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January 2023. Volume 9. Issue 1.
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Reflections on the Legacy of MLK Jr.
WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022
Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 15 • January 26 – February 1, 2023
Carper Introduces D.C. Statehood Bill in the U.S. Senate James Wright WI Staff Writer
5 Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware), chief sponsor of a D.C. statehood bill in the U.S.Senate and D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) who has similar legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives held a joint press conference on Capitol Hill Jan. 24, announcing support of D.C. statehood with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland). (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, a Democrat from Delaware, has introduced a bill—The Washington, D.C. Admission Act-- that would allow the District of Columbia to become the 51 st state in the nation. Carper made his announcement on Jan. 24 with his colleague Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) on Capitol Hill. The senator said the time has come for District residents to be recognized as full citizens by its federal government. “We have been taught in school that when our founders built a new nation, they cried ‘no taxation without representation’—a slogan that
Mayors Discuss Small Business Outreach at Annual Forum James Wright WI Staff Writer While many of the elected and appointed municipal leaders from around the country who congregated at the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Northwest, D.C. at the 91st Annual U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) Winter Meeting from Jan. 17-20 talked about a wide range of issues such as climate change and public safety, helping small businesses prosper became a recurring theme in most discussions. “Small businesses are the backbone of
our cities,” said Burnsville, Minnesota, Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz, at the conference’s workshop on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Help. “They drive our economy. They drive our talent. This workshop is designed to help you as mayors help the small businesses in your city.” Kautz said many of the mayors across the country are grappling with how to aid their small businesses particularly since the coronavirus pandemic had an adverse economic effect on their local economy. She said mayors have had to deal with empty downtowns, the negative aspects of telework and a new reality for businesses that lost a stream of income they traditionally relied on pre-pandemic. Out of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Help workshop came an idea pro-
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Gray Challenges Misconceptions about Stroke Recovery Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
Several months into his recovery from a mild stroke, D.C. Councilmember Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), recently doubled down on his assertion that Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and others have erroneously and unfairly underestimated his cognitive abilities. In his latest statement, Gray, 80, stood in solidarity with other stroke survivors who face discrimination in the workplace and other realms of public life because of communication challenges that spark doubts about their capabilities. 5 In his latest statement, Ward 7 D.C. Councilmember Formerly having served as D.C. mayor and chair of Vincent Gray (D) stood in solidarity with other stroke surthe council, Gray also vowed to embark on a crusade that vivors who face discrimination in the workplace and other guarantees stroke survivors receive reasonable accomodarealms of public life because of communication challenges that spark doubts about their capabilities.
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