Have a news tip or story idea ?

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Permalink Reply by Meymo Lyons on July 1, 2008 at 10:30am

Interesting tip. I will need to speak with Ms.Bennett-Roberts on the record in order to have a story. Are you friends with her ? No problem if not. I can certainly find her but it would be best if you are a friend of hers, if you would pave the way. I also have someone on the school board there who might weigh-in. Contact me directly at meymo@wamu.org. Or call the newsroom at 885-1233.

Thanks for your interest. This is an important issue.

Best,

Meymo

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Permalink Reply by Gary Simms on July 7, 2008 at 4:43pm

The Post just ran a story about plans to make auto commuting even harder by eliminating the changing lane during rush hours on 16th street, and raising parking meter fees.

I take Metrorail myself, and use my motorcycle to get to the parking lot (at least on nice days) because there's free parking for bikes.

But many folks don't have access to Metro and need to drive. Closing down or restricting commuter routes we've used for years (16th Street, Conn Ave, Rock Creek Pkwy) will not get folks out of their cars onto overcrowed trains.

Story possibility: talk to commuters at Metro lots; see if more folks are taking metrorail because of the price of gasoline - that's the true reason for increased passengers, I'd say.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy L on July 8, 2008 at 8:51am

Are our local governments developing policy and plans to help the region adapt successfully to rising engergy costs? It seems to me we have an opportunity -- as what makes sense environmentally is now beginning to make sense to people economically. Perhaps coping with rising fuel costs could have some positive environmental and community impacts.

One example of a policy and transportation plan that could make a big difference - develop safe bike paths from the close-in suburbs to DC. This would help residents decrease dependence on cars, reduce traffic congestion, and increase fitness. I would love to ride my bike the 8 mile commute to my DC office, but in spite of what avid bicyclists say, it is too dangerous.

Another example, in the outer suburbs, improve bus service so that buses are faster and service is more frequent. Commuting to metro stations by bus could be viable if the buses ran ever 15 minutes.

There are lots more creative things we could do and of course issues that go beyong fuel costs and transportation. The price of food is rising. Could our local and state governments encourage more community gardens and food buying cooperatives? Could local and state governments do more to encourage homeowners, office building owners, apartment building owners and condo associations to increase the energy efficiency of their homes and buildings, use alternative fuels and more efficient heating and cooling systems? Or encourage the installation of green roofs?

I don't mean that a story should be about these specific ideas, but I would like to know where are the community, government and other policy leaders who are working on this, and what they are coming up with. Are environmental groups and other experts on energy efficiency in transportation, housing and office buildings being tapped to help shape our response to rising fuel costs?

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Permalink Reply by John Antonelli on July 9, 2008 at 11:22am

WHOA MELISSA!!!!

Might not want to put all that infor up there or folks will be calling the good doc at all hours of the day and night for all sorts of things. THEN they will be giving that nice email address to their freidnly neighborhood spammer AND when that happens she will no longer be your friend

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Permalink Reply by Meymo Lyons on July 9, 2008 at 11:49am

Dear Nancy,

We are working this angle ! You are right on the money. Thanks for the added direction.

Best,

Meymo

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Stanton on July 9, 2008 at 1:40pm

Here's a possible story for a WAMU program:

Dr. Carole Samango-Sprouse is a child development specialist affiliated with Children's National Hospital and George Washington University. She is hosting a conference in the Annapolis area during the week of July 21 that might interest WAMU.

In brief: Dr. Sprouse specializes in diagnosing and helping treat children who have dyslexia, dyspraxia (a speech-language disability) and sex chromosome disorders (SCDs). Dr. Sprouse's medical conference will be attended by specialists as well as families from throughout the United States as well as a few foreign countries.

It might be useful for your listeners to learn a that a world renown child development specialist works right in their backyard. (Because doctors who understand SCDs and its related conditions are so rare, Dr. Sprouse's patients travel great distances to see her. She says several of the families are eager to talk to the press about their child's rare developmental condition.)

Children with these conditions are often misdiagnosed, and as a result they don't receive the medical and educational intervention they need. In the past, such children were often wrongly labeled as being mentally retarded. In fact, many pediatricians don't test for or even understand the influence and impact of SCDs--nor do they know how early intervention can help these kids thrive and even recover.

For more about Dr. Sprouse and her specialty, see thefocusfoundation.org. If you're interested in speaking with Dr. Sprouse, contact information for her can be found through The Focus Foundation website. A story wouldn't need to be pegged to the conference and could run at any time. Dr. Sprouse and her patients are eager to provide information about the conditions in order to help other families in need.

-- Melissa Stanton, a WAMU listener and friend of Dr. Sprouse

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Stanton on July 9, 2008 at 1:42pm

The contact info I provided is what she provides on her website and in her information materials.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy L on July 9, 2008 at 3:20pm

Thanks Meymo. I look forward to the upcoming story. I just learned that the ICC planners are considering backing out of plans to create a bike path that parallels the ICC and would have obvious advantages environmentally. See http://www.waba.org/takeaction/ICC.php for info.

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Permalink Reply by Meymo Lyons on July 14, 2008 at 2:58pm

Dear Listeners,

We would love to do a piece with you if you are a resident of the District of Columbia and you intend to buy a handgun for your home. We will absolutely keep your identity out of the piece. We want to track a citizen going through the new licensing protocols. Just how user-friendly will the new mandates and procedures be?

Contact me directly meymo@wamu.org or 202 885-1284.

Thanks,

Meymo

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Permalink Reply by Michael S. Horwatt on July 16, 2008 at 6:11pm

I just started a blog because of an experience with United at Dulles. You should do a Google on United. The airline hates its customers. I found some nice attendance and ticket agents. The culture, Friendly, the supervisor I encountered, and the culture of United deserves a close look. The airline deserves what it gets. Since circulating my blog I've gotten nothing but responses talking about horror stories others experienced with United. It was a refrain. Protect your listeners. Do a story.

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Permalink Reply by dave a on July 21, 2008 at 8:58am

The Washington Post and Baltimore Sun had stories last week on the most recent round of Maryland State Assessment (MSA) test scores. State officials (and those in Montgomery County) were crowing about big gains in the Reading and Math scores. But buried in the stories (more so in the Sun, by the way) was a story begging for a follow-up. The MSAs were changed last year. Some questions, from "off-the-shelf" standardized tests, which had been a part of the tests since their inception, were dropped and the tests were shortened. Both the Post and Sun stories quoted "experts" who drew diametrically opposed conclusions: the changes either did, or did not, have any impact on the scores. How can this be?? Surely, somebody is wrong here. In addition, the changes in the test--whether significant or not--raise another question. According to one of the articles, Maryland ranks 26th in the nation for the "toughness" of its test. How is the difficulty measured? More importantly, if states are giving tests of varying "toughness" how do we know which states are truly successfully teaching our children? In other words, how is "success" defined?

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Permalink Reply by Meymo Lyons on July 21, 2008 at 11:11am

Dear Dave,

I have forwarded your tip to our reporter Gene Kuleta. Good follow story.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

Meymo

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