DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Have a royal Friday with the five things we’re reading, right now:

D.C. landlords shun housing vouchers “One landlord imposed a requirement that a voucher holder had to make $64,000 a year in order to a rent an apartment costing $1,300 a month,” said Don Kahl, the (Equal Rights) center’s executive director. Applicants for the voucher program typically have incomes of less than $30,000 for a family of four. Such actions are illegal under the D.C. Human Rights Act, which prohibits landlords from discriminating because a renter wants to pay using various types of funds, including government vouchers.” (The Washington Post)

D.C.’s child welfare system leaves kids at risk “The inspector general made 23 recommendations to improve the system. Key among them was improving the city’s child abuse hot line so investigators spend less time on frivolous cases. In one case, a father reported that his child’s mother was spending child support dollars improperly, the report said. The father’s complaint was sent to an investigator, even though there was no report of neglect or abuse, the inspector general wrote. An investigator then had to meet with the family and school.” (Washington Examiner )

Flash Mob Robberies Not A Rare Occurrence in DC “A brazen robbery occurred in broad daylight at a Dupont Circle men’s store. These daytime hold ups are going on more often than you might think. Surveillance video from the G-Star Raw store on Connecticut Avenue on Monday shows more than a dozen teenagers rushing in, overwhelming customers and employees. They ended up walking away with more than $20,000 dollars worth of merchandise. This bold type of criminal activity happens quite a bit. (myfoxdc.com)

Family Told Frazier’s Remains Will Stay In Landfill “The family of apparent murder victim Latisha Frazier is trying to cope with a judge’s ruling this week that authorities do not have to search for Latisha’s remains…Police had argued it could take millions of dollars to conduct the search through hundreds of tons of garbage with no likelihood of success and also argued the search was too dangerous to conduct. On Wednesday, a judge agreed.” (WUSA Washington, DC)

Marion Barry’s vision for redrawing the boundaries of Ward 8 “Call it manifest destiny, Marion Barry-style…Mary Williams, who lives across from Nationals Park on South Capitol Street, joined many of her neighbors in speaking out…“If we are absorbed into Ward 7 or Ward 8, we will not solve Ward 7 or Ward 8’s problems,” she said. “It will not overcome the poverty of Ward 8 or Ward 7. It will not contribute to the . . . reduction of unemployment in that area. It will not educate the people of Ward 7 or Ward 8.” (The Washington Post)