Reading archive 2021-04-21

Washington area is seeing a long, intense tree pollen season. Get used to it.

Biden administration says it ‘strongly supports’ making D.C. the 51st state

D.C. Council advances block-by-block plan for future city development

Downtown D.C. was emptying before the pandemic. How it recovers will shape the nation’s capital.: The public health crisis has accelerated the vacancy rate in the central business district, forcing city leaders to consider drastic alternatives to fill unused office space

Senate Republicans take step to revive debt ceiling brawls with White House: The non-binding vote is a sharp pivot from their hands-off approach during the Trump administration - "Republicans raised hardly any complaints about the debt ceiling during the Trump administration, voting frequently to increase it without requiring any spending cuts in return. Over that period, the federal debt increased by roughly $7 trillion as Trump pushed for large levels of military spending and slashed taxes for U.S. corporations."

I’m a cop. The Chauvin verdict is a message for me, and for my colleagues.: Police officers can’t be defensive. We owe it to those we serve to change policing — and slow down.

Opinion: The anti-constitutional D.C. statehood pretense

Chinese hackers compromise dozens of government agencies, defense contractors

Ohio police fatally shoot Black teenage girl just before Chauvin verdict