Washington D.C.

Axios D.C.

WMATA general manager Paul Wiedefeld unexpectedly announced Tuesday that he will retire — after six years on the job and coming at a difficult moment for the agency as it tries to get sidelined 7000-series trains back on track.

Flashback: Wiedefeld, former chief executive of BWI Airport, took the job in late 2015 after the board’s first pick dropped out. The agency was at another difficult moment: Ridership was low and trust in the agency had fallen, NBC4 reported at the time.

Just months into Wiedefeld’s tenure, smoke filled a Yellow Line train at L’Enfant Plaza, killing a passenger. 

Wiedefeld led the creation of SafeTrack, which the Washington Post called a “maintenance blitz,” to improve safety and reliability in the Metro. He also launched Back2Good in 2016, aimed at improving the customer experience through new amenities such as free WiFi in all stations. 

Prior to the pandemic, ridership was steadily growing. 

Last October, when 7000-series trains were pulled after a derailment, a federal transit authority investigation revealed that WMATA was aware since 2017 of issues with the wheel axles on the 7000-series trains. 

What they’re saying: Metro’s largest union, ATU local 689, said Tuesday in a statement that their relationship with Wiedefeld has been productive over the past two years, coming a long way since calling for his resignation during his early years and voting to authorize a strike in 2018.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also released a statement, saying he appreciated Wiedefeld’s service and dedication to improving Metro. 

What’s next: Wiedefeld will leave his position in six months and the WMATA board of directors will search for a replacement. 

WMATA general manager Paul Wiedefeld announces retirement

Wiedefeld launched SafeTrack and Back2Good, aimed at improving the customer experience through new amenities.

Photo: Astrid Riecken/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Washington, D.C.

WMATA general manager Paul Wiedefeld unexpectedly <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="announced" data-vars-click-url="https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Wiedefeld-Retirement-Announcement.cfm" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.wmata.com/about/news/Wiedefeld-Retirement-Announcement.cfm" target="_blank">announced</a> Tuesday that he will retire — after six years on the job and coming at a <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="difficult moment" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2021/10/18/metro-railcar-issues-derailment" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2021/10/18/metro-railcar-issues-derailment" target="_self">difficult moment</a> for the agency as it tries to get sidelined 7000-series trains back on track.

News

Data: N.Y. Times. Cartogram: Kavya Beheraj/Axios 

The dramatic upswing in COVID-19 cases that briefly made our region the epicenter of the Omicron surge is now rapidly abating. 

Why it matters: Omicron’s quick spread forced leaders to ramp up testing and sidelined employees across governments and businesses, derailing public life and leading to an increase in deaths.

New positive cases are down 52% in the District, from a Jan. 4 peak of 288 cases per 100,000 residents, according to D.C. data.

In neighboring Montgomery County, Maryland, officials said they may be weeks away from low case rates if the current downward trend continues. 

In Arlington County, cases declined last week or the first time in four weeks, in line with the rest of the region. 

What’s next: Leaders say they have learned from the latest surge, after Omicron sent the region scrambling for self-test kits and new protocols to handle the spread of the virus in schools.

“It’s certainly our intent to not operate as if Omicron will be the last variant,” Earl Stoddard, a top pandemic response official in Montgomery County said during a virtual news briefing.

The county has ordered over 2.1 million rapid self-test kits to distribute at libraries. But officials said yesterday its latest shipment of 196,000 kits was delayed by about a week due to the supplier fielding an onslaught of demand from the federal government and other customers, such as the District, which began its distribution of kits before Montgomery County.

Starting Friday, the county will tap into its stockpile of 4 million N95 masks to hand them out alongside test kits.

Given the need for continued testing and stubbornly low vaccination rates in lower-income and Black communities, the District announced this week it will open eight new COVID-19 centers.

The new centers were spurred not due to overwhelming demand like earlier in the pandemic, but to make testing and vaccination opportunities more ubiquitous.

“We want to have a more permanent location,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Tuesday at the opening of a center in Ward 7, as opposed to shifting pop-up clinics that can confuse residents.

Yes, but: Long-term planning for an ever-shifting virus has its challenges.

“I don’t want to stockpile enough tests for a million people, only to discover that the next variant has figured out to not be detected by it,” Montgomery County executive Marc Elrich told reporters yesterday.

He said planning ahead will be a balancing act. Stoddard said it’s likely restrictions such as the mask mandate — and a proposed proof-of-vaccination requirement to enter restaurants — would be relaxed and revived as conditions require. 

“We obviously will quickly move to restock and resupply, and make sure we have an on-hand capability to respond more rapidly than we did with the Omicron variant,” Stoddard said.

D.C. region sees sharp decline in COVID cases

Local leaders say they have learned from the latest surge, after Omicron sent the region scrambling for self-test kits and new protocols to handle the spread of the virus in schools.

The dramatic upswing in COVID-19 cases that briefly made our region the epicenter of the Omicron surge is now rapidly abating. Why it matters: Omicron’s quick spread forced leaders to ramp up testing and sidelined employees across governments and businesses, derailing public life and leading to an increase in deaths.

COVID

Harry Thomas Jr., who ended his comeback bid for the Ward 5 D.C. Council seat this week, said he is considering endorsing a former D.C. government staffer in the highly competitive contest.

Driving the news: A campaign newsletter nearly identical to the one Thomas used for his exit announcement is circulating in Ward 5 where he endorses candidate Faith Gibson Hubbard. But Thomas tells Axios that the decision isn't official yet.

"I guess it may be cat out the bag," he said when reached, after some residents posted the newsletter on Twitter Thursday afternoon. He called it a draft.

"I think it's time that we have a woman in that seat, and I think she's very qualified," he added.

Hubbard, who was most recently a community affairs director for Mayor Muriel Bowser, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment. 

Why it matters: Thomas' exit tightened the field in Ward 5, leaving four candidates to duke it out for the seat being vacated by incumbent Kenyan McDuffie.

Former council member Vincent Orange is part of the field, in addition to Education Board president Zachary Parker and advisory neighborhood commissioner Gordon Fletcher.

Thomas had unexpectedly entered the race in November. It was his return to the political arena after resigning in 2012 and going to prison for stealing public funds. 

On Tuesday, Thomas said he would instead run for D.C. shadow representative in the U.S. House. 

Between the lines: Thomas' exit announcement drew scrutiny after it lifted words directly from a Georgetown University student newspaper. 

He told the Washington City Paper that he did not mean to plagiarize from The Voice.

'Cat out the bag': Harry Thomas Jr. may endorse Faith Gibson Hubbard

Thomas says his endorsement in the Ward 5 race isn't official yet.

Screenshot of a virtual debate between Ward 5 D.C. Council candidates

A Ward 5 virtual debate from November 2021. Screenshot: Cuneyt Dil/Axios

Harry Thomas Jr., who ended his comeback bid for the Ward 5 D.C. Council seat this week, said he is considering endorsing a former D.C. government staffer in the highly competitive contest.Driving the news: A campaign newsletter nearly identical to the one Thomas used for his exit announcement is circulating in Ward 5 where he endorses candidate Faith Gibson Hubbard. But Thomas tells Axios that the decision isn&#x27;t official yet.

Politics

Seven Virginia school districts filed a lawsuit Monday to keep their individual mask mandates in place, the same day Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order allowing parents and guardians to opt their children out of their school’s mask mandate went into effect.  

Why it matters: The outcome of the lawsuit could determine who has the authority to make pandemic-related decisions within the public schools: individual school boards or the governor. 

This is also the first clash between the state’s bluest areas and the new GOP governor, who made ending mandates a key campaign promise.

“Currently, we are in an untenable situation,” Falls Church City Public Schools Director of Communications John Wesley Brett wrote in an email to Axios. “Caught between state law and an executive order we believe are in conflict with one another.”

Youngkin’s office did not return a call yesterday seeking comment. 

Youngkin last Friday released the updated school guidance, including the ability for parents to opt-out of masks, reiterating his campaign promises to give parents more choice in schools and responding to a lawsuit from a group of Chesapeake parents opposing his mask policy. 

“Executive Order 2 is not about pro-masks versus anti-mask, it’s about empowering parents. I am confident that the Virginia Supreme Court will rule in the favor of parents ... In the meantime, I urge all parents to listen to their principal, and trust the legal process,” Youngkin said in a statement. 

Details: The suit argues that the state constitution gives school districts the authority to supervise their public schools and that the governor cannot “unilaterally infringe upon that authority through an executive order.” 

In addition, the suit also points to a state law approved last year that requires local school boards to adhere to CDC recommendations as much as practically possible during the return to in-person school.

Between the lines: On Monday, the first day the executive order went into effect, the seven school districts continued to enforce their own mask mandates, which means students’ parents may be called and students may be sent home if they refuse to wear a mask. 

Loudoun County public schools, which did not join in on the lawsuit, also said Monday that it will continue to enforce a mask mandate, and students who refuse to wear a mask must meet with staff as well as a parent or guardian to “identify the reason the student will not comply.” 

The other side: The conservative policy advocacy group Independent Women’s Voices released a letter this weekend promising to send their children to school without masks, including students in Fairfax County, which is the county leading the lawsuit. 

In Loudoun County, 60 students across four schools refused to wear masks on Monday, spokesperson Wayde B. Byard told Axios. Those students were relocated to the auditorium and completed work on a virtual platform, Byard added, with teachers checking on their progress. Lunch was also provided.

Reality check: The CDC recommends universal masking of all students over the age of 2 and faculty, regardless of vaccination status. 

Multiple studies have shown the effectiveness of masks in preventing the spread of COVID-19 by blocking the release of respiratory particles into the environment, protecting both the person wearing the mask and those they come in contact with.

Multiple studies have also shown no adverse cardiovascular or pulmonary impacts of masking in elementary-age children, according to the CDC. 

Virginia schools push back as Youngkin's mask opt-out kicks in

The outcome of the lawsuit could determine who has the authority to make pandemic-related decisions within the public schools: individual school boards or the governor.

Illustration of a covid mask with a hole in the shape of a gavel.

Seven Virginia school districts filed a lawsuit Monday to keep their individual mask mandates in place, the same day Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order allowing parents and guardians to opt their children out of their school’s mask mandate went into effect. Why it matters: The outcome of the lawsuit could determine who has the authority to make pandemic-related decisions within the public schools: individual school boards or the governor.

The District on Tuesday opened four new walk-in COVID-19 centers where residents can get vaccinated and tested, with four more planned to open next week across the city.

Why it matters: As the pandemic enters its third year, officials see the need to continue opening permanent vaccination and testing sites. The facilities debut as the case rate in the nation's capital declines after briefly leading the country.

The sites have all three vaccines, including boosters and the pediatric shots for children ages 5 and over.

The centers provide PCR testing and will also hand out rapid self-test kits, on top of the current distribution schedule at libraries and fire stations. DC Health personnel will be able to assist with self-test kits, which are typically meant to be used at home. 

The first four sites are in wards 1, 2, 7, and 8. At least one site will be open seven days a week, with some closed on Sundays. They are open from 10am to 8pm most days with some variations in hours.

By the numbers: An estimated 89% of D.C. residents have received at least one vaccine dose, and over 68% are fully vaccinated, according to city data.

But vaccination rates remain low in lower-income neighborhoods and Black communities, where access to healthcare has long been inadequate. Only 34% of residents in Ward 8 are vaccinated, the lowest in the city. 

State of play: The city is coming down from its peak of COVID cases. Daily cases per 100,000 residents have dropped 57% from a Jan. 4 peak of 288 cases, according to the latest D.C. data.

There are 601 people with COVID-19 in city hospitals, down from a peak of 736 on Jan. 10. 

Five new deaths were reported between Jan. 14 and 17.

What's next: Locations for four more city-run COVID-19 centers will be announced this week in the rest of the wards. 

“We know [the pandemic is] going to be part of our lives for the foreseeable future,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said at the opening of the Ward 7 center at 3925 Minnesota Ave., NE. “So we have recognized that we have to adapt to these realities and stay ahead of the curve.”

D.C. debuts new COVID testing and vaccination centers

The facilities debut as the case rate in the nation's capital declines after briefly leading the country.

Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Health workers at a COVID testing and vaccination center

Mayor Muriel Bowser tours D.C.'s new COVID-19 center in Ward 7. Photo: Cuneyt Dil/Axios

The District on Tuesday opened four new walk-in COVID-19 centers where residents can get vaccinated and tested, with four more planned to open next week across the city.Why it matters: As the pandemic enters its third year, officials see the need to continue opening permanent vaccination and testing sites. The facilities debut as the case rate in the nation&#x27;s capital declines after briefly leading the country.

Cuneyt Dil

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Virginia schools push back as Youngkin's mask opt-out kicks in

'Cat out the bag': Harry Thomas Jr. may endorse Faith Gibson Hubbard

D.C. region sees sharp decline in COVID cases

WMATA general manager Paul Wiedefeld announces retirement

D.C. debuts new COVID testing and vaccination centers