The popular H Street NW bar CopyCat Co. has garnered a lot of negative attention after a Medium post that describes a bartender saying a colorist and sexist comment to a customer went viral.

City Paper’s Laura Hayesspoke with the patron and bar owner to better understand what happened. The bartender was fired, but there’s a lot more to it. Read the full story online.  

THE NEWS: 

The House of Representatives held the first hearing on D.C. statehood since 1993 and it was over three hours long. A lot happened—the hearing started with Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) moving to subpoena Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans. 

The point of the hearing was to get the House to eventually vote on H.R. 51, which would make the District the 51st state. It’s true, the bill is dead on arrival in the Senate, so it’ll never see President Donald Trump’s desk. But it would still be pretty remarkable for the House to pass H.R. 51. 

The last time statehood legislation went up for a vote in 1993, it failed 153 to 277, with 105 Democrats joining 172 Republicans to kill the bill. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is confident the House will pass H.R. 51 this time. 

There were a lot of standout moments, like the time when Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) asked how statehood would impact congressional staff’s parking. (Specifically, some parking spots would be in the new state’s jurisdiction, not the federal government’s, so he’s worried about “influence.”)

More importantly, here are the three takeaways: 

• Evans wasn’t at the hearing, but dominated the discussion anyway.

• Lack of statehood is connected to racism, but not everyone wants to admit that. 

• And there’s a strong case that H.R. 51 is constitutional. 

What’s next? Markup and vote in committee, and then to the floor for a full House vote. Read the full story and live tweets from the hearing online. —Amanda Michelle Gomez (tips? agomez@washingtoncitypaper.com)

MORE NEWS YOU CAN USE:

• One dead, eight others injured after shootings on 1300 block of Columbia Road NW and 1400 Rhode Island Ave NE. So far this year: 125 homicides [Post, MPD]

• Reuters measured how far the Columbia Heights shooting was to the White House, and received Twitter pushback. [Tweet 1, Tweet 2]

• The youth are shutting down D.C. as part of the Global Climate Strike. [WTOP]

• It’s also PARK(ing) Day (!) Prepare to see parking spaces turned into mini-parks. [Curbed]

LOOSE LIPS LINKS, by Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com) 

• Issues remain at Park 7 Apartments. [WCP]

• Save the trees or build housing? [Post]

• Bus-only lanes at H and I streets NW will stay. [WAMU]

YOUNG & HUNGRY LINKS, by Laura Hayes (tips? lhayes@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Adams Morgan is getting fast-casual soba, a shabu-shabu restaurant, and a bar all in the former Bourbon space. [WCP]

• ICYMI: Restaurant workers facing medical crises or staring down walloping hospital bills fight a system stacked against them. [WCP]

• How David Chang, who is behind Momofuku CCDC, changed the food world. [Post]

ARTS LINKS, by Kayla Randall (tips? krandall@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• How history-making local cartoonist Elizabeth Montague creates her art. [WCP]

• Fairviewat Woolly Mammoth interrogates white supremacy. [WCP]

• D.C. museums must guard collections from flooding and heat. [DCist]

• Take some advice from Tony-winner Audra McDonald, performing at George Mason next week. [Washingtonian]

SPORTS LINKS, by Kelyn Soong (tips? ksoong@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne’s teammates have been her biggest cheerleaders all season. The Mystics beat the Aces last night, 103-91, to lead the best-of-five series, 2-0. [WCP]

• Many expected the Washington football team to start the season 0-2 with a tough early season schedule, so why is everyone mad? NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlayexplains why there’s good reason for that. [NBC Sports Washington]

• The Nats are back to their old, bad ways at the worst possible time. [Federal Baseball]

MAKE PLANS, by Emma Sarappo (Love this section? Get the full To Do This Week newsletter here. Tips? esarappo@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• Tonight: A delegation of incarcerated people’s loved ones are heading to D.C. from Alabama for a rally and press conference at the Department of Justice. Afterward, there’s an afterparty featuring Nikos. 7:30 p.m. at Rhizome DC, 6950 Maple St. NW. $10.

• Tonight: Cigarette-loving crooner Mac DeMarco offers us a light. 8 p.m. at The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. $44–$79.

• Saturday: Tyler, the Creator is on tour with Jaden Smith and GoldLink. 7 p.m. at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. $29.50–$69.50.

• Sunday: HERA Fest, an all-ages, all-women music festival, has Jill Sobule at the top of its bill and is raising money for D.C. nonprofit ProjectHERA. 12 p.m. at City Winery, 1350 Okie St. NE. Free–$20.

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