Washington
In 2023, WA lawmakers will decide the legal future of drug possession
That is a part of a collection updating our readers on a few of our prime tales of the previous yr.
As a stopgap within the wake of the court docket choice, lawmakers and Inslee permitted laws that yr that made illegal possession of a drug a misdemeanor crime on the third violation, with officers imagined to current therapy choices the primary two occasions. By no means supposed as a everlasting answer, that legislation sunsets in July 2023.
Now lawmakers and Inslee should determine how the state handles each possession and therapy for narcotics – and so they have a agency deadline.
As they return to Olympia in early January, legislators now search a longer-term answer for a thorny concern that has scrambled occasion strains and raised a bunch of sophisticated questions.
The controversy over medicine comes after a bitter midterm marketing campaign by which Republicans attacked Democrats as gentle on crime after progressive legal guidelines to reshape policing. In the meantime, drug overdoses in Washington and across the nation have soared.
This has all performed out amid a broader reckoning with felony drug legal guidelines, which have through the years thrown up boundaries to individuals making use of for jobs or housing and disproportionately impacted individuals of shade.
Even earlier than the Blake choice, some progressive lawmakers have been pushing for decriminalization of medicine, a step Oregon has taken. On the opposite finish of the spectrum, conservative Republicans within the minority have needed to see the felony possession statute reinstated in a method that passes constitutional muster.
Individuals at each of these factors on the spectrum could also be disenchanted with the eventual answer.
“I believe there is a variety of views within the Legislature about what the proper strategy is,” mentioned Senate Majority Chief Andy Billig, D-Spokane. “However I do really feel like there is a consensus constructing to do one thing that is public-health targeted, but in addition just a little little bit of an elevated function within the justice system.”
One choice is to make drug possession a gross misdemeanor, which might be a barely stronger penalty from the present stopgap legislation, however nonetheless lower than a felony. Senate lawmakers first proposed that step final yr in an early model of the Blake stopgap invoice. It was one of many extra unconventional Senate votes in current reminiscence: 14 Democrats and 14 Republicans joined to vote in favor to go it 28-20.
On the coronary heart of a lot of the controversy is compel individuals who want therapy to get it, with out the penalties of a felony system that may finally make life more durable for individuals dwelling on the sting.
Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, mentioned Washington already has numerous the instruments wanted – from drug courts to the Involuntary Therapy Act, a legislation used to civilly commit individuals after psychological well being episodes – to compel people into therapy. She can be one of many sponsors of a invoice to decriminalize drug possession, however Dhingra has already acknowledged there aren’t the votes to go it via the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
A former King County deputy prosecutor, Dhingra mentioned that narratives and political messaging on crime make it more durable for a lot of politicians to assume clearly about coverage options.
“It is concern and politics,” mentioned Dhingra, chair of the Senate Legislation and Justice Committee. She added: “The lay individual really does a greater job having a nuanced dialog, and needs to have it, quite than a politician. As a result of they’re afraid of an assault advert.”
Drug overdose deaths in America have quintupled up to now 20 years, in keeping with the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, with almost 107,000 fatalities nationwide final yr.
In 2020, Washington noticed 1,733 overdose deaths, in keeping with CDC knowledge. That’s an almost 60% enhance from the 1,094 overdose fatalities the state noticed in 2015.
Legislation enforcement officers and Republicans contend that some kind of felony penalty is required to compel individuals into therapy who gained’t voluntarily go. They are saying the short-term misdemeanor statute has left legislation enforcement with few choices to drive individuals to get therapy.
Extra severe fees might enable for a suspect to get therapy via the authorized system, like a drug court docket, mentioned Steve Strachan, government director of the Washington Affiliation of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. However individuals with severe dependancy issues could not go when an officer refers them to voluntary therapy. In the meantime, misdemeanors will be charged by completely different cities, that means three violations elsewhere may not be counted.
“The short-term duct tape repair … has confirmed to be fairly ineffective at offering constructive outcomes,” Strachan mentioned.
“Legislation enforcement will not be trying to simply re-criminalize it and put individuals in jail and assume that’s the most effective final result for dependancy,” he added. “It’s by no means been the most effective final result for dependancy and everyone knows it.”
Some Republicans will doubtless nonetheless need to see the felony statute rewritten in a method that passes constitutional muster, although it’s almost sure Democrats gained’t enable that.
Senate Minority Chief John Braun, R-Centralia, noting that his caucus may not agree with him, mentioned he has been satisfied through the years {that a} felony legislation isn’t vital.
“I’m prepared to help one thing apart from a felony … however we won’t go from that to no leverage in any respect,” Braun mentioned, including: “Our coverage on arduous medicine, we acquired it improper and folks die once we get it improper, it is the straightforward reality.”
Within the Blake choice, the justices dominated that the stigma and societal penalties of a felony conviction violate due-process ensures in eventualities the place an individual’s possession of narcotics got here from unintentional conduct.
Officers within the authorized system additionally now should return via roughly 260,000 affected Washington instances that have to be vacated or re-sentenced, in keeping with Christopher Stanley of the Administrative Workplace of the Courts. It might take so long as a decade to work again via all these instances, in keeping with Stanley, particularly older instances which might be on paper and never the web.
Because the court docket ruling, $112 million has been budgeted to assist with these points.
Thus far, Washington’s 39 counties have been reimbursed for paying $5.3 million in restitution again to individuals whose sentences are being cleared. The state has now paid one other $4.2 million for clearing felony possession convictions and re-sentencing individuals serving time for a number of convictions.
Washington
Washington Capitals To Meet Montreal Canadiens In First Round Of 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Photo: Newsday
After a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Bell Centre on Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens clinched the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and will play the Washington Capitals, the top seed in the conference, in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Washington, who is currently 51-21-9 (.685 points percentage) and finish the regular season at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday (7 PM ET, ESPN), went 2-0-1 in three games against Montreal during the regular season, including a 6-3 win at Capital One Arena on October 31 and 4-2 victory at Bell Centre on December 7 despite trailing in each game.
East is now officially set:
Toronto vs Ottawa
Tampa Bay vs FloridaWashington vs Montreal
Carolina vs New Jersey— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) April 17, 2025
The team finished first in the East a year after qualifying for the postseason as the second wild-card via the second tie breaker (32 regulation wins to 27) despite tying the Detroit Red Wings with 91 points.
Left-wing Alex Ovechkin’s 43 goals and 1.13 points-per-game (72 in 64) lead Washington despite the fact that he missed 16 games in November and December with a broken leg. Center Dylan Strome leads the team with career-highs in assists (52) and points (81) in 81 contests.
Goaltender Logan Thompson went 31-6-6 with a .910 save percentage, 2.49 goals-against average, and two shutouts this season, including going 1-0-1 with an .889 save percentage in two games against the Canadiens.
The Capitals may start the series without Thompson (upper-body injury; has not played since April 2) and Aliaksei Protas (lower-body; April 4).
Montreal, who will qualify for the postseason for the first time since losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, has won eight of their last 11 games with one more to go in the regular season and a 40-31-11 record (.555 points percentage). They are 29-15-8 (.635) since starting 11-16-3.
Center Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 89 points, at least 18 more than any other Canadien, in 82 outings. Suzuki and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson co-lead the team with 60 assists. Right-wing Cole Caufield has a team-leading 37 goals.
Goaltender Sam Montembeault entered Wednesday 30-24-7 with a .901 save percentage, 2.83 goals-against average, and four shutouts in 61 games this season. He gave up four goals on 35 shots (.886) in Montreal’s 4-2 loss to Washington on December 7, the only appearance he made against the Capitals this season.
Montreal beat Washington in seven games during the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the eighth seed in the East in their only prior postseason meeting despite trailing the series 3-1. Washington won the Presidents’ Trophy with the NHL’s best regular-season record that season.
The NHL has yet to release the series schedule.
All eight series for the first round are locked. The others are the:
- second-seeded Carolina Hurricanes against the third-seeded New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan Division
- Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs against the first wild-card Ottawa Senators
- second-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning vs. the third-seeded Florida Panthers in the Atlantic
- First-seeded Winnipeg Jets vs. second wild-card St. Louis Blues in the Central
- second-seeded Dallas Stars vs. third-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the Central
- First-seeded Vegas Golden Knights vs. first wild-card Minnesota Wild in the Pacific
- second-seeded Los Angeles Kings and third-seeded Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific
By Harrison Brown
Washington
An Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Washington preserves ancient traditions amid modern challenges – WTOP News
In the U.S. capital, hundreds of Ethiopians dressed in traditional white shawls chant in the ancient liturgical language of one of the oldest branches of Christianity.
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the U.S. capital, hundreds of Ethiopians dressed in traditional white shawls chant in the ancient liturgical language of one of the oldest branches of Christianity.
During hourslong worship services, the Ge’ez language reverberates throughout DSK Mariam Church. Congregants prostrate themselves in reverence to God and bow when a priest walks among them swinging a censer burning incense.
Formally known as Re’ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, it was founded in Washington in 1987. It now has more than 1,500 registered members, and church leaders say more than 4,000 people attend services each week.
DSK Mariam is part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches — one of the oldest Christian faiths in Africa. There’s keen interest in preserving Ge’ez, and other traditions of the faith, for future generations in the bustling District of Columbia region — home to the largest Ethiopian diaspora community in the United States.
“Our tradition is full of values that are relevant for today, for the modern age. So, these kids, if they learn the tradition, the language, and also the faith — they can balance,” Abraham Habte-Sellassie, a “kesis” or priest, said ahead of a recent Lent service that started at midnight and ended at midday.
“Life here is very hectic, and it’s geared toward material profit.”
Ethiopian diaspora in the US has grown over 50 years
Many Ethiopian families have come to the U.S. over the past 50 years, having left their home country after the 1974 overthrow of the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, who is worshipped by most members of the Rastafari faith.
Estimates range widely on the number of Ethiopians in the U.S, from more than 250,000 to unofficial estimates by diaspora leaders that it’s closer to 1 million. By far the largest Ethiopian community is in the D.C. metro area — notably the Maryland and Virginia counties close to Washington.
They contribute significantly to the area’s economic well-being and cultural vitality, said Tsehaye Teferra, founder and president of a D.C.-based refugee resettlement agency, Ethiopian Community Development Council.
To reach young people and new converts, DSK Mariam also offers services in Amharic and English. Congregants can follow the prayers on large plasma TVs that hang from church columns decorated with the green, yellow and red colors of the Ethiopian flag.
“It really feels like home,” said Kannazegelila Mezgebu, a 21-year-old born in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
“The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has so many beautiful rituals and services. … Every day has its own meaning and a very deep one,” said Mezgebu, a senior at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Sometimes, she said, it can be a struggle to keep up with traditions amid so many distractions in the city. But it’s worth it, she said, for the church to encourage other young Ethiopian Americans to find a fulfilling spiritual path and reconnect with their roots.
“Everything is so beautiful and so interesting to learn,” she said. “That’s what makes me really love this church.”
Symbolism is woven throughout their faith practice
“There’s so many deep, rooted meanings behind every tradition,” said Beza Bililigne, a youth ministry leader.
He pointed out examples: Congregants take off their shoes before they enter the church as a sign of respect.
The “netela,” the white scarf-like cotton cloth worn by worshippers, signifies modesty and purity and symbolizes the cloth they believe Jesus was wrapped in at birth and crucifixion, Bililigne said. The incense from the censer, he said, represents the Virgin Mary, and the coal that burns it, the divinity of Jesus.
Worship is intergenerational and incorporates the senses. During the recent service, children’s laughter mixed with the priests’ chants as deacons held an umbrella, a symbolic covering of their holy liturgy.
When bells tolled for Communion, congregants lined up to receive it, waiting their turn for a priest to break bread and place a piece into their mouths.
Some worshippers lit candles and asked for heavenly intercession to safeguard relatives back home. Ethiopia faces recurring conflict in several of its regions; millions of people are in need of food aid and health care.
“People who are here in our congregation, some have some relatives imprisoned or killed back home,” said Habte-Sellassie. “They come here and pour out their soul before the Lord so that God can bring peace to the country.”
At the end of the service, church members recorded a video of an elder chanting a liturgy passed on from his ancestors. The footage is posted on the church’s YouTube channel to preserve it for future generations in hopes they maintain the tradition.
“A lot of our traditions, a lot of our prayers are asked for us to know by memory,” Bililigne said. “As long as the person is alive, the traditions will stay alive.”
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Copyright
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The Washington Commanders can breathe a little easier going into this year’s NFL Draft knowing that they have their franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels.
Speaking from a place of experience, Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane offered his take on the Commanders and advised them for their directions going into this year’s draft.
READ MORE: Commanders urged to make trade for $12 million Bills’ pass rusher
Bills GM offers advice to Commanders
“Ultimately make sure he is protected,” Beane said via ESPN insider John Keim. “How does he play as many games as possible? [Daniels is] an elusive runner as well, so having those conversations with him as well of being smart. We had to have a lot of those with Josh and sometimes still do. He can be a knucklehead sometimes.
“It’s just showing him on film, ‘Hey, you had an opportunity to get out of bounds. You had an opportunity to get down.’ Having those discussions about when do you need to put your body on the line, and when do you not? You can’t put him in bubble wrap, but [it’s about] protecting him with the line and then him protecting himself.”
The Commanders will look to protect Daniels further with some players during the 2025 NFL Draft, which takes place from April 24-26.
READ MORE: Commanders fans should keep an eye on this sneaky draft fit
Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2025 offseason.
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