In today’s rundown: A closer look at gender and race pay gaps.  Plus, should DC parents who receive welfare benefits be required to attend parent-teacher conferences?

— The pay gaps between men and women and whites and minorities are surprisingly wide, say Georgetown University researchers.  They found pay gaps regardless of education, hours worked or position.  To close the gap, advocates are calling for more anti-discrimination training and oversight from the equal employment opportunity commission, reports TBD.com.

— The chairman of the D.C. Council wants to require parents who receive welfare benefits to go to half of their childrens’ parent-teacher conferences, according to the Washington Examiner. Opponents of the proposed amendment to the city budget say that some schools ask parents NOT to come in if their children are doing well, because conference schedules are so tight.

In today’s rundown: The number of single women-headed households falls in Prince George’s County.  As AIDS turns 30, people under 30, black women and Latinas are more likely to contract HIV.  How obesity impacts a woman’s earning power.

— The number of single mother households in Prince George’s County has fallen by five percent in the past decade, according to the Washington Examiner.

— Most HIV infections are among people under 30, a group that may not fully understand the health threat, reports Women’s eNews. Black women and Hispanic women have particularly high transmission rates.

— Overweight women are significantly less likely to finish college, according to an op-ed in The New York Times. “The economic harm to overweight women is more than a series of personal troubles; it may contribute to the rising disparities between rich and poor….”

In today’s rundown: A new look at the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States.  Plus, cheap and free summer activities for teens.

— Researchers have created a new map that shows the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the United States, reports TBD.com. The map is being used to show where testing and treatment are needed most.  The site also includes locations where HIV testing is available.

— Summer break is just about here and there are a shrinking number of “cheap and free” activity options for DC teens, says DCentric.  They’ve compiled a list of affordable and free activities that can help keep the kids busy.  Click here for details.

In today’s rundown: A lack of opportunity for DC teens this summer. | A new center for women and children’s nutrition opens in Maryland. | Why one local school is seeing its largest graduating class ever this year. | Five ways hunger is affecting the Latino community.

— “Non profits in Washington, DC are calling it the ‘perfect storm’: Two months where funding for summer classes, a youth jobs program and enrichment activities have been slashed because of the District’s multi-million dollar budget shortfall,” reports WAMU. Beacon House, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, is featured in the story.

— A new center for women and children’s nutrition has opened in Montgomery County, according to the Gazette. Located in Westfield Wheaton, The Women, Infants and Children Services Center has replaced two smaller locations in White Flint and Aspen Hill.

— The Gazette also profiles a school in Prince George’s County that had a 97 percent graduation rate this year.  Friendly High in Fort Washington celebrated its largest graduating class in its history last week.  Raynah Adams, the school’s new principal, implemented initiatives to keep the students academically focused.

— And we’re a little late on this one, but DCentric takes a look at five ways hunger affects the local Latino community.

In today’s rundown: How DC residents respond to questions about sexual orientation. | What do women over 50 fear most? | Why fewer women run for office in Virginia. | Marital messiness keeps some couples from higher political office.

— The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance breaks down the numbers from the DC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2008 Annual Health Report and found that “females (81%) were more likely than males (78%) to be heterosexual and bisexual (2% versus 1% respectively); however, males (8%) were more like than females (2%) to be homosexual.”

— Women over 50’s worst fear is economic insecurity, writes Barbara Hannah Grufferman in Huffington Post.

— More men than women continue to seek more state legislative positions in Virginia, according to an op-ed in The Daily Progress (via TBD.com).  Virginia has a lower rate of women in office than the rest of the country.

— And The Washington Post explores what’s expected of the wives of male presidential hopefuls.

In today’s rundown: Single mothers’ achievements are recognized in Prince George’s County. | An in-depth look at poverty in Montgomery County. | The nationwide mismanagement of public housing. | DC’s budget, simplified.

— The Gazette highlights a Prince George’s County woman who was honored with an award after overcoming barriers she faced after becoming a single mother.  The Women’s Foundation is mentioned in the story.

— Washingtonian Magazine takes a look at poverty in Montgomery County and the widening gap between the rich and poor there.

— The Washington Post takes a multi-media look at how the Department of Housing and Urban Development has mismanaged public housing in the U.S.  One article is about a stalled construction project in Southeast DC.

— Confused by DC’s proposed budget? DC Fiscal Policy Institute breaks down the numbers in a YouTube video. Pie charts, cartoons and white boards make things a little easier to understand!

In today’s rundown: The Petworth farmers market becomes the latest to accept food stamps. | And a look at the gender wage gap among federal employees.

— Joe Davidson takes a look at the gender pay gap in the federal government in a Washington Post column. The pay gap isn’t as wide as it is in the private sector, Davidson writes, but it exists.  He also points out that women make up less than a third of the Senior Executive Service.

— The farmers market in Petworth has become the latest to accept SNAP benefits.  It is the 16th farmers market in the district to accept food stamps, reports TBD.com.

In today’s rundown: A closer look at unemployment rates for single mothers. | A new grocery store in DC won’t be accepting WIC payments. | A day in the life of the working military mom.

— “Unemployment rates among single mothers have long surpassed those among married men and women,” writes economics professor Nancy Folbre in The New York Times. “In 2010, their unemployment rate averaged 14.6 percent, compared with 6.8 percent among married men and 6.3 percent among married mothers.”  Folbre goes on to cite the Institute for Women’s Policy Research — a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner — which says that women have less access than men to unemployment benefits.

— Low-cost supermarket chain Aldi is opening a store in Northeast D.C., but they won’t be able to accept payments from the Women Infants and Children (WIC) federal subsidy program.  Aldi only sells its own brands that government has not approved the Aldi brand for participation in WIC.

— More than 70,000 active duty women in the military are mothers, reports The Washington Post.  A photographer followed one of those working moms to document her busy day.  Click here for details.

In today’s rundown: Nonprofits that help older residents in Montgomery County are merging. | The uncertain future of the Arlington Free Clinic. | Several women arrested during DC protest. | Nominate someone for the 2011 Linowes Leadership Awards.

— D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh was arrested along with seven other women earlier this week, reports WAMU.  The arrests came during a protest in response to the U.S. House of Representatives passing a bill that permanently banned D.C. from funding abortions.  All three women council members spoke at the protest.  Another one is planned for next week.

— In spite of skyrocketing demand, the Arlington Free Clinic faces an uncertain future, according to the Arlington Connection. Increased demand, changes to the way Virginia funds charities, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could mean that the clinic will change the way it operates or shut down.

— Two nonprofits that help Montgomery County’s aging residents will merge this summer.  Interages will become part of the Jewish Council for the Aging, reports the Maryland Gazette.

— The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region is accepting nominations for the 2011 Linowes Leadership Awards.  The awards recognize individuals of creativity, vision and leadership who work in a community in the Greater Washington area and who are generally unrecognized.  For more details, visit www.TheCommunityFoundation.org or contact Jessica Sherry at 202-973-2509 or at jsherry@cfncr.org.

In today’s rundown: Women’s real losses are masked by the mancession. | Mapping local food deserts. | D.C. is the second most expensive “state” for renters in the nation.

— In “‘Mancession’ Focus Masks Women’s Real Losses,” Women’s e-news says the “persistent myth about men suffering worse job-loss woes in this recession cries out for a few additional facts, along with Carrie Lukas’ whopper in the Wall Street Journal about the end of the gender wage gap.”

— DCentric takes a look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s online food desert locator and discusses which low-income areas in the District have the worst access to grocery stores.

— D.C. is second only to Hawaii in the price of rental housing, reports Washington City Paper. Numbers released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition show that a resident in D.C. needs to earn $28.10 an hour to pay no more than 30 percent of their income on a fair market rental.