025
Capture the Moment Page 37
Residents Weigh-In on What D.C. Will Look Like in 2050
By James Wright WI Staff Writer
Amid Some Restaurant, Mayoral Pushback, Nadeau Critical of Bottle Distributors
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer Legislation known as the “bottle bill” recently inched a bit closer to passage when it came out of one D.C. Council committee and into another. Now, it remains to be seen when the latter committee will conduct another hearing for the polarizing legislation. In the meantime, Ward 8 resident and environmentalist Vondre Walston counts among those spreading the word about the bill he said will not only clean the streets he cares about, but put a few dollars in the pockets of those who need it the most. “I got a lot of people that are residents that live in my neighborhood who've seen and heard and saw me pushing for this. They’ve been collecting since last year,” said Walston, an outreach coordinator for Ward 5 A student participates in an Earth Day cleanup in 2021, having collected several
BOTTLE BILL Page 22 bottles along the Anacostia River. (WI File Photo/Anthony Tilghman)
Through a series of meetings and presentations by Bowser administration officials, the District is seeking residents’ viewpoints on what the city will look like in 25 years. At the Nov. 15 meeting held at the DC Office of Planning headquarters in Northeast, D.C., District resident Kathleen Richardson peppered staffers with questions, such as how changes benefit the community and whether seniors will have to leave their homes for change to take place. “I came all the way from Ward 8 to attend this because I am curious,” Richardson, 75, told The Informer. “I won’t be around to see 2050 but I want to make sure that my community stays intact as much as possible.”
DC IN 2050 Page 14
Go-Go Appreciation Week: An Organizing Tool for Two Groups Under Siege
4 Pedestrian fatalities account for more than 30% of total traffic deaths in the metropolitan area, with some residents citing speed cameras, dim lighting, and disproportionate traffic enforcement. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Racial Disparities Persist in D.C. Traffic Incidents
Advocates Push for Stronger Insurance Protections for Motorists By Jada Ingleton, Skylar Nelson & Richard Elliott WI Content Editor and WI Contributing Writers As District pedestrians and drivers face a record increase in crash injury and insurance rates, Howard University senior Evan Barker is among
those supporting the D.C. Council’s pending Motor Vehicle Insurance Modernization Act, a bill introduced that would effectively double the current coverage amount set in 1986. “Here in D.C., you're really lucky if [the driver] stops, you're extremely lucky if they have insurance, and then after that, you're
TRAFFIC Page 8
Advocates Say Go-Go Unites Black and Brown Communities By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer Go-Go Appreciation Week takes place at a time when District residents are demanding an end to local-federal law enforcement cooperation that has exacerbated the harassment, detainment, and assault of Black and Latino people. However, as Ivan Navas explained, what Black and Latino Washingtonians share goes well beyond state-sanctioned violence. He said that special con5 Ron Moten speaks at the Go-Go Museum and nection can be found in go-go, the local musical Cafe, which he co-founded, on Nov. 17 as part of genre he came to love and appreciate under the Go-Go Appreciation Week. (Ja’Mon Jackson/The direction of Jose Lopez, an Afro-Puerto Rican muWashington Informer)
Celebrating 61 years. Your credible and trusted source for Black news and information.
GO-GO Page 11