While much attention has been paid to Michelle Rhee and her not-yet-panel-approved replacement, Mayor Vincent Gray quietly showed the door to another District government reformer last week. Without fanfare let alone a press conference, the new mayor released Department of Corrections Director Devon Brown last Tuesday. Talk about deliberative!
Brown had served as director for close [...]

For more than a year, I'd been reporting out my cover story on residential treatment centers in secret. I hung out with and interviewed a ward of the District. I spoke with advocates, scholars, and bureaucrats in places like Tennessee and Wisconsin. I spent a day learning about how troubled kids' cases are handled in [...]

Robert Hildum is out again as DYRS' Interim Director. Hildum had announced his resignation last week. Almost Mayor Vincent Gray then asked him to stay on–apparently after Hildum had boxed up his stuff. Now, a few days later, Hildum is out again.
Today, Neil Stanley, DYRS' general counsel since 2008, has been brought in as DYRS' [...]

Yesterday Robert Hildum announced that he would be stepping down as DYRS' interim director. Before the announcement became public, Hildum sent along an e-mail to staff thanking them for their hard work. He wrote: " There is no easy way to tell you all but I have decided to return to OAG....I have treasured this [...]

In the past few months, the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services has faced overcrowding at New Beginnings, an increase in commitments, and continued scrutiny from plaintiffs attorneys in the class-action Jerry M case.
Interim Director Robert Hildum may be feeling the pressure. On December 2, Hildum sent out an e-mail to his senior staff in which [...]

I barely voted today. I waited until I was driving by my polling place, saw an empty spot, and decided what the hell I should just vote. It was 6:57 p.m. There was little to no line. But after voting for a few of the usual suspects, I decided to start writing in people. No, [...]

Legal Times is reporting that AG Peter Nickles isn't going to stick around much longer.
*file photo by Darrow Montgomery.

It's all about process, now.
At 2:37 a.m., Fenty campaign spokesman Sean Madigan is one of the last people to exit the campaign's headquarters. He walks past the small crop of empty green chairs and admits finally what the last of the reporters have been waiting to hear: Fenty is going to concede.
"We reached out to the [...]

A couple of hours ago, Mayor Adrian Fenty just vanished. He got into his Navigator and drove off, whereabouts unknown. He was wearing a crisp white button-down with the sleeves rolled up. He had on a dark red tie. His head was shaved. He had an entourage of a driver and a really nice bodyguard. [...]

Light turnout is becoming the theme of today's election. I just checked in with Ward 1 Councilmember candidate Bryan Weaver, who was running a long-shot challenge against incumbent Jim Graham. He says he's been to half of the 16 precincts in the ward, and that turnout has been fairly sporadic.
"Most of the places there's far [...]