Posts by Lynda Laughlin — Guest Contributor
-
Irving Street becomes unofficial dog latrine
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the early commute to the Columbia Heights metro at the corner of 14th and Irving, dog owners in the Highland Park apartments are busy taking their dogs outside so they can take care of their business. For those of you who are familiar with this stretch of sidewalk, there is very little green space and the sidewalks are particularly crowded in the morning… Keep reading…
-
Social supports, not time limits, will reduce poverty
Marion Barry is right: generational poverty endangers communities and families. However, enforcing a time limit for welfare benefits is not the way to build strong communities or support families. Councilmembers Marion Barry (Ward 8) and Yvette Alexander (Ward 7) recently introduced a bill to limit Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (also known as TANF and hereafter… Keep reading…
-
Encourage better conditions for restaurant workers
Dining out in the DC area is an occasional practice for many and an everyday indulgence for some. The restaurant industry is an ever-changing and fast growing industry not only across the nation, but here in DC. Unfortunately it is also an industry plagued with many bad jobs and only a few good ones. There are almost 2,000 eating and drinking establishments in Washington… Keep reading…
-
Spanish speaker faced obstacles to voting
My friend Lester Feder relayed a story about about voting problems for non-English speakers in Mt. Pleasant: When I went to vote at Bell Multicultural High School, the polling place for Mt. Pleasant, there was a woman in front of me who did not speak English. Instead of offering her Spanish translation as required by law in a neighborhood with such a large number of Spanish speakers,… Keep reading…
-
Politics are local. With ANCs, very local.
While DC’s mayoral and council races were effectively over after the primary, there are local elections worth paying attention to in November. Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) seats are up for election. The ANC system was created in 1974 with the goal of providing residents a forum to discuss issues impacting their neighborhood and take recommendations to various… Keep reading…
-
Some feel left out in Barney Circle historic debate
DC’s latest historic preservation debate centers around Barney Circle, the southeast corner of Capitol Hill, where preservationists are advocating for a new historic district. Some residents in the area argue that Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and local ANCs did little to no outreach for public input on the proposed historic district. Due to opposition… Keep reading…
-
Soda tax would boost public health
Proposals to tax soda are looking likely to fail in Pennsylvania and New York. Will one pass in DC? Mary Cheh’s DC Healthy Schools Act proposes a tax of 1 cent per fluid ounce of sugary soft drinks. A 1 cent tax would add about $1.44 to the cost of a 12 pack of soda. Such a tax would generate about $16 million annual and provide the $6 million Cheh needs to implement school programs… Keep reading…
-
Can you live without disposable plastic?
What would it be like to live without using any disposable plastic items? Recently, I tried doing just this for one week. In this age of green awareness, there has been a renewed emphasis on how personal choices impact the environment. Sometimes we need a little encouragement to be better environmental shoppers, which is part of the reason behind the five-cent bag fee in… Keep reading…
-
Make sure you get counted for the 2010 Census
It’s not only a new year, it is also a decennial Census year. But more urban areas face dangers of undercounting not just from minority areas but from “transformed housing” like basement apartments. As part of a constitutional mandate, every ten years the Census Bureau conducts a population count. The initial purpose of the census was to determine the appropriation of state representatives… Keep reading…
-
A demographic portrait of the District: 2008
The Census Bureau recently released social and economic data from the 2008American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is a nationwide survey conducted yearly by the U.S. Census Bureau. Unlike the Decennial Census, the ACS collects and produces population and housing data every year based on sample estimates. What does the 2008 ACS tells us about the District of Columbia? Below… Keep reading…