Latest Archives (76)
WASHINGTON, DC—A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held this week for the "54th and Cutz" barber styling school that will be housed in the Richardson Dwellings pubic housing community in Northeast.
The July 28 event begins at 4:30 p.m., and will be sponsored by the Sasha Bruce Youthwork (SBY) – a community based nonprofit agency which seeks to improve the lives of homeless, runaway and disconnected youth in the nation's capital.
The new training facility is part of the "Opportunity Knocks" workforce development program which serves youth involved in the District's juvenile justice system.
In the past, Richardson Dwellings has been plagued with violence. Following a slew of murders over the 2010 Labor Day weekend, the resident council solicited SBY to offer violence prevention and positive development activities for area youth.
Program participants are paid during both the training and work phases, and in addition to learning barbering and other and life skills, they are provided interviewing tips and advised on how to retain employment.
However, while funding from the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services (DYRS) initiated the program, the number of participants is limited and additional support to sustain and expand the program is needed.
Free haircuts will be available during the event. For more information on SBY visit: www.sashabruce.org.
Metro has introduced a commemorative one-day pass featuring an image of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The pass coincides with the opening and dedication of the national memorial on Aug. 28.
Customers can purchase the limited-edition pass for $9 on Metro's website, at the agency's sales facilities and regional transit stores.
The pass is good for one day of unlimited Metrorail travel on weekdays after 9:30 a.m. or all day on Saturdays, Sundays, and some federal holidays (unlimited Metrorail travel begins after 9:30 a.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans Day).
The pass expires at the end of the operating day.
MLK commemorative pass./Courtesy Metro
A mountain of unpaid parking tickets that add up to more than $245 million has prompted District officials to offer an amnesty program in hopes of recouping some of that money.
Division of Motor Vehicle (DMV) Officials announced on July 27 that the city is waiving penalties on late parking tickets for the remainder of the year in accordance with the Ticket Amnesty Program, which begins Aug. 1. Overall, the program is an effort to get people who may not have been paying their tickets because of accrued fees, to pay up.
"In the current economic environment, we expect that many customers will take advantage of this opportunity to clear their debts to DMV at a lower cost -- producing revenue results for the District," Mayor Vincent Gray said.
The program will continue through January 27, 2012, and all open parking tickets, citations for moving violations and photo-enforcement tickets issued before January 1, 2010 will qualify. According to District DMV, drivers from Maryland owe the most to D.C. in unpaid tickets.
While the city is hopeful of gaining at least $6.3 million from the program, its aim is for it to be as successful as the income tax amnesty program, which raked in $20 million in back taxes.
Tickets can be paid online at www.dmv.dc.gov, over the phone at (866) 893-5023 or in person at DMV Adjudication Services, located at 301 C Street, NW, Monday through Friday from 8:15 a.m. until 4 p.m.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Mayor Vincent C. Gray has announced the appointments of 26 area clergy and leaders affiliated with religious organizations to his Interfaith Council.
The council will advise Gray and his staff on religious affairs and serve as a liaison between the mayor's office and the District's faith communities.
"While the founders of our great country wisely chose to separate the structures of church and state, religious affairs are an integral part of the public life of any community," said Gray said in a statement. "I'm thankful that the District of Columbia has a large group of intelligent, committed and compassionate faith leaders who dedicate themselves to ensuring the well-being of all Washingtonians. These 26 leaders will represent D.C.'s faith community well."
The Rev. Donald Isaac, executive director of the East of the River Clergy-Police-Community Partnership will chair the council and the Rev. Dr. Christine Wiley, co-pastor of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, will serve as vice chair.
Among other members of the council are Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig of the Washington Hebrew Congregation; Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of Ohev Shalom – National Synagogue; Rev. Canon Jan Naylor Cope, Vicar of Washington National Cathedral; Rev. Mario E. Dorsonville, vice president for Mission at Catholic Charities and director of Immigrant and Refugee Services at the Spanish Catholic Center; Rev. David A. Bava, pastor of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church; Rev. Raymond Kemp, coordinator of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University; Michael D. Scott, director of government relations, Archdiocese of Washington; Rev. Dr. Marcus E. Turner Sr., pastor of Beulah Baptist Church; Rev. Dr. Morris L. Shearin Sr., pastor of Israel Baptist Church; Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry, senior pastor of Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church; Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith, senior minister of Shiloh Baptist Church; Rev. H. Lionel Edmonds, senior pastor of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church; Rev. Joseph N. Evans, senior pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church; Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins, senior pastor of 19th Street Baptist Church; Rev. Kate Murphy, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church; Rev. Dr. Louis Shockley, senior pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church; Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, senior minister of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ; Rev. Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness, senior pastor of Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Episcopal Church; Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White, senior pastor of Brown Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church; Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, president of the Muslim Society of Washington; Rev. Susan Lee Taylor, president of the Founding Church of Scientology; Rev. Charles Hang-Jiang Koo, senior pastor of the Chinese Community Church; Rev. J. Dwayne Johnson, senior minister of the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington; and Rev. Clark Lobenstein, executive director of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.
The Rev. Howard Creecy Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), has died.
Creecy, 57, who had held the post with the venerable civil rights organization for just seven months, passed away on July 28 in Atlanta of an apparent heart attack, according to the SCLC.
At the time of his death, Creecy pastored Olivet Church in Fayette County.
He was elected SCLC president in January after Bernice King, daughter of the organization's co-founder, Dr. Martin Luther King, declined the post.
The Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, reportedly spoke recently with Creecy about his plans for the organization, sayng that
Creecy had been SCLC president for seven months./Courtesy Photo
in the past weeks, the third-generation preacher had been focused on helping the SCLC acquire a more firm financial footing and to retool its future.
"He seemed very excited about his work," Warnock said.
Creecy, a Morehouse College graduate, earned a doctor of divinity degree from Abotra Bible Institute and Seminary.
The Mobile, Ala., native had also been a director for the Office of Chaplain Services for Atlanta Fulton County Government -- the organization's highest ranking ecclesiastical position. Serving in that capacity distinguished him as the first African American in the county's history to hold that post.
Metro Washington Social Security offices will be reducing the hours they assist the public by 30 minutes each week day beginning Aug. 15.
The new hours – 9 a.m to 3: 30 p.m, Monday through Friday– are the result of Congressional budget cuts.
While the new schedule will not interfere with agency employees' regular shifts, it will allow them to complete face-to-face service with the public without incurring the cost of overtime.
Congress provided Social Security with nearly $1 billion less than President Barack Obama requested for the budget the current fiscal year, which makes it impossible for the agency to provide the amount of overtime needed to handle service to the public as in the past.
However, most Social Security services do not require a visit to an office. For example, anyone wishing to apply for benefits, sign up for direct deposit, replace a Medicare card, obtain a proof of income letter or inform us of a change of address or telephone number may do so at www.socialsecurity.gov or by dialing our toll-free number, 1-800-772-1213. People who are deaf or hard of hearing may call our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.
UPPER MARLBORO, MD – Prince George's County Executive, Rushern L. Baker recently released this statement regarding the county being listed as AAA by Moody's:
"Although this possible downgrade was expected after the financially strong State of Maryland was placed on similar notice, it nevertheless is disappointing to hear after how hard this county has worked financially to earn and protect its 'AAA' bond rating from all three ratings agencies. But, I want to be clear, I am not disappointed at Moody's, I understand why they are sending out this warning.
"With our geographic proximity to Washington, DC, federal facilities in the County such as Joint Based Andrews, NASA Goddard, NOAA, and BARC amongst many others, along with our significant federal workforce who reside in the County, the economy of Prince George's County is proudly tied to the stability of the federal government.
"My disappointment resides with the House Republicans, who for weeks have balked on a fair and compromising deal with President Obama and Senate Democrats. What seem to be petty political games on Capitol Hill are going to impact our communities in Prince George's County. The time has come for a compromise to be reached and allow us local leaders around the country to continue the recovery that President Obama has started without tying our hands with fiscal uncertainty."
Metro has fired 20 bus drivers for talking on a cell phone while driving.
The firings have taken place since January, and the offenders were caught on cameras mounted inside the buses, according to NBC Washington.
"What we were seeing is that the operators would drive with their cell phone in one hand and driving with their hand on the wheel and ... also we get the audio, so we can actually hear them talking into the instrument," Metrobus Assistant General Manager Jack Requa reportedly said.
But union officials say Metro shares the blame.
"When you have schedules that are so tight -- the schedules are harsh -- they require people to rip and run from one end of the line to the other,"Jackie Jeter, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local, said in the NBC report.
The report further states that Metro's zero tolerance policy was activated in 2009 ago after a photo of a bus driver on a cell phone, that was snapped by a passenger, became public.
To ensure that real applications are being submitted by real people, the District has rejected nearly three dozen applications from people interested in growing or dispensing medical marijuana.
At the same time, the city stands to gain a lot of money from the rejections, according to Nikolas Schiller, spokesperson for the D.C. Patient's Cooperative - which touts itself as a nonprofit medical marijuana compassion organization.
"The District can make a lot of money by rejecting the applicants' letter of intent," Schiller told the Washington Informer. "Initially, the application fee was going to be $5,000 and applicants who were rejected would get $4,800 back."
But Schiller said that in a more recent draft on the issue, "they changed it to say you only get 50 percent of the application fee back. So the District gets to keep $2,500 of all those people who are going to be rejected."
Congress approved the District's medical marijuana initiative a year ago. It will allow licenses for five dispensaries and 10 cultivation sites, and the city now joins 16 states with such programs.
Since announcing the application process this past spring, DOH has reportedly mulled an eclectic mix of applicants' letters of intent. In addition to entities from the District and Maryland, applicants have expressed interest from other states as well.
DOH reportedly sent out 31 non-acceptance letters a week ago for minor mistakes such as failing to sign and date the applications.
Schiller said that although "the real issue lies in transparency and public information," regulations have been "crystal clear" on what the city wants.
"They have to have a day time phone number, email address and have to sign and date their letter intent," said Schiller. "So those rejections were all based on people not following what was required in the letter of intent."
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Courtesy Omega Psi Phi FraternityThe Omega Psi Phi fraternity is urging the District of Columbia as well as the Congress and others to follow its lead providing funds to rehabilitate the home of Carter G. Woodson.
Prior to leaving D.C. this weekend where the fraternity celebrated its centennial, members of the organization's supreme council gathered at the Woodson house in Northwest to present a $5,000 check towards its renovation.
The row house where Woodson lived from 1922 until his death in 1950, is currently closed to the public but has been designated a national historic site.
After Woodson's death it became home to the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH) until the early 1970s. The house later remained vacant and deteriorating until 2005 when it was purchased by the National Park Service.
The son of former slaves, Woodson is known as the father of black history.
In 1926, ASALH – which Woodson operated from his home -- launched Negro History Week. Years later the celebration would evolve into Black History Month.
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