Ovetta Wiggins

Maryland

Reporter at The Washington Post

Writer/journalist. Former reporter at @washingtonpost Alum: Philadelphia Inquirer, Bergen Record

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Articles

He died in police custody a decade ago. His sister fights weekly for justice.

Jan 1, 2024 | phillytrib.com | Ovetta Wiggins

Tawanda Jones’s big brother looks just as she remembers him in the faded photo she has carried to so many protests. Flashing a broad smile and sporting shoulder-length locs, on this July day he hangs from the microphone stand over bold black letters: “STRANGLED DURING RESTRAINT.
Maryland’s Blueprint education plan is too costly and complex, advocates say

Dec 28, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Nicole Asbury |Valerie Strauss |Ovetta Wiggins

CommentSaveMontgomery County schools leaders are worried. Their school system — Maryland’s largest, with about 160,000 students — is trying to comply with a state mandate to expand prekindergarten. It needs help from private providers, but nowhere near enough have signed up. The county fears it will end up violating the requirements of theBlueprint for Maryland’s Future, a landmark education reform law.
He died in police custody a decade ago. His sister fights weekly for justice.

Dec 27, 2023 | msn.com | Ovetta Wiggins
He died in police custody a decade ago. His sister fights weekly for justice.

Dec 27, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Ovetta Wiggins

Tawanda Jones has refused to let her brother’s name fade, waging an enduring fight for a criminal investigation that only now seems like a possibilityDecember 28, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. ESTTawanda Jones speaks about her brother Tyrone West during the 10th anniversary of his death at the hands of police officers on July 18, in Baltimore.
Maryland lawmakers facing a tight budget to consider tax changes

Dec 25, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Erin Cox |Ovetta Wiggins

CommentSaveMaryland lawmakers grappling with multibillion-dollar budget shortfalls are weighing proposals to tax the rich. Levying a “millionaire’s tax,” targeting capital gains income from stock market earnings and broadening the estate tax are among many variedideas under consideration to raise money for transportation and education, according to several leading Democratic lawmakers. “Everything is broadly on the table,” said Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chair Guy Guzzone (D-Howard).
Member of Maryland hate-crime commission reinstated after brief suspension

Dec 6, 2023 | newsindiatimes.com | Ovetta Wiggins
Member of Md. hate-crime commission reinstated after brief suspension

Dec 6, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Ovetta Wiggins

CommentSaveThe Maryland Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday reinstated a member of the state’s Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention who had been suspended over social media posts about the Israeli government’s military actions in Gaza, saying in a statement that the office lacked the authority to remove her.
Washington Post: A renewed push to change how vacancies are filled in Md. legislature

Nov 26, 2023 | commoncause.org | Ovetta Wiggins

11.26.2023 / By Ovetta Wiggins Washington Post: A renewed push to change how vacancies are filled in Md. legislature Nearly half of the state lawmakers from Maryland’s largest county and about 1 in 4 statewide were not originally elected to their seats.
About 1 in 4 Maryland state lawmakers were initially appointed to office

Nov 25, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Ovetta Wiggins

CommentSaveNearly half of the state lawmakers from Maryland’s largest county and about 1 in 4 statewide were not originally elected to their seats. Instead, they were appointed, sent to Annapolis by a handful of local partyofficials, according to a recent analysis from Common Cause Maryland, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for fair elections.
Immigrant rights group faces firestorm over pro-Palestinian social media post

Nov 22, 2023 | washingtonpost.com | Ovetta Wiggins

CommentSaveGustavo Torreshad just leftapro-Palestinian rally at Freedom Plaza in D.C. when he reached for the words to express his solidarity with a people who are suffering. Nearly a month had passed since Israel began attacks in Gaza after thekilling and kidnapping of Israelis by Hamas militants, and Torres, the longtime executive director of CASA, a consequential immigrants’ rights group based in Maryland, felt moved to weigh in. He, too, had endured violence in Colombia, his native country.