The House wants to ban DC traffic cameras

What's CITY Talking About

House Passes Bill To Ban DC Traffic Cameras

The House Oversight Committee advanced a bill to ban traffic cameras in D.C., saying they’re an attack on autonomy. If passed by Congress the bill would eliminate D.C.’s 546 traffic cameras and allow right on red at every intersection. Local officials quickly defended the cameras — which bring in over $267 million a year — with 12 councilmembers signing a letter asking Congress not to pass it. [DC News Now]

The Official Mayoral Candidates

The deadline for D.C. candidates to submit the signatures needed to get on the June 16 primary ballot has passed. The final lineup for mayor includes: Janeese Lewis George, Kenyan McDuffie, Gary Goodweather, Rini Sampath, Vincent Orange, Ernest Johnson, Stanley Lawson, and Hope Solomon. Phew! [X]

• Last weekend's mayoral forum got pretty heated between Lewis George and McDuffie. What does it say about the state of the mayoral race right now? [City Cast DC 🎧]

Judge Orders Broadcaster Employees Reinstated

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate over 1,000 Voice of America employees by next week, almost a year after the president ordered the broadcaster dismantled. VOA veterans say they expect a battle over the editorial firewall that prohibits partisan skewing of VOA content. [CNN]

Another Attempt To Fix DC’s 911 Call Center

A new bill by D.C. Council would give the fire department’s top doctor the final say over policies at the city’s troubled 911 center in an attempt to resolve discord between the two emergency agencies and improve 911 response time. [Washington Post 🔒]

DC Insider Trivia

Another Friday means another D.C. trivia question to test your local knowledge! Find more D.C. trivia questions here.

These distinct cast iron columns stand on almost every street corner in D.C. What was their original function?

1. They are an old type of lamp post.
2. They served as emergency call boxes to alert the fire and police departments pre-911.
3. They were part of a city-wide alarm system that would blare like a modern fire alarm.
4. They were the city’s failed attempt to implement little free libraries for all.

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