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"Art Beat" with Stephanie Kaye - Monday, July 21, 2008
Stephanie Kaye

July 21, 2008 - (July 24) SUMMER CHAMPAGNE & OTHER BUBBLES FESTIVAL AT THE FRENCH EMBASSY For those who enjoy effervescence, plenty of the bubbly will be flowing during the Summer Champagne and Other Bubbles Festival at the French Embassy this Thursday evening at 6:30. This first tasting of the summer includes a tipple of 25 champagnes and sparkling wines from around the world, served with appetizers, buffet-style, making this an utterly intoxicating way to spend the evening.

(Through Aug 23) CHRONICLES OF DC Michael Dax Iacovone captures DC in photos AND by number with his show The Numbers Behind at Flashpoint Gallery through August 23rd. The photographer took his camera around town, shooting pictures at specific spots determined by a mathematical equation. By positioning one picture on top of another, based on this "formula," these images challenge the viewer to see familiar spaces in kaleidoscope. You can check out the maps he used to make his way around the city, the method he followed to execute the photographs and witness the gorgeous and surreal oversized black and white shots he created.

(July 23) NOT DEAD YET Looking for a little mid-week action? You can join up with fellow movers and shakers at the free Not Dead Yet dance party at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Wednesday night starting at 8. Get down to beats from Motown to Motorhead, spun by DJ PM and KO Kid. You can prove that your moves still flow, even on a work night.

Montgomery Lawmaker Educates Women About Foreclosures

July 21, 2008 - Single women are the fastest growing segment of first-time homeowners. But as the housing crisis continues to worsen, many of these women are now trying to save their homes from foreclosure. Montgomery County Councilwoman Dutchy Trachtenberg says that women have been disproportionately affected by the sub-prime lending crisis. She says women usually have less money, less property, and less credit -- and, thus, were more likely to receive the risky, sub-prime loans that are at the root of the mortgage crisis. Trachtenberg led saturday`s foreclosure workshop at the National Organzation for Women conference in D.C., where housing experts like Julia Gordon spoke and fielded questions. Gordon is with the Center for Responsible Lending. She says many women must become more financially literate. A recent study by the consumer federation of america found that even though men and women have about the same credit scores, women were 32 percent more likely to recieve a sub-prime loan. Patrick Madden reports...

Teaching Medicine in Church

July 21, 2008 - In Maryland, religion and science are coming together to address public health concerns. Stephanie Kaye reports...

This Week in Virginia Politics

July 21, 2008 - Civil Rights recognition ceremonies kick off the week around the state but there is also other business for Boards and Commission throughout Virginia. Tommie McNeil reports from the Capitol.

Grassroots Philanthropy
Jessica Forres

July 21, 2008 - A new form of philanthropy has emerged in the form of "Giving Circles" where community members pool their money together and decide collectively where to donate it.

Jessica Forres reports.

"Power Breakfast" for 7/21/2008 from Capitol News Connection
Sabri Ben-Achour

July 21, 2008 - Is there middle ground in the political gulf over oil?

This week it's all about the economy. Oil prices top of the agenda. Bills come to the floor in both the House and Senate and, with the exception of a couple pockets of bipartisan discussion, at this point the parties are still divided.

Republicans want to open up the Outer Continental Shelf to more drilling, bringing this reaction from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

PELOSI: "For the president to say that, as he how he tried to say but had to back of his own statement, that but for drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, the price of oil would be lower, is a complete hoax."

Pelosi and other Democrats want to crack down on oil speculation, bringing THIS reaction from Ohio Republican Senator George Voinovich:

VOINOVICH: "The proposal that the solution to the problem today is to end the speculation is a smokescreen."

Hoaxes and smokescreens...not a rhetorical recipe for compromise on energy. But there's one member of Congress who's actually optimistic. Utah Republican Rob Bishop doesn't usually appear very upbeat, but with oil prices he thinks there's bipartisan light at the end of the tunnel:

BISHOP: "Unlike most issues around here that are member driven, this issue is because people are really hurting. It`s people driven. And there is pressure coming on congress which is still building. And eventually that pressure should break. And when that happens Congress should be ready to do something that's big and bold and dramatic and that's really good."

By midweek the House will be trying to clear a big housing and mortgage bill along with a new credit line for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two mortgage giants have been deemed too big to fail - and in a way, so is the housing bill.

And finally...most busy senators wish they could be in two places at once...but tonight Virginia Sen. Jim Webb pulls it off through the magic of television. Webb is set to promote his new book on Comedy Central's Colbert Report AND on Charlie Rose on PBS which, at least in the Washington area, are on the air simultaneously.

And that's Power Breakfast from Capitol News Connection.

Attorney General Stands By Appointment

July 21, 2008 - DC Attorney General Peter Nickles is standing by his appointment of Roque Gerald as interim head of the citys Child and FAmily Services agency. Geralds appointment to the agency was criticized after it was revealed that in 1989 the psychologist had sex with a suicidal and depressed woman he was counselling. The woman later sued, and Geralds employer settled the case for an undisclosed amount. Attorney General Nickles said Gerald volunteered the information during the vetting process, and that his record had been spotless since the incident. The previous head of the Districts Family and Child services was dismissed last week after the latest of several children supposedly under the watch of the agency was found dead. Sabri Ben-achour reports.

Trinidad Checkpoints Reinstated
Jessica Golloher

July 21, 2008 - Police put the barricades up again on Saturday, after two people were killed and at least 13 others injured within eight hours in the Trinidad neighborhood. The blockades were up for 7 days in June after a similar spike in violence there.

William Robinson is one of four residents who sued the District over the checkpoints. He has lived in Trinidad for 50 years.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard is an attorney with The Partnership for Civil Justice. She asked US District Court Judge Leon Swain to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the checkpoints. She repeatedly argued that the barricades represented immediate harm to residents because they could be re-instated at any moment and that they were unconstitutional.

Verheyden-Hilliard says she has no idea how Judge Swain will rule but even if the injunction is granted, the city still has a much bigger problem. She says the police and the mayor are not addressing the crime because it continues.

Acting Attorney Peter Nickles says the checkpoints curbed violent crime in the past and that's why they were used again.

Jessica Golloher reports...

Checkpoints Up Again in Troubled D.C. Neighborhood.

July 21, 2008 - Following another violent weekend in the D.C. neighborhood of Trinidad, the police have re-instated the controversial neighborhood checkpoints. As Tiffany Anderson recalls, it was a brutally hot Friday night and a little after two in the morning. She and some family members were hanging out when a sedan crept down Holbrook street. Anderson has lived in Trinidad for the past five years. This wasn't the first time she's seen bullets fly in her neighborhood. One of those relatives… 13-year-old Alonzo Robinson… was shot and killed. Robinson was visiting Anderson's family from Alabama. Across the street stuffed animals and candies are duct-taped to a street lamp - a make-shift memorial to mark the spot where the teen was gunned down. Trinidad has been plagued by gun violence all summer. In June, police checkpoints were installed to check everyone coming in and out of the 7-block neighborhood… they were taken down after civil liberty groups cried foul. But today, they're back. 4 officers stop Doretta Brown's car at the intersection of Holbrook and Oates streets and ask her some simple questions. Police say the check-points will continue until Thursday.

Patrick Madden reports...