In today’s rundown: An in-depth profile of the head of CASA de Maryland.  A program that’s creating jobs for D.C. residents.  Do women make better athletes than fans?

— Gustavo Torres, the head of CASA de Maryland (a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner), is profiled in The Washington Post. The article takes a look a Torres’s background, how CASA has expanded under his leadership, and his goals for the future.

— D.C. officials say more District residents are getting hired by contractors thanks to a pilot program that offers incentives to contractors who hire locals.  WAMU has the details.

— The thrill fans get when women’s sports teams excel is often short-lived writes Petula Dvorak in The Washington Post. “…[G]irls and women make great players.  But fans?  Not so much.”

In today’s rundown: Why a federal debt deal may be unfair to women.  And the gulf between rich and poor in DC.

— Women — particularly seniors and and struggling mothers — may bear the brunt of the pain when it comes to the federal debt ceiling talks, says Michelle Singletary in The Washington Post. “Putting everything on the table, including reductions in social safety net programs, will disproportionately hurt women already struggling to make ends meet,” she writes.

— DCentric.com recaps yesterday’s discussion on The Kojo Nnamdi Show about the wide gulf between rich and poor in the District, where one in five residents live at or below the poverty lone.

In today’s rundown: Encouraging homeownership in Ward 8.  More D.C. residents could face homelessness as an emergency rental assistance fund runs out of money.  And a lawsuit from a radio personality takes on the local gender wage gap.

— In “Black Homeownership and ‘the American Dream’ in Ward 8,” DCentric.com takes a look at D.C. Council member Marion Barry’s efforts to encourage homeownership in Ward 8 by banning the construction of apartment buildings.  Would the plan work and would it benefit residents?  DCentric looks at several points of view.

— Bread for the City tells the story of a resident who was able to stay in her home thanks to D.C.’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).  But with ERAP nearly out of funds, many residents could face eviction and homelessness.

— Local radio host Rane is suing WPGC and CBS Radio for wage discrimination after she learned that she was making significantly less money than her male co-host.  TBD.com has the details of the suit.

In today’s rundown: How some low-income students are graduating from college debt free.  Why black women are fighting for recognition in D.C.’s bike lanes.  The U.S. women’s soccer team makes an unexpected comeback.

— Colleges are replacing loans with no-pay grants for disadvantaged students, reports The Washington Post. That means some students at elite schools are graduating with no debt.

— Black women do bike, one cyclist tells The Washington Post. A vocal group of women cyclists is pushing for greater acceptance of more bike lanes in Southeast D.C.

— The U.S. women’s soccer team gave fans “thrills” and chills,” says ESPN.com, after a comeback over Brazil in the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup.  The U.S. won 5-3 and advances to the semifinals where they’ll take on France on Wednesday.  Will you be watching the game on Wednesday?

Photo Credit: Bien Stephenson (via Creative Commons)

In today’s rundown: Men are getting jobs faster than women as the U.S. jobs market recovers.  And tips on making low-cost meals.

— As the economy recovers, men are faring better in the job market than women, according to The Washington Post. During the recession men experienced a higher rate of job loss as male-dominated fields took a hit.  During the recovery, however, men are adding more jobs, many in fields traditionally dominated by women.

— With food prices on the rise and many local families reporting that they don’t have enough money to buy food, DCentric explores how to stretch those grocery dollars and benefits.

In today’s rundown: Changes take place in Virginia that offer more protection to domestic violence survivors.  Two low-income families in D.C. will receive a one-of-a-kind, energy efficient home.  Why black stroke victims may be missing out on life-saving treatments.

— Starting today, survivors of intimate partner violence in Virginia will be able to file for protective orders in General District Court, reports Beyond the Doorway, the blog of our Grantee Partner Doorways for Women and Families.  Prior to today, victims who were not family or household members were unable to file for protective orders.

— Competitors in the upcoming solar decathlon on the National Mall will be donating a “passive house” to two low-income families in D.C., according to TBD.com. The “super-insulated,” air-tight home will consume 90 percent less energy for heating and cooling than a typical house.

— TBD.com also reports that “in the District, black stroke victims are one-third as likely as whites to get timely live-saving [sic] treatments.  But… the problem isn’t racial bias, necessarily.  It’s all a function of time.”

In today’s rundown: It’s National HIV Testing Day.  A youth town hall meeting on HIV/AIDS.  And tens of thousands of local teens remain out of work this summer.

— Today is National HIV Testing Day and The Washington Post has information on where you can go to get tested.

— The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) — a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner — and Metro TeenAIDS are holding a youth town hall meeting on Thursday to discuss needs and concerns that will be addressed at next year’s AIDS 2012 International Conference, which is being held in D.C.

— Caroline Jones, the new executive director of Doorways for Women and Families (a Foundation Grantee Partner), talked to The Washington Post about her leadership style and how she found a place in the nonprofit world.

— Many young people in the District started working today through the D.C. summer jobs program, but thousands are out of work due to cuts to the program.  ABC7 reports that there was a 45 percent drop in the number of jobs available this year.

In today’s rundown: A program that kept families from becoming homeless runs out of funding.  Looking at women’s poverty from several angles.  And why we can’t forget homeless women in the HIV/AIDS fight in D.C.

— Housing Counseling Services, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, has stopped taking applications for the District-funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).  Designed to prevent and resolve homelessness by providing financial assistance to eligible households, HCS is “virtually out of ERAP funds.”  This “will likely result in increased and prolonged homeslessness for District households.”  HSC recommends that families in need check in with the Homeless Prevention Hotline at (202)667-7339 in case HSC is awarded additional ERAP funds.  HSC will continue to offer housing counseling, workshops and technical assistance.

— The poverty rate for single mothers is exceptionally high, even when food stamps and earned income tax credits are counted, according to The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund.

— “Don’t forget D.C.’s homeless women in the HIV/AIDS fight,” writes the executive directors of N Street Village and Miriam’s House in a letter to the editor in The Washington Post. They write that homeless women in the region at 150 percent more likely to have HIV/AIDS than the rest of the population.

In today’s rundown: A new program targets Alexandria children who are at risk of going hungry during the summer.  The great divide in D.C. isn’t about race; it’s about class.  And District residents say HIV/AIDS is the city’s biggest health issue.

— Thousands of children are at risk of malnourishment in Alexandria this summer, reports the Gazette. According to the paper there are 6,000 students in Alexandria who meet federal poverty guidelines.  Many receive meals at school, but with classes out for summer, as many as 2,000 may go hungry.  The Virginia No Kid Hungry campaign allows parents to call 211 to locate summer meal sites in their area.

— Most D.C. residents see socioeconomic class as the biggest divide in the city, according to The Washington Post.

— The Post also reports that District residents see HIV/AIDS as the city’s biggest health problem.  African-Americans are particularly concerned about personally contracting HIV or having a family member contract it.

In today’s rundown: The HIV/AIDS rate in the District remains the highest in the country.  Single mothers are more prone to poor health.  College tuition skyrockets while incomes stagnate, making it more difficult for kids from low and middle-income families to go to college.

— The rate of HIV/AIDS in the District remained high for the third year in a row, reports The Washington Post, although there has been a decline in new cases.  The report cited by the Post also found that two-thirds of all diagnoses of chlamydia and gonorrhea were among residents under the age of 24.

— Single mothers suffer have more health risks, according to The New York Times. The paper cites a report that found that middle-aged women who were single when they had their first child have more health risks than mothers who were married when they had their first child.  Unmarried women account for 40 percent of births in the United States.

— Low and middle-income families are having a harder time paying for college, says CNN.com. The costs of college continue to rise quickly, which incomes are barely moving.  Tuition and fees at public universities have gone up 130 percent in the past two decades.