The Washington Informer - January 16, 2014

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“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

See Special Dr. King Section Inside •

C e l e b r a t i n g 4 9 Ye a r s o f S e r v i c e

Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area / Vol. 49, No.14 Jan. 16 - Jan. 22, 2014

Belafonte offers Sigmas Sage Advice!

Harry Belafonte served as the keynote speaker at Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity’s Centennial Founder’s Day Gala held at the Renaissance Hotel on Saturday, Jan. 11. Belafonte also challenged the crowd to fight vigorously against violence directed toward women. See Story on Page 14. /Photo by Roy Lewis

City Officials Crack Down on Sale of “Loosies” By Barrington M. Salmon WI Staff Writer

The District’s Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) has been busy cracking down on owners and employees of retail businesses which sell single cigarettes. Customarily, OTR inspectors

conduct random cigarette inspections of District businesses at least two to three days per week throughout the year. In 2013, OTR revenue officers performed 563 inspections. OTR Spokesman Natalie Wilson said her department bears the responsibility for inspecting retail businesses across the Dis-

trict to ensure cigarette license requirements are met and to enforce cigarette stamp compliance. The department monitors the sales of unstamped cigarettes, sales of cigarettes with stamps from other states and the sale of loose cigarettes. Last month, revenue officers levied a $5,000 fine on a retail

establishment located along the 3100 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E., after they caught a store clerk selling single cigarettes. Wilson said she couldn’t release the name of the store for privacy reasons but spoke of another case. “While we were at a store a

Visit us online for daily updates and much more @ www.washingtoninformer.com Proposed Tobacco Settlement Excludes Black Media Page 12

Braveboy Introduces Bill to Raise Minimum Wage Page 13

woman came in and asked for loose cigarettes, the merchant got really nervous, said they don’t do that at the store and got into a confrontation with the customer,” she said. While the Office of Tax and Revenue focuses on the law en-

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