Uber and Lyft drivers contemplate May 8th strike
Ridesharing drivers for the city’s top two services plan to stop taking rides on May 8, 2019 as part of a protest to demand better pay and working conditions. Drivers want a minimum wage of $28 an hour, which they claim amounts to $17 after gas, tolls and other expenses.
Nick Cannon to host finale celebration of DC Jazz Festival
Nick Cannon will host Great Masters of Jazz on June 16 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Co-presented by the DC Jazz Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with support from Events DC, Great Masters of Jazz celebrates the life and work of the legend Quincy Jones; the trailblazing trumpeter-bandleader Roy Hargrove; the highly influential song stylist Nancy Wilson; and DC’s own peerless pianist-vocalist Shirley Horn and saxophonist-educator Fred Foss. Featured performers and presenters include the Roy Hargrove Big Band, Patti Austin, Kenny Garrett, Justin Kauflin, Adam Clayton Powell III, Angela Stribling, Paxton Baker, Sharón Clark, Princess Mhoon Dance Project, and more.
Metro says 2/3 of its tunnels now have wireless service
Metro and the nation’s leading wireless carriers, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless, have announced that approximately two thirds of Metro’s tunnels are now wired for cellular and data service.
Customers aboard trains are now more likely to be able to check emails, send messages, and perform other functions using voice and date service underground.
Mayor Bowser offers legislation to legalize marijuana sales
The Safe Cannabis Sales Act of 2019 – legislation that allows for the sale of recreational cannabis in Washington, DC – “enhances public health and safety, provides clarity on the use of cannabis and cannabis products, and advances equity to ensure that the benefits of the new regime go to DC’s most vulnerable communities through jobs and investments in housing,” according to the Mayor. This includes cannabidiol products and the like, which have recently soared into popularity and are on the shelves of what seems like every store in DC.
DC voters passed Initiative 71, which legalized adult possession and home use of marijuana, in 2014. Congress, imposing riders on DC’s appropriations bills, has since prohibited DC from using its local funds to enact Initiative 71.
Former Taylor Gourmet founder Casey Patton to open new eatery
Patton is set to open Grazie Grazie at The Wharf this week. The menu – very similar to his former Taylor Gourmet – includes many Philadelphia-style Italian sandwich offerings. Taylor Gourmet closed all locations in September and later filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
