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NEW YORK -- The NFL is donating $1 million to the new memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. on Washington's National Mall.
The monument was scheduled to be dedicated Sunday,
on the 48th anniversary of the slain civil rights leader's ''I Have a Dream'' speech, but the ceremony was postponed because of Hurricane Irene.
The contribution from the league and NFL Charities will help the MLK Memorial Foundation, which spearheaded the King tribute, to reach its goal of raising $120 million.
''We in the NFL believe that professional football is the ultimate meritocracy. NFL players are measured strictly by their performance on the field regardless of race, religion or economic background," said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. ''In the spirit of Dr. King, we work vigorously to maintain an inclusive environment where everyone can reach their fullest potential. We are proud to have our name associated with Dr. King.''
Pepco reported Prince George's County as the hardest hit for outages in the D.C. region./Courtesy Photo
The force of Hurricane Irene in the D.C. region has left residents in Prince George's County the hardest hit for power outages.
According to Pepco spokesman Clay Anderson, it will take several days to repair outages in Upper Marlboro and elsewhere in Prince George's.
The utility reports also reported on Aug. 28 that at the height of the storm, 220,000 customers were without power, including 96,000 in Prince George's, 65,000 in Montgomery County and 33,000 in the District of Columbia. By 7:30 a.m., the outage total was down to 194,000.
Pepco reported that five substations and 131 priority feeder lines were knocked out, and more than 300 wires were down Sunday morning.
Courtesy PhotoA new report claims that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry target black and Hispanics by placing abortion facilities in disadvantaged communities.
The report by the anti-abortion group Life Dynamics is titled, Racial Targeting and Population Control, and claims to have validated assertions pro-lifers have made for years — that abortion advocates have purposefully placed abortion centers in urban areas with high percentages of black and Hispanic residents.
District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray announced during a press conference Tuesday that Christopher Murphy will serve as his new chief of staff while Andrea Pringle assumes the role of deputy chief.
Murphy previously served as deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Pringle is a political consultant who worked has worked on several political campaigns, including Howard Dean's 2004 bid for the presidency.
According to Gray -- who fired his former chief of staff in March after the administration became embroiled in allegations of nepotism and cronyism - the new appointments are part of an effort to "turn the page" on the hiring scandals as the administration moves forward in its governance of the District.
Nadine Winter served on the City Council from 1975 to 1991, where she represented Ward 6./Courtesy PhotoNadine Winter, who was active in the breast cancer survivor community, fought to bring health information to people in the District who most needed it.
She once said that despite the belief of many, that poor people do not care about their health, the truth is that that do.
"People need and want information. We feel it's our job to bring it directly to them," Winter, founder of the Health Outreach Information (HOIN), had commented.
Winter, who represented Ward 6 on the City Council from 1975 to 1991, died on Aug. 26 at her home in Southwest. She was 87.
However, she had a long and storied history with D.C. where she'd lived since moving in 1947 from Winston-Salem, NC., and launched her career as a social services advocate. She later went on to found and serve as executive director of Hospitality House, a nonprofit organization that provided assistance to disadvantaged families as well as youth and the elderly.
Among Winter's other numerous involvements was organizer of the National Welfare Rights Organization, serving as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, membership in the National Democratic Women's Club and the District of Columbia Women's Political Caucus. She was also a member of the National Association of Social Workers and Self-Determination for DC Coalition.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has reportedly called for a hearing surrounding FEMA's response to the Aug. 23 earth quake. /Courtesy PhotoMayor Vincent Gray said in an interview this week that he was pleased with the manner in which city agencies and residents dealt with the two natural disasters that recently hit the region.
According to Gray who spoke with WHUR, city workers "did an extraordinary job," and residents deserved praise for remaining calm in the wake of power outages and other disruptions.
"There have been many things that have been done," Gray said of both the city and Pepco's response to power outages that have left thousands of people unable to cook meals and other tasks. "But of course, if you ask anybody whose power is still out, you know what kind of answer you're going to get."
Gray said that as of Aug 30, some 3,000 households in the District remained without electrical power, and that his administration took dinner over to an apartment complex in Southeast where hundreds of people live.
Courtesy photo.WASHINGTON - The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture is planning an exhibit that explores the third president of the United States' history with slavery.
The exhibit, which focuses on Thomas Jefferson, is titled Jefferson and Slavery at Monticello: Paradox of Liberty, and will tackle the sensitive subject of blacks in bondage during the American Revolution. Jefferson, who owned hundreds of slaves, called the institution of slavery an "abominable crime."
The exhibit will open in January at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The black history museum is under development and is slated to open in its own building on the National Mall in 2015.
At Monticello in Virginia, curators are beginning a long-term restoration of Mulberry Row, which included 21 dwellings for enslaved and free workers at the plantation. An exhibit on Mulberry Row opens in February.
Want a greener city? Here's your chance to voice your ideas and get involved.
On Sept. 1, Mayor Vincent Gray, the D.C. Office of Planning (OP) in partnership with the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) launched a new city-wide initiative and website, sustainable.dc.gov, to mine information from citizens in an effort to create a sustainability strategy for the city.
The initiative is called "Start in September." The intent is to kick off the public engagement and encourage residents to give the city green and sustainable ideas. The goal is to make Washington, D.C., the model for sustainability in the country.
"I want to make the District of Columbia the most sustainable city in America [and] we will be getting a broad range of creative ideas from our residents – truly a group brainstorming session occurring across our city."
Traditional and new-media outreach tools will be used to engage the public during the information gathering process.
"Beginning in September, we are rolling out a website where there is information to serve as a guide for folks that are interested in gathering friends family colleagues or associations to discuss what sustainability means, what it would take to become a sustainable green city, what it would mean to individuals to have a sustainable city, and what it means to be greener, healthier and more livable," said Christophe A. G. Tulou, DDOE director.
The White House's Office of Public Engagement convened a teleconference on Sept. 1 for the press that shed light on President Barack Obama's speech next week regarding jobs.
"What we wanted to do, now that we have a date for the jobs speech that was agreed to by Speaker [John] Boehner, is to provide a walk-through of what's going to happen the day of the speech, what's going to happen the night after the speech and in the days afterwards," said OPE Director John Carson.
While Carson said he could not provide details of what Obama would say on Sept. 8, he stressed that the speech would be a crucial moment for the country.,and that his office would be relying heavily on the media to make sure the public understands the president has a plan for jobs, what it means to their communities and that if the plan fails passage, who would be at fault.
Obama, who joined the call-in later, said he is "absolutely" committed to making jobs the top priority. He said however, that he would need the press help in making sure the country knows that his administration has crafted a specific and bold plan to move the country forward.
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