April 23, 2008
Morning Roundup: Malfeasance at Metro
Good morning, Washington. If you're an Obama supporter or a Capitals fan, you're probably cursing Pennsylvania this morning. Senator Clinton won the state's primary contest as expected, taking the victory by about ten percentage points. Things were more competitive for the Caps, but they ultimately lost to the Flyers in overtime, 3-2.
Graft at Metro: Who says the D.C. Tax Office gets to have all the fun? The Post reports that Marcia Anderson is accused of stealing half a million dollars from Metro in an abuse of her former position as supervisor of three Metro sales offices. The alleged scam involved forged signatures, expired Metrocheks and falsified computer records.
Another Murder in Fifth District: A man was fatally shot in the 2000 block of Maryland Ave. around 7 p.m. last night. That makes six in eight days, as WJLA notes. Police are looking for a burgundy car that was spotted at the time.
Prince William Co. Debates Budget Cuts: Prince William County is trying to figure out how to balance its books. The municipality is facing declining revenues thanks to the slowing economy and real estate market, and is consequently looking for savings to minimize tax increases. The Post reports that the video cameras slated to be installed in the county's police cruisers may be on the chopping block as a result. The cameras were planned to cut down on lawsuits resulting from the county's new $6 million anti-illegal-immigrant program. NBC4 has more, including quotes highlighting the controversy over the cost of the immigration reform.
Briefly Noted: Naval Academy sophomore accuses classmate of rape... Horrific crash near Jessup, Md... Rhee says school improvements will likely take years... Fairfax County sergeant sentenced for illegal use of law enforcement database... Fenty announces anti-slumlord proposals; greeted with support by council...
This Day In DCist: One year ago Shaw was named the nation's second-bloggiest neighborhood and we checked out the Takoma Park farmer's market.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user Samer Farha
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PW County not willing to spend money intended to legitimize their ridiculous profiling scheme, color me shocked.
Phuck philly. Next year we take the cup.
Wow. Prince William County's budget defecit is a measly $8 mil? Kinda pathetic compared to Loudon County's $250 million defecit. C'mon, PW! You can do better than that! Can't you build a monorail connecting or something?
And I've been cursing Pennsylvania since they started putting Iron City in those wierd aluminum bottles.
Have another donut Koharski.
Monkey, try $100 million, not $8 million according to the person quoted in the NBC4 story.
Tom, can we get the Post link fixed? Right now it brings you to page 2 of the article and not the beginning.
Yeah I agree with Monkey, I'm really surprised that they're only short $8 million. That's pretty close to a rounding error for a county with budget over $900 million. I guess all those people clucking about how the crack down would ruin the county's finances haven't been proven right. At least not yet.
According to this NBC4 story, the defecit was $8 million as of April 8th.
Funny how a defecit can grow from $8 to $100 million in a matter of two weeks. You'd think they hired Harriet Walters' relatives to handle their taxes.
Wait, now I am confused. NBC4 reported on April 9th that the budget deficit was $8 million, probably where Monkey got that number. The Post story says that they are proposing $21 million in budget cuts to balance the budget. And the guy quoted in today's NBC4 story says the budget deficit is in excess of $100 million.
Is it me, or is my calculator just not working? Cuz something isn't adding up here. Why would they cut $21 million from the budget to cover an $8 million deficit?
And the PW deficit was $51 mil last December? So it goes from $51 to $8 to $100+ mil in 120 days? And I thought DC kids were lousy at math.
Are these actual deficits or "budget shortfalls" based on the usual government projections of steadily increasing tax revenues until the Second Coming of Christ?
The Price William budget deficit is actually $1 million remainder 12.
Re: farmer's markets...does anyone know if the 14th & U Street farmer's market is coming back this year? If so, when does it start?
I can't take Safeway anymore, and since the Harris Teeter next door is obviously just a figment of my imagination at this point, I'm in need of some true local food.
Lies, damned lies and government accounting.
And I have to agree with West, I'm shocked, shocked that PW would cut back on expenses intended to insulate them from lawsuits.
"And I have to agree with West, I'm shocked, shocked that PW would cut back on expenses intended to insulate them from lawsuits."
And wouldn't they actually save money in the long run, by being able to prevent lawsuits with such common technology?
I would've thought PW County would have the cameras on the cop cars. It seems like every other redneck county in America does, at least when you watch "Cops".
So they're calling it "immigration reform" now? Back in my day, we used to just call it "rounding people up, putting them in boxcars, and riding the train into the sea." Now, back in Great Grandma Monkey's day on the Russian steppes, they'd just force them all into the synagogue and set fire to it. But now we can't even have pogroms no more, thank you, Supreme Court!
Unrelated to the morning roundup, but FYI a Flickr user has posted photos indicating Harris Teeter in Adams-Morgan is open! Some kind of soft opening?
Drew, the link should now be fixed. Sorry about that.
MrT - I'd wait until they're fully erect. Trust me on this one.
Unrelated to the morning roundup, but FYI a Flickr user has posted photos indicating Harris Teeter in Adams-Morgan is open! Some kind of soft opening?
official opening is today.
MrTinDC, today is their official opening day.
The Caps game last night was a heartbreaker. The only good thing to ever come out of Philadelphia is Tastykakes.
I dunno, those Declaration of Independence and Constitution dealies are pretty good too. Not as tasty as a Krimpet, though.
peanut butter kandykakes! must... have....
Blackcloud: I'm an Articles of Confederation man myself.
@the heckle:
Gotta loves the Articles. Pirates, I tell you...Pirates!