DCentric

While jurisdictions around the country, such as Alabama state, have passed laws cracking down on undocumented immigrants, D.C. officials are moving in a different direction. Namely, lawmakers “are considering ways to limit the city’s participation in Secure Communities,” reports WAMU 88.5′s Patrick Madden.

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• Source: Wamu
• Via: @wamu885news

[Secure Communities] requires local jurisdictions to share arrest information, including fingerprint data, with federal immigration authorities. A measure introduced today at the D.C. Council, and co-sponsored by all 13 members, would limit the amount of time the city would hold suspected undocumented immigrants at the local jail on what are known as “civil detainers”.

Read more at: wamu.org

Metrobus workers are complaining that buses serving Northwest D.C.’s low-income areas aren’t kept as clean as the buses serving tonier sections of upper Northwest. Metro officials dispute that characterization, saying there is no difference between in cleanliness among the buses.

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• Source: Washingtonexaminer

“People urinate on the bus every day,” said Gerry Garnett, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 assistant business agent. “It’s very unsanitary.”

Furthermore, Garnett and a Metrobus driver said a manager told them and other Metro workers in a safety meeting last month that buses at the Western garage near Friendship Heights in upper Northwest are cleaned more often than Northern buses because of their “clientele.”

Garnett called the comments offensive in a complaint he submitted to Metro’s Office of Civil Rights, saying that buses serving minorities aren’t kept as clean.

“A paying customer is a paying customer,” added one longtime bus operator who heard the comments but did not want her name printed out of fear she would lose her job. “Everyone should be entitled to a clean bus.”

Read more at: washingtonexaminer.com

Two unpaid interns are suing Fox Searchlight Pictures for not adequately compensating them for their work, and the outcome could have broader implications for all unpaid interns.

D.C. draws legions of interns every summer, many of whom are unpaid. Taking such internships may be viewed as necessary in order to build a career, but it’s not an option for everyone; middle and low income young people may not be able to afford to work for free. Working as an unpaid intern is particularly challenging in a city like D.C. where the cost of living is high.

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• Source: Npr

Internships have become an almost essential first step on the career ladder, says Phil Gardner, who directs the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. He says companies don’t pay interns because they can get away with it.

“Nobody’s been called on this. And in economic times when you’re cutting the bottom line and meeting your third quarter, I think the rationale is, ‘Why pay anything for them?’ ” he says.

Gardner says interns don’t know what to expect from employers or what laws they might be breaking. Since interns hope to land a paid position, they aren’t very likely to file complaints.

Read more at: www.npr.org

Aldi representatives say the reason the discount grocer doesn’t accept WIC is because Aldi brands don’t qualify under the program guidelines, which provides grocery subsidies to low-income families. But products eligible under WIC differ state-to-state.

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• Source: Washingtoncitypaper
• Via: @shani_o

In D.C., “any brand or size” of plain, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables is WIC eligible. And in several states, store brands and the cheapest versions of foods are preferred by agencies. It’s odd that Aldi would use the store brand defense as a reason why they don’t qualify. More likely, is that the regulatory hoops companies have to jump through—things like standardizing sizes and meeting minimum inventory requirements—would make it too pricey of an endeavor.

Read more at: www.washingtoncitypaper.com

Major retailers have opened up shop in D.C.’s Chinatown, revitalizing the neighborhood. But only about 500 Chinese immigrants remain in the area and the number of Chinese-owned stores and restaurants has declined through the years. Now, the District government wants to retain the cultural history of the neighborhood by revamping the area’s signs, lampposts and benches to make them appear more “Chinese.”

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• Source: Washingtoncitypaper
• Via: @housingcomplex

I don’t think that’s going to do much for the remaining Chinese residents of Chinatown, and creating a Disneyfied version of their neighborhood isn’t a good way to honor their heritage. Furthermore, it’s a bit rich of the city to go to such great lengths to maintain appearances when it helped cause the decline of Chinatown in the first place by bringing in big-time development and national chains that forced immigrant businesses out. And if adding Chinese characters to street signs were actually an attempt to help out the old folks who don’t read English, the city should be translating Mt. Pleasant signs into Spanish.

Read more at: www.washingtoncitypaper.com