Derek Willis
@dwillis.bsky.social
I teach data journalism at the University of Maryland, run OpenElections. Fan of WBB & test cricket. Posting obscure things about campaign finance, Congress & elections.
https://github.com/dwillis
https://thescoop.org
https://github.com/dwillis
https://thescoop.org
Reposted by Derek Willis
Hey there, Maryland Blue Sky 👋.
I'm a Maryland politics reporter @thebaltimorebanner.com. I'm going to be asking your U.S. House reps where they stand on the Senate deal coming back to their chamber. What else do you want me to ask? Drop a comment. DMs open.
I'm a Maryland politics reporter @thebaltimorebanner.com. I'm going to be asking your U.S. House reps where they stand on the Senate deal coming back to their chamber. What else do you want me to ask? Drop a comment. DMs open.
November 10, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Hey there, Maryland Blue Sky 👋.
I'm a Maryland politics reporter @thebaltimorebanner.com. I'm going to be asking your U.S. House reps where they stand on the Senate deal coming back to their chamber. What else do you want me to ask? Drop a comment. DMs open.
I'm a Maryland politics reporter @thebaltimorebanner.com. I'm going to be asking your U.S. House reps where they stand on the Senate deal coming back to their chamber. What else do you want me to ask? Drop a comment. DMs open.
Reposted by Derek Willis
Assume all the yes and no votes from Dem senators are strategic and not sincere votes. The party caucus made a decision. No way to know how many were in favor. Then the caucus decided who would vote yes and no based on what would protect each of them politically the most. That’s how this works.
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Assume all the yes and no votes from Dem senators are strategic and not sincere votes. The party caucus made a decision. No way to know how many were in favor. Then the caucus decided who would vote yes and no based on what would protect each of them politically the most. That’s how this works.
November 9, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I was under the uninformed impression that Addi Mack would not contribute much to @terpswbb.bsky.social this season.
Appears I was wrong about that.
Appears I was wrong about that.
November 9, 2025 at 9:05 PM
I was under the uninformed impression that Addi Mack would not contribute much to @terpswbb.bsky.social this season.
Appears I was wrong about that.
Appears I was wrong about that.
TIL: Thomas Edison is a recruiting manager for the "Great Illuminati".
November 9, 2025 at 12:57 PM
TIL: Thomas Edison is a recruiting manager for the "Great Illuminati".
The best part about that Rutgers TD is that there were *two* wide-open receivers on the play.
November 8, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The best part about that Rutgers TD is that there were *two* wide-open receivers on the play.
The @merrillcollege.bsky.social journalism students who have been showing up to immigration court in Hyattsville, Md., and who got asked to leave, then regained access, have another story, this one about the folks who also come to bear witness:
cnsmaryland.org/2025/11/08/l...
cnsmaryland.org/2025/11/08/l...
Local residents keep an eye on Hyattsville Immigration Court
HYATTSVILLE, Md.--Jim Bell has never felt comfortable entering Hyattsville Immigration Court, but he still shows up every Thursday afternoon, putting his own ease aside out of a sense of duty. He and…
cnsmaryland.org
November 8, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The @merrillcollege.bsky.social journalism students who have been showing up to immigration court in Hyattsville, Md., and who got asked to leave, then regained access, have another story, this one about the folks who also come to bear witness:
cnsmaryland.org/2025/11/08/l...
cnsmaryland.org/2025/11/08/l...
Reposted by Derek Willis
The Cornell AAUP chapter has consistently stated that any deal with the Trump administration would be strategically unwise and a betrayal of Cornell’s principles. This remains the case. At best, we can say that this deal could have been worse.
Read our full statement here:
Read our full statement here:
Statement on Cornell’s agreement with federal government
The Cornell AAUP chapter has consistently stated that any deal with the Trump administration would be strategically unwise and a betrayal of Cornell’s principles. This remains the case. We ar…
aaup-cornell.org
November 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
The Cornell AAUP chapter has consistently stated that any deal with the Trump administration would be strategically unwise and a betrayal of Cornell’s principles. This remains the case. At best, we can say that this deal could have been worse.
Read our full statement here:
Read our full statement here:
Need a ruling from @aedwardslevy.bsky.social on this "survey question" from a Ted Cruz fundraising email (secure.winred.com/ted-cruz/pg_...)
November 6, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Need a ruling from @aedwardslevy.bsky.social on this "survey question" from a Ted Cruz fundraising email (secure.winred.com/ted-cruz/pg_...)
Either the original headline was crafted to gin up views or it was written with zero thought.
Or both, I suppose.
Or both, I suppose.
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Either the original headline was crafted to gin up views or it was written with zero thought.
Or both, I suppose.
Or both, I suppose.
Reposted by Derek Willis
NEW: We reviewed 700+ videos, hours of footage from ICE protesters and counterprotesters in Portland.
In 2 months before Trump said he was sending the National Guard, federal officers fire on, grab, pepper-spray or tear gas people 20 times -- without charging anyone. "Gratuitous," one expert said.
In 2 months before Trump said he was sending the National Guard, federal officers fire on, grab, pepper-spray or tear gas people 20 times -- without charging anyone. "Gratuitous," one expert said.
What Really Happened in Portland Before Trump Deployed the National Guard
In the two months before Trump’s decision, criminal charges were announced against only three people. On nights when physical conflict did erupt, it often came from police firing on, shoving, pepper-s...
www.propublica.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:29 PM
NEW: We reviewed 700+ videos, hours of footage from ICE protesters and counterprotesters in Portland.
In 2 months before Trump said he was sending the National Guard, federal officers fire on, grab, pepper-spray or tear gas people 20 times -- without charging anyone. "Gratuitous," one expert said.
In 2 months before Trump said he was sending the National Guard, federal officers fire on, grab, pepper-spray or tear gas people 20 times -- without charging anyone. "Gratuitous," one expert said.
Reposted by Derek Willis
Lancaster County voters Tuesday again raised the bar for turnout in a municipal election, as highly contested school board races and a state Supreme Court retention race drove voters to the polls.
lanc.news/47LAjet
lanc.news/47LAjet
Voter turnout in Lancaster County municipal races doubled in 8 years
Lancaster County voters Tuesday again raised the bar for turnout in a municipal election, as highly contested school board races and a state Supreme Court retention race drove voters to
lanc.news
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Lancaster County voters Tuesday again raised the bar for turnout in a municipal election, as highly contested school board races and a state Supreme Court retention race drove voters to the polls.
lanc.news/47LAjet
lanc.news/47LAjet
I'll say this for using AI in data journalism: I've cobbled together a scraping system for NCAA men's soccer rosters. I gave that code to Claude Code & asked it to fix some teams that weren't working.
Then asked it to adapt the code for D-I women's teams. 1st pass it nailed 314 out of 338 teams.
Then asked it to adapt the code for D-I women's teams. 1st pass it nailed 314 out of 338 teams.
November 5, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I'll say this for using AI in data journalism: I've cobbled together a scraping system for NCAA men's soccer rosters. I gave that code to Claude Code & asked it to fix some teams that weren't working.
Then asked it to adapt the code for D-I women's teams. 1st pass it nailed 314 out of 338 teams.
Then asked it to adapt the code for D-I women's teams. 1st pass it nailed 314 out of 338 teams.
An interesting thing to hear Mamdani reference Vito Marcantonio, a mostly forgotten GOP & Labor Party congressman from NYC who championed labor rights, civil rights and immigrant communities before being defeated by a multi-party coalition of Dems & Republicans.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Ma...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Ma...
Vito Marcantonio - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 5, 2025 at 12:14 PM
An interesting thing to hear Mamdani reference Vito Marcantonio, a mostly forgotten GOP & Labor Party congressman from NYC who championed labor rights, civil rights and immigrant communities before being defeated by a multi-party coalition of Dems & Republicans.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Ma...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vito_Ma...
Reposted by Derek Willis
remember, rural VA reports first, then urban VA comes plowing in
November 5, 2025 at 12:16 AM
remember, rural VA reports first, then urban VA comes plowing in
Not the most interesting thing in here, but Datasette 1.0 should be out by the end of 2025!
Datasette 1.0a20 is out, with an entirely new SQL-powered permissions system. This is by far the most ambitious project I've attempted with the help of coding agents (Claude Code and Codex CLI) - notes on how it works and what I learned along the way:
simonwillison.net/2025/Nov/4/d...
simonwillison.net/2025/Nov/4/d...
A new SQL-powered permissions system in Datasette 1.0a20
Datasette 1.0a20 is out with the biggest breaking API change on the road to 1.0, improving how Datasette’s permissions system works by migrating permission logic to SQL running in SQLite. …
simonwillison.net
November 4, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Not the most interesting thing in here, but Datasette 1.0 should be out by the end of 2025!
Yep. Completely agree with this, and it's still a hard problem.
Wrote a short piece arguing that higher ed must help steer AI. TLDR: If we outsource this to tech, we outsource our whole business. But rejectionism is basically stalling. If we want to survive, schools themselves must proactively shape AI for education & research. [1/6, unpaywalled at 5/6] +
Opinion | AI Is the Future. Higher Ed Should Shape It.
If we want to stay at the forefront of knowledge production, we must fit technology to our needs.
www.chronicle.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Yep. Completely agree with this, and it's still a hard problem.
"Our estimates suggest that cable news can account for one-third of the time-series increase in cultural conflict since 2000."
Cool new working paper on why and how cable news threw gasoline on the culture war fire. The culture war isn't optimal for electoral candidates, but it's optimal for cable news companies.
ungated: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/27v4x...
ungated: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/27v4x...
November 3, 2025 at 9:14 PM
"Our estimates suggest that cable news can account for one-third of the time-series increase in cultural conflict since 2000."
Reposted by Derek Willis
We could legitimately hit $200M in coaching buyouts this hiring cycle, roughly "one Florida athletic department" worth of dead money.
I'm starting to think this isn't going to stop, even with schools needing to pay their players.
Money isn't real.
www.extrapointsmb.com/p/coaching-b...
I'm starting to think this isn't going to stop, even with schools needing to pay their players.
Money isn't real.
www.extrapointsmb.com/p/coaching-b...
Coaching buyouts are more proof that money isn't real
Coaching buyout numbers shouldn't be accelerating like this. But they are.
www.extrapointsmb.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:58 PM
We could legitimately hit $200M in coaching buyouts this hiring cycle, roughly "one Florida athletic department" worth of dead money.
I'm starting to think this isn't going to stop, even with schools needing to pay their players.
Money isn't real.
www.extrapointsmb.com/p/coaching-b...
I'm starting to think this isn't going to stop, even with schools needing to pay their players.
Money isn't real.
www.extrapointsmb.com/p/coaching-b...
Approximately one in four NCAA men's soccer players this season lists a hometown outside the United States, according to roster data I've compiled.
Nearly 700 teams across all three NCAA divisions have at least one international player. More than 30, mostly smaller colleges, have at least 2 dozen.
Nearly 700 teams across all three NCAA divisions have at least one international player. More than 30, mostly smaller colleges, have at least 2 dozen.
November 3, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Approximately one in four NCAA men's soccer players this season lists a hometown outside the United States, according to roster data I've compiled.
Nearly 700 teams across all three NCAA divisions have at least one international player. More than 30, mostly smaller colleges, have at least 2 dozen.
Nearly 700 teams across all three NCAA divisions have at least one international player. More than 30, mostly smaller colleges, have at least 2 dozen.
I tried to kill some bees with an aerosol spray can and a lighter and ended up burning down an abandoned house (I was the only one injured).
What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done? I don’t mean “cheating on your partner” stupid, I mean stupid stupid. Like, once, I had this bubble bath which smelled absolutely delicious, so I took a big glug of it. That kind of stupid. (It did not taste delicious.)
November 1, 2025 at 4:05 PM
I tried to kill some bees with an aerosol spray can and a lighter and ended up burning down an abandoned house (I was the only one injured).
It's not that the people of this Pennsylvania Catholic school don't know what putting a replica of the gate at Auschwitz on their Halloween float would mean. It's that they do.
November 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
It's not that the people of this Pennsylvania Catholic school don't know what putting a replica of the gate at Auschwitz on their Halloween float would mean. It's that they do.
That’s some good student journalism from
@merrillcollege.bsky.social students:
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/31/c...
@merrillcollege.bsky.social students:
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/31/c...
Federal officials reverse Hyattsville immigration court’s move to eject reporters
Federal officials have reversed a decision of the Hyattsville Immigration Court and welcomed reporters back inside -- whether or not they have permission from a public information officer to be there.
cnsmaryland.org
October 31, 2025 at 8:39 PM
That’s some good student journalism from
@merrillcollege.bsky.social students:
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/31/c...
@merrillcollege.bsky.social students:
cnsmaryland.org/2025/10/31/c...
A fundraising "survey" for Texas Rep. Brandon Gill that features VP Vance includes this question, which I haven't seen before in fundraising appeals (also, I don't know what a "polling occasion" is):
October 31, 2025 at 7:34 PM
A fundraising "survey" for Texas Rep. Brandon Gill that features VP Vance includes this question, which I haven't seen before in fundraising appeals (also, I don't know what a "polling occasion" is):