Drema Ogletree, a peer recovery specialist at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington, said it’s essential for people experiencing substance use disorders to get the proper treatment and medication they need.

“Prosecution is not always the answer,” she said at the forum.

In the United States, drug overdose deaths overall, not just opioid-related deaths, rose dramatically during at least the first year of the pandemic, according to the . They reached 100,000 from April 2020 to April 2021, including more than 496 in D.C.

Depression and anxiety symptoms, which were at higher rates in January 2021, can exacerbate substance use, according to Alison Evans Cuellar, a professor of health administration and policy at George Mason University.

In addition, patients experiencing opioid use disorders may have been unable or felt uncomfortable receiving treatment in person while COVID-19 cases overwhelmed hospitals, Cuellar said.

Some psychiatrists want to assess patients in person before prescribing them with medication for substance use disorders to assess visual cues, for example, that might go unnoticed over a video call, she said.

The D.C. Superior Court runs a , where people with non-violent misdemeanor and felony charges undergo supervision, drug testing, treatment and sanctions.

Brendan Saloner, associate professor of Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, said prescription opioids, like oxycodone, contributed greatly to a wave of the opioid epidemic in the 1990s.

Oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone are the most common prescription opioids contributing to fatal overdoses, according to the .

91���� a decade ago, heroin started contributing more to overdose deaths, Saloner said. More recently, fentanyl, a synthetic opioid , has played a large role in the epidemic.

Data from the CDC shows that about 400 people died from opioid overdoses in D.C. in the 12 months ending in May 2021. That’s up from the 320 fatal overdose deaths that took place in the 12 months ending in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Now we’re in the fourth wave of the opioid crisis related to overdoses that involve combinations of drugs,” Saloner said. “So cocaine with fentanyl, cocaine with methamphetamine, and a lot of that has to do with fentanyl, just mixing into the drug supply of other kinds of drugs.”

Maurice Gibson, a peer recovery specialist at the Psychiatric Institute of Washington, said at the forum that the institute works to educate people experiencing substance use disorders and connect them with resources, adding that there are often “underlying issues” that lead patients to continue drug use.

Mark Levota, executive director of the D.C. Behavioral Health Association, which provides support for residents experiencing mental illness or substance use disorders, said the District should continue working to stop illegal drugs from entering into the District.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the CDC in April that federal funding can go toward buying rapid fentanyl test strips “to determine if drugs have been mixed or cut with fentanyl.”

Levota said it will be valuable for the District to take advantage of that change in policy “to get test strips into the hands of drug users.” That will allow them to avoid using a fentanyl-laced drug unintentionally.

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Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C, which represents Adams Morgan, voted unanimously in favor of a resolution Dec. 1 calling for DDOT to install more protective measures along Columbia Road NW, from 16th Street NW to Connecticut Avenue NW and along 18th Street. Those measures would include raised crosswalks, rectangular flashing beacons and bike corrals.

“This is something we’ve harped on at various points during my tenure on the ANC,” said Amir Irani, chairperson of ANC 1C. “I don’t think Adams Morgan has gotten the attention it deserves from DDOT or from the city in order to implement the safety infrastructure that is needed around Adams Morgan.”

In mid-November, Nina Larson, a resident and American University alumna, died after being struck by a car at the intersection of Columbia Road NW and Biltmore Street NW. By the end of the month, the District reached 39 traffic fatalities for 2021, according to the District’s website for , an initiative aimed at reaching zero traffic deaths by 2024.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser launched Vision Zero in 2015, but 2020 and 2021 saw the highest annual traffic fatalities in more than a decade, according to the .

In September, the Office of the D.C. Auditor announced an investigation into the initiative, reported.

Peter Wood, a commissioner for ANC 1C, said DDOT has made some recent strides in communicating with residents and placing speed humps in the neighborhood. He wants the agency to continue responding to resident concerns.

“Hopefully it’ll be more than just a few small things, but we can really make it so that Adams Morgan is a place that people think of as pedestrian oriented,” Wood said.

While traffic safety is a concern throughout the District, Adams Morgan is an activity-heavy neighborhood filled with bars, restaurants and parks that attract residents, Wood said.

Wood said traffic safety concerns stem from a broader issue.

“There’s a lot of prioritization of motor vehicles being the core of how the city functions in terms of our planning, in terms of our grid, in terms of just the way that so many things are constructed,” Wood said.

Wood said District officials should move away from enacting policies that reinforce D.C.’s dependence on cars, which he views as a “big-picture” issue.

Wood said DDOT seems “to be making strides” in addressing traffic safety concerns by coming to commission meetings and placing speed humps in the neighborhood, for example.

DDOT did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

Benjamin Butz, an ANC 1C commissioner, said at the meeting that he’s happy the commission is working to hold the District accountable with the resolution.

“Everyone wants safer streets,” Butz said. “It’s one thing just to talk about it. But I think this will really hopefully help move the ball forward.”

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The appointment of Japer Bowles, a former Adams Morgan neighborhood commissioner, as director follows Sheila Alexander-Reid’s from the role after serving since 2015. The office, founded in 2005, connects LGBTQ+ residents with services and provides grants to community organizations. 

June Crenshaw, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, an organization serving unhoused and at-risk LGBTQ+ youth, said the office and its director need to focus on maintaining and strengthening relationships with LGBTQ+ communities in the District. 

“Recently, it feels as though that position has been less as an advocate for the community and more of a communicator of the mayor’s priorities,” Crenshaw said. “And so I would love to see that that position really build its advocacy for the community muscle in a way in which I think the position was originally intended.” 

Leaders of three groups focused on providing support and resources to LGBTQ+ residents in the District spoke to 91���� about what the office should set its sights on. 

The Office of LGBTQ Affairs did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

Wanda Alston Foundation

Crenshaw said many young people who come to the foundation are dealing with mental health challenges and many have experienced some form of violence.

“What the mayor’s office of LGBTQ Affairs in my mind should focus on is really bringing to bear the resources of the city of the most vulnerable individuals in the city,” she said. “That is queer youth that are experiencing homelessness.”

She also mentioned mental health challenges, food insecurity and a lack of opportunity for LGBTQ+ residents of color. 

Crenshaw said the office’s staff in previous years has been “very connected to the community” and “very much aware and involved with the challenges that some members of our community have always experienced.”

“They were advocates to make sure that the voice of those very vulnerable individuals had access to the mayor and to individuals that were decisionmakers in the city,” she said.

But over the past 10-to-12 years, that’s changed, Crenshaw said.

June Crenshaw, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, hopes the Office of LGBTQ Affairs strengthens its community relationships.

Crenshaw also said the office’s budget should grow in order to provide more resources to residents. 

The mayor’s $17.5 billion for fiscal year 2022 includes $1.2 million to expand emergency shelter service for LGBTQ+ residents who are survivors of domestic violence.  It also includes $1 million for an LGBTQ+ community center and $500,000 for a workforce training program for LGBTQ+ residents.

Crenshaw said she’s looking forward to working with Bowles and hopes that he has an opportunity to continue the work he’s already done working with LGBTQ+ organizations.

Before his appointment, Bowles worked at more than 30 LGBTQ+ businesses and nonprofit organizations, according to the .

“The community is looking forward to his advocacy on what the real needs are of the community,” Crenshaw said.

Us Helping Us

DeMarc Hickson, executive director of Us Helping Us, an organization providing resources to people living with AIDS, said the office should be more intentional about providing housing, employment and education resources to Black and Latinx communities. Black residents make up nearly 84% of unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness, according to a 2020 conducted by the District.

“We know that food, shelter and clothing are three of the basic essentials to living a productive and healthy life,” he said.

Hickson said Us Helping Us has partnered with the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, including for conducting HIV testing and providing protective equipment to Ward 7 during the coronavirus pandemic. The office also provided funds for Us Helping Us to develop a mentorship program.

Still, Hickson hopes the office prioritizes offering resources for HIV treatment and prevention. He’s hopeful that, with Bowles at its head, the office will.

SMYAL

Hancie Stokes, spokesperson for SMYAL, an organization offering resources to LGBTQ+ youth, said the office should make housing one of its central focuses, as LGBTQ+ residents are among the homeless population.

“That has been included in the budget in the past and it has been a focus of the office, but there’s always room for additional programs and additional funding,” she said.

Stokes added that the high percentage of LGBTQ+ residents experiencing homelessness means that “they could get matched to any number of housing programs in the city.” 

Those other housing programs need to be able to have the training and the resources to be able to adequately serve the unique needs of LGBTQ youth who come into those programs,” she said.

Stokes also said the office should prioritize the following issues:

• Access to employment
• Resources to address poverty
• Employment training programs for queer and trans youth
• Resources to prevent violence and address harm when violence occurs

Organizations serving LGBTQ+ residents can apply for grants up to from the office.

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Veterans United for D.C. Statehood, an organization chaired by veteran Hector Rodriguez, organized the Veterans Day Freedom March for D.C. Statehood, which began in Freedom Plaza and ended at a near the U.S. Capitol.

“We have American citizens who have served this country, many who have given that last full measure of devotion, who come back, sometimes in a box draped with a flag that doesn’t even have a star for the place that sent them,” said shadow Sen. Paul Strauss, D-D.C. “We can’t let this continue.”

In April, the House passed a , introduced by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-
D.C., that would make the District a state with two senators and one representative with voting ability in Congress.

Norton, who’s represented D.C. as a non-voting delegate in the House since 1991, introduced a House Tuesday aimed at recognizing D.C. veterans and calling for the passage of the D.C. statehood bill.

“In all, 200,000 District of Columbia residents have served in the military since World War I,” she said Thursday. “There is no way to observe Veterans Day in the District of Columbia without noting our progress on D.C. statehood.”

At one point during the march, Rodriguez joked that if people didn’t support D.C. statehood, they’d be hit by an eagle and see 51 stars. At another, he raised a fist in front of the Trump International Hotel and chanted, “Statehood now.”

Kreft, who served the U.S. Army more than two decades ago in Saudi Arabia, said she normally commemorates Veterans Day in some way every year. 

“For the numbers that D.C. generates as far as population, GDP, federal tax base, with us not having representation — voting members of Congress — seems shameful,” the 12-year D.C. resident said.

Bo Shuff, executive director of DC Vote, an organization fighting for D.C. statehood, said it’s “abhorrent” that veterans in D.C. don’t have congressional voting representation.

“Of all of the people in the District who face not having representation, not having an equal voice, it feels like it’s most impactful to those who serve the country,” said Shuff, who previously served as D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s campaign manager.

In January, Bowser released a calling on lawmakers to get statehood to President Joe Biden’s desk within the first 100 days of Congress being in session. That didn’t happen.

In April, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Miss., released a arguing that D.C. would be relatively small compared to other states and it would be hyperpartisan. (D.C. voted for Biden by in the 2020 election.) In June, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing to discuss the issue, but the Senate statehood bill hasn’t been brought for a vote.

Cassandra Likouris, president of Students for D.C. Statehood, said she’s troubled by the fact that D.C. residents per capita than any state but don’t have voting representation in Congress.

“It’s ridiculous,” she said.

Sharece Crawford, at-large committeewoman for D.C.’s Democratic Party, said Thursday that her grandmother wasn’t able to vote in presidential elections. D.C. residents weren’t allowed to vote in federal elections until the 23rd Amendment gave them that right in 1961.

“My children and their children will be able to vote for a congresswoman that has a vote in Congress,” Crawford said. “Our children today — our future children — will be able to have the rights and liberties as full citizens because of all of you today.”

The post Veterans, supporters push for DC statehood at Veterans Day march first appeared on 91����.

Noticing his tense stance, another young man, slightly older than he, Nunez recalled, asked if Nunez was a veteran. Nunez didn’t respond.

“Don’t tell anyone here that you are,” the man said.

Nunez said he didn’t understand why. 

“I’m in the United States. I’m glad I had served, but yet we’re not good enough,” Nunez told 91����, recalling a decades-old pain.

On Wednesday, the day before Veterans Day, veterans and others at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, World War II Memorial and Korean War Veterans Memorial, three of the 17 monuments, museums and memorials in D.C. honoring those who have served in the military, said it’s important for younger generations to learn about the country’s past. They shared memories of war and family to emphasize the importance of documenting history.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial: The ‘wall that heals’

When Nunez left the United States to serve in the Army during the Vietnam War, he said he went out the “front door,” proud to be a soldier for his country. However, when he returned, he came in the “back door,” troubled by the stigmas surrounding the war in Vietnam.

“I was more afraid of people coming back to the states than I was in Vietnam,” Nunez said.

At the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the veterans returning home weren’t greeted with ‘Welcome Home’ parades, but with . Although the war led to controversy across the nation, Vietnam War veterans visiting the memorial are proud to have served.

Opened in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial serves to commemorate those who died or are still missing from the war. The names of those who died in the war are identified with a diamond and those who are still missing, a cross. When someone is deemed no longer missing, the cross is altered to become a diamond. 

The black granite walls list the names of soldiers who fought in the war. Bill Walters, a volunteer at the memorial and a Vietnam Army veteran, said they were purposely designed by architects Mary Lin and David Osler to be reflective.

“This monument is about all the names. It’s about all the people,” Walters said. “That’s an awful lot of names.”

Walters said he enjoys when school groups come to visit the memorial so they can learn more than what “they might have read in a history book.”

Haartz first came to ‘The Wall’ in 1996 with his original battalion. He said that if it weren’t for the group, he might have never come. The camaraderie and support he has had when coming to ‘The Wall’ has “helped” his “demeanor.”

“The guys that don’t come to the wall don’t know what they’re missing,” Haartz said. “It’s really a wall that heals.”

When asked how it felt to come to the memorial, “Krazy” Karl Haartz, a Vietnam War Army veteran visiting from Campton, New Hampshire, who served alongside Nunez in the 5th Battalion 7th Cavalry, said it is nice to “be together.”

“Coming to the memorial is…” Haartz started.

“Soothing,” Nunez chimed in from the other side of the bench.

World War II: The deadliest conflict

Mary and Gary Brown visited the World War II Memorial Wednesday while in town celebrating their daughter’s birthday. The Arizona residents, who are retired, said both of their fathers served in the military during World War II, hers in the United States and his in northern Africa.

“My father was pretty quiet about his World War experience,” said Gary Brown, standing in front of a fountain at the memorial’s center. “I think being a flight engineer and being in planes so much he became pretty hard of hearing.”

World War II, the deadliest conflict in human history, began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, triggering a six yearlong conflict involving most nations. Nazis murdered 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, which began in 1941, in addition to millions more.

Mary Brown said her mother served as a civil servant in Detroit, Michigan, during the war. She said memorials, like the one commemorating Americans who served during World War II, are important to remember “our history, our foundation.”

For Gary Brown, the history of the war is personal in another way.

“World War II was very significant, particularly in Europe because my ethnicity is — I’m 100% Jewish,” he said. “I was born seven years after the Holocaust.”

Memorializing the Forgotten War

New York resident Juan Parra stood next to statues of soldiers Wednesday on his first visit to the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Parra, who described himself as a retiree of the delivery business, said while he finds war memorials interesting, he couldn’t help but think about what other kinds of historical sites may be missing.

“We’re supposed to have more monuments about peace,” he said.

The United States, in an effort to keep communism from spreading, supported South Korea in the war after North Korea invaded the bordering nation in 1950, according to . The war, which never formally ended, left millions dead.

Parra also said the United States should have more memorials commemorating Black men who served.

His wife, Merrill Parra, said war memorials can help people learn more about the country’s history. Parra, who’s also retired, started a veteran’s program at Lehman College, City University of New York, where she served as director of Student Services.

“I bet you if you did a poll, people wouldn’t even know that we were in the Korean War,” she said.

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Thursday through Sunday also included Major League Baseball playoffs, college football and a fight between boxers Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder III. Grand Central owner Brian Vasile, who’s from Upstate New York, said he thinks the weekend was great for business.

“People have been wagering on sports forever,” Vasile said. “The opportunity to add that to what we do here as an entertainment feature for our customers is just another revenue stream and another offering that I can give folks who come here.”

D.C. is one of dozens of U.S. states and territories to legalize sports wagering after a Supreme Court in 2018 gave them that option. The practice, which was outlawed throughout most of the United States in 1992, has become a way for governments to earn tax revenue.

Peter Alvarado, director of the D.C. Office of Lottery and Gaming’s Regulation and Oversight Division, said at an Adams Morgan neighborhood commission meeting Wednesday that the District wants to ensure sports wagering licenses benefit residents and the District.

Businesses applying for a sports wagering license have to submit a security plan to the District, Alvarado said. They are required to have security cameras inside, for example.

Ben Butz, a commissioner for the advisory neighborhood commission representing Adams Morgan, said Wednesday that he hopes the Office of Lottery and Gaming communicates more with the commissioners for future sports wagering license applications.

Although Butz didn’t have objections to the District granting Grand Central its sports wagering license, he wished he knew about the application earlier on in the process.

Sarah Fashbaugh, community resource officer for D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, which adds input when businesses apply for a sports wagering license, said during the meeting that residents can protest business’ bids for renewed sports betting licenses.

Alvarado said the Office of Lottery and Gaming discussed at an internal meeting how to communicate more with commissioners when applications are under review.

“In these cases, we should probably reach out and solicit some comment from the local ANC,” he said.

The practice of sports wagering has historically been tainted by controversies such as the , when Chicago White Sox players were accused of throwing games for money in the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

“The leagues have always argued that sports gambling is bad and that for the integrity of the game, they need to prevent it,” said John Wolohan, a professor of sports law at Syracuse University.

Now, sports leagues are increasingly embracing the practice, Wolohan said.

James Kahler, a sports betting education expert at Ohio University, said most people who place sports bets don’t expect to win. He said it’s a source of entertainment that can now benefit state economies.

“Sports wagering has just become a bigger part of the mainstream of sport,” Kahler said.

The 2008 financial crisis marked a turning point in which states were looking for ways to earn more from tax revenue, Wolohan said.

That led New Jersey to look toward sports betting as a potential source of revenue. The fight culminated in the Supreme Court overturning the , which then-President George H.W. Bush signed into law in the 1990s.

In the District, the first $200,000 of tax revenue generated from sports wagering will go to the Department of Behavioral Health to help treat gambling addictions, according to the .

Applicants for sports wagering licenses have to submit a $100,000 fee to the District, which can be a heavy lift for businesses, Vasile said.

“If you’re comfortable with the $100,000 fee, if you’re comfortable with your business model and adding this as a feature, then I’d say go ahead and apply,” Vasile said.

Customers interested in placing a bet for next weekend at Grand Central can look forward to another medley of college football, NFL and MLB games.

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The would include adding bike lanes along the 2.7-mile stretch of Connecticut Avenue from Legation Street to Calvert Street, NW. The $4.6 million project would also remove the street’s reversible lane system, which allows traffic to flow in either direction to reduce rush-hour delays.

While vehicles driving along Connecticut Avenue may usually encounter reversible lanes, traffic has not been reversing directions during the coronavirus pandemic. But many residents hope that change becomes more permanent.

“Connecticut Avenue is our main street. … It’s where our grocery store, our pharmacy and everything else is,” said Bob Ward, a Cleveland Park resident of 17 years. “But it’s also like a commuter highway.”

Northwest residents hope that removing the reversible lane system and adding bike lanes can help make Connecticut Avenue safer and prevent confusion for drivers entering a reversible lane. Ward, who heads , a group of residents focused on development issues, said residents in the area have been concerned about safety along Connecticut Avenue for years.

Efforts to remove the reversible lane system along the traffic-heavy street date back to at least 2003, according to the reversible lane study project website.

Neighborhood commissions in Northwest D.C. have also formalized their support for reducing the speed limit for vehicles from 30 mph to 25 mph.

Robert Finley, who chairs the neighborhood commission representing Cleveland Park, Woodley Park and surrounding areas, said he noticed collective support among residents he spoke with to remove the reversible lanes along Connecticut Avenue.

Neighborhood commissioners expected to hear from the department about next steps during the summer, Finley said. They’re unsure when DDOT will announce whether it will support the proposal, go with another option that doesn’t include bike lanes or keep the reversible lanes in place.

DDOT did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

In response to public questioning, DDOT said the proposal supported by the four neighborhood commissions is a safer option than another option which would remove the reversible lanes without implementing bike lanes. This is because it would reduce collisions between cyclists and vehicles while also keeping pedestrians safe from cyclists riding along the sidewalk.

Janell Pagats, a neighborhood commissioner who represents part of Woodley Park, said she’s witnessed various accidents and near accidents along Connecticut Avenue. Pagats has lived across the street from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo for over 11 years.

Over 1,500 crashes were reported to police within the 2.7 mile Connecticut Avenue stretch during 2015 through 2019, to a report released by the department in June 2020. Over two-fifths of the collisions took place during reversible lane operation.

The study also said about a third of the crashes reported during reversible lane operation from those five years involved a pedestrian, and about a fifth involved a cyclist.

Pagats, who chooses not to drive a car, said adding bike lanes along Connecticut Avenue can also help the District move away from carbon-intensive methods of transportation.

“We need to make big, bold moves,” Pagats said.

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