Reading archive 2023-02-16

Police arrest man after dismembered body found in yard in Brookland: The body was found by someone doing yard work in the backyard of the home in Northeast Washington

Spring is awakening weeks early in the D.C. area. This could be a problem.: Already, the buds on Washington’s famed cherry trees at the Tidal Basin are starting to develop

Why So Many States Want to Ban China From Owning Farmland

D.C. overpays landlords millions to house the city’s poorest: Paying above-market rents means fewer people are helped by the troubled housing authority - "Arthur Simpson, 73, lives on the third floor of an apartment building in Northeast Washington. The elevator doesn’t work, so he climbs the stairs. He has no electricity, so he sees by the light of the street at night. The hallway outside reeks of musty carpet and cigarettes, so he shoves a towel against the door crack to block the stench. 

"The D.C. Housing Authority pays $2,467 in monthly rent for Simpson to live there, but his apartment at the Havana was never worth that, even when new. One real estate consulting firm recently put the median market rent for one-bedrooms in the area at $1,613. 

"DCHA agreed to the amount anyway, because it doesn’t check to ensure rents it pays on behalf of low-income voucher holders are in line with market prices, as required by local and federal regulations. As a result, the agency overpays landlords by millions of dollars every year, a Washington Post investigation found. ...

"Slover again pressed Donald about the failure to check lease payments against the market. This time, then-board chair Dionne Bussey-Reeder, whom Bowser had appointed to replace Albert, shut Slover down. She instructed Donald not to answer any more of his questions. 

"Two weeks later, HUD issued its report, which squarely backed Slover’s assessments."

Elon Musk reinvents Twitter for the benefit of a power user: Himself: Musk has rolled out major changes -- many of which have targeted his own experience, but not that of millions of regular users of the site

The clever trick that turns ChatGPT into its evil twin: Reddit users are pushing the popular AI chatbot’s limits -- and finding revealing ways around its safeguards.