As light green leaves emerge in Rock Creek Canyon, a conversation unfolds about spring's arrival and the unusual winter experienced compared to friends facing snow in the East.

There was a time when a shadow sat in the woods — a compound built on exclusion and the dry-rot of hate. But we didn’t just wait for it to go away. We destroyed it.

This bill opens up a weaponizing of the political process,” said one lawmaker who voted against the proposed law.