John Falcicchio Muriel Bowser 2018
John Falcicchio, recently ousted from D.C. government, speaks with Mayor Muriel Bowser at her 2018 reelection party. Credit: Darrow Montgomery/file

Home | City Lights | Best Of D.C.

Washington City Paper has big plans for 2024. Your contributions will help us execute them. By supporting District Line Daily, you show your commitment to independent journalism. Thank you for your continued support.


Welcome to yet another week, D.C. Maybe a giveaway can help ya shake off a case of the Mondays. You could win brunch for two at last year’s Best of D.C. Best Brunch winner, Ambar, all you have to do is tag your brunch-loving friend in the comments of this post and then vote for 2024’s Best of D.C. Hereโ€™s the news you may have missed while you were rocking out at DC Abortion Fundโ€™s My Body, My Festival.

How Many Women Does It Take To Hold One Man Accountable?

Thereโ€™s nothing like a Friday evening news dump to upend weekend plans for newsrooms everywhere as we scramble to get the info to you and May 17 was no different: After much delay and a couple of leaks, D.C. Council released a report late Friday evening detailing the independent investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against John Falcicchio, Mayor Muriel Bowserโ€™s former right-hand man. Coming in at 117 pages, the report offers some new insightsโ€”Falcicchio made unwanted advances toward a third woman in the D.C. governmentโ€”but, Loose Lipsโ€™ Alex Koma writes, โ€œit is frustratingly light on other meaningful conclusions.โ€

Read Komaโ€™s full breakdown on the report here.

Welfare Check Failed

Four Metropolitan Police Department officers are on administrative leave after an incident on Saturday led to an officer-involved shooting. Around 10:40 a.m. on May 18, MPD was called to an apartment complex in the 2400 block of Virginia Avenue NW for a welfare check on a man having a mental health episode, according to reports from DC News Now, Fox 5, and NBC Washington

Though officers called the Department of Behavioral Health for assistance, the welfare check ended in two injuries: The man experiencing the episode, now identified as 28-year-old Jonathan Jefferson, managed to stab an officer in the neck while police were trying to take him into custody for evaluation. Another officer shot Jefferson in return after an attempt to tase him did not โ€œtake effect,โ€ according to Second District Commander Tatjana Savoy

The injured officer was treated on the scene while Jefferson was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Heโ€™s been charged with assault on a police officer.

While the shooting is being investigated, the officer who fired his weapon and three colleagues who witnessed the shooting are on administrative leave.

Not in Our Name

A day later and just mere blocks away, more than 100 George Washington University graduates walked out of Sundayโ€™s commencement ceremony during GW President Ellen Granbergโ€™s speech. The walkout is the latest effort of the student bodyโ€™s ongoing protests over the war in Gaza and calls for the university to divest from companies supporting Israelโ€™s military operations there.

Those who left graduationโ€”while some guests chanted โ€œthe national anthem at us, telling us to go home, go back to our country,” graduate and walkout participant Amani Ali tells WJLAโ€” joined the approximately 50 protesters, including GW students, across the street.

โ€”Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • For the second time in three months, the Dupont Circle store Tiny Jewel Box has been the victim of a โ€œsmash-and-grabโ€ robbery. The latest took place Saturday afternoon. [NBC Washington]
  • A new member of the animal kingdom has been spotted in the streets of D.C.โ€”literally. A video shared by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen shows a turkey using the crosswalk in Capitol Hill. [X]
  • Five new flight routes are about to be offered at National Airport, but what cities will those flights take you to? [Axios]

By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White is โ€œstarting at ground zeroโ€ on fundraising after repeated fines from campaign finance officials. But even a cash advantage may not be enough for his opponents, Salim Adofo and Rahman Branch, to overcome Whiteโ€™s persistent popularity. [Post]
  • Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray had another stroke late last month and has been in in-patient physical therapy ever since, raising serious questions about his continued service on the Council and his recent endorsement of a replacement. Grayโ€™s camp continues to insist his cognitive abilities โ€œare unaffected by this stroke or the one he experienced in 2021.โ€ He made an appearance at George Washington Universityโ€™s commencement ceremony to receive an honorary doctorate Sunday. [Post, WTOP, Informer, Post]
  • D.C.โ€™s bumping up against its borrowing limits right now, making the prospect of taking on a bunch of new debt to build a football stadium a tricky proposition. Former Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who just worked on a study of stadium financing for the District as a consultant, recommends a tax increment financing structure to get around this issue. [WUSA9]

By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)

  • Ever wish you could sip on a pet-nat while DIY-ing a terrarium? Vinery, opening this summer, combines the expertise of the owners of Queenโ€™s English and PLNTR to offer natural wines, house plants, workshops, and a DIY terrarium station. [Washingtonian]ย 
  • JoAnn Hill, author of Unique Eats and Eateries of Washington DC, on how she wrote the book and decided what restaurants made the cut. [WUSA9
  • AdMo swaps hot pots for pool tables. Billiards Room replaces Shabu Plus, serving up pub grub and local drafts in a dive bar setting equipped with neon signs, vintage concert posters, and free-to-play pool. [Eater DC]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)

Dance Institute of Washington Receives $2 Million From MacKenzie Scott

In her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott received a 4 percent stake [โ€ฆ]

Credit: Dorvall Bedford

Visual Artist Roderick Turner Shines Light on D.C.โ€™s Past for the Future to Remember

In Life in DC, the local painter captures the Districtโ€™s changes and gentrification through decades-spanning work.

Credit: Brittany Diliberto

Metamorphoses: Making Myth for Everyone

Local director Psalmayene 24 reimagines Mary Zimmermanโ€™s play through the lens of Black culture.

  • Kehinde Wiley, the painter behind President Barack Obamaโ€™s portrait at the National Portrait Gallery, has been accused of sexual assault. Ghanaian artist Joseph AwuahDarko posted on social media yesterday that Wiley assaulted him twice at a June 9, 2021, dinner at the Creative Art Council at the Noldor Artist Residency. Wiley has denied the claims and his lawyers issued a cease-and-desist letter demanding that the Ghanaian artist delete his Instagram posts and refrain from making โ€œfalse statementsโ€ against Wiley. [Artnet, ArtNews, NYT]
  • A rapperโ€™s road to the Kennedy Center: Killer Mike shares his journey from Atlantaโ€™s Frederick Douglass High School to Outkast collaborator, Run the Jewels, Grammy wins, and, now, his May 21 collaboration with National Symphony Orchestra. [Post]
  • Local artist Craig Kraft on bringing (neon) Hope (signs) to Anacostia. [Washingtonian]

By Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)


Sign up: To get District Line Dailyโ€”or any of our other email newslettersโ€”sent straight to your mailbox, click here.
Send us tips, ideas, and comments: newsletter@washingtoncitypaper.com.