Zara Norman

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social

Covering D.C. for @washsunmetro.bsky.social. Previously @bangordailynews.bsky.social, Centralmaine.com

Let's chat! 📧 [email protected] or Zara.207 (Signal)

@maustermuhle.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 2:54 PMReposted by @zaraleinorman.bsky.social

Back in 2020 D.C. started requiring LLCs to disclose details of actual ownership, and as my colleague @zaraleinorman.bsky.social is reporting, the new fight is to get an actual human's name for every LLC so that the city can better enforce housing laws and find patterns in bad owners.

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 2:49 PM

Not everyone is convinced it's a salve for D.C.'s housing crisis. “[This is] the tenant advocacy bureaucracy outdoing itself with another unnecessary burden, and it couldn’t come at the worst time,” one landlord told me, pointing to the rent nonpayment crisis.

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 2:49 PM

With such a registry, advocates hope that D.C. agencies can better ensure landlords receiving city business don’t owe fines/penalties under a different LLC.

“We have a system that essentially allows many landlords to go without enforcement or consequences,” says
@cmzparker5.bsky.social

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 2:49 PM

D.C.'s DOB wants to more proactively perform housing inspections by grouping property owners' different aliases. Advocates want to go further, and have DLCP require that a “natural person” be listed, with contact information, alongside each LLC in a public-facing registry.

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Oct 13, 2026, 2:49 PM

Whether you’re a tenant, a city employee issuing a fine or an attorney looking to sue, you may want to know who owns a rental property in D.C.

Good luck tracking down an actual human.

In @washsunmetro.bsky.social, calls for a revamped rental registry:

www.washingtonsun.com/metro/dc-lan...

@jessedougherty.bsky.social Oct 12, 2026, 6:26 PMReposted by @zaraleinorman.bsky.social

Subscribe to @washingtonsun.com.

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 4:53 PM

Super stoked for this!!! 🌞

@washsunmetro.bsky.social Oct 1, 2026, 2:30 PMReposted by @zaraleinorman.bsky.social

Exciting news! We will work with Washingtonian to distribute an initial six-month run.

@washsunmetro.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 7:37 PMReposted by @zaraleinorman.bsky.social

The Defense Department has spent over $49 million since October 2025 feeding National Guard members posted in D.C.
https://www.washingtonsun.com/metro/national-guard-meal-catering-contracts

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 30, 2026, 7:45 PM

The Department of Defense has spent over $49 million since October 2025 feeding National Guard members posted in D.C. It could spend another $20 million by the end of the year.

w Shamira Muhammad & @annackramer.bsky.social for @washsunmetro.bsky.social:

www.washingtonsun.com/metro/nation...

@washsunmetro.bsky.social Sep 28, 2026, 6:49 PMReposted by @zaraleinorman.bsky.social

On @washsunperspect.bsky.social: Is “Hamilton” cool again?

Anusha Mathur explores how a popular spin class in D.C. set to the 2015 musical could indicate the turning tides of the show’s reputation.
www.washingtonsun.com/perspectives...

@washsunmetro.bsky.social Sep 28, 2026, 3:31 PMReposted by @zaraleinorman.bsky.social

New: A federal judge declared a mistrial in the bribery trial of D.C. Council member Trayon White after the jury said it could not reach a verdict in the case.
https://www.washingtonsun.com/metro/trayon-white-verdict

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 28, 2026, 2:18 PM

AVs have been test-driving in D.C. for years. DDOT won't share how many times they've crashed.

@waymo.bsky.social reached out directly to tell us it's logged seven crash incidents. Most involved other drivers rear-ending Waymos.

In today's @washsunmetro.bsky.social newsletter (sign up for free!)

Autonomous vehicles have been test-driving around D.C. for years. DDOT won’t share how many times they’ve crashed.

The city has a rule against sharing AV-involved crash incidents through public records requests and hasn’t published the reports it promised to with that information. Federal data shows that AVs have been involved in 15 crashes in D.C. from July 2021 to August 2026, The Washington Sun’s Zara Norman reports.

Waymo — the U.S.’s largest AV company — reached out to The Sun to confirm that it has logged seven crash incidents since it began testing in 2024, with three minor injuries and three instances of property damage reported. Most of the events involved other drivers rear-ending Waymos while they slowed or stopped for traffic, or yielded to emergency vehicles, according to a spokesperson.

But only six of Waymo’s seven disclosed incidents show up on that federal database, which requires crashes to meet a certain reporting threshold, meaning that it is not a full accounting. The Sun has appealed to the mayor’s office for the city’s complete set of records ahead of the council’s vote this fall on whether to permit AVs here.

“The current mayoral administration has done little to move forward with the responsible deployment of fully autonomous vehicles, making it impossible for Washingtonians to benefit from the technology or understand how it is performing on their roads,” a Waymo spokesperson told The Sun.

Ward 6 council member Charles Allen, who chairs D.C.’s transportation committee, said his legislation allowing AVs would override the city’s statute barring the sharing of crash safety data and require companies to regularly disclose any incidents as well as other data points.

“There’s a value in proactively reporting information,” Allen told The Sun.

@maustermuhle.bsky.social Sep 25, 2026, 10:33 AMReposted by @zaraleinorman.bsky.social

As D.C. debates whether to legalize self-driving cars like Waymo, people ask: Do the cars get into crashes? My colleague @zaraleinorman.bsky.social wanted to find out, but learned that D.C. refuses to release crash reports: www.washingtonsun.com/metro/waymo-...

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 2:00 PM

We @washingtonsun.bsky.social are appealing DDOT's decision to withhold this information with the mayor's office, who expects to have a decision within the next few weeks.

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 1:59 PM

An attorney for the D.C. Open Government Coalition told me DDOT is improperly withholding these records, as the law applies to permit holders — technically, no AV company yet has a permit to operate in the District. That'd come as a result of a council vote this fall.

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 1:59 PM

I spoke with @cmcharlesallen.bsky.social, who called for the data to be released, and said his bill permitting AVs would override the law exempting AV companies from FOIA. "I’d go beyond that," he added. "There’s a value in proactively reporting information.”

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 1:58 PM

Some of this data is available federally, showing that 15 crash incidents involving AVs have been recorded in the District since July 2021. But key details — like where these crashes happened — are redacted.

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 1:58 PM

The D.C. Council will vote this fall on whether to allow driverless cars to operate in the city. But DDOT has exempted AV companies from public records law, meaning all crash data from its testing program is withheld.

My latest for @washsunmetro.bsky.social:

www.washingtonsun.com/metro/waymo-...

@zaraleinorman.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 1:17 PM

In the year since Trump pushed a crackdown on D.C. homelessness, the city closed twice as many encampments while homelessness increased by 4.4%, Raymond Fernández reports for @washingtonsun.bsky.social.

www.washingtonsun.com/metro/dc-hom...

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