Can job training help solve the jobs crisis? (Washington Post Blogs): “In the southern US, 51 percent of current job openings are middle-skill, but only 43 percent of the region’s workers are trained to that level, according to a recent study by the National Skills Coalition […] In a major speech next week, ’s expected to propose support for job training as part of his renewed push for job growth, focusing especially on the 6.2 million Americans who’ve been out of work for more than six months.” In other words, the current jobs crisis is two-fold: too few entry-level jobs and too few workers for middle-skill opportunities. For some innovative solutions right in DC, check out Catalogue non-profits Byte Back (where adults can access Advanced Certification training and mentorship in technological fields) and New Course Restaurant and Catering (where the kitchen staff all receive comprehensive on-the-job training in commercial food preparation and customer service). Or learn about one our newest non-profits, the DC Students Construction Trades Foundation. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Environment
In The News …
Welcome to Wednesday! Let’s poke though the non-profit-related news …
Arts groups fight proposed ticket tax in DC — And you can too! Mayor Gray has proposed a 6% tax on tickets to arts (theater, dance, music) events in his 2012 Budget. The Washington Post reports that “arts groups say they will lose audience members and revenue with an added tax on tickets it will have a ripple effect on other businesses, such as restaurants.” Check out the above link to learn what you can do.
Despite Recession, Global Giving Abounds — On Monday, PR Newswire reported that “for the first full year of the global recession private giving to the developing world has remained remarkably stable,” according to the new 2011 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittance from the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity. For the US, aid to developing nations in fact rose slightly between 2008 and 2009 by about half a percent.
In The News …
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which “killed 11 workers and sent more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf waters:”
BP oil spill: The environmental impact one year on — As the BBC asked yesterday afternoon, “what environmental impact did one of world’s largest accidental oil spills have on the region’s wildlife and habitats, and has it been as bad as it was feared at the time?” At this point, scientists still cannot say for sure: it is still “too soon for long-term impacts to manifest themselves, such as disruptions to ecosystems’ food chains.”
Numbers for the Day
Forest area makes up 33% of the total land area in the United States.
21 out of 822 native American fish species now are extinct and 2/3 of the nation’s freshwater mussels are at risk of extinction.
Less than 1% of all the world’s water can be used for drinking. About 97% is undrinkable and glaciers and ice caps hold the other 2%.
… These “Numbers for the Day” are dedicated to our vital environmental non-profits, who are working to keep Greater Washington’s rivers clean and our wildlife healthy.