WUSA: DC to track firearm injuries with new dashboard. “DC Health has launched a new data dashboard to help keep track of firearm injuries at emergency rooms across the District. ‘Firearm Injury Surveillance Through Emergency Rooms’ (FASTER) data is unique because it pulls from the hospital’s discharge diagnosis codes instead of mandatory physician reporting.”
Washingtonian: Love City Paper and the Blade? You Can Help Preserve Old Issues.. “At a series of sessions dubbed Describe-a-Thons, lovers of local history have been reading through old issues and entering descriptions and keywords into an online database. Recently, I decided to join one such effort, hoping to help preserve the city’s history and also to enjoy a bit of alt-media-fan camaraderie. (I used to work at City Paper myself.)”
NBC 4 Washington: The Metrobus Twitter Account Is Back. It’s Still Not Clear Why It Was Banned. “A few hours after the official Metrobus Twitter account was suspended without explanation on Tuesday afternoon, the account was reinstated. But a full day later, it’s not any clearer why the social media platform banned an account dedicated to public transit updates.”
Washington Post: Twitter bans account for D.C.-area bus system without explanation. “Metro officials said they weren’t told why the social media company suspended the account, @metrobusinfo. Before the suspension, Metro officials said, the account had not posted anything other than standard content, which includes route scheduling information, delay and detour updates, customer-service-related tips, and replies to customer complaints or concerns.”
Engadget: Google will pay $9.5 million to settle Washington DC AG’s location-tracking lawsuit. “Google has agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine, who accused the company earlier this year of ‘deceiving users and invading their privacy.’ Google has also agreed to change some of its practices, primarily concerning how it informs users about collecting, storing and using their location data.”
DCist: New Website Helps D.C. Residents Reuse, Rather Than Toss Out. “Remember the three Rs? Not reading, writing and arithmetic — but reduce, reuse and recycle. D.C. has a goal to start doing a lot more of these three things: the city aims to go ‘zero waste’ by 2032, keeping 80% of waste out of landfills and incinerators. The District has just launched a new website to aid residents with R #2. It’s called Reuse DC, and includes an interactive map of places in the region where you can repair, donate, or shop for second-hand items.”
WTOP: Website launched by DC-area students helps voters pick candidates. “When you first log on to Voting Buddy, you fill out five questions about politics. After answering those questions and entering your ZIP code, Voting Buddy allows you to find like-minded candidates in your voting district based on those questions.” The headline makes it sound like it provides information only on DC-area candidates, but I think it’s nationwide. I tried it – the interface is a little awkward and at one point I was told I would have to sign up for a membership for $0. (At no point was I ever asked for payment data or anything like that.) Great data, a little clunky.
DCist: See A Trove Of Historic Documents From D.C.’s First Latino LGBTQ+ Advocacy Group. “As president of ENLACE, D.C.’s first known Latino LGBTQ advocacy group, in the 1980s, Letitia ‘Leti’ Gomez knew she was part of something historic. So she began saving all sorts of memorabilia: newspaper clippings, meeting agendas, fliers for dance parties — including a ‘Dance for the Dead’ — and a pricing sheet for a beach trip. Now, her collection, made up of nearly 500 primary source documents, is part of the Rainbow History Project at the DC History Center.”
Washington Post: A White House fence’s Black Lives Matter art has been saved for history. “The new online archive is the most comprehensive look yet at the ways the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence became an art gallery of resistance, representing the outpouring of grief and anger among thousands of people in D.C. protesting racism and police brutality.”
PRWeb: Envision Innovative Solutions Announces Release of Augmented Reality App for U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (PRESS RELEASE). “Envision Innovative Solutions, an extended reality technology developer, announced the release of ‘Who Are the People,’ a free augmented reality (AR) app the company developed for the U.S. Architect of the Capitol. Users can interact with statues displayed in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center by using their camera phone to virtually place statues in any location and experience interactive content paired with audio from museum curators.”
Washington Post: Preservationists say Library of Congress makeover plan is ‘vandalism’. “A proposed change to the ornate Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress that critics say would remove the symbolic and functional heart of the 1897 Beaux-Arts masterpiece has landed the library on the D.C. Preservation League’s 2022 list of Most Endangered Places.”
Politico: Discord hires first lobbyists. “The popular online text, video and voice chat app Discord has hired its first federal lobbyists. Monument Advocacy’s Stewart Verdery, Ashley Hoy, Andrew Howell, Joseph Hoefer and Jeff Gary will lobby on privacy and content moderation issues for the platform, which initially found a huge base among gamers but exploded in popularity during the pandemic.”
Launched last month but I’m just learning about it now, from the Washington City Paper: Documenting D.C.’s Doo-Wop Histories. “Working with a team of music scholars, [Beverly] Lindsay-Johnson has designed a detailed online platform that tells the story of Black D.C. rhythm and blues acts from the 1940s and ’50s, while documenting the local venues, radio stations, DJs, record stores, and history of that segregated time.”
Washington Post: A fight over covid safety at journalists’ gala event. “Behind the scenes, one prominent covid expert is scrapping with organizers hesitant to install devices that disinfect the air using ultraviolet light, with party planners worried the devices would interfere with the program. Don Milton, a University of Maryland environmental scientist who has advised the White House and others on airborne transmission, said his offer to have a company install the devices at no charge was rebuffed by both the correspondents association and the Washington Hilton, which is hosting the event.”
New York Times: Before Washington’s ‘Nerd Prom,’ Lots of Risk-Benefit Calculation. “Vice President Kamala Harris’s coronavirus infection is raising questions that some in the nation’s capital wish would remain unspoken: Is it safe for President Biden to attend the so-called nerd prom, otherwise known as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner? Should the dinner even be held? The flashy event, at which journalists, politicians and policy wonks mingle with celebrities, is returning in person this Saturday after a two-year absence because of the pandemic. It will be the first time a president has attended since 2016. Expected attendance: 2,600.”
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