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NoMa BID wants area homeless encampments gone so that pedestrians feel safe, and a D.C. housing program helps residents manage HIV, but struggles to help its clients find long-term housing.

These articles are a part of the fourth annual D.C. Homeless Crisis Reporting Project. City Paper collaborated with seven other local newsrooms this year to investigate D.C.’s homeless crisis, where roughly 6,500 Washingtonians struggle to have stable shelter. There’s a lot to discuss and a lot that’s overlooked, so join the conversation on Facebook. 

THE NEWS: 

After a luxury apartment resident complained about the go-go music coming from Central Communications (commonly called Metro PCS), many Washingtonians sought to protect it, using the hashtag #DontMuteDC and taking to the streets. Metro PCS inspired a conversation about gentrification in D.C. in the spring, but it shouldn’t end there. 

This week’s City Paper cover story is dedicated to black-owned businesses that have survived tumultuous decades in Shaw and on U Street NW, from the 1968 uprisings after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated to Metro construction to the influx of outside affluence that followed decades later.       

“The few black business owners whose shops still inhabit Shaw and U Street storefronts have had a front-row seat to the impacts of gentrification, in a myriad of ways,” writes Christina Sturdivant Sani, who edited this collection. 

To better understand how we got here, City Paper reporters interviewed the owners of Ben’s Chili Bowl, Gospel Spreading Bible Bookstore, Cuttin’ Up Barbershop, Lee’s Flower and Card Shop, Metro PCS, and Wanda’s on 7th. Read and hear, in audio clips, what they have to say. —Amanda Michelle Gomez (tips? agomez@washingtoncitypaper.com)

MORE NEWS YOU CAN USE:

  • Mayor Muriel Bowsercontinues support for agency that failed to intervene in deadly fire that killed 40-year-old Fitsum Kebede and 9-year-old Yafet Solomon. [Post]

  • Police arrest man for fatally stabbing 27-year-old Margery Magill while walking her dog Tuesday night. [WTOP]

  • The “bedbugs” saga continues with the GWU professor penning an op-ed. [LA Times] 

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

  • The D.C. lottery subcontractor has no employees. [Post]

  • More than 50 public school coaches still haven’t been paid. [DCist]

  • The Post has roaches. [Washingtonian]

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

  • Food Instagram influencers and the publicists who wrangle them dish on the bartering that goes on behind the scenes. [WCP]

  • Himitsu gets a new name under its new executive chef Amanda Moll: Pom Pom. [WCP]

  • Ballston gains a beer hall with patio games. [Washingtonian]

  • The latest on the lawsuit involving José Andrés’ New York food hall. [Post]

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

  • The National Museum of American History chronicles the wonderful evolution of computing. [Washingtonian]

  • I.M.P. presents: a ticket-hawking truck. [DCist]

  • The National Museum of the U.S. Army comes to Northern Virginia next June. [WAMU]

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

  • Local indoor rock climbing gyms are investing in their youth programs ahead of the sport’s debut at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. [WCP]

  • Wayne Rooney pushed back against a British tabloid’s story about him with a strongly worded statement. [Post]

  • The Mystics are not just good, they could be one of the best teams in WNBA history, writes ESPN’s Kevin Pelton. [ESPN]

  • Some DCPS athletic coaches from the spring still haven’t been paid. [DCist]

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

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