According to the 2009 Nation’s Report Card in Reading, Washington, D.C. ranks near the bottom nationally in reading test scores among fourth- and eighth-graders. Fortunately, library associates Angela Redmond of the Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library and Michelle McIntyre of the Parklands Turner Neighborhood Library in Southeast are doing something about it. Through entertaining book […]
Author Archives: Stephen D. Riley
Special to the AFRO
Posted inSports
‘Revis Island’ Surfs Summer Payout Wave
You can’t blame New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis for wanting to cash in. He was just following in the footsteps of other prime-timers who used monster seasons to fatten their wallets. Houston’s Andre Johnson and Tennessee’s Chris Johnson each flipped the table on their respected ball clubs and demanded coin that better symbolized their […]
Posted inHigh School
Gilman, DeMatha Run Wild in I-95 Kickoff Classic
Maryland high school football powers DeMatha and Gilman are set to meet on Sept 20, but they first tuned up for the big game later this month by brushing off opponents at the inaugural I-95 Kickoff Classic at Towson University on September 4. With rushing attacks that would make professional teams envy, both schools displayed […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Lanham Boy’s Summer Challenge Evolves into Community Movement
Encrypted with pictures and prayers, seven-year-old Justice Flora’s letter started out as an innocent request. After reading an article in Clubhouse Jr. Magazine, Flora decided to respond to the publication’s summer challenge to collect shoes for those displaced in Haiti. Like any child his age, the second-grader took it one step at a time and […]
Posted inSports
Three Downs from the District: Concluding the Redskins’ Preseason
Win or lose, the NFL preseason is all about getting repetitions. So the Washington Redskins’ 20-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 2 may not be an indicator of the team’s future success this season, it did give the team a chance to showcase some young players in need of experience. A fruitful off-season […]
Posted inSports
Team USA Thwarts Tunisia, Looks Ahead to Elimination Round
Team USA cleared the preliminary round of FIBA competition undefeated after their 92-57 thrashing of Tunisia on Sept. 2 in Turkey. The Americans improved to 5-0 as the top seed in Group B and will take on the No. 4 ranked team in Group A, Angola, on Sept. 6. Aside from a two-point win over […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Local Woman Spices Up District with Flavorful Hot Sauces
Standing just a half inch over 5 feet, Monica Sanowar isn’t a very imposing figure. An olive-skinned woman with a motherly smile and calming voice, Sanowar gives off the guise of an innocent bystander incapable of harming a fly. But behind the profession of an everyday legal secretary is a burning pyromaniac ready to explode. […]
Posted inCommentary
Going Deep: NFL Tinkering with 18 Games
I should be happy right? My favorite sport is only a handshake away from expanding its regular season, so why am I donning the sad face? Sorry, it’s just hard for me to sign off on bad ideas. After NFL owners huddled at an Atlanta hotel last week around the proposal of an 18-game schedule, […]
Posted inSports
Team USA Punishes Croatia in FIBA World Championships Basketball Debut
Before making its FIBA World Championships debut on Saturday, Team USA had been brewing concerns. Who was going to be the second scorer? Who was going to provide a dominant force inside? And was last week’s one-point exhibition win over Spain a sign of struggles ahead? But in its opening game, the United States put […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Nation’s First Female HS Varsity (Boys) Football Coach Makes Debut
Natalie Randolph has arrived. The camera crews, the masses of reporters and the sold out crowd said so. Believed to be the nation’s only female head coach of a boy’s varsity high school football team, Randolph led her Coolidge Colts in an attention-crazed debut Friday night against the Archbishop Carroll Lions that didn’t go quite […]
Posted inSports
AFRO Looks Ahead at NFL’s Western Divisions
It wasn’t that long ago when the NFL’s Western divisions were supercharged with power. The Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams were Super Bowl caliber and the Kansas City Chiefs were annual playoffs contenders. But a lot has changed in recent years, and many league analysts now view both the AFC West and NFC West […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Federal Dollars to Speed up District’s Aggressive Paving Program
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is speeding up its efforts to improve the streets in Washington, D.C. DDOT announced last week that the department will use federal funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) to resurface several streets within the District, ahead of its normal construction schedule, over the next few weeks. […]