November 30, 2010 | 4:20 PM | By Anna
Trygve.u/Armenian Red Cross Youth
In case you missed it, here’s a must-read interview from WAMU about how powerful the stigma attached to HIV and AIDS is. This story is heartbreaking:
Dr. Sohail Rana is a member of Howard University’s Department of Pediatrics. As Washington, D.C., tries to reduce the incidence of HIV, Rana asks, “Is the stigma associated with HIV now worse than the disease itself?”:
Angel died last Saturday. She was 18. I was her doctor since she was four.
She used to call me Dad.
Technically, Angel died of an AIDS-related illness. The truth is, Angel died from the stigma related to HIV.
Angel contracted the disease at birth from her mother. With today’s medicine, she could have lived a long, productive life.
But many people, including her family members, made her feel dirty because of HIV. She felt rejected.
In shame, she refused to take her medication. Consequently, her HIV progressed to AIDS. The untreated AIDS led to her death.
November 30, 2010 | 2:23 PM | By Anna
The Washington Post has updates about the body of a teenager which was found in a Columbia Heights alley, after a resident saw tennis shoes sticking out of a trash can:
D.C. Police identified the woman whose body was found in a trash receptacle in Northwest Washington on Monday as an 18-year-old Prince George’s County woman.
The woman, who had been stabbed repeatedly, was identified Tuesday as Ebony Franklin, of the 4600 block of Pistachio Lane in Capitol Heights.
Franklin’s death was ruled a homicide by the D.C. medical examiner’s office.
One local blogger tweeted this information regarding the case:
CM Graham says the victim found in Columbia Heights Alley yesterday was “reported missing from her home in suburban Maryland.”
November 30, 2010 | 1:31 PM | By Anna
Taekwonweirdo
One more reason to wear EMS, Marmot, L.L Bean, Old Navy, anything but…North Face. You don’t want to be a target, as you’re distractedly playing with your mesmerizing iPhone:
The DC MPD’s community outreach department has a release out stating that in the last day there’s been two separate robberies where North Face items were stolen. You might consider replacing your North Face items with stuff from the satirical South Butt company. [WeLoveDC]
If it makes you feel any better (or more likely to retire your gear), I saw entrepreneurial types selling knock-off North Face fleeces near DCUSA last week.
November 30, 2010 | 11:30 AM | By Anna
TalkMediaNews
The Kaboom! Van
Yay for playgrounds! By next year, there will be a new one in Southwest, but they need 80+ volunteers to help build it (in a single day). I learned about this via Southwest: The Little Quadrant That Could:
It looks like the effort to bring a centrally-located children’s playground to SW has paid off and one is now planned for the park space adjacent to the Southwest Branch Library at 3rd & I Streets. If you recall back in April, I caught some flack from commenters after expressing my opinion (which I rarely do on this blog) about one of the proposed locations for a playground – the District-owned northeast parcel of Waterfront Station. I’m glad the selected location for the park is not on this parcel, which will cause less angst (and unnecessary expense) when the District eventually decides to allow developers to build housing and ground-floor retail on the site, and a new location for the playground would need to be found…
According to the project website, there are currently 14 volunteer members (myself included) and $5,000 has been donated so far, which is 10% of the $50,000 needed to build the park. The goal is to build the park by this time next year – November 29, 2011.
The playground is being developed with the help of KaBoom!, a neat non-profit which is headquartered in D.C. More on the group, via Wiki:
Continue reading →
November 30, 2010 | 8:45 AM | By Anna
Good morning, DCentric readers! Here are your breakfast links:
Panhandlers and guilt: Dealing with uncomfortable truths and lies “Every study around says that cash handouts don’t help, she said. “The top uses when they get cash are always alcohol, tobacco and drugs.” And there are so many food programs throughout the city, no one in Washington should be going hungry, she told me. If she’s got the time, Kaufman tries to engage with the person and help them with a no-cash solution. But she’s honest. “It’s a crapshoot; I don’t always have that kind of time,” she said.” (The Washington Post)
Should DC dump the sales tax? “DC should consider getting rid of the bottom tier of the sales tax and replacing it with a higher income tax. This could stimulate business, help the working poor by removing a regressive tax, and retain more money within the District by taking advantage of federal deduction rules…This would return as much as $341 million dollars to the District’s residents, serve as a tax break on the lower and middle class, and give DC businesses a competitive advantage over Maryland and Virginia, all while saving the District money.” (Greater Greater Washington)
DCPS sends letter to Dunbar parents after 6 accused of rape in school “Six juvenile males who are accused of sexually assaulting another teenager have been removed from classes and extra security measures are in place at Dunbar Senior High School, a DCPS spokeswoman said in a statement Monday. In a letter sent to students’ families, DCPS interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson said security has been increased in and around Dunbar, where a girl said she was assaulted last week. The victim turned 15 on Monday.” (tbd.com)
November 29, 2010 | 10:44 PM | By Anna
The following tweet makes me want to check out “Lie to Me“, even though the mini-review it contains exposes the apparent laziness of the show’s writers:
Fox's "Lie to Me" mostly ignores its DC setting, but name-drops Anacostia when drug addicts want to score a hit. There’s plenty of drugs in Northwest, TV writers.
November 29, 2010 | 7:11 PM | By Anna
Terribly sad news in my neighborhood, this afternoon:
D.C. police say they have found “what appears to be a human body” in a trash receptacle in Columbia Heights.
The apparent female human remains were found Monday in an alley in the 1000 block of Fairmont Street NW.
D.C. police say the body appears to be that of a teenage girl, and that she appears to have been murdered.
Sources said the victim appeared to be 16 or 17 years old.
I was scouring local blogs and news sites for additional information, which I did not find…what I did find were comments attempting to link this with the fact that Gray won instead of Fenty:
Is it just me or has the shootings / bodies gone CRAZY since Vince won the primary? I swear I have heard more in that short time than I have in the 3 years I have lived in DC.
This situation is unfortunate enough, there’s no need.
November 29, 2010 | 4:29 PM | By Anna
USDAgov
Mmm, cruciferous veggies!
Balancing the city’s budget is going to require some painful cuts in spending…but who should get less? If you’re concerned about how cuts could affect D.C.’s youngest residents, this may be of interest to you (via DC Action for Children):
A last-minute opportunity to take action for DC’s Kids! The DC Council is holding a hearing tomorrow morning on the Mayor’s gap-closing budget, and more than $4.6 million in funding for the recently passed Healthy Schools Act is on the chopping block.
The Healthy Schools Act was passed this summer to help ensure that children in DC Public Schools receive fresh, healthy meals in the classroom and comprehensive wellness services to combat childhood obesity and malnutrition. With 43 percent of District students overweight or obese, we can’t afford to squander this progress to fix a short-term budget gap.
I know that it’s almost 4:30 pm, but I just saw this and there’s still time to call your Councilmember if you are so moved. Readers: are there other, similar programs you are worried about, with regards to gap-closing?
November 29, 2010 | 1:58 PM | By Anna
Wayan Vota
This is so disturbing (via WAMU):
Metro Transit police are investigating the stabbing of a man at the Georgia Avenue-Petworth station. A Metro spokeswoman says a man was stabbed while exiting the station around 4:15 p.m. on Sunday.
The victim had passed through the fare gate when he was approached by another man who stabbed him in the neck.
The Georgia Avenue-Petworth station, located in Northwest D.C., services the Yellow and Green lines.
Metro says the victim was taken to an area hospital. His condition is unknown.
I hope the victim makes a full recovery, and that they catch whoever did this.
November 29, 2010 | 10:55 AM | By Anna
DCentric
Salvation Army Red Kettle, Social Safeway, Washington, D.C.
Last week, for the first time this holiday season, I put money in a Salvation Army red kettle– at a Safeway, not Giant. However, whatever I or my fellow shoppers have been dropping in that nostalgia-inducing red bucket isn’t enough to make up for Giant Food’s new policy which limits the charity’s access to its shoppers:
One of the Salvation Army’s most recognizable fundraisers — the Red Kettle campaign —isn’t performing well in its first week and representatives are pointing toward a new Giant Food policy as the reason.
The National Capital Area Salvation Army reported today that the campaign — where volunteers and paid personnel stand outside shopping centers during the holidays ringing a bell to draw attention to the large red bucket next to them — has seen a $74,000 drop in donations compared to the same week last year…Area Commander Major Steve Morris, reported today that “the economy’s tight hold on family budgets” and a new policy instituted by Giant Food account for the decrease. The grocer’s policy reduced the number of days the Salvation Army can be at the grocery stores to one week in November and one week in December for four hours each day.
