August 5, 2008
Morning Roundup: Jobby Jobs Edition
Good morning, Washington. Everyone agrees the economy is worrisome these days, but NBC4 reminds us that the D.C. job market is largely insulated from such fears, especially in sectors like technology, energy, transportation, health care and finance. The District government wanted to create artificially a similarly rich job market for the city's teens over the summer, both with the intention of helping them gain some skills and to keep them out of trouble. But so far this summer, Mayor Fenty's ambitious expansion of the program has been plagued by problems. First, it was the payroll glitches (which have been a problem in years past, too). Then one of the job sites turned out to be having its teens sit all day in a room with nothing to do, and when the city shut them down, they threatened to sue. Now, the Examiner discovers the program is massively over budget, and Mayor Fenty is raiding the city's rainy day fund in order to make up the difference. The 10-week jobs program was initially supposed to cost $14.5 million, but has ballooned to more than $32 million in the first three weeks alone. As the Mayor has hustled to overcompensate for the program's payroll problems, there appears to be large amounts of cash bleeding out virtually unaccounted for. Fenty wrote in a letter to CFO Natwar Gandhi that the program’s “expenses are much higher than was foreseen” and he needs another $20.1 million from D.C.’s contingency cash reserve. Where has all the money gone?
Police Release Video in Toddler's Hit and Run: Prince George's County police have release a surveillance video that shows the truck believed to be responsible for hitting and killing a 2-year-old boy near College Park on Sunday, and then fleeing the scene. In addition to the video, NBC4 has a devastatingly adorably photo of the little boy who died. Investigators believe the black Ford pickup with half-doors at the back shown in the video will have front-end damage. Even worse -- police say the driver probably wouldn't have been charged had they not fled, since the toddler had run out into the street.
Hippo Out at National Zoo: We're all still waiting to see if Mei Xiang is about to give birth to another panda cub, but in the meantime, the National Zoo has some other news: the zoo's Nile Hippopotamus, Happy, will be leaving the zoo soon and is looking for a new home. The Zoo wants to make room to expand its Asian Elephant exhibit, so they will do away with Happy's home and send him to another zoo. Go by to say goodbye to Happy before it's too late.
Briefly Noted: Man shot and killed by PG County police in Hyattsville ... Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh wins Humane Society award ... Montgomery County bank robbery suspect turns himself in ... Roach bomb can near flames causes small explosion in Southeast apartment building.
Photo by esshots
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So the hippo is not literally out of its enclosure at the zoo? Whew. I was getting ready to figure out how to take away its credit cards....
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Interesting. The day they announce the panda's been inseminated "by her partner," they move the hippo out of the zoo. I don't suppose the two are related IN ANY WAY.
Connect the dots, people. We're through the Looking Glass here. This has Pentagon biowarfare experiment written all over it. Or should I say, shaved all over it. Then again, you probably don't even need to shave a mutant hippo/panda war steed/weapons platform. Think about it: this thing would be perfect for littoral warfare along the Chinese mainland coast and all it needs is a steady diet of bamboo.
Laugh while you can, monkey boy. This isn't my damned planet.
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What do you expect when you give Fenty a blank check? Of course he's going to throw money at the libraries and summer jobs and whatever agency du jour shows up on his doorstep with a sob story and a copy of the front page of the Examiner. I'm surprised DCPS hasn't shown up with hat in hand asking for another couple hundred million to establish a cougar abatement program.
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If the driver had hit the kid in DC, he still wouldn't be charged, just would have a $50 fine.
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I've argued for this for years: hippopotami can do for neighborhood checkpoints what K-9 units have done for drug seizures. Put a hungry, hungry Happy on patrol at Florida and 12th NE and watch crime in Trinidad disappear overnight.
Thug life? Y'all ain't ready for no territorial bull hippo son.
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I don't care what SCOTUS says about cruel and unusual punishment. The Trinidad thugs need to be dumped in a life-size Hungry Hungry Hippos game and munched to death.
And if they don't like it, we put them in the giant Pop-o-Matic on the lifesize Trouble board. I mean, they're "in trouble" right? Only fitting.
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The summer youth employment program is a total disaster. Does anyone consider it anything more than simply giving kids a paycheck for the summer, regardless of what they do? It doesn't teach kids the value of earning a paycheck. It teaches them the value of creating another welfare program. I'd love to see a detailed audit of what all 19,000 youth have been doing all summer to earn some of the taxpayer's money.
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This hippo news is really good, considering how long Zoo officials were in De-NILE on the subject.
Thank you, thank you. I won't comment again. Tip your wait-staff and don't be tempted to pet Monkeyrotica.
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The Hippo is out? Out, like...he has suddenly revealed his love for Barbara Streisand and Kathy Griffin? Was spotted trying on his wife's lingerie? Started drinking appletinis?
This would make a much more interesting story...
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Wow, the comments section on the NBC4 artical about the little boy killed by a hit and run driver really make me want to vomit. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?!?!
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cranky, i don't know what they do during the day, but last night, they were all hanging around the Dupont fountain. easily a hundred kids out there, half looked all dolled up for clubbing. hooray summer. ugh.
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"The summer youth employment program is a total disaster."
Seriously. Even if the program was paying out at minimum wage ($5.85) for 10 weeks at 30 hrs/week, the program would be 129% overbudget. ($5.85 x 30 x 10 x 19,000 = $33,345,000).
These kids being paid $14/hour is ridiculous. It's more per hour than a recently graduated, college degree holding Admin. Asst. makes. I highly doubt they are more qualified.
At this rate, the cost for paying this kids alone will balloon to $79,800,000.
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Wow, the comments section on the NBC4 artical about the little boy killed by a hit and run driver really make me want to vomit
I was getting nauseous reading them, it's jaw-droppingly vicious. I think the answer to your question is: they lack even a shred of humanity.
Then again, they could just be trolls, but same difference right?
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The commenter rules are: if it's an NBC4DC comment thread, the watchwords are "those illegal immigrants." You can count on someone blaming them for the lousy weather.
For WTOPNEWS comment threads, they blame Marion Barry for crime, poverty, lack of voting rights, the Garfield assasination, the Yom Kippur War, and the macarena.
For Washington Post comment threads, it's either "you white people," "give us our guns," "Tom Sietsema needs to retire," or "you don't deserve to live because you elected Marion Barry" again.
For dcist, it's "I can go anywhere I want on my bike," "everyone who doesn't live in my hiptard ghetto sucks," or "that picture looks like a plate of cold diarrhea."
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NBC4 says our job prospects are wonderful, so why did the Washington Post run an article on Sunday saying just the opposite?
Graduates' Job Hunts: Majorly Frustrating
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/02/AR2008080200127.html
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I'd love to see a detailed audit of what all 19,000 youth have been doing all summer to earn some of the taxpayer's money.
At this point, an audit would only further drive up costs. For a few pints of Dale's Pale Ale I'll write the word 'nothing' on a cocktail napkin for you. Answers your question, gets me tanked.
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Thug life? Y'all ain't ready for no territorial bull hippo son.
Funniest. Comment. This week.
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Even worse -- police say the driver probably wouldn't have been charged had they not fled, since the toddler had run out into the street
I'm all for skewering reckless drivers, etc. But why is it unfortunate that he wouldn't have been charged with anything? If he wasn't at fault, then he wasn't at fault. Just because there's a tragic accident doesn't mean somebody must be punished for it.
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"Does anyone consider it anything more than simply giving kids a paycheck for the summer, regardless of what they do? It doesn't teach kids the value of earning a paycheck. It teaches them the value of creating another welfare program."
Sadly enough it prepares them for most of the consulting and Government jobs available right here in DC.
"Fenty wrote in a letter to CFO Natwar Gandhi that the program’s “expenses are much higher than was foreseen” and he needs another $20.1 million from D.C.’s contingency cash reserve. Where has all the money gone?"
Where you ask? Ever wonder how one makes payments on a newly refurbished "Champale" colored Mercedes?
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The idea is to hook teens and young adults up with part-time jobs for the summer so that they stay out of trouble and learn the importance of earning a paycheck.
So the jobs program is essentially protection money paid so that teens and young adults don't terrorize the rest of the city? If this was the mob, it would be illegal.
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Well, aren't all jobs essentially protection money from CEOs so that we all don't go raiding their estates for food?
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I leave to get some gizzards and chicken wings and the thread's gone bolshie!
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mmmm chicken wings...
pass the mumbo sauce please
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Poor Happy. They've been trying to get rid of him for awhile now but no one wants him.
I talked to the keeper one time when I was there and offered to let him stay in my bathtub but I think there was something in my lease about "no hippos" so that didn't work out.
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yay for DCist commenters, who indiscriminately hate local (black and hispanic) kids and their 'government handouts.'
if monkeyrotica hadn't informed me you're all 'hiptards,' i would have mistaken you for my racist republican grandmother.
p.s. you'll notice that payroll glitches and underbudgeting is the fault of the ADULTS in d.c., not the kiddos. so you can save your ire for those grown enough to know better.