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Volume 122 No. 13
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NOVEMBER 2, 2013 - NOVEMBER 8, 2013
D.C. Cabbies Unionize By Zachary Lester AFRO Staff Writer
The District’s 6,000 independent taxi drivers have unionized in an effort to give drivers more say in regulating their industry, authorities said. The D.C. Taxi Operators
Association “will be affiliated with Teamsters Local 922 in Washington,” according to the Teamsters.org website. The reasons cited for the cabbies’ move include a desire to have a “united, collective voice for positive change in their industry.” Cab drivers in the
Cab drivers Paul-Baha, Maurice Bank and Melvin Jamison review their union paperwork.
INSIDE A3
Why HBCUs are Hanging by a Thread A Commentary by Michael Steele
B3
The Night Watcher, a Compelling OneWoman Show at Studio Theater INSERT • Walmart
District are either independent owners of their cabs or leaseoperators. A meeting was scheduled Oct. 29 for the new association. “For far too long, taxi drivers in Washington, D.C., have not had a strong voice to provide input about regulations and policies that affect their livelihoods,” said Ferline Buie, president of Local 922, in a statement on the website. Last year, D.C. leaders passed sweeping taxicab reform. According to the section of the D.C. website for the Taxicab Commission, which regulates cabs, a new measure took effect Oct. 1 requiring the adoption of, among other things, “the uniform taxicab color
Photo by Travis Riddick
Chris Brown Charged in Alleged Altercation in D.C.
By Gregory Dale AFRO News Editor A Brown supporter
Local artist Bill Hennessy shares his sketches of Brown’s arraignment.
Continued on A5
Photos by Travis Riddick
Obamacare Sign-up Woes Deepen Opposition to Health Care Law By Zenitha Prince AFRO Correspondent The recent crash of HealthCare.gov, the portal for Americans to access the new health insurance marketplace, has further empowered opponents of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature legislative initiative. Republicans on Capitol Hill are demanding that the law’s individual mandate to be postponed in light of the bumpy rollout of the website, which facilitates insurance marketplaces in 36 states, since its launch on Oct. 1. “Over the last year, we have become all too familiar
healthcare.gov
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The de Blasios May Be N.Y.C.’s First Interracial First Couple By Zenitha Prince AFRO Correspondent
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corporate office in Silver Spring, just north of D.C., were notified of her death when they were called into a Sheila Stewart, known in the meeting about 10 a.m. Washington, D.C. area for serving “There were a lot of tears,” said for many years as the news and Michelle Vessels, senior integrated community affairs marketing executive director for local Radio for Radio One and a One stations, died Oct. friend of Stewart’s. 24 in a car accident in “Everybody just loved Atlanta. Sheila.” Details of the Friends said they incident had not been had been looking released by afternoon, forward to seeing but she apparently Stewart this weekend. was involved in the She was scheduled to crash on her way to fly into town later on work. Her beloved son, Oct. 24 to participate Jonathan, was not with in two events she had her when the accident supported for several occurred. years. Stewart worked in On Oct. 25, she the D.C. area for more was scheduled to than 20 years. She had AFRO File Photo/Rob Roberts broadcast live from recently relocated to nationally-syndicated Sheila Stewart at a June, Atlanta and was living 2013 event honoring her 25 air personality and with her sister. years of excellence in radio philanthropist Tom Since moving to Joyner’s Take a broadcasting. Atlanta, Stewart had Loved One to the continued her radio Doctor event at Laurel announcing responsibilities in D.C. Regional Hospital. The next day, she while she looked for work there, was expected to participate in the AIDS broadcasting remotely from Atlanta. Walk D.C. event downtown. Co-workers had grown concerned Vessels said Stewart had recruited a when she had failed to make it to the team to participate in the walk, as she station to do her broadcast. had for several years. Radio One employees in the Continued on A4 By Avis Thomas-Lester AFRO Executive Editor
Chirlane, Bill, Chiara and Dante de Blasio, N.Y.C.’s first family?
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with the troubled rollout of the law with its broken promises, missed deadlines, delays, special waivers, and now website crashes,” said Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in the weekly Republican address on Oct. 26. “Despite hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars invested, the website still does not work for most.” Last week, Upton and other members of his committee grilled four of the lead contractors responsible for Healthcare.gov about the website. And, Health and Continued on A4
Radio One’s Sheila Stewart Killed in Atlanta Car Accident
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What began as a weekend of fun quickly turned into two days of disaster for R&B singer Chris Brown. The Grammy Award winner, who was visiting D.C. to host an event held in conjunction with this year’s Howard University’s homecoming festivities, was charged with misdemeanor assault Oct. 28 in connection with an alleged altercation that officials said took place the previous day. Brown, 24, and his body guard Christopher Hollosy, 35, appeared at a court hearing after spending 36 hours in jail. The pair was released without bail following the hearing and Brown had to report to a probation officer in California within 48 hours. A sea of fans and members of the media packed around the rear door of the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse as the singer exited the building. After pushing through the crowd with his attorney, Danny Onorato, deputy marshals, and D.C. police, Continued on A5
When New York Public Advocate Bill de Blasio first met Chirlane McCray, he was instantly intrigued. He was a popular mayoral aide. She was an older woman—36 to his 30—who was working as a speech writer in then-Mayor David Dinkins’ press office. She was also gay. “The first time I met her, I remember it very vividly, and it was partly look, partly style, and partly just the vibe,” de Blasio, a candidate for mayor, told the New York Daily News in an interview about their romance. “I was totally struck because she just presented herself entirely differently than everyone
around us at City Hall. Especially wearing a nose ring 22 years ago in a place like City Hall, you had to be really different to do that!” The same sense of self, character and uniqueness that drew de Blasio to McCray 22 years ago is winning over New Yorkers, helping to fuel voters’ overwhelming support for the Democratic candidate, political analysts said. “Having a person like her will bring in a lot of people who were really not interested in the race,” said Jasmyne Cannick, a lesbian civil rights activist and political commentator. “A lot of times people get elected with a small majority of vote…But having a person like
Continued on A4
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