Melissa Holzberg, a sophomore majoring in political communication, is The Hatchet’s contributing opinions editor. 

In case you missed it, here’s our take on the best and worst news from around campus and the city this week.

Thumbs Up:
Cat lovers delight, because D.C’s first cat cafe opens this week.

Crumbs & Whiskers is located on O Street in Georgetown, a convenient walk from campus. The cafe currently features 17 cats and hope to add three more cats before the end of the month. A trip to the cat cafe will cost you $10 an hour on a weekday for admission, and $12 on the weekends.

The cafe, which won’t be serving any of its own food or drinks, will allow delivery from restaurants in the Georgetown area. The shop itself is composed of three floors: the basement being for cats and staff only, the street level composing a lounge-type atmosphere and the top floor looks bright and cheery.

Crumbs & Whiskers, owned by Kanchan Singh, has partnered with the Washington Humane Society. WHS provides the cats to the cafe as a tool to aid in their adoption. Those interested in visiting the cafe can either make a reservation on its website, or walk in for a visit beginning next week.

Thumbs Down:
The Federal Transit Administration released a safety report on Wednesday that found serious concerns in the safety programs conducted by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The report follows January’s accident when a metro car filled with smoke at the L’Enfant Plaza station. One woman died from the incident, and more than 30 others were hospitalized.

The report found that WMATA does not effectively balance safety critical operations with maintenance activities and the demand for passenger service.

Metro received $50 million less in federal funds this year compared to last year. The report also analyzed the limited availability of training, inconsistent operational testing and lack of information management technology.