Category: Washington D.C. News

(March 10, 2010) – COLLEGE PARK – State Sen. Mike Lenett, D-Montgomery, once took his two sons, David and Aaron, to a Baltimore Orioles game. As Lenett and the boys crossed a street on their way from the stadium to a downtown-parking garage, he spotted a woman driving her car and using her cellular phone […]

Census Bureau officials are working towards 100 percent participation in the 2010 census and they’re seeking help from myriad and innovative sources—including the non-profit sector. “It is really important that we get the word out any way we can,” said Cheryl Harrington, head of Prince George’s Complete Count Committee. “We need to make sure we […]

(March 10, 2010) – Councilman Marion Barry’s supporters questioned the fairness of the District of Columbia Council’s censure of their Ward 8 peer last week. While Barry was taken to task for awarding $15,000 of taxpayer money to a former girlfriend, they say, Mayor Adrian Fenty hadn’t been held accountable for the $86 million he […]

Scores of Howard University students took to the streets and local celebrities lent their support at WHUR 96.3 radio during a 12-hour radiothon to raise money to finance the students’ Alternative Spring Break of helping others in cities across America. The students raised $25,350 to fund their efforts in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans and […]

(March 10, 2010) – In advance of its merger with Wachovia, Wells Fargo is re-affirming its commitment to African Americans by kicking off its National African American Media Tour in Washington, D.C., during Black Press Week, March 17-19. “The goal of the event is really to start to talk about Wells Fargo and the work […]

Washington, D.C. was named on March 4, a finalist in Race to the Top, a competition for a portion of the $4.35 billion President Obama has dedicated to fund education. The nation’s capital faces 15 states nationwide for the funds. District Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and D.C. charter school leaders plan to reduce the […]

The enactment this week of the District’s Religious Freedom and Civil Rights Equality Amendment Act, which gave same-sex couples the nod to apply for marriage licenses, signaled a coup for that community but downplayed the latest efforts of a local group that vehemently opposes those unions. “I hope this sends the message that the District […]

After a decade’s worth of wrangling to get marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes, the District of Columbia City Council appears to be moving closer to acquiescing the will of the people. The measure has been derailed three times by Congress, but the Council recently convened a public hearing to further discuss Initiative 59, which in […]

A hearing convened last month by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on the operation of the city’s halfway houses has revealed that when it comes to reducing crime and recidivism among ex-offenders, the privately-run facilities could do a better job. “The hearing revealed counterproductive inflexibility among some personnel at halfway houses, frustrating offenders’ efforts to comply […]

Howard University will serve as the backdrop next week surrounding a debate on same-sex marriage. The event, which takes place at noon on March 9, will be held at the university’s School of Law and will feature the justice involved in the controversial Proposition 8 in which the Supreme Court overturned a referendum last year […]

A mistrial was declared for the most serious charges facing Tavon Taylor, one of the men accused of participating in street race which killed eight people in Feb. 16, 2008. His sentencing date for the lesser traffic offenses has been pushed back to a date not yet to be determined. Darren Bullock, the alleged co-conspirator, […]

The record number of home foreclosures in the Washington, D.C. metro area has local Census officials worried about the 2010 count. It’s a concern that was nonexistent in previous counts in 2000 and 1990, but now Census officials are concerned that home foreclosures, even more than the migration of people across the Prince George’s County-Washington, […]