April 26, 2007

Morning Roundup: Worth the Wait Edition

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Hey there, District. We'll admit, we woke up a little on the grumpy side this morning when we looked out the window and remembered we're supposed to have thunderstorms and sporadic showers for the next 72 hours. But those frowns turned upside down when we took a look at the ten-day forecast and realized that what the weather gods aren't asking for much patience -- after today, we can expect average to above-average temperatures with sunny and dry conditions for the upcoming week to ten days. Start your picnic planning and We're Keeping Butterstick celebretory trips to the National Zoo now.

Singer Targets Predatory Lending: District Attorney General Linda Singer makes her first big headlines this morning since being confirmed by the D.C. Council with a proposal for legislation that could limit the high fees charged by financial businesses that cater to low-income customers. What's often called "predatory lending" by such businesses can lead to loans with interest rates as high as 400 percent. Singer told the WaPo she wants more transparency in loans so that customers can make comparisons and projections.

Police Headquarters to Move to SE: The D.C. Council approved a $6.5 million lease for a new MPD Headquarters location at 225 Virginia Ave. SE. Plans call for Chief Cathy L. Lanier and about 200 senior police staff to move into the building late next year or in early 2009. More than 1,100 police department employees will eventually work there.

Briefly Noted: Child OK after runaway car crashes near Tidal Basin ... Will there be fewer crabs this year? ... $10,000 reward for information leading to hit-and-run driver ... Army's hospital problems go well beyond Walter Reed ... Fenty nominates head of Dept. of Disability Services.

This Day in DCist: In 2006, we gave those pesky kids who wrote that adorable song about D.C. a little bit of a hard time, and in 2005 we took a close look at how Congress really does play politics with D.C.'s budget.

Photo by pixleslie.


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Comments (10)

At first I thought that someone (maybe an American Idol castoff) had written a song decrying the evils of sub-prime mortgages.

 

But community activist Dorothy Brizill opposes having the chief move her office, saying that the new location is more remote. "Public safety is a key function of government," she said. "It needs to be visible and accessible. It doesn't need to be hidden."

Dorothy is full of it. The new police location is right there off the SE Freeway! Thousands drive past it every day. It used to be the old Washington Star processing plant. It's equal distance between Capitol South and Navy Yard Metro stations. If anything, this is going to spur people to get off the fence and actually buy those condos they're selling in a neighborhood that used to be full of housing projects and drivebys.

I think Dorothy is irritated that the location isn't convenient for HER. She can't just hop from the police building to the court building to the District building anymore. Nice try.

 

For some of us, warm and dry too many days in a row is hell. Rain is GOOD for us tree pollen allergy sufferers!

 

I agree with Phil, it can't rain fast or hard enought this time of year!

 

I agree - we need a hurricane's worth of rain to get rid of all the pollen and make my head stop hurting.

I also agree that Dorothy Brizill is full of crap. That woman has an endless supply of complaints, no matter how ridiculous or childish.

And big ups to Linda Singer and Mary Cheh for making predatory lending a top concern. Payday loans are legalized loan sharking and nothing more. It's about damned time someone looked into making sure large numbers of DC residents aren't getting screwed by the financial services industry.

 

is this why the assessment for 225 Virginia Ave. SE just got cut in HALF? No wonder Warehouse is seeing their bill go up 500%, DC has to offset it somehow.

 

Brizill was also against also opposed to the new b... SAUERKRAUT! DID SOMEBODY SAY SAUERKRAUT? YUMMM.

 

Predatory lending? Are they going door to door with guns drawn and forcing people to sign on the dotted line? If they're misleading people, then that is a serious issue, but it's ultimately a person's own responsibility to take care of their own finances. I'm sick of the "they had no other option" argument. There are always options, and if these ridiculous terms don't work for you then don't accept them.

 
 

Wrong. The problem here happens to be your past indiscretions coming to light in a public forum.

 
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