THE DISTRICT

D.C. charter school votes to unionize

Teachers and staff at a D.C. charter school voted Thursday to unionize, the first time a charter in the District has taken such a step.

Educators at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School at Chavez Prep Middle School in Northwest voted 31-2 to form a union, which they say will help secure more resources for students, give them a say in school decision-making and create job security.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to work alongside our school board and our principal to make a school that we’re really proud of into the envy of the District,” Christian Herr, a science teacher, said in a written statement.

Chavez Prep Principal Kourtney Miller said the school’s board and leadership does not plan to fight the unionization effort. They plan to begin collective bargaining soon.

“I am proud of the work we have done as a team this year, and I look forward to increasing that collaboration,” Miller said.

Most charter schools in D.C. and across the country are not unionized. The American Federation of Teachers said it now represents 234 charter schools nationwide, including Chavez.

— Alejandra Matos

Man, 25, fatally shot in Southeast

A 25-year-old District man, Malik Mahdi Hill, was fatally shot on Friday night at his home on the 2700 block of Langston Place SE, according to D.C. police.

Two other males — an adult and juvenile — were also shot, but were listed in stable conditions at area hospitals, police said Saturday.

The shooting with a handgun occurred at about 10:45 p.m. Friday in front of apartments along Langston Place SE, police said.

Detectives are still investigating the case and are looking for the person or people responsible. Police did not list a suspected motive for the shootings.

— Ian Shapira

VIRGINIA

Park reopens after ballfield shooting

The Alexandria city park where five people were wounded during a congressional Republican baseball team practice Wednesday almost entirely reopened Saturday.

City officials said all streets and recreational fields around Eugene Simpson Stadium Park, except for the large baseball field, have reopened. The adjacent YMCA also reopened its facility but not its swimming pool, where a bullet from the gunfire exchange between James T. Hodgkinson, 66, and police landed. Hodgkinson died from his wounds.

The large ballfield is accessible only by teams with scheduled permits. Metrobus, the local DASH buses and area businesses resumed normal operations Saturday.

— Patricia Sullivan

Suspect sought in death of D.C. man in Arlington

Arlington police are seeking the public’s help in locating a man they identified as a suspect in the shooting death of a District man Friday night in the Nauck neighborhood.

Adonis Wright, 35, died at George Washington University Hospital after police say he was shot during a dispute at about 11:20 p.m. Friday with Daejon Tyrie Jones, 23, of Woodbridge. The alleged argument occurred in the 2400 block of S. Lowell Street, a residential area, before police say Jones shot Wright, then fled the scene.

Jones is considered armed and dangerous, police said, and asked the public to contact the Arlington police with any information on his whereabouts. Police spokeswoman Ashley Savage said this is the third homicide in Arlington this year.

— Patricia Sullivan

Loading...