DCentric

Happy Friday, DCentric readers! The city’s budget has been passed and the District may soon have a permanent chancellor to run the school system. Also below: the fight over food trucks, anti-gay slurs at Safeway and the link between Japanese internment camps and Muslim radicalization hearings.

Meet D.C.’s left-leaning budget squad A profile of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, which lobbies for funding social services, raising taxes and other issues. And the thing is, they’re pretty much the only game in town. “Lacking a critical mass of fiscal conservatives who actually care about local government, the District hasn’t yet birthed a DCFPI of the right. It’s a side that could use more intelligent defense.” (Washington City Paper)

Henderson on track to head D.C. schools It seems that Kaya Henderson, who worked with much-criticized/applauded Michelle Rhee, is on her way to become the official chancellor of D.C. Public Schools. While there are a few who remain skeptical of Henderson, given her ties to the previous administration, the D.C. Council is expected to her next week. (Washington Times)

Safeway Clerk Fired After Alleged Slur The clerk who allegedly used an anti-gay slur against a gay couple over the weekend has now been fired from the Southwest grocery store after media coverage and outrage by local elected leaders. The couple, which had filed a complaint with the city about the incident, feels the disciplinary action should have been more immediate. (NBC Washington)

Food Fight Between Food Trucks & Restaurants Over D.C. Regulation D.C.’s food trucks anxiously await new proposed rules on how they can operate. Also waiting: a coalition of restaurant owners in the District who feel the food trucks are unfairly competing with their brick-and-mortar businesses. Also worth noting is that the restaurant association “carries a lot of weight in D.C. According to campaign finance records, it’s donated money to 10 of the 13 current City Council members, and to the Mayor.” (WAMU)

Peter King’s ‘Muslim Radicalization’ Hearings Risk Repeating History Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) takes issue with the upcoming congressional hearings to examine Muslim radicalization. Honda, who grew up in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, makes a strong connection between how the U.S. treated its Japanese-American citizens and what these hearings to do the Muslim-American community. “The interned 4-year old in me is crying out for a course correction so that we do not do to others what we did unjustly to over 100,000 Japanese-Americans.” (The Nation)