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METRO

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/LOCAL EZ RE B

VIRGINIA

Voters seem to be to

Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s left

on some of his high-profile

issues, a poll finds. B3

MARYLAND

The family of man left

paralyzed after a traffic

stop files a lawsuit against

Prince George’s County. B4

OBITUARIES

Composer George Crumb,

92, challenged and

captivated listeners with

53 ° 58 ° 61 ° 62 ° his avant-garde scores. B5

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 9 p.m.

63

°

Precip: 90%

Wind: S

8-16 mph

BY JENNA PORTNOY

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has

made parental choice in the class-

room — when it comes to masks

and also curriculum — the center-

piece policy of his campaign and

government. He signed an execu-

tive order hours after inaugura-

tion essentially making masks op-

tional, has fended off multiple

lawsuits objecting to the policy

and on Wednesday signed a bill

that enshrines the policy into

state law.

But as he pressed forward, peo-

ple who form the backbone of

public health services in Virginia

lodged questions and concerns

about the science behind state-

ments that cast doubt on the ef-

fectiveness of masks, according to

internal emails obtained through

an open-records request.

Epidemiologists and health di-

rectors asked Youngkin’s pick for

state health director, Colin

Greene, how they should answer

questions from residents and

school officials.

The people in charge of imple-

menting the state’s new guide-

lines wanted to see the research

and data behind claims that

masks stop working if they are

dirty, hamper children’s develop-

ment and ability to communicate,

and could cause greater emotion-

al risk than the coronavirus itself,

as well as the statement that

masking made no difference in

curbing the spread of the omicron

variant in Virginia.

The questions highlight the

tensions of decision-making in a

complex political e nvironment, as

scientists counsel caution but

leaders face increasing pressure

from parents and businesspeople

to return the country to normalcy.

With new omicron infections

and hospitalizations receding,

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D)

last week dropped the require-

ment for residents to show proof

of vaccination to enter most busi-

nesses and is poised to end the

indoor mask mandate. Maryland

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) asked the

State Board of Education to re-

scind its mask policy.

For politicians on the cusp of

Year Three of the pandemic, it’s n o

longer enough to defer to the

federal government as a vocal mi-

nority grows more tired of masks

and other mitigation strategies.

“The evidence is clear and un-

ambiguous that face masks, when

worn consistently in indoor pub-

lic spaces, they both prevent

transmission and minimize the

SEE VIRUS ON B3

Emails lay

bare Va.’s

divide over

mask rules

YOUNGKIN PICK WAS

GRILLED ON POLICY

Public health workers

lodged queries, doubts

MATT MCCLAIN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Ken Bonner, left, and Paul Christensen prepare for a pre-parade wreath-laying ceremony Monday at the Tomb of

the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution, at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House in Alexandria.

Pageantry and remembrance on Presidents’ Day

WMATA employees have had

covid-19 and seven of them died.

These are some of the crucial

front-line workers of our region.

Plus revenue fell when much of

the nation’s workforce stopped

going to the office, crippling an

ailing agency that has never had

a good excuse for its persistent

dysfunction.

It’s not only commuting

school kids who’ve been messed

with.

SEE DVORAK ON B4

days — on a system in which

buses run on weekend schedules

all week and drive past stops

because they’re sardine-packed

to capacity, and the Metro train

fleet remains hobbled at

40 percent capacity — the kids

in our neighborhood leave for

school at sunrise, an hour and a

half before classes start.

Public transportation in the

region has been an undeniable

mess since the coronavirus came

to town, sure. More than 4,000

the entire school district in D.C.

— and much of the workforce in

Washington — rely upon have

been leaving them stranded for

months now.

“Mom 42 minutes and still no

bus.”

“Mom Imma be late again no

metro still waiting.”

These are the texts I keep

getting from my kid, a freshman

at a D.C. high school six miles

from our home on Capitol Hill.

To get to school on time these

Metro can’t even

get hacked right.

“beep beep its

a bus”

“heyu itss me

hen”

“anyone here

have boobs lol”

These are some of the

ridiculous tweets from the

hacker who took over Twitter

accounts of the flailing transit

authority in nation’s capital at

3 a.m. on Presidents’ Day.

Not exactly ransomware

overlords holding our power

center hostage.

“We are aware that Metro’s

Twitter accounts were hacked

and obscene posts were made

that do not represent Metro’s

organization or culture,” the

WMATA folks said, in an early-

morning panic statement.

Are they sure about that?

The Washington Metropolitan

Area Transit Authority has been

a complete mess, with more

than half of its trains out of

service, revenue shortfalls and a

manager who is leaving. Any

commuter left stranded these

past few months — and that has

to be all of them — would

consider the performance

obscene.

So when the account was

taken over by a prankster who

posted about breasts and

booties, tweets reading like they

came from a 12-year-old who

figured out that the WMATA

password was — what —

123ABC? It was on brand.

Because who could blame the

kid? The buses and trains that

Ridiculous tweets are the least of Metro’s problems

Petula

Dvorak

PETULA DVORAK/THE WASHINGTON POST

Commuters wait at the Union Station Metro stop last October. Dysfunction has plagued the

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, with more than half of its trains out of service.

ties, said the emergency opera-

tions center was a key selling

point, as was a director “empow-

ered to marshal resources.”

He said there seems to be a

disconnect between how the ef-

fort was first envisioned and

what it appears to be now. “That

tells me we’re clearly not getting

it right,” Allen said.

The deputy mayor for public

safety and justice described

Building Blocks as a “framework”

and a “strategy.” That official,

SEE BUILDING BLOCKS ON B2

its urgency and that the city has

failed to define clearly how Build-

ing Blocks operates.

“I want to support Building

Blocks D.C.,” D.C. Council mem-

ber Charles Allen (D-Ward 6),

who chairs the public safety com-

mittee, t old one of Bowser’s d epu-

ty mayors at a recent hearing.

“But I’m struggling, as a lot of

people are, to understand what it

is.”

Allen, whose committee has

legislative oversight over D.C. po-

lice and other public-safety enti-

cials said, is maintaining its mis-

sion but changing its structure.

Instead of saying the initiative

directs violence-prevention ef-

forts like an air traffic control

tower directs planes, officials

now describe it in a more amor-

phous way — as a framework

overseeing efforts by different

agencies, programs and newly

dedicated staff members.

Amid this shift, there is con-

cern that the centerpiece of

Bowser’s “whole government ap-

proach” to fighting crime has lost

dollars of grant funding went to

community groups trying to

help.

The aim, officials said, is to

identify people vulnerable to be-

coming v ictims — or perpetrators

— of gun violence and help them

find different paths. The initia-

tive concentrates on 151 city

blocks on which 41 percent of all

firearms-related crimes occur.

Now, as shootings continue

and carjackings surge, the opera-

tions center is winding down,

while Building Blocks, city offi-

by workers across local govern-

ment. Officials said they coordi-

nated efforts to put “violence

interrupters” on the streets to

quell disputes, get people into

jobs and job training, and clean

up run-down areas. Thousands of

BY PETER HERMANN AND

MICHAEL BRICE-SADDLER

A year ago, D.C. Mayor Muriel

E. Bowser (D) touted a new ap-

proach to tackling gun violence,

launching an initiative that she

said would sharply focus preven-

tion and intervention efforts on

the city’s most dangerous blocks.

With $15 million in initial

funding for the Building Blocks

D.C. program, the city opened a

Gun Violence Prevention Emer-

gency Operations Center, staffed

Bowser’s anti-gun-violence initiative shifts its structure, raising concerns

Building Blocks D.C.’s

operations haven’t been

well defined, critics say

The District i s not reporting

coronavirus cases and deaths

Saturday through Monday,

Maryland is not reporting t hem

Sunday and M onday, and Virginia

did not report t hem Saturday and

Sunday. Therefore, virus case totals

for the region will next be printed

Wednesday.

BY REBECCA TAN

The consensus at the public

hearing was clear: All 30 speakers

— activists, union leaders, repre-

sentatives of prayer circles, stu-

dents and concerned citizens —

did not like how the county was

planning to implement changes

to police discipline.

“I recognize the frustration

that more input wasn’t provided

in the bill,” Montgomery County

Council President Gabe Albornoz

(D-At Large) said with a tone of

resignation at the end of the

Zoom hearing in January. “I can

assure that your voices have been

heard.”

Across Maryland, criminal jus-

tice activists have been trying to

rally community members to

scrutinize how their local govern-

ment is implementing the sweep-

ing changes to police account-

ability that were put in place

following the murder of George

Floyd — with varying degrees of

success.

SEE POLICING ON B4

Policing

changes

at issue for

activists

Implementations so far

aren’t in the ‘spirit’ of

Md. reforms, they say