The 51st
@51st.news
Information with representation, by and for D.C. residents.
Worker-led nonprofit newsroom, funded by readers like YOU.
🌐 https://51st.news
Worker-led nonprofit newsroom, funded by readers like YOU.
🌐 https://51st.news
"I left The 51st’s first birthday party feeling in awe of what we’ve built together and more determined than ever to keep going."
See photos from the party — and read more of what it meant for @maddiepoore.bsky.social and the rest of our team to celebrate with you:
See photos from the party — and read more of what it meant for @maddiepoore.bsky.social and the rest of our team to celebrate with you:
A first birthday worth recapping
Celebrating the wins of the last 12 months and scheming for the future
51st.news
November 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM
"I left The 51st’s first birthday party feeling in awe of what we’ve built together and more determined than ever to keep going."
See photos from the party — and read more of what it meant for @maddiepoore.bsky.social and the rest of our team to celebrate with you:
See photos from the party — and read more of what it meant for @maddiepoore.bsky.social and the rest of our team to celebrate with you:
What happened yesterday at the Commanders game reminds us of the recent scene at Washington Spirit games.
See @maustermuhle.bsky.social's reporting below ⬇️
Are there other examples of the intersection of D.C. sports and political protest we should be remembering in this context?
See @maustermuhle.bsky.social's reporting below ⬇️
Are there other examples of the intersection of D.C. sports and political protest we should be remembering in this context?
November 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM
What happened yesterday at the Commanders game reminds us of the recent scene at Washington Spirit games.
See @maustermuhle.bsky.social's reporting below ⬇️
Are there other examples of the intersection of D.C. sports and political protest we should be remembering in this context?
See @maustermuhle.bsky.social's reporting below ⬇️
Are there other examples of the intersection of D.C. sports and political protest we should be remembering in this context?
Reposted by The 51st
🌟Our latest "5 Questions with" features @christurdisani.bsky.social, @maddiepoore.bsky.social of @51st.news, discussing the newsroom’s worker-led structure, a popular story about a restaurant’s “luscious” plant display and expanding its Community Connector program. www.tinynewsco.org/5-questions-...
5 Questions with The 51st’s Christina Sturdivant Sani and Maddie Poore
Learn about The 51st's origin story and how it has thrived in its first year since launch.
www.tinynewsco.org
November 10, 2025 at 3:18 PM
🌟Our latest "5 Questions with" features @christurdisani.bsky.social, @maddiepoore.bsky.social of @51st.news, discussing the newsroom’s worker-led structure, a popular story about a restaurant’s “luscious” plant display and expanding its Community Connector program. www.tinynewsco.org/5-questions-...
Cycles of juvenile crime have prompted periodic debates since the 1970s over when kids should be off D.C. streets.
At a recent D.C. Council hearing, as lawmakers debated extending our emergency curfew, residents shared nuanced views on the issue.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
At a recent D.C. Council hearing, as lawmakers debated extending our emergency curfew, residents shared nuanced views on the issue.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
With another extension, debate continues on youth curfew
It's temporary for now, but Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to make it permanent.
51st.news
November 10, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Cycles of juvenile crime have prompted periodic debates since the 1970s over when kids should be off D.C. streets.
At a recent D.C. Council hearing, as lawmakers debated extending our emergency curfew, residents shared nuanced views on the issue.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
At a recent D.C. Council hearing, as lawmakers debated extending our emergency curfew, residents shared nuanced views on the issue.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
Last year, six D.C. agencies spent $325 million more than what the D.C. council had initially budgeted.
This year, the pattern is largely repeating — and it's leading to contention between the council and Mayor Bowser, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports in this week's Wilson Building Bulletin:
This year, the pattern is largely repeating — and it's leading to contention between the council and Mayor Bowser, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports in this week's Wilson Building Bulletin:
Wilson Building Bulletin: Foie gras — on the ballot and off the menu?
Also: A tax breakup with the feds and a warning on overspending.
51st.news
November 10, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Last year, six D.C. agencies spent $325 million more than what the D.C. council had initially budgeted.
This year, the pattern is largely repeating — and it's leading to contention between the council and Mayor Bowser, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports in this week's Wilson Building Bulletin:
This year, the pattern is largely repeating — and it's leading to contention between the council and Mayor Bowser, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports in this week's Wilson Building Bulletin:
We're hiring two Ward 7 Community Connectors — one for in-person events and another for online outreach.
These are part-time, contract roles: $35+/hour, ~5 hours/week. Applicants must live in Ward 7.
More information and how to apply:
These are part-time, contract roles: $35+/hour, ~5 hours/week. Applicants must live in Ward 7.
More information and how to apply:
We're hiring Ward 7 Community Connectors
We're hiring two Community Connectors — one for in-person events and another for online outreach.
51st.news
November 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM
We're hiring two Ward 7 Community Connectors — one for in-person events and another for online outreach.
These are part-time, contract roles: $35+/hour, ~5 hours/week. Applicants must live in Ward 7.
More information and how to apply:
These are part-time, contract roles: $35+/hour, ~5 hours/week. Applicants must live in Ward 7.
More information and how to apply:
In this week's Civics Roundup:
🤘 Support local bands and local mutual aid!
🪡 A free mending workshop and winter clothing swap
⚖️ How to hold the justice system accountable through jury duty
🌉 A Ward 7 transportation infrastructure update
🤘 Support local bands and local mutual aid!
🪡 A free mending workshop and winter clothing swap
⚖️ How to hold the justice system accountable through jury duty
🌉 A Ward 7 transportation infrastructure update
Your weekly roundup of ways to get involved in D.C.
Plus, a juror teach-in, a Council hearing on D.C. schools, and more.
51st.news
November 8, 2025 at 10:00 PM
In this week's Civics Roundup:
🤘 Support local bands and local mutual aid!
🪡 A free mending workshop and winter clothing swap
⚖️ How to hold the justice system accountable through jury duty
🌉 A Ward 7 transportation infrastructure update
🤘 Support local bands and local mutual aid!
🪡 A free mending workshop and winter clothing swap
⚖️ How to hold the justice system accountable through jury duty
🌉 A Ward 7 transportation infrastructure update
We need permanent solutions to streateries in D.C. — but for their improvement, not their removal, Woodley Park ANC commissioner Samuel Littauer argues.
Why he says the math on losing them doesn’t add up:
Why he says the math on losing them doesn’t add up:
Opinion: D.C.'s new streatery rules are a costly miscalculation
The city's streatery guidelines are punishing small businesses and vibrant neighborhoods. We need a permanent solution to keep these staples of the city’s dining scene.
51st.news
November 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
We need permanent solutions to streateries in D.C. — but for their improvement, not their removal, Woodley Park ANC commissioner Samuel Littauer argues.
Why he says the math on losing them doesn’t add up:
Why he says the math on losing them doesn’t add up:
Thanks to emergency legislation approved this week in the D.C. Council, instead of automatically mirroring changes that Congress makes to the federal tax code, D.C. is claiming some measure of independence, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports.
Wilson Building Bulletin: Foie gras — on the ballot and off the menu?
Also: A tax breakup with the feds and a warning on overspending.
51st.news
November 8, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Thanks to emergency legislation approved this week in the D.C. Council, instead of automatically mirroring changes that Congress makes to the federal tax code, D.C. is claiming some measure of independence, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports.
Like magic, last week’s spooky events have vanished — replaced by all things cozy and crafty.
Unwrap the last of your Halloween candy stash as you check out this weekend’s best local events:
Unwrap the last of your Halloween candy stash as you check out this weekend’s best local events:
13 things to do around D.C. this weekend
Like magic, last week’s spooky events have vanished — replaced by all things cozy and crafty.
51st.news
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Like magic, last week’s spooky events have vanished — replaced by all things cozy and crafty.
Unwrap the last of your Halloween candy stash as you check out this weekend’s best local events:
Unwrap the last of your Halloween candy stash as you check out this weekend’s best local events:
Reposted by The 51st
Update on SNAP payments in D.C.: City officials tell me that the $30 million in local funds being used to cover SNAP will be fully paid out by next week. If federal funds start flowing before that, they may be able to make a swap and save some of the local funds being used.
The federal shutdown has now lasted more than a month — approaching the record 35 days in 2018-2019.
Late last week, though, D.C. took a step to keep the situation from getting even worse for tens of thousands of local households.
Late last week, though, D.C. took a step to keep the situation from getting even worse for tens of thousands of local households.
D.C. will use its own money to pay for SNAP amid shutdown
The Trump administration has refused to use contingency funding to pay for food assistance.
51st.news
November 7, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Update on SNAP payments in D.C.: City officials tell me that the $30 million in local funds being used to cover SNAP will be fully paid out by next week. If federal funds start flowing before that, they may be able to make a swap and save some of the local funds being used.
“D.C. is a city of people who really care about things... I think it's a really incredible city to try and launch something like this in.”
@thefulcrum-us.bsky.social interviewed our co-founder @abigailhiggins.bsky.social — among others — for this piece about how community fuels our team's work:
@thefulcrum-us.bsky.social interviewed our co-founder @abigailhiggins.bsky.social — among others — for this piece about how community fuels our team's work:
Community is Keeping this Young News Outlet Alive
The 51st owes its success to reader support and input
thefulcrum.us
November 7, 2025 at 6:10 PM
“D.C. is a city of people who really care about things... I think it's a really incredible city to try and launch something like this in.”
@thefulcrum-us.bsky.social interviewed our co-founder @abigailhiggins.bsky.social — among others — for this piece about how community fuels our team's work:
@thefulcrum-us.bsky.social interviewed our co-founder @abigailhiggins.bsky.social — among others — for this piece about how community fuels our team's work:
D.C.'s youth curfew extension is temporary, but Mayor Bowser wants to make it permanent.
Activists and their Council allies like @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social are worried: "We cannot continue to implement tools that invite surveillance or more policing of our kids."
From @maustermuhle.bsky.social:
Activists and their Council allies like @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social are worried: "We cannot continue to implement tools that invite surveillance or more policing of our kids."
From @maustermuhle.bsky.social:
With another extension, debate continues on youth curfew
It's temporary for now, but Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to make it permanent.
51st.news
November 7, 2025 at 4:28 PM
D.C.'s youth curfew extension is temporary, but Mayor Bowser wants to make it permanent.
Activists and their Council allies like @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social are worried: "We cannot continue to implement tools that invite surveillance or more policing of our kids."
From @maustermuhle.bsky.social:
Activists and their Council allies like @cmlewisgeorgew4.bsky.social are worried: "We cannot continue to implement tools that invite surveillance or more policing of our kids."
From @maustermuhle.bsky.social:
Sean Charles Dunn’s moment of culinary resistance — he wouldn't be subservient, one could say — has become a symbol of D.C.’s refusal to accept the federal occupation quietly.
Earlier today, D.C.'s own "sandwich guy" was found not guilty of the charges against him.
Earlier today, D.C.'s own "sandwich guy" was found not guilty of the charges against him.
How a thrown sandwich became a symbol of D.C.’s resistance
In an already surreal moment, Washingtonians have embraced bread puns, sandwich flags, and sub-themed street art as a form of protest.
51st.news
November 7, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Sean Charles Dunn’s moment of culinary resistance — he wouldn't be subservient, one could say — has become a symbol of D.C.’s refusal to accept the federal occupation quietly.
Earlier today, D.C.'s own "sandwich guy" was found not guilty of the charges against him.
Earlier today, D.C.'s own "sandwich guy" was found not guilty of the charges against him.
How can people join you in getting involved across D.C.?
Our picks this week:
🤘 A @foodnotbombsdc.bsky.social benefit show
🧑⚖️ @harrietsdreams.bsky.social and @freedcproject.bsky.social are training future jurors
🧶 @rhizomedc.bsky.social hosts crafting and conversation about police abolition
Our picks this week:
🤘 A @foodnotbombsdc.bsky.social benefit show
🧑⚖️ @harrietsdreams.bsky.social and @freedcproject.bsky.social are training future jurors
🧶 @rhizomedc.bsky.social hosts crafting and conversation about police abolition
Your weekly roundup of ways to get involved in D.C.
Plus, a juror teach-in, a Council hearing on D.C. schools, and more.
51st.news
November 6, 2025 at 8:44 PM
How can people join you in getting involved across D.C.?
Our picks this week:
🤘 A @foodnotbombsdc.bsky.social benefit show
🧑⚖️ @harrietsdreams.bsky.social and @freedcproject.bsky.social are training future jurors
🧶 @rhizomedc.bsky.social hosts crafting and conversation about police abolition
Our picks this week:
🤘 A @foodnotbombsdc.bsky.social benefit show
🧑⚖️ @harrietsdreams.bsky.social and @freedcproject.bsky.social are training future jurors
🧶 @rhizomedc.bsky.social hosts crafting and conversation about police abolition
What are you doing this weekend? (We mean it: Reply to tell us!)
If you're still looking for plans, our picks include:
🫖 @scenicrailway.bsky.social screens "Over the Garden Wall"
🧶 Crochet 101 at @rhizomedc.bsky.social
Plus: A giant vintage market, a pottery sale, and a Commanders watch party:
If you're still looking for plans, our picks include:
🫖 @scenicrailway.bsky.social screens "Over the Garden Wall"
🧶 Crochet 101 at @rhizomedc.bsky.social
Plus: A giant vintage market, a pottery sale, and a Commanders watch party:
13 things to do around D.C. this weekend
Like magic, last week’s spooky events have vanished — replaced by all things cozy and crafty.
51st.news
November 6, 2025 at 8:17 PM
What are you doing this weekend? (We mean it: Reply to tell us!)
If you're still looking for plans, our picks include:
🫖 @scenicrailway.bsky.social screens "Over the Garden Wall"
🧶 Crochet 101 at @rhizomedc.bsky.social
Plus: A giant vintage market, a pottery sale, and a Commanders watch party:
If you're still looking for plans, our picks include:
🫖 @scenicrailway.bsky.social screens "Over the Garden Wall"
🧶 Crochet 101 at @rhizomedc.bsky.social
Plus: A giant vintage market, a pottery sale, and a Commanders watch party:
Exciting news: We’re partnering with @lpostcollective.bsky.social to expand the capacity of our Ward 7 Community Connectors program.
To support this work, we’re hiring for two short-term, contract positions. Share this post to help us spread the word!
More about the project and the positions:
To support this work, we’re hiring for two short-term, contract positions. Share this post to help us spread the word!
More about the project and the positions:
We're hiring Ward 7 Community Connectors
We're hiring two Community Connectors — one for in-person events and another for online outreach.
51st.news
November 6, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Exciting news: We’re partnering with @lpostcollective.bsky.social to expand the capacity of our Ward 7 Community Connectors program.
To support this work, we’re hiring for two short-term, contract positions. Share this post to help us spread the word!
More about the project and the positions:
To support this work, we’re hiring for two short-term, contract positions. Share this post to help us spread the word!
More about the project and the positions:
D.C.'s streatery guidelines are punishing small businesses and vibrant neighborhoods, Woodley Park ANC commissioner Samuel Littauer argues.
To keep these staples of the city’s dining scene, he says we need a more permanent policy solution.
To keep these staples of the city’s dining scene, he says we need a more permanent policy solution.
Opinion: D.C.'s new streatery rules are a costly miscalculation
The city's streatery guidelines are punishing small businesses and vibrant neighborhoods. We need a permanent solution to keep these staples of the city’s dining scene.
51st.news
November 6, 2025 at 7:24 PM
D.C.'s streatery guidelines are punishing small businesses and vibrant neighborhoods, Woodley Park ANC commissioner Samuel Littauer argues.
To keep these staples of the city’s dining scene, he says we need a more permanent policy solution.
To keep these staples of the city’s dining scene, he says we need a more permanent policy solution.
Over the past decade, D.C. voters have weighed in via ballot measure on whether to legalize marijuana, phase out the tipped wage, and adopt ranked-choice voting.
Next up... the fate of a controversial French delicacy.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
Next up... the fate of a controversial French delicacy.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
Wilson Building Bulletin: Foie gras – on the ballot and off the menu?
Also: A tax breakup with the feds and a warning on overspending.
51st.news
November 6, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Over the past decade, D.C. voters have weighed in via ballot measure on whether to legalize marijuana, phase out the tipped wage, and adopt ranked-choice voting.
Next up... the fate of a controversial French delicacy.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
Next up... the fate of a controversial French delicacy.
@maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
The debate over D.C.'s expanded youth curfew was revived this week, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
Lawmakers voted to reinstate the policy for another three months — with a looming debate about making it permanent.
Lawmakers voted to reinstate the policy for another three months — with a looming debate about making it permanent.
With another extension, debate continues on youth curfew
It's temporary for now, but Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to make it permanent.
51st.news
November 6, 2025 at 6:33 PM
The debate over D.C.'s expanded youth curfew was revived this week, @maustermuhle.bsky.social reports:
Lawmakers voted to reinstate the policy for another three months — with a looming debate about making it permanent.
Lawmakers voted to reinstate the policy for another three months — with a looming debate about making it permanent.
📬 This week's newsletter is out!
🥊 Curfew contention on the D.C. Council
🍽️ The case for streateries
💸 A tax breakup with the feds ... and a warning on overspending
Get the next edition in your inbox: www.51st.news/signup
🥊 Curfew contention on the D.C. Council
🍽️ The case for streateries
💸 A tax breakup with the feds ... and a warning on overspending
Get the next edition in your inbox: www.51st.news/signup
Curfew contention on the council
Plus, a tax breakup with the feds, an op-ed on streateries, and more.
51st.news
November 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM
📬 This week's newsletter is out!
🥊 Curfew contention on the D.C. Council
🍽️ The case for streateries
💸 A tax breakup with the feds ... and a warning on overspending
Get the next edition in your inbox: www.51st.news/signup
🥊 Curfew contention on the D.C. Council
🍽️ The case for streateries
💸 A tax breakup with the feds ... and a warning on overspending
Get the next edition in your inbox: www.51st.news/signup
Reposted by The 51st
#kingmanPark protests and kiddos are represented in here
What D.C. parents can keep in mind when talking to their kids about the current moment:
• Be honest and vulnerable
• Let kids lead
• Help them understand the big picture
• Build community
• Look for the helpers
More tips from the local experts contributor Foram Mehta interviewed:
• Be honest and vulnerable
• Let kids lead
• Help them understand the big picture
• Build community
• Look for the helpers
More tips from the local experts contributor Foram Mehta interviewed:
How to explain ICE and the national guard in DC to kids
We asked experts how to discuss ICE, the national guard deployment, and the current political moment with kids.
51st.news
November 5, 2025 at 1:19 PM
#kingmanPark protests and kiddos are represented in here
What D.C. parents can keep in mind when talking to their kids about the current moment:
• Be honest and vulnerable
• Let kids lead
• Help them understand the big picture
• Build community
• Look for the helpers
More tips from the local experts contributor Foram Mehta interviewed:
• Be honest and vulnerable
• Let kids lead
• Help them understand the big picture
• Build community
• Look for the helpers
More tips from the local experts contributor Foram Mehta interviewed:
How to explain ICE and the national guard in DC to kids
We asked experts how to discuss ICE, the national guard deployment, and the current political moment with kids.
51st.news
November 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
What D.C. parents can keep in mind when talking to their kids about the current moment:
• Be honest and vulnerable
• Let kids lead
• Help them understand the big picture
• Build community
• Look for the helpers
More tips from the local experts contributor Foram Mehta interviewed:
• Be honest and vulnerable
• Let kids lead
• Help them understand the big picture
• Build community
• Look for the helpers
More tips from the local experts contributor Foram Mehta interviewed:
"D.C. natives are living newsworthy lives that are not being recognized by traditional news media," Dwayne Lawson-Brown writes.
As a community connector for The 51st, they're making space for these stories, while de-centering trauma and working from a place of celebrating communal success.
As a community connector for The 51st, they're making space for these stories, while de-centering trauma and working from a place of celebrating communal success.
How we're making space for D.C. natives in local media
Dwayne Lawson-Brown has been learning about longtime residents’ information needs — and, in the process, about their own relationship with local news.
51st.news
November 4, 2025 at 9:01 PM
"D.C. natives are living newsworthy lives that are not being recognized by traditional news media," Dwayne Lawson-Brown writes.
As a community connector for The 51st, they're making space for these stories, while de-centering trauma and working from a place of celebrating communal success.
As a community connector for The 51st, they're making space for these stories, while de-centering trauma and working from a place of celebrating communal success.
Reposted by The 51st
A beautiful story about a beautiful man in an occupied neighborhood in my occupied city. We are all worse off for this loss, and I am so grateful to local independent journalists for calling attention to it.
Gael Gomez and his family are all but certain to leave the country this week, upending the lives they’ve built in D.C.
But Mount Pleasant's 19-year-old sidewalk astronomer wants people to keep looking up — at the sky and in life.
@samdelgado.bsky.social reports:
But Mount Pleasant's 19-year-old sidewalk astronomer wants people to keep looking up — at the sky and in life.
@samdelgado.bsky.social reports:
Mount Pleasant’s sidewalk astronomer might have to leave his home
But Gael Gomez wants people to keep looking up — at the sky and in life.
51st.news
November 4, 2025 at 1:28 PM
A beautiful story about a beautiful man in an occupied neighborhood in my occupied city. We are all worse off for this loss, and I am so grateful to local independent journalists for calling attention to it.