DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Please, enjoy some breakfast links.

Blog Insider – In the Den of the Venture Capitalists [$2 Challenge] “It was only 9:30 AM, and I was already dreading my decision. A gray dress and curly hair amid a wave of business suits and salt and pepper goatees, I had already started to feel a bit out of place at the Federal Communications Commission and their big, shiny, moneyed interior. Listening to the assembled speakers go on and on about IPOs, spectrum, and other terms that I couldn’t quite grasp, I felt a rising sense of panic. I looked down at the three names I was supposed to meet with, and felt hideously small. How the hell did I get here?” (Racialicious)

Can Metrorail fares be simpler? “Abolish the peak-of-the-peak fare. It’s too complicated. Even though I recommended it, it seems that people hate it even more than I imagined, and it leaves Metro open to criticism that people are paying more for service that isn’t much better. Before anyone gets too happy about peak-of-the-peak being gone, very few people get a net discount under my plan compared to the current fares, due changes in the distance-based pricing.” (Greater Greater Washington)

Wal-Mart plans to open 4 stores in the District “The four stores would be built in D.C. neighborhoods where retail options are relatively scarce: on the site of a former car dealership on Georgia Avenue NW; at New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road NE; as part of a new mixed-use development on New Jersey Avenue NW; and at East Capitol and 58th streets SE. As it has when it entered other cities, Wal-Mart’s announcement is already is drawing the ire of labor leaders who complain that the company pays substandard wages and provides inadequate benefits.” (The Washington Post)

Why Building More Walmarts Won’t Fix Food Deserts “Building a Walmart to eliminate food deserts only serves as a cheap, “lesser evil” Band-Aid to the real, gaping problems that create them: poverty and inequality…”The solution to food security in America must come through a revitalized food economy — one that pays workers a living wage, that includes worker and minority owned businesses, and that keeps food dollars in local communities,” Gimenez wrote on the Huffington Post. “Walmart does none of that.” (food.change.org)

Medicinal Marijuana Cultivation Center Could Come To New York Avenue NE “This, of course, is where the real battle of medical marijuana in the District will play out. Though 69 percent of voters approved the 1998 initiative that eventually gave way to the city’s medical marijuana program — the measure won in all 140 voting precincts at the time — support will likely slacken once it comes time to finding a place for the dispensaries and cultivation centers. Though the city’s regulations limit potential locations, many could likely end up in Ward 5. Given that the ward has also become a dumping ground of sorts for strip clubs that were forced to move when the new baseball stadium was built, a small-but-determined opposition may well try and push Sibley’s cultivation center elsewhere.” (DCist)

Liquor board rejects DC9 reopening “Simms said the board voted to keep the club closed after expressing concern that results from the medical examiner’s office are pending in the death of Ali Ahmed Mohammed, 27, of Silver Spring. The liquor control board also had asked DC9 owners to submit an enhanced security plan and staff training program, Simms said. The records were presented Wednesday at the hearing but board members had not had time to review them which also contributed to the vote, Simms said.” (voices.washingtonpost.com)