May 31, 2007
Morning Roundup: What's Up, Doc? Edition
Ahhhh, the real start of summer: The consistently warmer temperatures ... the first night you venture wearing skimpy clothes out ... the year's first Code Orange Bad Air Quality Day. However you prefer measuring the start of the season, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is predicting our first Code Orange air quality day today, meaning ozone levels are predicted to be extremely high and the air quality very poor. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission is offering free bus rides today to help cut down on emissions, so if you live in Viriginia and usually drive in to work, please consider altering your commute to include public transportation.
City Credit Cards Under Investigation: District employees, beware. If you've ever charged anything you shouldn't have to your city credit card, you may be close to being discovered. The Examiner reports that the investigative arm of the District of Columbia’s finance office is investigating the city’s multimillion dollar credit card program, a few months after a federal government audit strongly criticized the District’s procurement process.
Greater Southeast Docs Walk Off Job: More trouble at Greater Southeast Community Hospital: A group of doctors who say they are owed three months' wages walked off the job Tuesday at an ambulatory care center run by the hospital for low income residents. Patient appointments have been rescheduled or canceled at the center, which was located on the ground floor of the former D.C. General Hospital.
Briefly Noted: 2 dead after multi-car crash on Beltway in PG County ... Fire kills one, displaces dozens ... Supreme Court denies stay for accused 'D.C. Madam' ... D.C. Police to conduct full scale emergency response simulation at American University this afternoon.
This Day in DCist: In 2006 we wondered why we needed to be reminded what "Wingmen" are and noted the decline in Homeland Security funding the District is getting this year. In 2005 we took guesses as to which parking garage Deep Throat preferred and said goodbye to the Washington Socialites.
Photo by e.teel
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Maybe I'm just old, but I don't remember having coded days as a kid I was just told to get the heck outside and play. The only time I remember being kept inside due to heat was during the heatwave of 1978 or 1979. Perhaps the air quality is just worse. Either that or we are just a lot wimpier now. Should that be wimpier or more wimpy?
Fraud in the DC government. Say it ain't so!
Southeast Hospital out of money. Naw!!
I doubt I'm the only person who's going to complain about this today, but what the hell was up with the Red Line this AM? We actually had to ride through both Cleveland Park and Woodley Park because the trains were so backed up...
Lavatory Lady - The reason you don't recall having coded days was because they just didn't do them back then. Widescale monitoring did not begin until 1990 or so. Air quality has been getting better since the late 70s.
www.epa.gov/airtrends/econ-emissions.html
What Politburo said. That and, even if there were coded days in the 70s, the standards have changed significantly since then, so a day that may not have triggered an alert back then would today.
The air is generally cleaner today. It's just the science now tells us that the generally cleaner air is still unhealthy.
Oh yeah, I'd like to know about the Red Line too. I was on the platform at Woodley Park when a train went straight through, even though I could see the front car of the train had space for a few people. The back cars not so much.
Anyone know about a shooring at 14th and Chapin last night? Saw all the police, but can't figure out what happened... Thanks!!
Correction: shooting, not shooring.
What happened with the Shiloh watch? Is all better? Are the properties fixed?
Three boys decided to test their guns in an alley on Chapin St to answer CM's question. The bullets didn't hit anyone, even though they did it just after dark. Unsettling, to say the least.
This, in addition to boys breaking windows in apts on ground levels on Chapin and beating up people in front of the boys and girls club.
But have your dog off leash in Meridian Hill? You'll be ticketed or -- as is the case with one neighbor-- jailed.