Hey D.C., how ya doin'? We've got some good news and some bad news for mother nature this morning, but it's all good news for you. Just nine days away from the official start of winter, Washington will enjoy another day of temperatures near 60. Remember these days when you're stomping through January snow.
Potomac to Get Slightly Less Gross: Looks like the Army Corps of Engineers is finally getting around to meeting a 2003 order to stop dumping sludge into the Potomac. Over 1 million people get their drinking water from the Corps-controlled Washington aqueduct. Currently, waste filtered out of river water is periodically dumped back into the river in the form of a "remnant sludge". We can't figure out who's bright idea this was, but the bizarre cycle obviously didn't conform to EPA standards. The new plan, to be completed in 2010, involves trucking the filtered-out waste to disposal sites.
OMG, Is That A Puppy Around Your Neck?: Fox5 reports that D.C.-area Burlington Coat Factory stores are selling coats labeled as "faux fur" that actually contain real fur from China. The labels say the fur is from coyotes or raccoons, (ew!) but the Humane Society says the trim could actually come from dogs or cats raised and killed for their hair. Ads for the falsely-labeled jackets ran in Sunday papers around the country.
And He Would Have Gotten Away With It Too: No, it wasn't pesky kids, but the Prince George's County Police who foiled a murder-for-hire scheme. Well, to be honest, the would-be hit man went to the cops, who then recorded Mohamed Kamara talking about plans to have his ex-girlfriend killed. Why can't all you criminals just turn yourselves in?
Briefly Noted:
D.C. United bids adieu to Freddy Adu... Drunk driver hits bus in Arlington... Fire forces apartment residents from high-rise... Robert Duvall gets tangled up in Va. power-line dispute... Teen stabbed on Metro bus... Ramsey says city is never safe...
This Day in DCist: In 2005, we chimed in on the church vs. state parking wars. And in 2004, we got lectured by print about how to blog.
Photo by Flickr user billadler.



Again with the dog hair, I remember years ago Dateline busted the Burlington Coat Factory for the same thing. I went there once and was disappointed that there were not that many coats, not a factory nor in Burlington.
The teen was not stabbed on a Metro bus. It was a PG County transit bus, or TheBus.
Doesn't Burlington Coat Factory get accused of this every year? I've heard the same story about four times (here 2006, Indianapolis 2002 and 2004, Chicago 1999), but somehow it keeps happening. That means that either there is no legal penalty or the consumers just don't care. Or maybe Fox just thinks it's a recyclable story...
I think it's ridiculous that the HSUS is so concerned about whether it's coyote fur or dog fur. Okay, it's against the law, so I guess I think the law is ridiculous. If you're against fur, shouldn't it be all fur? Why are dogs and cats given special status above coyotes and raccoons? I suppose I'm just having the same issue with this as I did with the horse slaughter legislation earlier this fall.