DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Here are some delicious breakfast links to ease you back in to the work week:

Homeless man in D.C. uses Facebook, social media to advocate for others like him “Eric Sheptock has 4,548 Facebook friends, 839 Twitter followers, two blogs and an e-mail account with 1,600 unread messages. What he doesn’t have is a place to live. “I am a homeless homeless advocate,” he often tells people. That’s the line that hooks them, the one that gives Sheptock – an unemployed former crack addict who hasn’t had a permanent address in 15 years – his clout on the issue of homelessness.” (The Washington Post)

The Politics of Reality TV “The (Marion) Barry show is a mixed bag, but not without some odd appeal of its own. We get to see him sing (not terribly), play golf (terribly) – and conduct blunt conversations with aides and pols over the kickback scheme that led to his censure this year…there’s a certain poignancy in the loyalty of Barry’s son to his flawed and somewhat self-deluded dad. What’s amazing, at first blush, is the number of Washington municipal politicians who participate in the show. But then again, a chance to be on TV, in whatever form, outweighs what used to pass for common sense.” (NBC Washington)

D.C. Homicide suspect was ward of DYRS “A 20-year-old D.C. man arrested Friday in connection with the killing of a 16-year-old was a ward of the city’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, The Washington Times has learned….In a recent series of articles, The Times explored youth violence in the District and found that DYRS has been plagued by a pattern of crimes committed by and against youths under the agency’s supervision. An analysis of a year’s worth of homicide data found that one in five killings involved a youth in the custody of the city as either a victim or a suspect.” (Washington Times)

DC9 begins filling calendar again “DC9 is adding new events to its schedule again. On Dec. 1, the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board decided to allow the nightclub to reopen on Dec. 15. The club’s liquor license was suspended in October, following the arrest of five employees in conjunction with the death of a man outside of the establishment. Following the club’s October closure, all of its scheduled shows were either moved to different venues or canceled.” (tbd.com)

Streets of Washington: The General Post Office, aka Hotel Monaco “…”it is unsettling to see one of the city’s most distinctive public buildings transferred to the private sector. It remains extremely regrettable that the Smithsonian let slip a long-standing opportunity to turn the building into a public museum.” However, he concluded that “The Monaco project is an exemplary, unambiguous reminder of what creative preservation can do for a building, and, potentially, for a city.” After 8 years of successful operation, the hotel is now an established fixture in DC’s Penn Quarter.” (streetsofwashington.blogspot.com)

Analysis examines what it’s like to be a ‘rich’ family in America “In the heated battle over extending the expiring Bush-era tax cuts, a single number has emerged from the crossfire: $250,000…Just how flush is a family of four with a $250,000 income?…The bottom line: Living in high-tax areas on either coast can leave our $250,000-a-year-family with little margin. Even with an additional $3,000 in investment income, they end up in the red – after taxes, saving for retirement and their children’s education and a middle-of-the-road cost of living – in seven of the eight communities in the analysis.” (The Washington Post)