A morning roundup of news, opinion, and links from City Paper and around the District. Send tips and ideas to citydesk@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Every spring, as the end of the school year approaches, I start losing sleep. I’m a D.C. public high school teacher, so it should be the most rewarding time of the year, full of pomp and circumstance. Instead, I’m haunted by an agonizing question: Are my students ready for the next level? Our city and country are currently in the midst of an epidemic of passing. Our high schoolers are graduating at increasing rates, while measures of proficiency remain stagnant—we are passing kids who haven’t learned.

LEADING THE MORNING NEWS:

  • Stakeholders fight it out at triple-fire-emoji meeting over Dacha Beer Garden’s proposed 14th Street location. [WCP]

  • A driver hit and killed a 6-year-old boy yesterday in Southeast. [Post]

  • The private investigator claiming a breakthrough in the Seth Richmurder case on Fox is also a Fox News contributor, funded by a Fox News guest. [Post]

  • Metro passenger finds Good Samaritan who intervened in assault. [WUSA9]

  • Can the U.S. hold Turkey responsible for taking its drama to a D.C. lawn? [Post]

  • D.C. employees say they’re gaining weight at work. [WBJ]

  • Ten Metro-accessible running trails: [GGW]

  • Finally, a transit proposal that credits power walkers. [WAMU]

  • Today will be hot with a chance of evening thunderstorms. [ABC7]

  • Metro has a plan to cool Dupont Circle and Farragut North stations. [Post]

  • Submit your cicada photos to NBC4. [NBC4]

  • Water main break floods MacArthur Boulevard and homes. [WTOP, ABC7]

  • She went missing in 1974 at 14, and her sister is looking for her. [NBC4]

RECENT CITY PAPER STORIES TO HELP YOU MAKE SENSE OF YOUR DAY:

LOOSE LIPS LINKS, by Jeffrey Anderson (tips? jeff.anderson@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • On Bowser: “Her instinct seems to be to defend or justify.” [WCP]

  • Confidential OIG school lottery report sheds more light on preferential treatment Kaya Henderson gave to D.C. government officials. [Post]

  • As opposed to the way school lotteries are supposed to work. [Post]

  • And here’s where you can’t afford to send your kid to school. [Washingtonian]

  • An explainer on the Seth Rich conspiracy theory story. [WAMU]

  • Map of where teens went missing. [NBC4]

ARTS LINKS, by Matt Cohen (tips? mcohen@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Watch a new music video from local shoegaze/grunge quartet Collider. [WCP]

  • Dance Place gets a new director, Christopher K. Morgan. [Post]

  • Listen to a conversation with Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Macbeth star Nikkole Salte and theater legend Vera Katz. [Kojo Nnamdi Show]

  • Great news: Alien: Covenant is good! [WCP]

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

  • Four food festivals to attend this weekend, including barbecue boot camp. [Post]

  • Chefs provide guidance on customizing fast-casual bowls. [DCist]

  • The D.C.-area’s best dog-friendly patios. [Eater]

  • Philly and New Jersey transplants, Wawa is coming to D.C. [PoPville, WBJ]

  • North Carolina’s Bojangles is also coming. [WBJ]

HOUSING COMPLEX LINKS, by Andrew Giambrone (tips? agiambrone@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • D.C. Council considers measure to convert offices into affordable housing. [WCP]

  • Roughly 1,300 residential units planned for two D.C. neighborhoods. [UrbanTurf]

  • Black Cat venue on 14th Street NW could get a third-floor addition. [UrbanTurf]

  • New luxury apartment building in NoMa starts to offer leases. [Curbed DC]

  • Ivy City poised to get a winery venue where a nightclub once operated. [WBJ]

  • The District may increase the exemption threshold for its estate tax. [WAMU]

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