Latest (172)
The latest news from the Joomla! Team
Markus Batchelor,19, is Ward 8 Democrats' new first vice president./Courtesy Photo
Joyce Scott, a long time Ward 8 activist, was elected president of the Ward 8 Democrats on Sat., Sept. 17 at the Savoy Elementary School in Southeast. Scott, who was the organization's first vice president, will serve as president until September 2013.
Meanwhile, there is a new star in the D.C. political landscape: 19-year-old Markus Batchelor, who was elected first vice president of the organization. His success makes Batchelor part of a new breed of young elected officials and political aspirants who have pledged to make Ward 8 a better place to live.
Ward 8 is a strong Democratic enclave and gave Barack Obama the most support in the city in terms of percentages in 2008. The ward was also the second most pro-Vincent Gray district in D.C. next to Gray's own Ward 7.
At-Large Council member Vincent Orange's proposal is aimed at reducing unemployment among D.C. residents./Courtesy Photo
By August joblessness in the District had increased by 0.3 percent -- and now hovers at 11.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"This proposed legislation will serve to declare war on unemployment by creating, developing and training a workforce ready to connect with job opportunities within the District of Columbia," Orange said in a statement issued this week by his office. "In addition, this legislation will serve to alleviate the concerns of unemployed District residents by putting into action a plan to defeat unemployment."
Joe Barber/Courtesy Photo
Joe Barber, Arts Critic for WTOP and WETA, Dies
WASHINGTON, D.C. --Joe Barber, longtime arts and entertainer editor/commentator for radio station WTOP, has died. Barber, 53, was found dead late on Sept. 19 at his home in Northwest.
A presence in local media for 20 years, Barber – a native Washingtonian – also provided broadcast reviews of music and theater; and was a frequent panelist on WETA's Around Town, where since 1994 he commented mostly on film. He had most recently commented on the movie, The Help.
While reports state that Barber died of natural causes, DCRTV first reported the news and Jacqueline Todt, a senior director at WETA, who oversees Around Town, said Barber had been struggling with diabetes.
Fam
Former federal judge Norma Johnson./Courtesy Photoily ,friends and members of the legal profession are mourning the death of Norma Holloway Johnson, the trailblazing judge from Louisiana who went on to become the first black woman to be appointed to the federal bench in D.C.
Johnson, also the only female to serve as chief judge of the court, rose to prominence when she oversaw the grand jury investigation into President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky.
Dominique Frazier will be remembered at BSU service./Courtesy PhotoBowie State University will host a memorial Wednesday night (Sept. 21) in honor of Dominique Frazier, the freshman student who was stabbed to death in her campus dormitory last week.
The service will be held in Room 102 of the Center for Learning and Technoly.
"Bowie State administration, faculty, staff and students offer deepest condolences to the family of the victim Dominique T. Frazier, 18, from Washington, D.C.," officials said in a statement. "This kind of senseless violence is difficult to understand."
Alexis Simpson, 19, has been accused of the stabbing which occurred after the two women argued about music playing from an iPod.
While At-Large Council member Vincent Orange is poised to push through his Jobs Czar Act of 2011 -- aimed at reducing the District's unemployment rate -- 10 workers at the troubled Children and Family Services Agency have received pink slips.
The terminations come in the wake of efforts to streamline the city's budget woes, and according agency spokeswoman Mindy Good, the reductions will not affect social services caseloads.
CFSA, which came under fire during former Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration largely for the manner staff dealt with the cases involving several children, laid off more than 100 employees in May 2010.
Meanwhile, CFSA's budget has decreased from $270 million in the current fiscal year to $265 million for the new spending period, which begins Oct. 1.
Troy Anthony Davis/Courtesy PhotoThe state of Georgia's pardons board has rejected clemency for Troy Davis, who claims that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.
The Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected Davis' request on Tuesday (Sept. 20) for clemency after hearing hours of testimony from prosecutors and his supporters, according to two of Davis' attorneys, Stephen Marsh and Brian Kammer.
Davis, 42, is slated for execution by lethal injection on Sept. 21 (the fourth date set over the past four years) in the death of off-duty Savannah officer Mark MacPhail, who was killed while rushing to help a homeless man being attacked.
"My faith is very strong. God has covered me before and he will do it again," Davis was quoted as telling State Sen. Donzella James (D-College Park) and local civil rights activist Mark Bell last week during a two-hour jailhouse visit.
May
or Vincent C. Gray has expressed concern and dismay that once again the District of Columbia faces another possible government shutdown at the end of next week
The District, which lacks autonomy, is restricted from spending its own locally-raised funds without Congressional intervention. As a result, the shut down could result from the lawmakers' inaction.
WASHI
Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee/Courtesy PhotoNGTON, D.C. -- Dr. Nicol Turner-Lee, vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and director of its Media and Technology Institute, has been selected by the Alliance for Women in Media (AWM) as one of the 60 most inspiring women in media today.
Dr. Turner-Lee and the others designated by AWM as Sixty @60 will be honored Nov. 3 in New York at the organization's 60th Anniversary Luncheon.
Nominations were submitted by a national poll of AWM community members, and the winners were chosen on the basis of their inspiring leadership in contemporary media.
Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles has announced the launch of a feature customers have requested for years: the ability to add value to a SmarTrip card from the convenience of their computer.
"Customers can now go online rather than getting in line," said Sarles. "This is the latest—but certainly not the last—example of how we are going to use technology to improve our customers' travel experience."
The SmarTrip Online Reload feature makes it more convenient for riders to manage their SmarTrip card balances and avoid lines at fare machines. Metro officially launched the feature Sept. 22 following a successful pilot program that included 150,000 customers.
Any customer with a registered SmarTrip card can load value simply by logging onto their SmarTrip account on Metro's website, smartrip.wmata.com, and clicking on the "add value" link. The system accepts all major credit cards.
The District has awarded a contract to GCS-SIGAL to fully modernize Cardozo High School, located at 12th and Clifton streets in Northwest. The renovation is slated to begin in December and completion is expected in thesummer of 2013.
"Today's announcement on the design-build award for Cardozo continues the momentum in the District of Columbia of turning our schools into 21st Century, high-tech facilities that go hand-in-hand with ensuring a high quality education for our students," said Mayor Vincent Gray, who announced the contract on Sept. 21.
At-large City Council member Michael Brown said in a brief interview Friday with the Washington Informer that a three-hour meeting called Sept. 22 -- in the wake of a fracas that took place at a gathering two days earlier -- was private, and therefore, no further comment could be provided.
During the latter meeting, police barred reporters from the proceedings.
"We were discussing personnel issues and some other things [related to ethics and reforms] and the meeting was closed to the media," Brown said.
The meeting that took place on Sept. 20 involved members hurling profanities at each other as the 13-member governing body debated raising income taxes among the city's wealthy residents.
In recent times, relationships have been strained among members of the Council, particularly after a string of ethics violations have been leveled against many of them.
However, it was partly because of the tension-filled debate that Council Chairman Kwame Brown called the Sept. 22 meeting, where a new 25-page code of conduct for members was distributed.
The pamphlet also covers concerns such as reporting outside income and accepting gifts, according to a report.
Featured Poll
ADVERTISMENT
ADVERTISMENT