Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Car Pushed Into Anacostia River By Train
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Devendra Banhart @ 9:30 Club
Saturday Thanks Don't End At Thanksgiving Photo: November 28, 2009
It was an awfully busy day for the D.C. Council Tuesday, so we thought we'd give you a quick glance at everything that went down in yesterday's session.
>> As expected after a 9-2 committee vote earlier in the day, the Council voted by the same margin to approve Mayor Fenty's takeover plan for D.C. Public Schools yesterday. The council will need to give final approval in a second vote, and Congress is of course required to give its blessing -- but both of those steps seem likely to happen by the end of this spring, which would mean students starting at D.C. Schools as soon as this fall could expect to see changes. Under the plan, the mayor will have control over the budget and administration of the school system, the council will have line-item budget control, and the school board, which will still be elected and headed by appointed superintendant who will now report directly to the mayor, will set academic standards. D.C. Board of Education member Jeff Smith resigned his seat in protest after the vote.
>> As we mentioned earlier this morning, the council went 7-3 in a preliminary vote to approve a bill requiring Gardasil, the vaccine that protects against four strains of the cervical cancer-causing HPV, for girls entering 6th grade.
>> Not content to take up only two controversial measures in one day, the council also moved forward in a 9-2 preliminary vote with its plans to bestow $50 million on Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin to allow him to upgrade the Verizon Center's scoreboard and a few other amenities. The plan includes a tax hike on tickets and merchandise at the Verizon Center to pay back the bond money.
>> And finally, a few more tepid votes to report. D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier was unanimously approved for her job, making her the first ever woman police chief in D.C. Linda Singer was also approved as attorney general, as was Janice Quintana as director of the city's unified communications office.
Photo of the Wilson Building courtesy dc.gov
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Speaking of the Wilson Building, it's funny to take a stroll by it on days the council is meeting. You see all the CM's cars lined up on Penn. I kind of picture them all rolling in at the same time, like seniors in a high school parking lot.
Also it's funny to see what they drive. Cheh drives a frumpy station wagon, which is not surprising in the least. Phil Graham rocks the cream-colored VW bug. Again, not surprising. But then you get to the at-large reps, and they all ride in german style. Plus, somebody is still using the Ward Seven plate, even though nobody is currently the Ward Seven CM. Presumably this is just Gray, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it in somebody else's well-connected hands.
Who's Phil Graham? Did Phil Mendelson and Jim Graham finally consummate their unspoken passion and produce a mutant offspring that rides a VW? Because that's the kind of bold initiative I can get behind.
Lookit, a town with money is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it and danged if he knows how to use it.
Ah yes. Jim Graham, not Phil Graham. Phil Gramm (not Graham) was a Texas Senator and I get his name mixed up. Although I can't rule out the chance that he was also the love child of Jim Graham and Phil Mendeleson.