Breakfast links: Regional air quality in unhealthy zone due to Canadian wildfires
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Haze over car traffic on North Capitol Street facing southbound towards the Capitol by Joe Flood licensed under Creative Commons.
Region’s air quality worsens as smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifts down
Outdoor activities at DC Public Schools and Fairfax County Public Schools were canceled on Wednesday, and are expected to be canceled again today as air quality worsens. Air quality across the region is currently rated Code Red, Purple, or Maroon — unhealthy for all and hazardous. While many residents of DC already dealt with air quality pollutants prior to this situation, an increase in wildfires due to climate change could further exacerbate the issue. (Colleen Grablick / DCist, Malcom Feguson / Washingtonian, Capital Weather Gang, DC Public Schools)
Chesapeake Bay Watershed earns C in biannual report card
While the biannual report card, the Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), shows some improvements in metrics like water clarity - 12% to 20% from 2021 to 2022, there is still a longer-term decline in the region overall. The new report also includes a new environmental justice index developed by the CDC which exposed substantial environmental justice disparities across Maryland and Virginia. (Sarah Y. Kim / DCist)
Minnesota Commons affordable housing deal falls through, leaving tenants in limbo
Financing dried up for the NFP Foundation, a local affordable housing nonprofit that was slated to purchase Minnesota Commons by tenant choice. NFP had promised to protect the building’s rent stabilization following renovations. The tenants of Minnesota Commons are now in limbo as the building appears likely to sell to a company with a business model focused on buying out tenants in rent-stabilized buildings and replacing them with housing voucher holders, as vouchers command higher rents. (Disclosure: Pamela Lee, a member of the GGWash board of directors, is employed by NFP.) (Morgan Baskin / DCist)
Loudoun County’s new zoning ordinance reaches final stages, flexibility concerns continue
Loudoun County’s draft of new zoning ordinances makes rezoning modifications difficult or impossible, leading to worries from developers and affordable housing advocates on the flexibility needed to meet market needs. The rewrite of the ordinances is anticipated to be completed before the November elections. (This article is behind a paywall) (Dan Brendel / Business Journal)
National Park Service allots $11.8 million to restore and upgrade Southeast DC parks
An investment from the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund of the National Parks Service is set to help pay for restoration projects across Southeast DC parks— rehabilitating tennis and basketball courts as well as funding the Anacostia Park skating pavilion. Work is expected to start in 2025. (Alanea Cremen / WUSA9)
DC walks back claims it didn’t know about DUIs for Rock Creek Parkway crash driver
Deputy Mayor Lucinda Babers claimed the DC Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) didn’t know about the previous DUI convictions which might have resulted in a revoked license of the driver who caused the most recent fatal crash on Rock Creek Parkway, but now the DMV admits it did have that information. (Martin Austermuhle / DCist)
New homes proposed instead of hotel in Ashburn’s Belmont Executive Center
The new owner of a vacant Ashburn lot once envisioned for a hotel wants to build dozens of new homes there instead. The new developer has stated that building the lot as all housing will help support existing businesses, schools, churches, and other institutions. The site is subject to the larger Belmont Executive Center rezoning by Toll Brothers which was approved in 2004 for a 250-room hotel on the vacant parcels. (This article is behind a paywall). (Dan Brendel / Washington Business Journal)
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