Dear Winterizers:
It’s just too tiresome to continue to complain about a wasted winter.
Yet one more snow keeps us from doing anything, either productive or
fun, and I bore even myself by complaining about it. If we had wanted to
live in Minnesota or Canada, we could have moved there and pretended
that we enjoyed snow festivals and ice sculpture contests. But we live
in Washington, where winter is supposed to provide a brief and mild
contrast to spring and autumn, and where we’re supposed to be bothered
only by the heat of summer.
I had a cousin who once lived in Atlanta. She wanted to move from
there because the winters were too cold. We Washingtonians are not
delicate flowers like her, but we’re not hearty snow bunnies, either.
We’re not built for this. Even the kids aren’t thrilled by snow days
anymore.
Oh, well, I give up. I’ve dug out the Christmas DVD of burning logs
in a fireplace, and I’ll bake a loaf of bread. I have a good recipe for
zopf, the Swedish egg bread that is a close relative of challah. I’ll
share it, if anyone requests it. It will make your whole house smell
wonderful, and then you can eat it.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Open Letter to Shaun Donovan, Secretary of HUD
Karen Settles and Samuel Jordan,
samuel.jordan@msn.com
We are the President and Special Advisor, respectively, of the
Citywide Advisory Board (CWAB), Washington, DC’s jurisdiction-wide
representative of public housing residents. In anticipation of the
implementation of the “individual mandate” provisions of the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), CWAB, under the
leadership of Ms. Settles, has proposed to the DC Housing Authority (DCHA)
a comprehensive, systematic, and District-wide program of ACA
informational and enrollment services for public housing residents. Our
proposal to DCHA was submitted on November 26, 2013. To date, there has
been no initiative taken by DCHA to adopt our proposal or to implement
an alternative plan. Contact with public housing residents by ACA
Assister organizations has therefore been episodic and without
coordination.
Coupled with the lack of an effort by DCHA to implement a systematic,
jurisdiction-wide, ACA informational and enrollment program, local
officials have suggested that the ACA does not support expending
resources on enrollment services for “this population,” although no
citations to such provisions in the Act have been offered.
Because public housing residents are among the least “Internet
connected” and least informed by public policy makers’ outreach efforts,
it is our fear that upon the expiration of the open enrollment period on
March 31, 2014, a significant number of residents of public housing in
the District will be subject to “individual responsibility” penalties.
That eventuality is avoidable. This letter is written not only to alert
you to the above-described prospect, but to suggest that HUD should
conduct a survey in public housing communities nationwide immediately. A
well-structured survey would help to determine the need for health
insurance services and to assess the steps being taken by state health
benefit exchanges to assure the coordination of Housing Authorities and
Assister organizations in the design and execution of effective plans to
provide ACA informational and enrollment services to those residents
eligible to enroll in qualified health plans with essential health
benefits and to minimize the numbers of penalty-threatened public
housing residents nationwide. We urge your immediate attention in this
matter.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
At-Large Councilmember Forum, March 12
Susana Baranano,
susigbf@yahoo.com
The Woman’s National Democratic Club, the Logan Circle Community
Association, and the Dupont Circle Civic Association are hosting a forum
for the candidates for at-large councilmember, shadow senator, and the
national committeewoman and national committeeman of the Democratic
State Committee. The DC primary election will be held on April 1, so the
race is in full swing. Meet the candidates, ask questions and hear about
their plans.
The forum will be on Wednesday, March 12, at the Woman’s National
Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW. Free. Cash Bar. Light
snack available. Membership initiation fee waived if application
submitted at event. Program: 6:00-6:30 p.m., meet and greet candidates;
6:30 p.m., welcoming comments; 6:45 p.m.-7:15 p.m., at-large
councilmember candidates; 7:30-8:00 p.m., shadow senator candidates;
8:15-8:45 p.m., national committeewoman and national committeeman
candidates; 9:00 p.m., forum ends.
Reserve by telephone, 232-7363, ext. 3003, or online at
http://www.democraticwoman.org
or at
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=423026.
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Spanish Wine Tasting, March 19
Susana Baranano,
susigbf@yahoo.com
Join the Woman’s National Democratic Club for a tasting soiree with
Spanish wines and enjoy tapas, small savory Spanish dishes, including
croquettes, potato and egg omelet, and fried shrimp from DC’s renowned
Spanish restaurant Taberna del Alabardero.
Wednesday, March 19, 6:00-8:00 p.m., at the Woman’s National
Democratic Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW. Price: $20 for members,
$25 for nonmembers. The membership initiation fee will be waived if the
application is submitted at the event. Reserve by telephone at 232-7363,
ext. 3003, or online at
http://www.democraticwoman.org or at
https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=423030.
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Strategic Importance of Ethiopia in Africa
Panel Discussion, April 1
Susana Baranano,
susigbf@yahoo.com
Join us for a panel discussion on the Strategic Importance of
Ethiopia in Africa. Ethiopian tasting, coffee, wine and beer will be
served at a speaker receptions. Learn about Ethiopia and its
relationships with its surrounding countries: Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti,
Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Kenya. We will highlight internal
political, social and economic issues, including how Ethiopians are
uniting in a social justice movement. We will also discuss US-Ethiopia
relationships, including sister city agreements between Addis Adaba and
Gondar and DC and Montgomery County.
The panelists will be Naida Michel Saad, Retired Loan Officer and
Project Manager, North Africa Development Programs; Obang Metho,
Executive Director of the Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia; Bruce
Adams, Director, Office of Community Partnerships, Montgomery County;
Ngozi Nmezi, Director, DC Mayor’s Office on African Affairs, DC; Dr.
Getachew Begashaw, Professor of Economics at W.R. Harper College,
Chicago; and Greg Toulmin, Country Program, Coordinator for Ethiopia,
The World Bank Group.
Thursday, April 1, 6:00-8:00 p.m., at the National Woman’s Democratic
Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW. Ten dollars for members; fifteen
dollars for nonmembers. Reserve by telephone, 232-7363, ext. 3003, or
online at
http://www.democraticwoman.org or
https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5880/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=423035.
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