DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! While you were watching Monday Night Football, we were all over the interweb, searching for interesting links!

Navy Yard residents scoff at neighborhood’s ‘dangerous’ reputation “Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells does not buy’s the report’s numbers. “An area, a neighborhood, that’s not had a murder since 2005 — to be listed as one of the 9th-most dangerous means that America, in the past five years, must have become incredibly safe,” Wells said.” (tbd.com)

Vincent Gray plans town halls, aims to ease anxiety among white D.C. residents “”They really hate him,” one local political strategist, who asked not to be identified in order to speak freely, said about voters in upper Northwest. “They think he represents a turning back of the clock.” (The Washington Post)

MoCo wants to fine dog owners $500 for tying up their pups before running in a store “The District has tethering laws on the books, though how often such laws are actually enforced is debatable. Put it this way: I’ve never seen a cop stationed outside the Whole Foods on P Street to write tickets to those who tie up their dogs to run into the grocery. (Obviously, whether that’s an appropriate use of police resources is another debate entirely.)” (DCist)

“Every Life Matters”- A Newspaper Strikes Back Against Internet Trolls. “Shortly after the St. Petersburg Times announced Mr. Smith’s death on its website, a reader posted a comment stating the following: A man who is working as a dishwasher at the Crab Shack at the age of 48 is surely better off dead. Web editors removed the comment, deeming it an offensive and insensitive insult to a dead man’s friends and family. Though hardly unusual — check out the comments beneath stories about any recent tragedy — this one spurred the Times to make Mr. Smith the subject of this story, as a reminder that every life matters.” (TampaBay.com | St. Petersburg Times)

Racial predatory loans fueled U.S. housing crisis: study “The financial institutions likely to be found in minority areas tended to be predatory — pawn shops, payday lenders and check cashing services that “charge high fees and usurious rates of interest,” they said in the study. “By definition, segregation creates minority dominant neighborhoods, which, given the legacy of redlining and institutional discrimination, continue to be underserved by mainstream financial institutions,” the study says.” Redlining is the practice of denying or increasing the cost of services, such as banking and insurance, to residents in specific areas, often based on race. (Yahoo News: Business)

Dr. Gridlock – Transformers to take over D.C. streets Check out the street closures now, so you’ll know where NOT to be, then. “Autobots and Decepticons — and the people who fight them — will take over the District next week as filming for “Transformers 3,” starring Shia LaBeouf, moves into the streets Oct. 11-15.” (voices.washingtonpost.com)

Do Not Pet a Drug-Sniffing Dog When You Are Carrying Marijuana at an Airport “This sounds suspiciously like something that would happen if you were baked out of your mind and ran into a drug-sniffing dog. Anyway, Ralphie paid a small fine because his stash was less than an ounce: “The customs agents said they knew I didn’t mean to smuggle drugs into Guam cause no drug smuggler would be stupid enough to walk up to the dogs and pet them.”" (gawker.com)