Downtowner DC March 11, 2020
By • March 11, 2020 0 514
WOMEN’S MONTH AT THE LINE
The Line DC hotel is celebrating International Women’s Month with programming that includes a new banner featuring artwork by local artist Rebecca Rea-Holloway (@thesweetfeminist), a screening of the documentary “Venus VS.” about tennis star Venus Williams’s fight for equal prize money and a “Queer Women in Leadership” panel.
TRANSIT PROPOSAL FROM COUNCIL’S ALLEN
D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) introduced the “Metro For DC Amendment Act of 2020,” a proposal that would provide $100-per-month SmarTrip subsidies and better bus service in overlooked communities. Allen said the plan would boost the region’s economy by helping businesses keep their employees and acquire customers put off by D.C. parking costs and traffic.
CHANGES TO METRORAIL FARES, HOURS PROPOSED
A fiscal year 2021 budget proposal by Metro includes fare hikes and extended hours for Metrorail: until midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends. According to WJLA, 81 percent of nightlife-business owners responding to a recent survey said their business could be improved by a return to late-night Metro service. The system cut its hours four years ago.
EMERGENCY ‘GHOST GUN’ LEGISLATION
Mayor Muriel Bowser announced emergency legislation to prohibit the possession, assembly, sale and purchase of any type of “ghost gun” in D.C. The term refers to undetectable guns made of nonmetal materials in 3-D printers. They also could be 80-percent kits, assembled without the usual machinery and lacking a serial number.
Statue of Pierre Charles L’Enfant.
CONGRESS ACCEPTS L’ENFANT STATUE
After 12 years, the House of Representatives agreed to accept the gift of a bronze statue of Pierre Charles L’Enfant. Though each state has two statues in the Capitol, D.C. was denied its statues because Republican lawmakers argued that the District isn’t a state. L’Enfant designed the original plan for the District in 1791. Since 2008, the statue has been at One Judiciary Square.
