DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! How is your coffee or tea? I’ll bet it would be improved with some delicious news links. Go ahead, try it. You’ll like it.

Fenty, Kwame Brown win big in blogger straw poll The privileged decide: “The ugly and unpleasant reality is that a huge portion of Gray’s supporters really do want a return to the Barry years. The pressure on Gray to deliver lots and lots and lots of pork will be unbearable — and I predict he will cave.” and “[Fenty] and Chancellor Rhee are moving the school system in the right direction and has even gotten national attention on the matter.” and “Yes, Fenty is a jerk. But, so what. DC needs to grow up and start acting like a big city instead of an overgrown small town.” (tbd.com)

Scope, cost of planned NW arts district questioned “I don’t understand how they think they can get people to walk 17 blocks up, 17 blocks over and 17 blocks down. . . . It is just a strange idea,” said Siobhan Gavagan, an art consultant for Longview Gallery on Ninth Street. “There needs to be an overall plan. . . . There needs to be a unified vibe to make one unified arts district. (The Washington Post)

Shaw Dog Park Gets $75,000 City Grant for Improvements “”We applied for the grant in May and got tentative approval a few weeks later, but I didn’t want to announce it until we received the official notice. We basically have Mayor Fenty, a big supporter of dogs parks and other recreational facilities, to thank for this grant,” Kassouf said.” (Borderstan)

Prof. Ron Walters, Authority On The Politics Of Race, Is Dead At 72 “The author of many books and articles on the topic, Walters was the deputy campaign manager for Jesse Jackson’s presidential bid in 1984. He was also a policy adviser to former Reps. Charles Diggs (D-Mich.) and Bill Gray (D-Pa.)” (NPR)

Obama rejects opportunity to speak out on education reform in Fenty reelection campaign ““I think the president could have won the election for Adrian. I would go so far,” (Jim) Graham said Monday. “I think he should have,” Graham said, citing Fenty’s early endorsement of Obama during the presidential election. “Fenty was there for Obama at the very, very beginning, when not a lot of people were stepping out for Obama,” Graham said. “And he is definitely in an Obama mold. I know it would be the president of the United States interfering with a local election in the capital of the United States. But…” (The Daily Caller)

“Why sensible people resort to jaywalking Prince George’s County’s dangerous highways” “…built for automobiles rather than people. But these days there are plenty of people living in that area who unfortunately don’t own cars. Many of them are immigrants who rely on public transportation to get around. They travel down long sidewalks overgrown with grass and weeds; they cross six-lane highways to get to the grocery store; and they do battle with cars as they simply try to get to the bus stop.” (tbd.com)