Join The Conversation! Talk about the news of the day with public radio fans on WAMU 88.5's The Conversation.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Your Amazon.com purchases support WAMU 88.5
Your purchases from the NPR Store support WAMU 88.5
August 25, 2009 - As American families scramble to prepare for the start of a new school year, commentator Alexandra Ashbrook says too many children in the District will arrive for class hungry which will affect their ability to learn.
Ashbrook is Director of D.C. Hunger Solutions…an initiative of the Food Research and Action Center…
The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WAMU 88 5 or American University.
What do you think?
Go to…Conversation Dot WAMU Dot Org and click on “Commentary Forum”.
SCRIPT
With the economic downturn and rising unemployment, this back-to-school season could be even more stressful for many.
Getting children ready to learn isn’t just about sending them out the door with pencils and paper and a book bag. They need more than just school supplies to make it through the school day - they need enough nutritious food to keep them alert and fuel their bodies and minds.
For the one in eight households in D.C. struggling with hunger, school breakfast and lunch are a lifeline. School meals can improve children’s health, behavior, and ability to learn.
Unlike many programs that are experiencing funding cuts and cannot expand to meet the increased need, school meal participation can grow in times of hardship; the federal government covers almost all of the tab for school meals.
So as the District welcomes students back to school, let's make sure that every child and teen gets the nutritious food they need to learn, grow, and thrive.
We can make sure that all families know that breakfast is served for free at all D.C. Public Schools and in many charter schools. Offering the "most important meal of the day" for free is a key step toward helping children start the day primed to learn.
We can also look at creative ways to get more children eating breakfast at school. Bus schedules, parents' schedules, a desire to socialize on the playground, and even slow-moving security lines can
August 25, 2009 - Maryland's governor plans to speak with legislative leaders today about more than $400 million in budget cuts. Governor Martin O'Malley's administration has outlined a furlough plan targeting employees who make the most money. State workers who earn more than $100,000 a year could be forced to take 10 days off without pay.
The cuts will go before the state's Board of Public Works tomorrow. It will be the sixth time the board has made midyear budget cuts since O'Malley took office in 2007. Last month the board approved $280 million in reductions.
Natalie Neumann reports...
August 25, 2009 - Yoga instructors say Virginia state officials are attempting to bend their will, with new rules. The regulations would require certification for anyone who trains yoga instructors in Virginia. Getting teacher certification in Virginia requires a $2,500 fee, annual costs and additional paperwork.
Maryum Ovissi a Yoga instructor in Reston, says she can't understand why a centuries old practice such as Yoga needs regulation.
"This is an ancient tradition," she says. "A tradition of passing it along from teacher to student."
Officials from the Virginia State Council of Higher Education say yoga teacher training is a vocation which must be certified under state law. Although identical regulations exist for trainers in areas like massage therapy and dog grooming, trainers who teach martial arts, according to Ovissi, are exempt in Virginia.
"Because it's a very Eastern model of education it doesn't fit the western model," she says. "So they've exempt the martial arts and we're seeking the same thing."
The director of private education for the Virginia State Council, Linda Woodley, says it's not a fair comparison.
"Our understanding of training in the martial arts world is different," Woodley says. "It is more like an apprenticeship program."
For Ovissi, yoga is not so much about business, as it is spritual transformation.
Elliott Francis reports...
August 25, 2009 - Virginia's House speaker is calling for an ethics investigation into an influential fellow Republican. Speaker William Howell asked the House Ethics Advisory Panel to investigate whether Del. Phillip Hamilton violated laws concerning conflicts of interest when he asked for a job at the Old Dominion University center a few months before using his position to direct $500,000 toward its creation.
Hamilton has been paid $40,000 a year as an independent contractor for the center since it opened in 2007. Hamilton, of Newport News, is one of the legislature's most influential members as one of a handful of legislators who largely determine how billions of state money is spent.
Hamilton and the university severed ties last week. A number of statewide Democratic candidates have called for him to resign.
Meymo Lyons reports...
August 25, 2009 - There are plenty of new things for students at the start of a school year--new friends, new subjects, new classrooms. But teachers in the District of Columbia will also face something they've never faced before: a "Teaching and Learning Framework," unveiled Monday by Mayor Adrian Fenty and DCPS Schools' Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
"There are three major components to the framework. They are: Plan, Teach, and Increase Effectiveness," said Rhee.
She says for the first year, professional development will focus on the "teach" aspect of the framework. She says the framework will also be the basis for a new teacher evaluation system scheduled to roll out in mid-September. The framework took more than a year to develop.
"We conducted more than 100 focus groups with educators and teachers over the past year to find out what they needed," Rhee said.
George Parker, president of the Washington Teachers Union, says he supports the new framework, but worries that teachers will be evaluated before they have time to learn it.
Jonathan Wilson reports...
August 25, 2009 - In recent months there's been an awareness of the problem of sea piracy. Now a local high school is planning a training conference on the issue.
Marshall High School in the Falls Church area is offering a one day training conference on piracy on the seas. The angle will be recent efforts by NATO, the European Union and Russia to protect ships around the Horn of Africa. The school is hosting the event along with the University of Virginia and the United Nations Information Centre. Registration for students in the region is now open for the conference, which is set for late next month. For more information go to the Fairfax County Web site.
Pat Brogan reports...
August 25, 2009 - Fairfax County police have arrested a man from Alexandria for allegedly abducting a 9-year-old boy in the restroom of a store. Police say they arrested Steven Liggon on Sunday, after investigators reviewed a store videotape at Dick's Sporting Goods on Columbia Pike. The child involved was not physically touched, but police say someone prevented him from leaving the restroom, trying to engage the boy in inappropriate activity. Investigators are asking other parents whose children may have been approached inappropriately in the store to contact police.
Stephanie Kaye has more...
August 25, 2009 - (August 25) JAZZ ON THE LAWN Grace Church in Georgetown hosts jazz on the lawn tonight at 7. Hard-swinging Project Natale (nuh-TALL-ee) plays straight-up jazz tunes - and if the traffic in Georgetown scares you, there's two hours free parking in the nearby movie theater garage with a "validation" from the church itself.
(Through November 1) SKATEBOARD NATIVE To keep summer rolling along, the National Museum of the American Indian presents Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America through November 1st. The exhibit celebrates the vibrancy, creativity and controversy of American Indian skate culture, showcasing one of the most popular sports on reservations across the country.
(August 25 & 26) TRUFFAUT TITLES Through the end of the month, the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, is showing the films of Francois Truffaut through August 31st. Up next from the film critic-turned-filmmaker: The Bride Wore Black, a taut suspense from 1968 sprinkled with black comedy, as our heroine tracks down and extracts vengeance on the five men who killed her husband on their wedding day. Fans of Quentin Tarantino may recognize the plot.
The work of Francois Truffaut is up at the AFI Silver Theater, including a revenge-exacting Jeanne Moreau tonight and tomorrow on the silver screen.
Courtesy of: AFI Silver Theatre
View more images from this gallery.
August 25, 2009 - Maryland and Virginia are asking the federal government for economic recovery money to improve rail service.
Virginia is proposing using stimulus funds for a high speed rail project. Gov. Tim Kaine says the state wants to construct an 11.4-mile section of track along Interstate 95 in Stafford and Prince William counties. It would cost nearly $75 million . Kaine says the state is ready to begin construction as soon as the federal funding is awarded. In October, Virginia will compete for the second round of stimulus funding to extend the rail from D.C. to Petersburg, and into Hampton Roads.
Maryland is requesting $360 million for improvements on Amtrak and MARC commuter rails. Projects could include bridge reconstruction, an expansion of the Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Rail Station, and the purchase of a GPS-based train-locating system.
Rebecca Blatt has more...
August 25, 2009 - Authorities say a U.S. Park Police officer has been hospitalized with serious injuries after a crash on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
Park Police spokesman Lt. Dennis Maroney says the incident occurred early Tuesday on southbound lanes of the parkway near Route 197. Maroney says the officer had pulled over a car for a traffic stop, and it's believed he was standing on the shoulder outside of his cruiser when a pickup truck struck his patrol car from behind.
The pickup pushed the cruiser and the other vehicle about 40 feet. Maroney says the officer was pulled under his vehicle in the impact. The officer's and two drivers' injuries are not considered life-threatening. Southbound lanes of the parkway that had been shut down are now open to traffic.
Meymo Lyons reports...
August 25, 2009 - Prince William County police are charging four teenagers with vandalizing an elementary school with racially charged words and symbols.
When teachers and staff arrived at the parking lot of Sinclair Elementary in Manassas this morning they discovered that some sod had been pulled from a pallet and used to write "White Power," "KKK" and to form a swastika.
Police say the suspects appear to have been motivated not from racial hatred but by attention seeking. They represent diverse ethnic backgrounds: some African- American, some white, the boys range in age from 14 to 17. All attend Stonewall Jackson high school.
No students were at Sinclair Elementary School at the time.
Meymo Lyons has more...
August 25, 2009 - Friday is the 46th Anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a Dream Speech." Children are being encouraged to add their voices to commemoration.
On the shore of the tidal basin at the site of the future Martin Luther King memorial, 10 year-old Miara from Brent Elementary in D.C. knows all about Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream Speech."
"He had a dream that we will all come as equal, as one, and we should all be treated the same way," says Brent.
Miara checked out books on segregation from her library, and "learned about it from the stories of my grandparents, my mother, my father."
Harry Johnson is CEO of the King Memorial Foundation, the organization that is raising money for the memorial to the Civil Rights Leader. Johnson says not all kids have quite the same grasp as Miara.
"We did a study a few years back--kids understand getting a day off school, they understand King was a part of history, but they don't understand the real significance of how he changed the country," says Johnson.
So in the run up to the completion of the King Memorial, the foundation is providing teachers a curriculum on the civil rights leader. They're also creating a contest where children create a piece of art, or write an essay to show how they're furthering King's message. Miara knows how she's entering: "All my feelings are expressed in music, so I would submit a song."
Students can win an all expenses paid trip to D.C.
Sabri Ben-Achour reports.....
August 25, 2009 - The second round of budget cuts in the state of Maryland go deeper than the first. They include layoffs of state workers. The exact number of employees now out of work is 205 according to governor Martin O'Malley, with another 159 vacant positions to be eliminated. Among the other cuts that total 454-million, are close to 160 million dollars in state aid for local roads. State offices will also close for five additional days according to Eloise Foster, the secretary for budget and management. The state board of public works must still approve the budget cuts tomorrow. Earlier this summer, the board okayed 280-million dollars in reductions. Matt Bush reports...
August 25, 2009 - Preservationists are declaring war against plans to build a Walmart Supercenter near a famed Civil War battlefield in Virginia. Orange County supervisors green-lit the project in a 4-to-1 vote.
But the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition says it will apply corporate pressure in an appeal to Walmart's "best interests" to find a site farther away from the Wilderness Battlefield in Locust Grove.
The preservationists' national campaign against Wal-Mart has enlisted congressmen, historians and celebrities like actor Robert Duvall. They call the battlefield where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first met 145 years ago an "historic footprint." But Orange County officials say they want the jobs, tax revenue and bargains Wal-mart offers.
The Coalition contends you can still have those benefits if the store is moved a mile down the road.
Rebecca Sheir reports...
August 25, 2009 - ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) Gov. Martin O'Malley has outlined $454 million in budget cuts including 205 layoffs and cuts to state agencies and local government aid.
The plan announced Tuesday includes $210 million in local aid cuts. Of that, about $160 million will come from state aid to local roads. About $20 million will affect local health departments, and another $20 million will come from aid to police.
Community colleges will lose about $11 million. There will be 205 layoffs, and 159 vacant positions will be cut, saving about $17 million.
The O'Malley administration outlined a furlough plan on Monday. It saves about $75 million and focuses stay-home days on people who make the most money, with people who make more than $100,000 losing 10 days of pay. The cuts go to the Board of Public Works on Wednesday.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
August 25, 2009 - By BRETT ZONGKER Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) Education Secretary Arne Duncan is marking the 46th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington a few days early with students from the Washington area.
Duncan joined Tuesday with students and organizers working to build a memorial to King on the National Mall. At the memorial site, they announced a ``Kids for King'' competition for students to write essays, create artworks or produce video's about King's legacy.
The memorial effort has been stalled for nearly a year over a disagreement with the National Park Service on how to secure the site. The park service wants to install security barriers. But organizers say that goes against King's legacy of inclusiveness. King gave his famous ``I Have a Dream'' speech on August 28, 1963.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
privacy policy - terms of use - contact - sitemap - directions - rss - podcasts - jobs - community
Copyright WAMU 88.5 American University Radio | 4000 Brandywine Street NW | Washington, DC 20016-8082 | (202)885-1200
