Vincent Orange, fighting Kwame Brown for Gray’s seat, went with a smaller Cadillac SUV than his competitor. What, he couldn’t afford an orange paint job?

World AIDS Day, observed today, has particular relevance and importance for the District. The city has the distinction of suffering from one of the nation’s highest rates of HIV infection, afflicting 1 in 20 residents, ten times the national average, and 1 in 7 African-American men. The District’s response to the problem has been so ineffectual (some say the city is 10 to 15 years behind where it should be) that in August D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams was forced to dismiss the director the city’s HIV/AIDS Administration, Lydia L. Watts, replacing her with the tough-minded Marsha Martin. Martin has since advocated controversial measures to deal with the crisis, including condoms in high schools and a needle-exchange program for drug users. Of course, these measures, if publicly-funded, would probably incur the wrath of social conservatives in Congress that control the city’s finances.

There are a variety of events taking place around the District to recognize World AIDS Day. The Whitman-Walker Clinic is holding a candlelight vigil tonight from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in front of its administration building at 1407 S Street, NW, while the Northern Virginia chapter is sponsoring an interfaith service at 7 p.m. at the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, located at 2700 South 19th Street in Arlington. From 6 – 8 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library, located at 901 G Street, NW, there will be an opening reception for an art exhibit titled “Our Heroes: A 25-Year Journey of AIDS Through Our Eyes.” For policy wonks and health care professionals out there, the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice will be releasing a report card on progress made in the District in the fight against HIV/AIDS since they released a report earlier this year detailing what steps the city needs to take to better fight the disease.

If you know of any other events in the area, please leave them in the comments section.

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