Washington (CNN) -- How many people died of marijuana overdoses last year? "Spoiler alert -- it's zero!" said Oregon Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer, putting his hands over his head in the shape of a zero. The comments were made at an event Thursday with a bipartian group of House members calling for Congress to jump on the bandwagon of marijuana legalization initiatives passed in Oregon, Alaska and D.C. on Election Day. Colorado passed a similar ballot initiative in 2012.

(CNN) -- Katherine Kuczynski was a cryptologic technician in the U.S. Navy. The post required obtaining and maintaining security clearance and performing tasks in support of national intelligence-gathering efforts, with an emphasis on cryptology, she told me. Her work earned her a Joint Service Achievement Medal for "exceptionally meritorious achievement," explained Kuczynski, of New Baltimore, Michigan. And yet the single mother of three children, now 12, 11 and 9, found herself unemployed numerous times during the past several years. Since leaving the military in 2003, she has held jobs ranging from home improvement to store clerk to security guard.

As the Fall season gets underway, days get cooler and our clothes get warmer.  We look forward to football and Thanksgiving, but we often forget about those who are less fortunate than us, and have no homes or families to go to during these times.  Homelessness itself is a very serious issue, but can be especially difficult for children. According to this report, 1,258,182 homeless students were enrolled in American public schools during the 2012-13 school year.  Wrap your head around that numb

As a public relations professional, the press release is something you are expected to know how to write. Some have said that it’s dead, and not relevant anymore. Others argue that it’s still alive and well. Either way, if you’re expected to write one, it’s important to #1 know how to write one correctly, #2 make it stand out from the never-ending stack of press releases in a reporter’s email inbox, and #3 know your target audience. But first, what is a press release? A quick Google search tell

Currently, 6 to 9 percent of all households do not have access to healthy food and 30 million people in the United States live further than one mile (10 miles in non-metropolitan areas) from a large grocery store.’ Did you know there is a food desert problem in the US?  Food deserts-not to be confused with desserts- are defined as ‘parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas,’ according to the American Nutrition Ass

With this summer’s success of Jackie Robinson West and Mo’ne Davis, kids in sports have been in the spotlight.  Both the team and Davis remind us why it’s important for all kids to be involved in sports and/or some sort of physical activity. The ability to work on a team is a skill that will literally follow a child throughout their entire life- from grade school all the way through their adult career.  Fostering this at an early age is crucial.  Families.com tells us that kids who play sports

Among all of the recent headlines in the news, one that may have caught your eye was a story reported by KMOX-TV, which explained that the Superintendent of Edwardsville, Illinois District Seven schools directed teachers to not to talk about, and to change the subject, if Michael Brown or the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri came up in classroom discussion.   The story has undoubtedly sparked quite a bit of interest in the media.  For example, Melissa Harris-Perry dedicated her ‘Open Letter’

You’ve heard it before, but let’s say it again:  sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know.  It’s a well-known fact that networking is key to advancing your career, and volunteering is a great way to widen your network.  Your fellow volunteer may work in an industry that you’re interested in, or at a company you’ve had your eye on, and you never know what a good relationship with that person could lead to!  The key here is to make sure that the relationship is genuine.  So get out there

STEM might be a term that may or may not have crossed your path recently- in the news, in everyday conversation, or in a Presidential speech that you caught the other day.  In fact, President Barack Obama has said, “… Leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today—especially in science, technology, engineering and math.”  And that, my friends, is STEM- science, technology, engineering, and math.  I don’t think I’d be alone in saying these weren’t my favorite subjects in school,

ARLINGTON, VA, August 11, 2014-- The 2014-2015 school year is just around the corner, and Community ONE, Inc. is rounding out the summer vacation with the Star v. Students Soccer Match!

Washington (CNN) - Members of both parties on Thursday questioned the Obama administration's decision to delay a review of its immigration policies in the hope of helping to propel a reform package. "We can only expect DHS's efforts to evade its immigration law enforcement responsibilities to escalate. President Obama asked Secretary Johnson to perform an inventory of the department's enforcement practices to see how it can conduct them more humanely. These are simply code words for further rat

Wednesday a group of Arlington, VA teens at the Buckingham Youth Brigade had the chance to hear from Community ONE Founder, Jason Wallace about his work as an Advance Site Lead for the White House and other officials.  Working in advance, he often travels ahead of, or with the President (and other officials) and handles all of the details prior to an event to ensure that it runs as smoothly as possible. The session started out with an ice-breaker activity, and then Wallace jumped right in to exp

(Updated at 7:50 p.m.) The effects of last week’s winter storm were felt by one group of commuters for days following the last snowflake. The inconvenience of traveling in the cold and sometimes icy conditions proved not only difficult for those traveling by car, but also for local cyclists. At Saturday’s Arlington County Board meeting, resident Gillian Burgess expressed her concerns about clearing bike trails after snow storms occur in the area. “We only have one car, and we have lots of bike

The planned Long Bridge Park aquatics center has been the subject of controversy lately — as critics decry its rising projected construction and operating costs. Why spend more than $80 million building it when Arlington already has three public pools and other pressing needs, critics ask. But for one Arlington resident, who spoke at Saturday’s County Board meeting, the facility does represent an unmet need in Arlington. During the meeting’s public comment period, Cynthia Siton told the Board

Jhada Clarke was three years old when she disappeared. In April 2011, Jhada was in DC visiting her non-custodial father, Jhyann Clarke. Rose Walker, Jhada's mother, lived in West Palm Beach, Florida. Usually allowed these visits to last a week, but this time, a week turned into a month, and eventually six months. Attempts to reach Jhada and her dad went unanswered. Jhyann Clarke had picked everything up and skipped town. Jhada's father had abducted her. That is when Walker obtained an emergency

Washington (CNN) -- Dressed in yellow full-body sanitation suits, members of the U.S. Park Police combed through tents in the Occupy DC camp Saturday, taking down ones violating park policies. The owners of the tossed tents and other protesters were agitated by the move, but there was little unrest at McPherson Square in downtown Washington. Park police in riot gear first entered at dawn Saturday, and said they were not there to evict protesters, but to check for compliance with "no camping" l

Washington (CNN) -- Occupy DC protesters gathered to demonstrate Saturday outside the 99th annual Alfalfa Club dinner thrown for high-level dignitaries, including President Obama. The protesters marched from one of their downtown Washington home bases to the nearby Capital Hilton hotel, where the dinner was held. Marching through the streets, the demonstrators chanted "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "We are the 99%," until they reached barricades outside of the hotel.

If you live in DC, I’m pretty sure you know that the Monday after Easter isn’t just any old Monday, and this year is no different.  The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Friends of the National Zoo are hosting their annual celebration entitled “Easter Monday:  An African American Family Tradition,” on April 5th from 10am to 4pm. From the easter egg hunt to the a cappella gospel quintet to the Easter Bunny himself, this year families have a lot of fun to look forward to.  The great thing about East

District native Wale will be the entertainment of choice for D.C. United before their home opener this season.  Saturday April 3rd, he will be the headliner for the “It Takes More Concert Series,” a series of pre-game performances designed to support local acts and to highlight various organizations in the community.  At this game, the team  will take on the New England Revolution and the organization to be featured is the DC chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Wale, who was first featured in the

It’s funny, because when I sat down to write this, I was reminded again that DC was definitely not the plan when I was making decisions about college, and yet, here I am. Rewind to my senior year in high school. I was set on a school in the midwest, and even though I had applied to Howard, I have to admit I was petrified of moving so far away from home. What I didn’t know then is that, five years later, I wouldn’t regret that application at all. I promise this won’t be completely about Howard,