Washington Informer

On Sunday, for the sixth day in a row, more than 15,000 homes and businesses in the District remained without power, according to Pepco spokesman Marcus Beal.

But as residents continued to deal with record temperatures that consistently exceeded 100 degrees, a local union contends that rather than blaming the delay restoring power to incompetence on Pepco's part, the utility company's "chronic" lack of manpower is at fault.

Members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1900 also claim that Pepco's shift from hiring union utility workers to non-union temporary contractors has added to the problem.

"We have half the linemen we had 15 years ago," Jim Griffin from IBEW Local 1900, said in a statement. Griffin, whose union represents 1,150 Pepco workers, added that, "We have been complaining for a very long time. They have relied for a long time on contractors. They are transients, they don't know our system, and we typically have to go behind them to fix their mistakes. It's very frustrating. We take ownership in our work, we make careers out of this."

Griffin said IBEW warned Pepco years ago about the consequences of under-staffing.

"Everything is keyed on dollars and cents profit," IBEW Utility Director Jim Hunter reportedly warned back in 2005. "Storm outages are longer, and utilities are asking for more and more help from other utilities. The problem is that other companies are in the same boat. And they are still not hiring."

Griffin went on to say that starting 15 years ago, Pepco stopped hiring workers to replace retiring electrical workers and offered incentive-laden buyout deals to get electricians to retire.

He said that in order to address understaffing problems, Pepco -- which currently employs 1,150 union workers and approximately 400 non-union contractors -- has at times, hired non-union temporary contractors, instead of hiring new workers.

Meanwhile, according to a statement of Pepco's website, an estimated 300,000 man-hours were expended to restore customers, including call center support. Pepco secured about 1,000 hotel rooms to house field crews over an eight-day period, arranged more than 53,000 meals and issued about 10,000 cases of water and 9,000 cases of energy drinks to keep crews sufficiently hydrated during the high heat the region experienced last week.

Scheduled to Deliver Keynote Address Morning of Thursday, July 12

Vice President Joe Biden will address the 103rd NAACP Annual Convention in Houston, Texas, on Thursday, July 12.

Biden will keynote the convention's final plenary session, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. (CDT) at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

"We welcome Vice President Biden to address our membership in Houston next week," said NAACP Chairwoman Roslyn M. Brock. "The vice president is a longtime friend to the NAACP. He has been a strong advocate for justice and equality over his decades of service in the Senate and the White House."

This is the first time Biden will address the NAACP's convention as vice president. The NAACP values the opportunity to hear from elected officials and candidates for public office.

"We are honored to welcome Vice President Joe Biden to our convention," said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. "This is an important election year and communities of color will play a huge role in deciding the outcome in any number of races across the country. As such, we are pleased that both major political parties will be represented at this year's convention."

This year's convention will run from July 7 – July 12 under the theme "Your Power, Your Decision – VOTE". The gathering will build on the association's voter engagement and empowerment initiatives, with advocacy workshops on a myriad of vital issues, including civic engagement, health care, criminal justice, and climate justice.

More information about the 103rd NAACP Annual Convention is available here: http://www.naacp.org/pages/convention.

George Zimmerman has been released on bond for the second time in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

But this time, the judge who believed Zimmerman misled the court about his finances, is requiring him to remain in Seminole County, Fla. -- meaning he is restricted from leaving the country.

After recently posting a $1 million bond, Zimmerman was freed from jail, but he must be electronically monitored. Neither can the 28-year-old former neighborhood watch guard open a bank account, obtain a passport or go near the local airport. He also has to adhere to a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

"Certainly it's been a sobering experience spending the last month in jail in that kind of environment," Don West, one of Zimmerman's attorneys, said in an interview over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Zimmerman who has reportedly hired a security team, will be accommodated in a "safe house" prior to being moved to a permanent home.

Unemployment continues an upward spiral among African Americans, and according to the latest statistics from the U. S. Department of Labor, June represents the third consecutive month of weak hiring. As a result, although the recession ceased three years ago, the economy is still struggling.

The labor report also shows that while the national unemployment rate of 8.2 remained steady, it also rose significantly among African Americans in June to 14.4 percent from 13.6 percent in May.

In addition, the economy added about 75,000 jobs each month during last quarter, which extended from April to June.

"It's a disappointing report," said George Mokrzan, director of economics at Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio, said in an interview, in which he added thatjob gains are consistent with sluggish economic growth.

Thousands turned out for the funeral service of Albert R. "Butch"Hopkins on Friday, July 6 at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle in Northwest.

District Mayor Vincent Gray spoke during the service where he honored Hopkins' great work throughout the city.

Pepco, which continues to face scrutiny for how quickly it has been able to restore power thousands of homes and businesses following the June 22 rain storm, has distinction as the number one "most hated company in America," according to the publication, Business Insider.

Now the utility's regional president is in the hot seat where he faces tough questioning over his company's reliability record.

During a recent interview, Thomas Graham admitted that while many would be left in the dark for days after the latest area storm that toppled trees and downed utility poles, he said its effects garnered the same kinds of outrage that has arisen following previous outages.

"We started with 443,000 customers out of service," Graham said. Over the course of the first few days, "We [were] able to restore service to three out of every four customers."

To that end, Pepco officials said  in public statements that they've cut the duration of customer outages by 59 percent this year and decreased the onslaught of outages by 36 percent.

Graham went on to state that many customers would be without power for about a week and that in spite of what some observers have termed as a slow response time , Pepco accomplished major progress within three days after the storm hit.

Nevertheless. D.C. Council member Mary Cheh and Mayor Vincent Gray have called for an investigation into Pepco's response time, with Gray stating that it's time for Pepco to step up with a new game plan.

The chief administrator for the District of Columbia Department of Health (DOH) is expected to request an unpaid leave of absence in order to serve on a board which governs the city's health care exchange.

Dr. Mohammad Akhter and six other prominent health care professionals nominated by Mayor Vincent C. Gray as voting members of the Health Care Exchange Board, will have to meet approval of a D.C. Council committee. Upon confirmation at the Council's Juy 10 legislative meeting, they will comprise the panel tasked with getting President Barack Obama's health care reform mandate launched in the District by 2014.

"When I came into office, I immediately formed the Health Reform Implementation Committee so that we could continue to move towards fulfilling the federal mandate to implement health-care reform, and I am extremely pleased with our progress," Mayor Gray said. "The professionals that I nominated to serve on the Executive Board of the [health care exchange] are crucial to the success of this project, with an end result of providing quality health care to all of our residents that is affordable and within reach."

The Pakistan-born Akhter is a former District commissioner of health and professor at the Howard University College of Medicine. He has been at the helm of DOH since 2011 when he was appointed by Gray.

Because Akhter cannot serve simultaneously as DOH director and on the board, he is expected to request a leave of absence shortly after being confirmed. Saul Levin, senior deputy director in DOH's Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration, will assume Akhter's post.

Akhter said in an interview that it will be a "great opportunity" to serve on the panel. He added that Obama's healthcare reforms are "extremely important" for both the District and the nation, and that he is poised to spend a year on the initiative, where his participation will help enable uninsured residents -- as well as those seeking better coverage -- to compare healthcare providers and save on their medical expenses.

Overall, "We have to have this whole thing prepared and submitted by November," Akhter was quoted as saying.

The other nominees include Henry J. Aaron, Ph.D., a senior fellow in health care at the Brookings Institution; Leighton Ku, Ph.D., professor of health policy and director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University; Khalid Pitts, director of Strategic Campaigns at the Service Employees International Union; Kate Sullivan Hare, director of Policy Outreach and Public Affairs at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Diane C. Lewis, health-care policy consultant; and Kevin Lucia, research professor and project director at the Health Policy Institute of Georgetown University.

A statement released Thursday from Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s office indicates that he will be on an extended leave of absence due to "physical and emotional ailments."

Jackson, 47, who was first elected to office in 1995, is being treated as an inpatient at an undisclosed medical facility. However, his condition is now being reported as far more serious than a week ago, when his office said in a terse statement that he was dealing with exhaustion.

"Congressman Jackson's medical condition is more serious than we thought and initially believed," the most recent statement said. "Recently, we have been made aware that he has grappled with certain physical and emotional ailments privately for a long period of time. At present, he is undergoing further evaluation and treatment at an in-patient medical facility."

Meanwhile, Jackson is facing a House ethics investigation aligned with his ties to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich who is in prison.

Jackson is a nine-term Democrat, representing Illinois' 2nd District and its Southside neighborhoods. He has denied any wrongdoing and has never has been charged.