Since coming into the system six months ago,  the daughter has been raped twice.

The city has moved her daughter 14 times. Three different agencies have handled her  case. After watching the hearing, the daughter's case, where great need collides with greater dysfunction, didn't seem like such an outlier. It seemed just another nightmare case Graham now must deal with.

It became all too clear that Graham has taken over the toughest task of any councilmember: Overseeing the District's Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) and the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS). Speaker after speaker proved it Thursday.

The session ran so long—well past 5 p.m.—that Graham announced from the dais that he had canceled his dinner plans. And why wouldn't he? The hearing had been crammed with shocking statistics and eye-opening testimonials—all enough to make Thursday's other hearing about those Navigators look silly.

Here are some astounding stats City Desk picked up from the hearing:

*10,000 D.C. children do not live with their biological parents.

*CFSA made a more than 30 percent cut to their private service providers. These providers manage group homes and independent-living facilities, as well as provide fostercare services.

*Family court judges have seen an uptick in more serious abuse cases. CFSA has seen an uptick in underage prostitution cases.

*In 2010, there were 6,320 abuse and neglect investigations done by CFSA.

*CFSA oversees 4,054 children—49 percent live in places like group homes and residential treatment facilities.

It may be hell once your in child-welfare, but it may be just as bad aging out. The majority of the teens who testified brought up the shortcomings of the agency's Office of Youth Empowerment (OYE), the entity that is supposed to assist the older wards with securing financial aid for college, finding affordable housing, setting up a plan for when they leave the system at 21.

Every city ward is entitled to financial aid supports for college. One woman testified that she had begun attending a college in Georgia. She didn't last long before being kicked out; the city, she says, had failed to follow through with their financial-aid money.  She dropped out.

A 19-year-old testified that she had expressed a desire to attend a culinary school. Her social worker with OYE insisted that such a choice was too expensive. When she asked for a list of public culinary schools, the social workers admitted that they did not have a list. Instead, the social workers have pressured her to either work as a home-health aid or apply to Bank of America.

The 19-year-old also has a daughter. She testified that she only receives a stipend of $400 per month. All of that money goes to her baby's food and supplies. When she asked for more money, her social worker refused, saying: "Just find a way to make it work."

A teen, who has been in the system since 16, testified to similar financial difficulties. He receives $580 per month from the District. Of those funds, $350 go toward transportation expenses. He testified that the stipend they receive has stayed the same since 2001.

His independent-living apartment unit is equally threadbare. The teen testified that the lock on his apartment's front door is broken. Inside, there are carpet stains and missing door knobs. He also stated that he doesn't have a mailbox. In September, he made a service request. The following month he followed up with a court order to force the service provider to repair his apartment. And still no repairs have been made. "CFSA does not have a system in place to provide support," he testified.

When the teen was finished, Graham stated: "This doesn't sound very good to me."

Other teens suggested that the number of planning sessions with their social worker was not adequate, that the meetings were overwhelming, and at times, LGBTQ youths don't feel supported. Nashwa Elgadi, the Young Women's Project's Program Coordinator for its Foster Care Campaign, testified to a list of issues the kids she works with have faced. One lived in a foster home with 18 housing code violations. It took three months of lobbying to get the teen moved out of the home.

Finally, after 5 p.m., CFSA's Interim Director Roque Gerald began his testimony. While his written testimony went on for at least 15 minutes, when it came time to drill down on specifics, he had few answers—especially concerning the OYE.

There are currently 42 full-time employees at the OYE. But when asked, Gerald, could not tell Graham what percentage their salaries took up in the office's overall budget. Nor could he provide a percentage of CFSA's kids that have gone on to graduate from college.

Gerald insisted that the woman's testimony concerning her experience at the Georgia college was not accurate. But he was not willing to state publicly what about her story was false. "I am willing to provide you information privately," Gerald said. "There is more to it than meets the eye."

Of the roughly 500 kids under OYE, 190 are either in college or "training." The other 300? Gerald couldn't say what they were actually doing. Nor could he give data on the number of former city wards who are homeless, in legal trouble or who are on public assistance. "We are still not in a place to report out on that data," Gerald admitted.

"The District's child abuse and neglect system requires dramatic reform at all stages. On the front end, the government does not adequately prevent abuse and neglect. Nor does CFSA do a good enough job keeping children safely with their birth families. Once CFSA removes children, it does not serve them well in foster care—and they state in foster care too long because CFSA fails to reunify them with their parents or find alternative permanent families."

Even more troubling than Sandalow's assessment is the fact that her assessment has been made nearly every year for the past two decades.  It is by now cliche to refer to the District's Child and Family Services Agency as "troubled" or "horrible" or "under court monitor."

In one of the latest twists in the 20-year-old class-action case against CFSA, a U.S. District Court judge recently ordered the agency to stick to a court-approved plan. The plan pretty much included everything from how the agency must investigate alleged abuses to how they should hold meetings [PDF]. That was just the latest in the drip, drip, drip, drip, drip of bad news concerning CFSA. Recently, Gray's transition team issued its own stinging critique of the agency.

Although CFSA has a court-appointed monitor, much of the agency's business—the family-court hearings, investigations, foster-care placements, etc.—are done in secret. Should District residents allow an agency like CFSA to conduct its business in secret?

California is considering opening up its child-welfare cases to public scrutiny. And one of the biggest backers of the plan is LA County's own child-welfare agency.

The L.A. Times reported this week:

"Children's advocates, judges and government officials told state legislators Tuesday that opening proceedings for dependency court would improve accountability and transparency for a key branch of the legal system that handles cases of child abuse, child neglect and foster care placements.‬

'There is a lot that is not good [in the dependency courts], and that's an understatement,' Michael Nash, presiding judge of the juvenile courts for Los Angeles County, said at an oversight hearing before the Assembly Judiciary Committee in Sacramento. 'Too many families do not get reunified ... too many children and families languish in the system for far too long. Someone might want to know why this is the case.'"

Of course, some California's social workers and public defenders are against the pending legislation citing concerns for minors and the possibility that families would be reluctant to participate if they knew the hearings were open to the public. But what family is excited to be a part of a child-welfare case? And I have yet to meet a minor who didn't want his story told or to be listened too.

The L.A. Times notes that more and more jurisdictions are opening up child-welfare cases to the public:

"The Assembly committee has a bill, AB 73, which proposes to open the dependency courts but allows judges the discretion to close certain hearings. A number of other states have moved to make their dependency courts more accessible to the public.

The proposal is supported by Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services. Deputy Director Maryam Fatemi told the committee Tuesday that increased access would shed light on systemic problems and make the public better aware of issues involved with protecting children.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), who introduced the bill, said that based on the comments at the hearing, he would probably introduce a bill proposing a pilot program for open court proceedings."

"Speaking personally, I'm good to go with more taxes if it will prevent unwarranted pain and suffering, particularly for fellow residents unable to help themselves and their children.

But the idea of more taxes to fund the status quo, which means continuing business as usual, stops me short.

The District government can no longer play the role of compassionate enabler.

Teen pregnancy; irresponsible and absentee fathers; and abusive, neglectful and welfare-dependent parents are not regrettable signs of the times to be accommodated with "services" aimed toward making life more comfortable. Those behaviors, if we are to grow as a community, must be reversed. If not, any talk about the District becoming a world-class city is pure fantasy.

Getting there requires a structural overhaul and refocusing of the governmental agencies to work on what's essential. But government alone can't perform the task of transformation. It requires coordinating efforts of our schools, religious institutions and social services to rescue and prepare this troubled generation. Building stronger families filled with a sense of personal responsibility and accountability should be our goal."

Do we fund a broken system or fix it first? Do we continue to cut programs at the expense of eventually formulating a system-wide transformation? How do we actually fix DYRS and CFSA?

Today we come to you with more proof that Gerald is wrong.

We wrote:

"Unless his number of kids in RTCs has dramatically dropped in the last few months, he's wrong. According to CFSA documents submitted to its long-standing court monitor, the agency had more than 70 children in residential placements as of Aug. 31.

I had asked Gerald and others at CFSA about this discrepancy a few months ago. What I got was a bunch of nonsense. It basically amounted to this bizarre logic: Some residential placements were counted as residential placements for the court monitor and not for their own in-house stats. It was also clear that some facilities that were considered RTCs by our own juvenile-justice system got no such designation by our own child-welfare agency."

New documents obtained by Washington City Paper show that as of September 31, the agency had 70 children placed in residential treatment centers. A month later, it had 67 children in RTCs. So unless the agency really started discharging kids at a faster rate in the last two months of 2010, Gerald is just mistaken. Or worse.

*check out our recent cover story on RTCs.

I found at least one noticeable issue. Early on, Gerald claims: "A reduction of the number of children placed in residential treatment centers, from an all-time high of 148 in 2007 to a historic low of 44 in 2010." Unless his number of kids in RTCs has dramatically dropped in the last few months, he's wrong. According to CFSA documents submitted to its long-standing court monitor, the agency had more than 70 children in residential placements as of Aug. 31.

I had asked Gerald and others at CFSA about this discrepancy a few months ago. What I got was a bunch of nonsense. It basically amounted to this bizarre logic: Some residential placements were counted as residential placements for the court monitor and not for their own in-house stats. It was also clear that some facilities that were considered RTCs by our own juvenile-justice system got no such designation by our own child-welfare agency.

What is clear: CFSA's numbers game is a horrible way to monitor residential placements.

Recently, Gerald was told that he would have to re-apply for his job as agency director. This may or not be a concern for Gerald. I know at least one other agency head who received such a letter from Mayor Vincent Gray. It all could just be standard. Still, it might account for Gerald adopting Gray's rhetoric and alluding to the events in Tuscon to make his case:

"But we know we must push for continued improvement, and Mayor Vincent Gray’s vision of “One City” provides an excellent framework for open discourse and development of lasting solutions that strengthen the local safety net. At the CFSA, we must do our part by deepening our commitment to address these issues, in collaboration with our partners. Constructive discussion that identifies system strengths and seeks solutions to the deeply rooted social ills that place children at risk has never been more necessary than at this critical economic time.

True community development includes investments in infrastructure and human capital. A return to civility in our discourse can help in avoiding complacency and feelings of defeat stemming from the challenges. The child welfare system will benefit most by accepting valid criticism that also acknowledges the social challenges and systemic improvements that form the real-world context for further growth."

What is so startling about this last graph is Gerald's implication that criticisms of his agency haven't been civil. Nor are they valid unless loaded down with "real-world" caveats. Is there another agency head who every time he screws up gets to say "but life is hard?"

Does Gerald actually think Carl Foster, who runs a non-profit and wrote a recent piece critical of CFSA, is not civil? Foster was being incredibly brave when he wrote that piece. Few non-profits ever go on the record for fear of losing funding. His account of trying to get help for one child and one family through the hotline was a harrowing example of social-worker indifference.

Does Gerald actually think Jumiya Crump, the 17-year-old in my story, was being impolite when she pleaded with her social worker to live with her own family?

Actually, if you think about it, when it comes to serious questions concerning child neglect and a city's lackluster response, we should be anything but civil.

Ellington, a Department of Mental Health administrator, suggested the city may in fact be hurting Jumiya. On August 20, 2009, she seemed to sum up Jumiya's dilemma:

"The effort to get her to a residential has placed her at risk in the community and not helped with engaging her in the treatment process. She has decreased her trust in the public system and the belief that we can help meet her needs. We have an opportunity to meet her where she is and truly provide her with a team that will persist in supporting her and her family until things bet better."

Every child-welfare worker might agree on the sentiment. But that doesn't mean they are willing to follow it. A few weeks ago, Ellington resigned from her post at the Department of Mental Health. Now, who does Jumiya have that will get her needs?

You can read the city's first on-the-record response to Jumiya's story here.

This security footage was shot at KidsPeace Mesabi Academy in 2007. I uncovered it as part of my research on the District's costly use of residential treatment centers. The restraints that you see on this video caused the youth's arm to break. Minnesota officials investigated the incident and cleared the orderlies, arguing that the restrain procedures had been followed properly.

But as one former District administrator pointed out to me: The youth is just sitting in a chair when he is seized by the orderlies.

The incident did have consequences. The administrator and another source say that DYRS had placed a moratorium on using Mesabi, which calls itself a juvenile corrections facility. While the city's juvenile justice agency had stopped sending kids, the city's child-welfare agency sent at least one foster child to Mesabi in 2010.

Shane Salter, the Executive Director of D.C.'s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), recalls a case: "One foster parent put a kid out for creasing his jeans. He was a little too prim and proper. It was a conflict around the boy wanting a crease in his jeans—as if that was the end of the world."

Salter remembers another case, a transgender youth who ended up in the D.C. Jail. "He was put out, his father didn't want him. His father beat him at one point. He dressed like a girl."

A D.C. Superior Court Judge recalls a case they had recently involving a younger kid with serious behavioral issues. "[The parents] were distraught that she's dressing like a boy and acting like a boy. They're whole take is very religiously based. I keep trying to focus on the fact that she took a gun to school and threatened a kid with it...The gender identity thing is the last thing you’d focus on."

This judge and another D.C. Superior Court Family Court judge agree that they see a strong percentage of LGTQ kids having issues with placements, and safety. "Absolutely," says a family court judge. "I know it comes up. I know it's come up on my caseload and on other judge's caseloads. I couldn't begin to tell you percentage. It's obviously an issue that needs to be addressed. You've got kids who have been taken from their family of origin and they're already experiencing abandonment issues and rejection issues and we're placing them in another home we are saying is going to be better than where they came from. It's critically important that wherever we place them, the people are capable."

This judge has heard the dress complaints as well. "Who cares how they dress?" they say. "For whatever reasons, there's a lot of focus on that."

LGBTQ kids face rejection from their foster homes and group homes. And, says one lawyer who has represented LGBTQ kids in the child-welfare system, indifference from social workers: “I think it’s absolutely the most neglected population. The gay child is just out in left field. There’s nothing specifically designed for them.”

This week I wrote about a gay D.C. foster kid, Kenneth Jones, who had been bullied at school, relentlessly teased by relatives, and eventually threatened by his foster father. I have been following Kenneth for two-and-a-half years. Much of that bullying or its aftermath I'd witnessed. But in the course of my reporting, I interviewed others about the issues of homophobia in the home, school, and child-welfare setting.

I talked to District lawyers, judges, advocates, mentors. They all had their own horror stories. So for a series of blog posts, I'm going to share those stories with you. The problem of homophobic bullying isn't just a national issue. It's happening right here in D.C.

Many months ago, I interviewed then-acting Lt. Brett Parson. At the time, he was in charge of the various Metropolitan Police Department's liaison units. This included the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit which Parson had been responsible for basically turning into a vital community program. Through the past decade, Parson says he has worked with several gay teens who had been bullied.

After the jump, Parson tells his stories.

The Club Kid

Parson (photographed above): "The youngest call was a drug case, he was 13 years old, caught him with drugs at a club....He was out at the club because it was the only place he could be around other gay people. He had Ecstasy on him. He was living with his grandmother. This was eight years ago. [The Child and Family Services Agency] made a recommendation that he go back to his grandmother, and that she supervise him better. I remember thinking that he needed a more structured environment and he needed something more LGBTQ."

Parson recalls that the grandmother was not OK with her grandson's sexuality. "That was a major issue for me to try and explain that to the attorneys," he says. "They really didn't care. It was frustrating. I knew why he was engaging in this activity. I remember especially at the actual arrest scene, took quite a bit of time to talk to him to try and find out what the hell he was doing at this club. It was more of an older gay club. He was hanging out with people that were old enough to be his parents or older. And listening to him talk about how he can't tell anybody in school, his grandmother had threatened to kick him out—this is the only way he could make friends."

The Knife

Parson: "I had a case of a kid who was assaulted by his mother and aunt because he came out to them.  They threatened him with a knife. He was punched, his hair was pulled. I remember on that scene we were very frustrated because the initial officers considered not making an arrest. They had [the officers] convinced that they were just disciplining him. The kid was 14. This was three years ago."

Parson goes on to say: "In that particular case I had the GLU officer contact  CFSA to open up an abuse case... [The family] considered it completely justified. ...That was a real eye opener for me to realize just how bad life can be for some of these kids."

The Plastic Fork

Parson: "We had a case in Columbia Heights—a group home. One of the youths there had been stabbed with a plastic fork. It didn't cause too much injury. It all stemmed from the fact that he was gay, and he mouthed off to them. This guy stabbed him with the plastic fork. The folks at the group home had no way to deal with it. They're helpless. I remember saying to them—this is probably five years ago—'Have you thought about having folks come in and having some classes?' It just totally went over their heads. It didn't seem it was an option they were willing to explore."

Parson continues: "The dude that stabbed him was the least of his worries. He had kids threatening to kill him. It was a nightmare for her. He preferred to be identified as a female. She wasn't passing as female. She was a very effeminate male. That was an issue in the house—they would not let her dress in female clothing. She was constantly in fear of violence. She feared for her life. She did not trust that the staff was going to protect her. In her opinion, the staff was part of the problem."

"She talked about just [being] pushed and punched and slapped and hair pulled. Spat upon. This is a kid who is ripe for suicide. This is a kid that is eventually going to give up."

School Torture

Parson: "We had a transgendered kid at one of the junior high schools. We were called in by the school resource officer because the kids kept getting into fights. The Vice Principal refused to call her by her preferred gender and kept calling her by her male name. Just disrespect. [The Vice Principal said] 'If he would just dress normally, this wouldn't happen.'"

Parson goes on: "I remember just sitting there thinking: You expect this child to get an education. I remember we took the kid home, and mom had like three other kids. This was her oldest kid, and she had just given up trying to help this kid."

file photo by Darrow Montgomery.

photo of now-Sgt. Brett Parson by Darrow Montgomery.

Has Peter Nickles ever met a controversy he couldn't whitewash with one of his so-called investigative reports? From his fire-truck mini investigation to his assessment of the missing evidence in the Pershing Park case, Nickles has developed a reputation as a bulldog whose afraid to do much more than bark. Now comes WaPo's Mike DeBonis' fine reporting on Nickles' latest fact-finding mission. This time Nickles promised an exhaustive accounting of the failures at DYRS. DeBonis discovered that the investigation had been headed up by Nickles' deputy Robert Hildum–the man who has now taken over DYRS. [Hildum also  ruined two fire fighters' careers with a few lies]. Talk about a conflict of interest. But it gets worse. The report itself may have been riddled with problems:

DeBonis writes:

"The report I've obtained [PDF], dated May 20, is not so much an investigative report with findings, but a six-page memo that makes 'general observations' about the city's youth justice apparatus before delivering more than a dozen recommendations. It's entirely possible that a more detailed report has been completed in the meantime, but DYRS officials raised serious questions about the inquiry in an undated response [PDF] to the May 20 document. For instance: Because the OAG staffers tasked with investigating the agency didn't know how to use the DYRS computer system, the report based some of its recommendations on mistaken findings."

And to think WaPo's editorial board slammed critics of DYRS latest personnel moves as being too hasty! DYRS has become a huge problem, one that warranted more than a six page memo, and quick knee-jerk praise from WaPo's editorial board. At the very least, Councilmember Tommy Wells, whose committee deals with DYRS issues, tells City Desk that the Nickles Report could be a distraction in the city's efforts to reform DYRS and get the agency out of federal court oversight.

But Wells says he hasn't even seen "an official" copy of the report.

"I got a report from the Examiner," Wells says. "I have not gotten an official report even though I asked for it. There does seem like there was this tension between prosecutors and DYRS and Peter Nickles won. It does seem like the report started off with a conclusion."

Wells continues: "This [case] seemed closest to getting out from under the class-action lawsuit...I think the report is a distraction from the bigger picture....I've had concerns about DYRS, but what I need is good evidence, good data. This appears to have been a dispute between two government agencies and the bigger one won. We just need to be sure they don't mess up the [reforms]."

Plaintiffs in the Jerry M. case could make the report, and the installation of Hildum to head DYRS, an issue in court. The plaintiffs in the CFSA federal oversight case successfully argued that they hadn't been consulted when Mayor Adrian Fenty and Co. hired Roque Gerald to head that troubled agency. A judge had required that the plaintiffs be consulted on that hiring. The judge in the CFSA case eventually held Fenty in contempt of court.

Update: DeBonis posted an update this afternoon. Nickles denied Hildum's lead role  in the DYRS investigation. Still, Nickles does not deny that Hildum was involved. He just didn't play the lead role. A copy of a longer more involved report [PDF] revealed a more in-depth analysis of the issues surrounding the troubled agency (if you discount the first two pages of fluff).

Liz Ryan of the Campaign For Youth Justice sent out a press release condemning the OAG's research methods and the OAG's apparent conflict of interest:

“It cannot be ignored that, OAG is investigating how youth offenders are treated, and at the same time, has the authority to prosecute those offenders,” said Daniel Okonkwo, Executive Director of D.C. Lawyers for
Youth. “We ask that the DC Council hold immediate hearings on how this report was done and ask credible academics to comment on what appears to be a shoddy piece of 'research' that has resulted in a major decision being made about a City Department.”

Campaign for Youth Justice also highlights discrepancies in juvenile arrest statistics:

"The OAG said juvenile crime is increasing. The latest figures from the Metropolitan Police Department show that, in absolute terms, juvenile arrests are down -2 percent, compared with the first six months of 2009. Overall, juvenile index (serious) crime has declined slightly over the past five years.  Index crime is the primary indicator reported by the FBI, but OAG’s report carefully avoided reporting overall index crime data in its 'analysis.'"

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Closing Arguments In Wone Case," "World Cup Roundup," "Photos: Terry Huff"

Morning All. You better enjoy Metro today and Saturday. Those big fare increases are set to start on Sunday. WaPo's Ann Scott Tyson and Anita Kumar report that Metro approved those complicated fare hikes yesterday: "Metro's board of directors authorized an extensive package of fare increases Thursday as the agency approved a $1.4 billion operating budget and a plan to cover a projected $189 million shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The new fares include nearly $109 million worth of increases for people who ride rail, bus and MetroAccess, the service for the disabled. Because of the complexity of the fare increases, they will be implemented in three stages: on Sunday, on Aug. 1 and in the fall. One potentially confusing component is a new 20-cent 'peak-of-the-peak' rail surcharge that will start in August and affect riders who travel during the busiest times. The board had indicated in a vote last month that it would approve the changes. Rail fares this weekend will increase about 18 percent, with the peak boarding fare going from $1.65 to $1.95. The bus boarding charge will go up 20 percent, from $1.25 to $1.50 for SmarTrip users and from $1.35 to $1.70 for cash customers. Metro's board also agreed to cut the cost of SmarTrip cards in half, from $5 to $2.50, because the cost of the cards has fallen and because Metro wants to encourage riders to use them, said Peter Benjamin, the board chairman. Board member Jim Graham, who serves on the D.C. council, cast the only dissenting vote. He said he was concerned about the effect of the higher fares on the people least able to afford them."

AFTER THE JUMP—Peter Nickles would stay on if Fenty gains second term, Metro gets into the movie rental business, WaPo columnist stands up for social workers fired in wake of Banita Jacks case, and tragedy hits Ward 8 ANC Commissioner.

FOUR MORE YEARS OF NICKLES? District AG Peter Nickles, aka Fenty's Troll Doll, tells Jonetta Rose Barras on her WPFW radio show that he's open to remaining as the city's top lawyer for four more years. WaPo reports: "In a DC Politics interview on WPFW 89.3 FM, Rose-Barras told the city's top lawyer that there are some residents who will not vote to re-elect Fenty because of Nickles, his strained relations with the council and the view that he is a 'cantankerous old man,' who is to blame for 'a lot that has happened in this administration is bad.' 'I don't know if I'm cantankerous,' Nickles said, joking about his age, 71. 'I'm ready to take it on as long as the mayor wants me to take it on.' Nickles acknowledged that he has long had a cantankerous relationship with former mayor Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). But Nickles said he has had 'very good relations' with council members Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), David Catania (I-At Large), Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), and at times, Chairman Vincent Gray. But, he said, 'I have found these other council members – particularly Barry, Michael Brown (I-At Large), Kwame Brown (D-At Large) and Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) – completely unwilling to listen. No matter what the issue is, they are instinctively against the mayor.'" What about your biggest critics, Councilmembers Phil Mendelson and Mary Cheh? Anyway, Nickles ruled out running for attorney general; voters can decide in Nov. if the position should be an elected office. [Nickles opposes such a move].

Meanwhile, the D.C. Council rebuffed Nickles' attempt to allow indefinite response times for FOIA requests. WaPo's Ann Marimow reports: "Attorney General Peter Nickles' request for more time to respond to public requests for government information is unlikely to gain traction in the Council, where two members — Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) — have introduced legislation to increase access and transparency. Nickles said the District is inundated with complex Freedom of Information Act requests and needs a 'safety valve' of additional time to respond, similar to what federal law allows. But Cheh said Nickles 'is looking for an open-ended excuse not to comply, and he's not going to get it. It's a simple invitation to delay, an invitation to mischief.' Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, who is challenging Mayor Adrian Fenty in the September Democratic primary, also rejected the idea, calling the current response period 'sufficient.'"

CFSA AND BANITA JACKS FALLOUT: WaPo columnist Petula Dvorak takes up the cause of the social workers fired in the wake of the Banita Jacks case. She believes they should get their jobs back: "All of the social workers who had anything to do with the Jacks case were thumped in grand fashion by an angry and decisive Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D). For a city reeling from the discovery that Jacks's four children were dead and that Jacks had been living in squalor for weeks with their decaying bodies until she was found in January 2008, it felt righteous to fire everyone having anything to do with her case. A new director of the Child and Family Services Agency was installed, and Jacks was convicted of killing her girls. But [Carl] Miller and two other social workers are still fighting the case every day. And the city is fighting back. The case touched Miller's life in late 2007, when a school social worker called and told Miller that a student at her school had been truant, the mom wouldn't open the door when she came to investigate, and she was worried. On the phone, Miller was matter-of-fact, reminding the social worker that the woman had no legal obligation to let her inside. It seemed like educational neglect, nothing more; the social worker said the kids looked unkempt and were watching TV. That sounds like my own childhood. As satisfying as it may have been to can Miller because he didn't swoop in to save these girls, it's not realistic to end the career of a 34-year-old man who had been a reliable social worker for eight years." Dvorak doesn't say that the CFSA director resigned not over the Jacks case, but over her inability to handle a huge backlog of cases in its aftermath. She also doesn't mention that the court monitor had flagged CFSA's poor investigative skills a few months prior to the Jacks case making headlines—so social workers and their supervisors had ample warning that they needed to be more vigilant. Still this is a must read for anyone that followed the Jacks case, and Dvorak can be convincing especially regarding the one social worker fired after relying on the police to properly visit the Jacks home. The police officer lied to the social worker saying that he had seen the Jacks children and they were fine. He had never seen the kids.

GRAY VS. LEO ALEXANDER: Leo Alexander takes it to Vincent Gray during the latest mayoral forum, WaPo reports: "Alexander, who has been struggling to gain attention in what so far appears to be a two-man race, went on the offensive against Gray, accusing him of being as much to blame as Fenty for the city's problems. 'When you think of everything that has happened in the last three years, you cannot criticize this man, without looking at this man,' Alexander said, pointing at Gray and Fenty. Alexander specifically challenged Gray for not doing more to prevent Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee from laying off 266 teachers last year. 'It wouldn't be fair to talk about the betterment of DCPS, without talking about leadership of our council chairman,' Alexander said. 'When this council had the opportunity to stop those firings, but he did nothing.' A clearly agitated Gray fired back, accusing Alexander of misrepresenting his record, noting he and Council member Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5) worked on legislation to try to force Rhee to rehire the fired teachers. 'Let me begin by saying it's easy to sit up here when you've done nothing and pontificate,' Gray said to Alexander. 'If you did the research, you would understand the council wouldn't have the authority to turn this around despite the fact we tried.' Alexander responded: 'The gentleman said I have done nothing, let's talk about his do-nothing leadership on the city council.'"

OUR CONDOLENCES: WaPo is reporting that Ward 8 ANC Commissioner Anthony Muhammad's two sons were killed in a car crash in Silver Spring: "Muhammad family members did not comment. They were planning a vigil at Kennedy High School in Silver Spring on Thursday evening. Commissioners in Ward 8 said they were pulling together to support the family. 'Mr. Muhammad is an active, dedicated person in our community, and we're grieving with him. It's a tragic loss,' said Ward 8 commissioner Lendia Johnson. 'He's devastated, as far as I can say. He adored his children. He was an excellent father.' Barbara Clark, another Ward 8 commissioner, said she contacted Muhammad through a text message after the accident. Johnson said she admired Muhammad's sons for being upstanding and disciplined. 'They weren't the pants-hanging-down-low type,' she said, 'They were neat, clean, straightforward, obedient young men.'"

DROWNING: Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. says he will hold a hearing on this week's drowning death of a child at the Turkey Thicket Rec Center pool. WaPo reports: "Yiana-Michelle Ballard, 6, was found unconscious at the rec center's crowded indoor pool about 2:20 p.m., officials said. She had been swimming with her family. Lifeguards tried to resuscitate her, but she was later pronounced dead at Children's National Medical Center. Police said Thursday that their special-victims unit was still investigating the circumstances of the death. Autopsy results were pending. 'This should have never happened,' said D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5), who chairs the Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation. 'We are doing everything that needs to be done to make sure that this doesn't happen again.' Thomas said he plans to hold hearings next week to examine whether the city's pools are safe. He said he is consulting with officials from the American Red Cross to review pool safety procedures and might introduce emergency legislation to address the issue." More coverage via WUSA9.

FOLKLIFE FEST: WUSA9 offers a preview of this year's fest on the Mall.

RHEE: THE MOVIE STAR? Maybe not. But the school's chancellor gets a star turn in front of the cameras for a new education documentary.

METRO MOVIES: Rental kiosks are coming to Metro, reports WBJ. More coverage via the Examiner.

OF COURSE: People are raising pigs in Takoma Park.

FIRST LADIES: Duke Ellington students woo a pair of First Ladies with a little MJ.

THINK YOU GOT IT BAD: Tenants in one building are fighting landlord over broken AC.

HYDRANTS: D.C. officials are encouraging residents to not turn on hydrants as a way of combating this ridiculous heat.

FREE: HIV/AIDS testing.

MUST READ: WaPo's Paul Duggan's story on the murder of Manual Sanchez: "Fleeing poverty in El Salvador, he walked into the United States illegally across miles of desert in 1998. He worked as a bricklayer or as a laborer, depending on the economy, and drank heavily for a time, often squandering his wages. On May 28, behind a vacant tenement in Southeast Washington, where Sanchez, 29, and two of his cousins had been bagging trash and cutting weeds, the men were accosted by a pair of would-be robbers. Now Sanchez is gone, air-freighted back to his rural home town in a coffin, allegedly shot by a suspect six days past his 16th birthday, a ward of the city's youth rehabilitation agency. The accused killer, Javon Hale, and the other suspect, Rafael Douglas, also 16, are due in D.C. Superior Court on Friday for a preliminary hearing, each charged as an adult with murder after two witnesses identified them to police. Some killings rivet the media and the public: An esteemed lawyer mysteriously stabbed in Northwest Washington townhouse; a University of Virginia lacrosse star savagely pummeled in her apartment; a beloved D.C. school principal shot in his Silver Spring home. And some homicides go largely unnoticed beyond the tumbledown blocks where they occur, beyond the families and friends of the slain and the handcuffed and the authorities seeking justice. The shooting of Manuel DeJesus Sanchez was such a crime....The suspects, locked up without bond, have pleaded not guilty. Hale, who has a record of juvenile crime, had been let out of Boys Town, a group home, on a weekend pass just hours before Sanchez died bleeding on a dingy patch of Hillside Road SE in Benning Heights."

KOJO: Today's guests: Virginia congressional candidate Keith Fimian and Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE:

10:45 a.m.
Remarks
Ribbon Cutting for Deanwood Recreation Center and Library
Location: Deanwood Recreation Center and Library
49th and Quarles Streets, NE

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE:

10 a.m.
Committee on Human Services (Round Table)
"Status of the District's Low Barrier, Transitional and Permanent Support Housing Programs for Adults, Youth and Families who are Homeless"
Location: John A. Wilson Building, Room 500

Must watch commentary from Kojo. Is Fenty anti-poor people? Or is Kojo right that the anti-Fenty anger is a little over the top?

My two cents: When you spend $400,000 on a dog park while D.C. General's emergency shelter is overcrowded, a case can be made that Fenty's priorities lean a little in the anti-poor people column. When your proposed budget leans heavily on cuts to social services—including big-time layoffs at CFSA and proposed cuts to foster parent stipends and emergency housing funds—while the only time you step out into the public eye is to attend ribbon cuttings, a case can be made you don't care about poor people. When homeless men are stuck living in trailers and homeless families have to stay in motels while your AG Peter Nickles stonewalls wastefully on class-action cases and suing special-education plaintiffs attorneys, you may be perceived as anti-poor people. When the head of the Department of Human Services is a former Bushie, you may be perceived as anti-poor people.

And finally, when the District's unemployment rate hovers between 11 and 10 percent, and you say next to nothing on jobs, you may be perceived as anti-poor people. We know more about Fenty's abs than his thoughts on job creation. Tell me, what has Fenty done or said on the unemployment issue?

So how many humans will it take to form a complete "human safety net" around city hall?

"We've calculated that it is 900 feet around the Wilson building, so with people and banners and nets we expect 200 people will wrap it up nicely," Podschun replied.

What would you say to Jack Evans and Vince Gray to get them to join your human chain? Podschun wrote:

"Jack Evans is just not going to be convinced on this issue. I don't know if he truly believes the preposterous notion that wealthy people will leave rather than pay a few hundred dollars more, but nobody else we've talked to believes it, even the people who object to our proposal because they think the Government should eliminate all waste before raising taxes. The latter is not a position we find to be especially reasonable or moral, but at least it has some sort of logic to it.

Vince Gray has worked in social services for most of his career — he has arguably done as much for our safety net as anyone on Council. In his campaign speeches, he likes to tout the revenue-generating measures that Council took last year — the cigarette and sales tax increases, which all disproportionately affected low- and middle-income DC residents. Here we're proposing to rescue the damaged safety net in a truly progressive way. This would hardly pinch a small portion of DC's population, but it's a major opportunity to demonstrate the leadership that Gray likes to say that DC needs."

How did you decide on a human safety net? Podschun wrote:

"We all benefit from a strong safety net, whether or not we use these services. This action features DC residents from all walks of life and all corners of the city, joining together to form a safety net around the building. It also creates a beautiful demonstration that Councilmembers can't avoid as they arrive for their meetings on the budget. Our city has some of the worst income disparity in the country, and reversing that begins here. So we'll join together to call upon Councilmembers to be smart, responsible, and courageous."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Prosecutor: Wone Suspects 'Did It For The Family,'" "Defense: Cops Prejudiced Against Wone Suspects"

Howdy. A big day in D.C. Superior Court with the start of the Robert Wone conspiracy trial. It's been several years since Wone was murdered in the Dupont Circle home of the three defendants. That's a long time to speculate, theorize, and comb through the evidence. No one has been more attentive to this case than the men behind the website Who Murdered Robert Wone? The site offers up strong Day One coverage that included opening statements and the testimony of Wone's widow. The bloggers picked up on a few interesting details:

"It’s clear the defense is ready to take full advantage of any and all previously admitted government and law enforcement errors, reinforcing their message that this was a flawed investigation from the beginning. Said Ward counsel Schertler, the government '…tried to create evidence to fit a preconceived theory…'

Interestingly, all three defense attorneys took pains to paint Robert and all of the Swann Street three as good friends…and that friends simply can’t murder friends. A close reading of the defendants’ interview statements, and comments today from Kathy Wone, raise some doubt about those claims.

Looking back, in his opening statement Kirschner seemed to hit his strongest stride referencing W-5 and Joe’s statement to him that he pulled the knife from Robert’s chest. This, after being interviewed for hours that he found the knife lying on Robert’s chest..an inconsistency that Kirschner hopes to demonstrate the 'vacuum' of truth in statements by the defendants."

More coverage via WaPo, NC8, the Examiner, WUSA9, WTOP.

AFTER THE JUMP—More bad news for CFSA, introducing the Fake Don Peebles, Maya Angelou pens supportive note to Fenty, and MOCO schools get in hot water over religion.

BUDGET WATCH: Yesterday, LL cheered the restoration of funds to several Child and Family Services Agency programs that had been cut by Mayor Adrian Fenty's proposed budget. But LL failed to provide a clearer picture of the cuts that are still set to take effect. You can find a full breakdown of the cuts in the Human Services Committee report (PDF)–which include hefty slices from foster parent subsidies, rapid housing, along with a cut to the grandparent-caregiver subsidy program, and the gutting of the parent advocacy program. The safety net still needs a lot of patching up. The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute provides a fact sheet on the budget mess. Meanwhile, Save Our Safety Net is organizing a Human Safety Net around the Wilson Building tomorrow morning. The press release has the details:

"District residents and advocates will build a safety net around the John A. Wilson Building at 8:30 am Wednesday, May 17, 2010. The demonstration is being organized in partnership with the Fair Budget Coalition and Save Our Safety Net (SOS-DC)....Harry Thomas, Michael Brown, and other Councilmembers will join hundreds of DC residents

FAKE DON PEEBLES: The big question from yesterday: Was Don Peebles now using Twitter? The answer turned out to be no. But the Fake Don Peebles is still pretty awesome. Favorite tweets include this one from May 16: "There has been much speculation over my intent to run for mayor of DC, for inquiring minds: I am still giving it serious consideration." And this one from May 12: "I like thinking big...If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big." I don't know about you but this substitute LL is going to be following the Fake Don Peebles at least until the election.

MAYA ANGELOU STICKS UP FOR FENTY: Remember that controversy last summer revolving around the Fenty Administration's attempt to boot out Cora Masters Barry from the tennis center? Remember the reports of Fenty dissing Dorothy Height and Maya Angelou? Fenty had failed to meet with the famous women, who were intent on lobbying on Barry's behalf. On NC8's NewsTalk last week, Fenty addressed the controversy. During the interview, Fenty mentions receiving a letter from Angelou as evidence that there were no hard feelings. WaPo has a copy of the letter: "In the September missive, Angelou writes, 'I know that my name has been used in varying ways, but while I am a friend of Mrs. Cora Masters Barry, and a supporter of her great efforts, I in no way meant to be a threat or a negative figure to you in this matter....I want you to know that I have not spoken to the press and it was never my intent to bogart or jam you against a wall.'" We applaud the poet for her use of the word "bogart." I'm sure Fenty totally understood the term.

VINCE GRAY CAMPAIGN WATCH: D.C. Wire's Mike DeBonis (the name sounds familiar...) reports that Gray is playing catchup on a number of fronts: "Gray's nascent operation has to contend with a well-established, well-organized Fenty election apparatus, the vaunted 'Green Machine,' which prides itself on identifying friendly voters and making sure they get to the polls on Election Day. Already, Fenty works from a list amassed in the course of his 2006 landslide win, and his re-election campaign continues to collect names on street corners and from door-to-door canvassing. Without divulging the actual length of the list, Fenty consultant Tom Lindenfeld says that the campaign 'has been counting and mining the voters for an extended period of time.' Gray, on the other hand, starts pretty much from scratch. This weekend, his campaign started making headway on that front, phoning thousands of District voters to ask for their support. 'In a sense, it is catching up,' Gray campaign spokesperson Traci Hughes said Monday. 'We've got someone who's been essentially running for office for three years, and we're just joining the race.'"

MOCO VS. GOD'S PLAYGROUND: A MOCO school canceled a series of field trips to Bethesda's With Me Playseum for its kindergarten classes after the museum's owner apparently dropped the G word on her website. WaPo reports: "The owner of the fledgling business, Gina Seebachan, bought tiles so each child could make a handprint to take home as a keepsake. She organized books by authors the children were reading for story time. If the trip went well, Seebachan thought, business might really take off. Then, without warning, Westbrook Elementary School, which all four of Seebachan's children have attended, canceled the trip. All because, Seebachan says, she mentions God on the Playseum Web site. Last month's canceled school visits were just the latest in what some friends and neighbors call an unsubstantiated whisper campaign that has gone viral, with Web postings accusing Seebachan, an evangelical Christian, and the Playseum of being less about creating a play space for children and more about saving their souls. In a well-to-do, liberal community, where separation of church and state is virtually a religion, Seebachan's references to God, and the use of the politically loaded word 'life' on the Playseum Web site, coupled with the echo chamber of the Internet, made for a combustible mix." Key graph that makes the owner look a little kooky: "She indeed plays her iPod Nano at the Playseum, meaning that children hear '80s hits such as 'Tainted Love' but also some Christian rock. She says she did once sing a catchy ditty that included some hallelujahs while she made apple pie in the play space's bakery. But, she says, she hasn't sung anything with religious content since then. All the other things people are saying about her, she says, are 'utter lies.'"

COMMENTARY: This morning, Children's Law Center's Executive Director Judith Sandalow provides a commentary on WAMU concerning Mayor Fenty's child-abuse prevention plan. Here is an excerpt:

"Four years after he called for a District-wide plan to prevent child abuse and neglect, Mayor Fenty quietly issued a press release announcing the plan had been completed. It wasn’t worth the wait.

The inconspicuous nature of the announcement speaks volumes about the District’s lack of commitment to actually prevent child abuse and neglect. Indeed, the plan itself is all talk and very little action.

I just don’t understand the Mayor’s lack of urgency.

Our child welfare system is overflowing. Almost 4,000 children were abused or neglected in fiscal year 2009 alone. There are more than 2,000 children in foster care at any given moment and another 2,000 children whose families are monitored by our child welfare agency. With the troubled economy sending thousands of additional families into poverty, we can only expect this number to increase.

The suffering behind these numbers is almost unspeakable."

HORSE PLAY FOLLOW UP: WUSA9 has video of the wild horse romp through NW from this past weekend.

APOLOGIES TO RON MOTEN: Early in LL's short tenure, he quoted FOP honcho Kristopher Baumann stating that Peaceoholics received city funds to locate and return juvenile absconders. This is not true. Ron Moten tells LL that his organization had received no such funding. Juveniles charged in the Brian Betts murder had escaped from DYRS supervision. All three defendants had attended a Peaceoholics retreat just prior to the killing. Moten says he did not know of their issues with DYRS. "We would have made them turn themselves in," Moten says. "They have to be willing to accept responsibility for what they've done." Moten adds that the retreat did help many of the other kids in attendance. Of the 47 children who participated, 16 have since found employment. It should be noted that Baumann promptly contacted LL to correct the error.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Is There Still Room For Seniors At The New 15th and U?," "Peaceoholics Took Betts Suspects On Retreat," "Disc Jockeys Irk Desk Jockeys In Dupont Circle"

Mornin' all. Tons of news so lets get to it:

THE WORKOUT LOBBY LEAPS INTO ACTION: Yesterday, D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham received 2,689 e-mails from constituents. And Councilmember Mary Cheh says her office received about 2,000 e-mails. Did these legislators rail against the Tea Party? Did they make fun of Arizona's draconian anti-immigration law? Did they say they wanted to cut funding to after-school programs or health clinics? No. They were besieged by District residents who are perspiring profusely over the possibility that they may get taxed for their gym memberships and yoga classes. WaPo's Nikita Steward and Tim Craig chronicle the stuffed in-boxes down at the Wilson Building. Graham offers the key quote about the controversy: "Things have gotten a little uncorked here." LL Daily wonders where were these people when D.C. General was so overcrowded? Where where these people yesterday protesting the layoffs at CFSA? Is this what District residents really care about—yoga? Yes! Hundreds, thousands even spammed the D.C. Council to make sure they knew that they wanted their $18 hot yoga class to stay $18 and not $19.06 with a 6 percent DC sales tax of which $1.06 would go to pay for teachers and trash pickup and child care etc. [LL had help with that last sentence as he is is terrible with numbers]. The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute responds with a blog post defending the idea of a yoga tax. This all makes the great Susie Cambria sad.

Meanwhile, CFSA LAYS OFF MORE THAN 100 WORKERS: WaPo's Henri Cauvin reports on the scene at CFSA: "Social service assistants, who shuttle foster children to school, bring them to doctors appointments and do any number of things that social workers don't have time to do, were among the hardest hit, with all 57 of them losing their jobs. The mayor's proposed budget, released last month, projected CFSA job cuts, but it wasn't until Thursday that employees found out where the ax would fall. After learning of the layoffs at a 9 a.m. meeting at the CFSA's Southwest Washington headquarters, the social service assistants were told to clean out their desks. Throughout the morning, workers emerged on Sixth Street carrying boxes of belongings....'This is like a hospital, and they just cut all the nurses,' said Kina Cypress, a social worker in child protective services, which investigates abuse and neglect." The total number of employees laid off: 115. Along with social-service assistants, junior social workers and facility monitors were also axed. The silver lining: "A new position has been created to replace the social service assistants, a CFSA spokeswoman said. The new job, called a family support worker, will require a college degree, and the agency expects to begin hiring soon."

AFTER THE JUMP—WaPo gets tough on DYRS, Ron Moten Vs. SS, and Free Street Car rides might be in your future!

WAPO ED. BOARD VS. DYRS: WaPo's editorial board shocks all by finally addressing DYRS' problems. The board calls for an independent study in the wake of the Betts murders in which all three suspects where under some kind of DYRS supervision: "Community outcry about the competency of this agency in ensuring public safety is understandable. We share the concerns, and we believe it is time for an independent commission to review how the District and the court system handle juvenile offenders. Such a study could examine the untold successes of the city along with both the hidden and the very public failures. It could consider whether the secrecy that shrouds juvenile justice in the city serves more to protect children or shield the system. And it could recognize the progress we believe has been made in the past five years while considering, without defensiveness, further reforms that may be needed."

The board takes aim at the ridiculous confidentiality issues surrounding juvenile offenders: "UNFORTUNATELY, the District's strict confidentiality laws surrounding virtually every aspect of a juvenile case obscure many facts. We understand the importance of privacy for a child putting his or her life together after a youthful infraction, but what purpose is served by barring dissemination of information when, as in the case of these three men, there are adult charges of heinous wrongdoing? The absurdity of the city's law is reflected in the ability of Montgomery County to release the youths' arrest records even as Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and his attorney general were criticized for merely disclosing the trio's connection to DYRS. Relaxing confidentiality rules should top the list of fixes to the system, but other areas bear examination. It has been a decade since the blue-ribbon commission that led to the reforms at the heart of today's system, so it is time for review and possible course correction." Amen. The Examiner's Harry Jaffe gets AG Peter Nickles to say on the record that juvenile confidentiality is problem that needs addressing.

THE INEVITABLE PEACEOHOLICS CONNECTION: WaPo had reported that all three suspects attended a Peaceoholics retreat in Southern Maryland just days before Betts' murder: "Ronald Moten, the group's cofounder, said that all three arrived April 10 and participated in group discussions about violence. Moten said that they seemed nice and that he was particularly impressed with Lancaster. 'He voluntarily cleaned the whole compound,' Moten said. The three left that night. After the retreat, two of them attended a follow-up session. 'We haven't seen them since,' Moten said. Five days after the retreat, Betts was dead. Moten went into more detail with City Desk's Rend Smith yesterday: "Though he won't say which one, Moten suggests the nonprofit had extensive experience with one of the murder suspects for at least six months prior to the retreat and phone call. 'We stayed on top of him,' Moten says. The youth eventually left the program, he adds, but maintained a relationship with his former case worker."

Police Union Chief Kristopher Baumann e-mailed LL to say that Moten's group is actually being paid by the District to find absconders and bring them back to DYRS. Moten testified on the subject at a hearing last year. Baumann writes:

"On June 10, 2009, Well’s committee held a hearing on DYRS. It was unbelievable. (I know watching old hearings can be a drag, but it is worth it.) Testifying in support of Schiraldi and DYRS were several non-profit groups (Peaceaholics, Concerned Men, etc) that testified that they were receiving “grants” from DYRS to go track down absconders and talk them in to returning to DYRS. Of course, they had no statistics (e.g., number of absconders returned, etc.) but that was what DYRS was paying them to do (they also apparently have office space at DYRS). These are essentially earmarks, but are being done by the Executive so they are called grants, with no oversight, no reports required. Worse they are giving money to groups to do the work the police should be doing (the word on the street is that DYRS did not want the MPD knowing how many absconders existed because it might be leaked and would not match the numbers they have been reporting)."

None of this latest controversy will help Moten vs. Sandra Seegars. This week Moten took Seegars to court, slapping the political activist/gadfly with a libel suit. Seegars is taking her message to the streets (!) with a press conference today at 11 a.m. in front of 1300 Congress Street SE. SS spammed LL too many times to just ignore and delete her press release. Here it is:

"ANC Commissioner Seegars and the opponents of the Peaceoholics’ are holding this conference regarding the Peaceoholics attempt to ignore the law and open some sort of group home/youth facility/community residential facility/independent living facility/condominium at 1300 Congress St., SE DC 20032 will be speaking out against it.

The government, Mayor, Ward 8 Councilmember and Department of Housing and Community Development are ignoring the complaints by the ANC Commissioners and the community. In light of the recent incident, whereas, Ronald Moten, Peaceoholics, admitted that he allowed fugitives to participate in his program, under his direct supervision, without first getting a clearance on the alleged murderers of a school teacher. The immediate neighbors to 1300 Congress St., have grown more frighten of the mystery facility that is underway to open there by the negligent, untrained, hotheaded maverick.

Moreover, it will be a violation of Title 11, whereas, facilities shall not be within 500 feet of each other, and there are already 4 next to 1300 Congress St., SE. DHCD has already violated the ANC law, whereas, they are supposed to notify the commission, commissioner of the affected area and the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commission by first class mail before actions are taken to dispense funds for a project in such district.

They will be asking for investigations on the Peaceoholics involvement with the alleged murderers, the loan from the Department of Housing and Community Development, their non profit status, and they will be asking the DC City Council to stop funding them without a competitive bid process – in an effort to get the most qualified entity to provide services for troubled youth and young adults."

Meanwhile, Moten made some shocking comments yesterday on NC8's NewsTalk.

AGENT ZERO ALMOST OUT OF THE CLINK: Arenas is nearing the end of his halfway house stint. I wonder if he pranked any of his housemates. Apparently, he played cards and basketball.

NICKLES VS. BARRY: The Examiner's Bill Myers has more on the battle between two of our most stubborn politicos.

FREE STREETCARS? WTOP's Adam Tuss reports that streetcar rides may be free in some parts of the District: Once the streetcars get rolling, some riders may actually be able to get on and off at their leisure, knowing that they will not have to pay a dime, WTOP has learned. 'It is certainly possible that in certain areas of the city it would be free,' DDOT Director Gabe Klein tells WTOP. 'And we like that, because the point of this is to stimulate growth and move people between neighborhoods. So we are going to look at a structure where people feel comfortable hopping on and off, maybe many times in an hour.'"

WE NEED MORE YOGA: NC8/WJLA reports on a study showing that 20 percent of District residents are obese: "Women make up 25.1 percent of the city's obese population, while men were at 18.9 percent. The report found women were more likely to be obese than men. The wards with the most grocery stores, organic food and farmers markets, Wards 2 and 3, had the lowest rates of obesity. Ward 8 had the fewest healthy food options and had the highest rate of obesity. To combat the problem, city officials put together the Action Plan, an effort to engage the wards where obesity rates were the highest." Meanwhile, a Top Chef judge promotes creating more food jobs (NBC4)

A D.C. Police Officer was found dead in his apartment Thursday morning, WTOP reports.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE:

10:45 a.m., Remarks South Dakota Avenue Bridge Ribbon Cutting
Location: 2700 South Dakota Avenue, NE

4:00 p.m. Remarks All Hands on Deck
Location: 600 block of 46th Place, SE

D.C. COUNCIL SCHEDULE:

10 a.m. Budget Request and Support Act hearings.

KOJO: "The Politics Hour gang sits down with Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and D.C. Council Member Tommy Wells."