Future Articles/ Community News
Future Articles/ Community News
There is work in the pipeline.
Before we get started, I want to say thank you to our new members. Thank you for trusting me as a reporter, and for reading and sharing www.theintersectionmag.com’s work. Remember, if you have a tip, please email contxtnewsletter@gmail.com.
This week, we published a story for The Solutions Journalism Exchange, a website that allows news organizations to republish solutions-based reports.
Solutions Journalism is essential. Solution journalists report about locally based solutions to problems. Local activists and politicians could apply solutions in their communities. This week’s solutions-based reporting comes from the United Kingdom.
The Supermarket Helping Shoppers Get Loans for Groceries
Excerpt: Food costs in the UK are rising at an alarming rate. One research firm predicts the average annual household shopping bill will be nearly $800 (£643) higher this year. A recent survey by food poverty charity The Food Foundation found half of the country’s households are purchasing fewer fruits and vegetables, which have seen marked price hikes. And almost 10 million adults and four million children are food insecure, meaning families are skipping meals altogether.
In a bid to help those who find themselves in hardship, UK supermarket chain Iceland Foods is offering small interest-free loans to help people buy groceries. The microloan program, called Iceland Food Club, could relieve pressure on the country’s food banks — which are unable to meet demand — and increase borrowers’ access to the fresh produce often lacking in nonperishable-focused donation boxes.
The Club is designed to help families spread out the cost of food over a few months. Microloans of £25 to £100 (US$30-120) come on pre-loaded cards that can be used in any Iceland store or its bulk shopping brand, The Food Warehouse.
The loan scheme was developed in partnership with Fair for You, a charity-owned ethical lender that offers low-income Britons an alternative to predatory loans with exorbitant interest rates. According to the organization, their customers are mostly women with children who live in social housing. Many borrowers have a family member with a disability or critical health problem.
Reporting
Here is what you can expect to read in the coming weeks: A Q&A with PG Change Makers about the Basic Income program in the county, Food Equity, Pt 2 of Prince George’s County Jail, Covid-19, and Surratt House Museum.
I am also working on collaborations with other organizations. A core value of this media company is collaboration. I think collaboration contributes to a better local media ecosystem. Look out for this news here. Again, thank you for rocking with me.
Community Meetings
Human Rights Commission Meeting
Monday, May 22, 2023
Please contact the Clerk to the Commission at OHRStaff (at) co.pg.md.us with any accommodation requests at least three business days in advance of any meeting.
Date: May 22, 2023
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: The Human Rights Commission is currently meeting virtually. The Zoom link can be found on the agenda.
Address: Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
Skybridge Meet and Greet Event with Council Vice Chair Blegay
Prince George's County Council Vice Chair Wala Blegay, Esq. will host a Meet and Greet event.
DATE:
Thursday, May 25, 2023
4:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.
LOCATION:
The Skybridge at Town Center
360 Sky Bridge Center
Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20774
Council Vice Chair Blegay will share the work of The People's Council and other important County updates. Advance registration is encouraged.
Register HERE
For more information, please contact the Council District 6 team at (301)952-3426 or by email at councildistrict6@co.pg.md.us.
Lake Arbor Town Hall Event
Prince George's County Council Vice-Chair Wala Blegay Esq. will host a community town hall discussion in the Lake Arbor subdivision on Wednesday, May 25, 2023.
DATE:
Wednesday, May 25, 2023
7:00 P.M.
LOCATION:
1399 Golf Course Drive
Mitchellville, Maryland 20721
Vice-Chair Blegay encourages residents to attend this open forum to discuss issues and share ideas and suggestions that matter to the community. Advance registration is strongly suggested.
Register HERE.
For more information, please contact the Council District 6 team at (301) 952-3426 or by email at councildistrict6@co.pg.md.us.
District 7 State of the Schools Forum
Join Prince George's County Council Member Krystal Oriadha for "State of the Schools", a community conversation regarding school safety, student performance, programming, extracurriculars and after-school programs.
DATE:
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
6:00pm
LOCATION:
Suitland Elementary School
4650 Towne Park Road
Suitland, MD 20746
Advance registration is encouraged. Register HERE.
For more information, please contact the Council District 7 office at (301) 952-3690 or email councildistrict7@co.pg.md.us.
Council Member At-Large Franklin to host 1000 Fathers Rally for Peace in Prince George's County
Prince George's County Council Member At-Large Mel Franklin invites 1000 Fathers to stand up to be a part of the solution to end violence in our neighborhoods.
The 1000 Fathers Rally For Peace on Sunday, June 11, 2023, 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., at the Show Place Arena. The 1000 Fathers Rally for Peace in Prince George's County will provide resources like job placement, expungement and legal assistance, physical and mental health services, small business support, social services, and much more.
Registration is strongly encouraged. To register, please visit https://tinyurl.com/1000-fathers-rally-2023.
Register HERE.
Prince George's County Council Members to Co-Host the 2023 MML Summer Conference Breakfast
Prince George's County Council Members Eric Olson (Council District 3), Ingrid Watson (Council District 4), and Jolene Ivey (Council District 5) will co-host the 2023 MML Summer Conference Breakfast on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, beginning at 8:00 AM.
The Dough Roller
(Near Convention Center)
4103 Coastal Highway (41st Street & Coastal Highway)
Ocean City, MD 21942
Prince George's County Council members will join hundreds of Maryland city and town officials at the 2023 Maryland Municipal League Summer Conference to learn about and discuss municipal issues and network with fellow city and town officials.
For more information, please contact your respective Council member's office.
News
Johnny Olszewski endorses fellow county executive Angela Alsobrooks in Senate run
Excerpt: Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski on Monday threw his support behind Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the U.S. Senate race for Ben Cardin's seat.
Olszewski endorsed his fellow Democrat at the Randallstown Community Center on Monday morning.
Alsobrooks announced her bid for the Senate seat last week.
A Black woman who has been county executive since 2018, Alsobrooks called for more diversity in the Senate in a video announcement posted to Twitter.
Proposed Prince George’s Townhouse Pause Raises Some Concerns
Excerpt: Sponsored by Blegay and Council President Tom Dernoga, CB-52 would limit townhouse development for two years primarily to high-density areas and near transit hubs. The goal of the legislation is limiting the uncontrolled housing expansion and bringing development to the Blue Line Corridor.
“To bring true economic development to the county will be building in transit-oriented areas because that’s where you’re going to bring the jobs, that’s where the offices are gonna come, that’s where the employers want to be,” Blegay said in an April interview.
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) worries about losing investment and the housing crisis.
“Townhomes for first-time homebuyers, for young homebuyers and for many of our homebuyers of color are an entry point,” Alsobrooks explained. “It is because they are affordable for so many of us including me. I started out in a townhome. They are affordable.”
Lori Graf of the Maryland Building Industry Association said she is concerned about disincentivizing investment in Prince George’s and reducing access to affordable housing.
Council Member Kabir Wins College Park Mayoral Special Election
Excerpt: College Park District 1 City Council member Fazlul Kabir was elected mayor in a special election held on May 6. Kabir will be the first male immigrant to serve as mayor of College Park, and possibly the first Muslim mayor in Maryland’s history.
Results were delayed as mail-in ballots were counted following the election. In the election, Kabir received 1,008 votes while District 1 Council member Kate Kennedy received 469 votes, Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell received 354 votes and local businessman Bryan Haddad received 19 votes.
“It is really, really exciting, so much trust the community has put in me. I didn’t expect that I would be getting so much support. This is fantastic,” the 12-year Council member and incoming mayor told The Diamondback.
Excerpt: “Ours is a very Baltimore story,” says Kaliq Hunter Simms, an educational consultant and incoming president of Sisters Academy in Baltimore. Kaliq grew up in a close-knit family in West Baltimore while her husband Joe Simms, chief diversity officer for Stanley Black & Decker, grew up in a similar community nearby. The two met at Morgan State University and bonded over their families’ histories and values. Both had parents who were among the first integrated classes in Baltimore City public schools. Both families had instilled reverence for faith, education, the Black community, and the city of Baltimore. Both were full of past Morgan State University alums.”
AFRO spotlight: meet the Maryland legislators who got their start in the classroom
Excerpt: Looking through biographies of state legislators, you’ll see various paths and journeys to a career in policy-making. While some elected officials pursued careers as lawyers or became business owners prior to their time in office, others –well before their titles as senators and delegates–
answered the call to serve the nation’s youth as educators.
This week, the AFRO spoke with state legislators who made a pitstop in the classroom before joining the state legislature.
“Education lays a foundation for our society and how we operate,” Sen. Mary Washington (D-MD-45) told the AFRO.
Del. Marlon D. Amprey (D-Md.-40), Del. Harry Bhandari (D-Md.-08), Del. Cheryl Pasteur (D-Md.11A) and Sen. Washington are just a few legislators who were teachers before they became legislators.
Melissa Pryce, public defender, Speaks About Juvenile Law
Excerpt: Pryce: The system has changed over the years. Historically, Prince George's County stood out for its extremely high rates of incarceration for low risk-youth. Prince George’s County was one of the worst in the state in 2015 for locking up low-risk, non-violent children. Since that time period, both youth incarceration and youth crime have fallen dramatically. Based on the data that show the harm done by incarcerating children, and exposing them to the adult incarceration system, legislators changed the law to focus on how we can rehabilitate children.
Declining access to COVID-19 services will worsen health disparities
Excerpt: For much of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City has offered a variety of services to support its residents who got infected. New Yorkers could get tested for free at sites across the city, even without health insurance; they could receive Paxlovid prescriptions from the same sites where they were tested; they could call a hotline for treatments or care advice; and they could even receive a free hotel room to isolate themselves from family members.
A default on the U.S. debt would be far worse than a government shutdown. Here’s how.
Excerpt: A U.S. default on its debt would have a significantly broader impact on federal operations, financial markets and the global economy than recent government shutdowns that have left many Americans largely untouched.
While the two have been confused frequently during debate over the debt limit, the federal government has had considerable practice with partial government shutdowns during the past decade — unlike a default on the debt, which would be uncharted territory. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned default could come as soon as June 1 without an agreement between Congress and President Joe Biden.
Through executive order, Gov. Moore pushes Md. state agencies to reduce greenhouse emissions
Excerpt: Gov. Wes Moore (D) signed an executive order pushing state agencies to promote sustainability through data collection, audits and internal projects that work reduce the effects of climate change in Maryland.
According to a press release Thursday, Moore wants his administration to “lead by example” in energy conservation. The executive order says that “state agencies should play a leading role in achieving the State’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.”
Excerpt: The Biden administration will distribute more than $2.5 million to four Maryland universities to train and hire new mental health service personnel in an effort to combat a “mental health crisis in our schools,” according to a press release Monday.
As part of President Joe Biden’s effort to improve mental health services through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the U.S. Department of Education announced nearly $100 million to be distributed out to 36 states to fund the training and hiring of mental health professionals across the country.