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Happy Friday the 13th, Washington. We do hope none of you are suffering too much from paraskavedekatriaphobia or had bad dreams last night about a psychopathic killer in a hockey mask. We're sure there's nothing to worry about, but just in case we're wrong, why don't we all leave early for the weekend today? Surely having some extra time to make our way to the beach will ward off any potential bad luck heading this way. You go convince our bosses, and we'll send a nice note to yours. And now for your headlines.
Local Bomb Squads Not Prepared: If you're at all concerned about the superstitions of Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, the Washington Post has some disturbing news this morning. Turns out local bomb squads in the Washington area are ill-equipped to respond to simultaneous car bomb attacks like the kind recently attempted in London.
Would-Be Robber Asks for Hugs, Leaves: Another one from the Post, this time a bit more heart-warming. It seems an armed robber entered the backyard of a Capitol Hill home as its occupants were sitting down to wine and cheese. When the victims offered the assailant some of their fancy nosh, he took it, and then decided not to rob them after all, instead asking for a round of hugs and then exiting quietly the way he came. Behold the power of cheese.
Briefly Noted: Jail chief blocks release of report on hanging death of female inmate ... Dallas woman raped in Silver Spring after accepting ride from a stranger ... District may facefine in youth home lawsuit ... Virginia 'abusive driver' fees to be reconsidered.
This Day in DCist: Last summer's crime emergency prompted us to ask what about D.C. scares you the most, and the year before that we told you about the origins of the name of the Whitehurst Freeway.
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And I'm sure his name really was John, too. Wow.
Cheese George....Cheese!
Valuable lesson to learn, people: when you're in a strange city by yourself, don't accept a random ride in the middle of the night from guy who's about ten years older than you, and alone, and drives a van, and has a heavy build.
Learning this lesson the hard way is clearly no picnic.
What - no "Briefly Noted" mention of the bust at the delicious Pollo Rico in Wheaton??? I have gone there a lot b/c it's yummy & prices cheap. Now I know why they insist on CASH ONLY - they've been caught LAUNDERING millions of dollars over the years, using store profits directly to buy personal homes & cars for their illegal workers. The illegals don't bother me as much (since even the expensive & fancy restaurants around here use 'em) as the MONEY LAUNDERING by Pollo Rico. Geez...
Guest obsessed with Pollo Rico: How naive you are to think this is a recent practice, limited to this great take-out place. Small retailers in the US have practiced "skimming" or "keeping two sets of books" since the combined bite of municipal, state, and federal taxes became truly onerous. Mom n’ Pop stores say they couldn’t survive without taking advantage of the cash economy since they don’t have the resources to create and use tax loopholes like big business does. Prosecutors are normally reluctant to take on what are truly nickel-dime infractions.