Train Delays? Waiting on your pizza delivery? Or just need a casual read while you enjoy your day? Check out what Team Grosso is reading (and watching) this week.
Judge Puts D.C. Handgun Ruling On Hold | Ann E. Marimow and Peter Hermann, July 29, 2014
A federal judge on Tuesday delayed a ruling overturning the District’s long-standing ban on carrying handguns in public, once again making it illegal to have firearms on city streets.
First Lady Obama's Real Answer on Being a Working Mom | Erica Williams Simon, July 24, 2014
The home life and work life balance is a struggle no matter who you are. For the millions of workers all around the country who don't have adequate flexibility in their jobs or employers who support and respect their needs, it's even harder. Fortunately for us all, the first lady totally gets it.
In Labor, In Chains: The Outrageous Shackling of Pregnant Inmates | Audrey Quinn, July 26, 2014
Early one morning in November 2011, Tina Tinen, a pregnant prisoner at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County, N.Y., woke with painful contractions. Guards called an ambulance to take her to the hospital and shackled her wrist to the bar of a gurney — despite a 2009 state law against shackling pregnant inmates during and after labor.
The Case for Marijuana Reparations | Jamelle Bouie, July 28, 2014
The war on weed was foolish and costly. If we can admit that, then we should also be able to admit that it’s time to make amends to those who were most harmed by those laws.
How a New York Judge Struck Down a D.C. Gun Law | Zoe Tillman, July 28, 2014
U.S. District Senior Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. -- the federal judge who struck down the District of Columbia ban on carrying handguns in public for self-defense -- has a reputation as a no-nonsense jurist who sticks closely to the text of the law.
Why Is St. Elizabeths Such a Snoozer | Aaron Wiener, July 28, 2014
The results are in: Five teams are officially interested in developing a key portion of the city-owned St. Elizabeths East Campus near the Congress Heights Metro. A couple of the firms have extensive experience east of the Anacostia River, but what's conspicuous is the lack of heavy-hitter development firms in the mix.
My Son Has Been Suspended 5 times. He's 3. | Tunette Powell, July 24, 2014
I received a call from my sons’ school in March telling me that my oldest needed to be picked up early. He had been given a one-day suspension because he had thrown a chair. He did not hit anyone, but he could have, the school officials told me. JJ was 4 at the time.
What I've Left Unsaid | Michel Martin, July 26, 2014
Let's be clear: Women of every background face challenges when they try to balance careers and families, not least of which is the expectation that they should feel guilty for working outside the home even when they have no choice. But women of color often face additional pressures that white women are far less likely to encounter.
Traversing two D.C.s, from Dunbar High to Georgetown University | Emma Brown, July 27, 2014
When Johnathon Carrington makes a trip home to visit his mother or get what he considers a decent haircut, the Georgetown University student takes a G2 Metrobus that carries him four miles east across a divide that separates the city where he goes to school from the city where he grew up.
Why Can't the Banking Industry Solve Its Ethics Problems? | Neil Irwin, July 29, 2014
The financial crisis that nearly brought down the global economy was triggered in no small part by the aggressive culture and spotty ethics within the world’s biggest banks. But after six years and countless efforts to reform finance, the banking scandals never seem to end.
Windows Without Prison Bars | Rena Silverman, July 23, 2014
When Paulo Demetrick, a 29-year-old federal prison inmate in Virginia, was asked, “If you could have a window in your cell, what place from your past would it look out to?,” his mind began to race. After 11 years behind bars for robbery, how could he think of just one photograph?
Sentencing Guidelines Drop for Drug Offenders | Stacy M. Brown, July 23, 2014
As a result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s July 18 vote, more than 46,000 federal drug offenders will be eligible for early release, unless Congress makes a move to stop the plan by November 1. On average, sentences could be reduced by more than two years.