DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Here are your links:

Officer: Disorganization, Lack of Resources in National Zoo Stabbing Response “The officer also said throughout the day, there were kids fighting and causing problems. “You’re talking about 45 to 55 kids; they were running right into the main entrance of the National Zoo, they were disturbing people, they were toppling over each other, strollers, things of that nature,” the officer said. “The officers that I was working with had no other recourse, but use their spray in order to subdue two of them,” he said. With an estimated 26,000 visitors at the zoo, the officer said they only had seven officers on zoo grounds. Clearly, he said it wasn’t enough.” (myfoxdc.com)

Study: Renters spending greater share of income on monthly expenses “The study offers the latest in a series of grim statistics about the scarcity of rental housing, especially for the working poor. Housing supply has not kept up with demand in part because of a shortage of apartments, a key source of new rentals. Developers cut back on such projects when the economy deteriorated in 2009, which drove down vacancies and boosted rents. Rental markets are tightening while monthly costs climb putting the largest burden on the nation’s poorest workers, the bottom fifth of household income distribution.” (thehill.com)

Cora Masters Barry won’t toot her own horn, but others will Said Maya Angelou: “She means to change things for the better, and I don’t know of a better way to use my energies than to support someone who does that.” More: “When then-D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty was trying to take the (Southeast Tennis and Learning Center) away from Barry in 2009, saying that the city lease had run out, a nationwide coalition of women — Angelou, Height and several members of Congress among them — came to her defense. Once Fenty decided not to pursue the eviction, Barry got back to work.” (The Washington Post)

DC Police Shoot & Kill Young Man, Neighbors Outraged “An officer-involved shooting in Southeast has neighbors in that area crying foul…Caroletta Inamn lives in the area of the shooting and saw it happen: “When he was running, he said, ‘I ain’t got anything’ and was pulling his pants up. That’s when the shots came up….and then they put handcuffs on the boy.” The officer who shot and killed the young man has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.” (WUSA Washington, DC)

Orange beats Mara, Biddle in special election for at-large seat on D.C. Council “According to unofficial returns from the city’s 143 precincts, Orange led eight other candidates with about 28 percent of the vote in a race to fill the seat that Kwame R. Brown (D) gave up when he was elected council chairman last year. Mara received about 26 percent of the vote, while Biddle — whom the D.C. Democratic Committee appointed in January to temporarily fill the seat — garnered about 20 percent.” (The Washington Post)