April 25, 2008
Morning Roundup: In the Harsh Light of Day Edition
Welcome to Friday, D.C. We're all still recovering from last night's incredible Unbuckled 7 concert, and while a few of us probably had more than our fair share of alcoholic beverages, it's still music to our ears that Montgomery County is considering legalizing Sunday liquor sales. Many other Maryland counties already allow hard liquor to be sold on Sundays, but Montgomery's 25 county-run liquor retail stores have remained closed. County Executive Ike Leggett must still approve the plan before it goes into effect. Now if only we could get the D.C. Council to take a similar new look at the District's alcohol sales and blue laws.
D.C. Drivers Worst in Nation for Drug Use: The Examiner takes a look at a brand new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report that shows that the District leads every state in the country in percentage of drivers under the influence of illegal drugs. We're not doing well with drunk driving, either: D.C. ranks in the top 10 for percentage of drivers under the influence of alcohol. Maybe we were too hasty to suggest in the paragraph above that it ought to be easier to buy alcohol here?
Fifth District Murders Causing Uproar: What is going on in the Fifth Police District? No one seems to have any hard answers to why seven people have now been murdered there in only eight days, and residents are becoming increasingly angry and anxious, writes the Post. Seventy-five police officers, residents and city officials gathered last night at the district station in the 1800 block of Bladensburg Road to share their frustration, but the MPD doesn't seem to have any answers or a handle on why this surge in violence has been happening.
Briefly Noted: Money for needle exchange programs to begin flowing this summer ... I-70 sinkhole repairs completed, lanes re-open ... Study confirms white enrollment in D.C. public schools is extremely low ... Former D.C. employee sentenced to four years in prison for fraud.
This Day in DCist: In 2007 we delighted in Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's appears on The Colbert Report, and in 2006 we first introduced our controversial "Inside the House" column.
Photo by Sabine01
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if they would just build that Metro line to Georgetown we would be able to snort our coke and chase it with Michelob Ultra, all the while not driving on our "precious roads".
but seriously, being high and drunk while driving is a god given right. kind of like owning a gun is.
Study confirms white enrollment in D.C. public schools is extremely low ...
In other news, study confirms enrollment of low-income Swedes in Greek private schools extremely low. On par with number of radical atheists attending Jesuit seminaries.
Also, study shows that studies need more study.
Forget guns. Where are my grenades? Because shrapnel doesn't kill people, exit wounds do.
had a great time last night! thanks go out to all the dcist people for putting it together. who thought i'd get to hear a radiohead song covered?
now, i just need to find a place to put that sticker...
The Examiner takes a look at a brand new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report that shows that the District leads every state in the country in percentage of drivers under the influence of illegal drugs.
I ordinarily would point out the fallacy of comparing DC to the states, rather than other cities. But then I remembered about all that meth and crank flowing through the veins of our rural brethren, and it makes me wonder how we got such a high ranking.
sweet baby jeebus! MontCounty passing to sell liquor on Sunday. Now instead of driving all the way out to St. Mary's County for my drive thru handle of Jack I can just pick one up after seeing my folks. jeebus knows I could use a handle or two after seeing the folks. Plus it makes that 1 hr. metro ride back oh-so much more fun. Ooh and I won't have to worry about not having enough liquids in my system when I re-mark my territory after metro takes out the carpets.
yay!
Reid, I wonder if folks driving under the influence are just more likely to get caught here. I see much more drinking and driving away from cities with decent public transportation and cabs (Houston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, LA to name a few). Also upstate NY. People drive totally blotto up there.
Of course, I hang out with a bunch of drunks. The only difference is that the drunks I know in Boston, NYC, Philly, and DC don't bring their cars with them when they go drinking.
Maybe they could cut down on the drunk drivers in the city if they would keep Metro open at least until the bars close on weekdays. Still one of my biggest Metro pet peeves...
Damn right Timmy. What gives DC? You don't want drink driving but your Metros have a curfew. Grow a set, threaten for funding and keep em running 24/7.
Metro can't stay open 24/7. Besides the prohibitive cost, the real problem is that they need to do track maintenance at night. They can't do that with trains running. NYC gets around that because of all their express tracks.
It was like pulling teeth to get Metro to stay open late on the weekends, I don't see them extending that to the weekdays just so a bunch of brosephs get back to Ballston after a late Thursday night at Mackeys.
Good thing driving-while-cellphoning is still legal. Clearly because they're all going 15mph under the speed limit.
I've never seen our cell phone law enforced by our (not) fine police force. people drive and talk on their phones all the time and yes, do stupid things in the process. i think they should be taken out of their cars, peed on, then sent on their way. i know I'd think twice about talking to grandpa McGillicuddy on my commute home. it's just not worth it.
I'm diggin on the pink chalk Zoso runes. Looks like somebody's a Zep fan. I can just see some little kid drawing it and rocking out to The Immigrant Song or Stairway.
"And she's buy-uy-ing a stair-air-way...to YOUR MOM!"
Therein lies the problem: revoke the drunk driver's license, he's forced to ride a bike, said biker gets run over by a drunk driver. Circle of life, or death, or something.
And by "problem" I mean "opportunity."
I thought most of the shootings in the Fifth District were gang related? Is that not the case? Seven kills in 8 days is astounding.
I like to pee! I'll pee on them! Can I hold my bike self righteously while I pee on them?? Nothing like smug satisfaction to make a girl happy.
honestly they need to take some of the resources from the 2nd police district and move them over to the fifth. I don't know exactly all the police resources are distributed but the 2nd district sure does not need the same amount of manpower as the fifth district does... btw nice posts monkey
the 5th needs the 5th armored battallion...I am all for Iraq style police tactics.
"I've never seen our cell phone law enforced by our (not) fine police force."
I've been in the car with a friend who was on his cell phone and was pulled over and fined for that infraction. But, that was when it first started.
dsade: Whose to say it does have the same manpower? First of all, the Second District was just expanded to takeover some area from the Third District (which had more crime). That is spreading its resources to an area that needed help.
Secondly, for what it's worth, there were about 25% more crimes reported in the 2nd District than the 5th over the last 12 months. Granted, most of that disparity comes from shoplifting and car-break-ins (the 5th had about double the violent crimes reported that the 2nd did). But it still takes resources to address those crimes, even if it is just to record them.
But that's beside the point, just because there's more wealth in the second is not evidence that it's overcopped to the detriment of the fifth.
Morlock infestation of the Fifth District. It's the only logical explanation. Plus there's a full moon.
Sunday sales of booze in MoCo, aw yeah . Now I can restock from whatever damage I've done Saturday night -- mama needs her happy juice.
"But then I remembered about all that meth and crank flowing through the veins of our rural brethren, and it makes me wonder how we got such a high ranking."
Reid because we have a much smaller population than most states, it can only add to an increase in percentages. Same principle applies to why the % of people with HIV/AIDS than most states, why we get called to jury duty more frequently, etc.
But, 7% of DC residents = 41,000 people roughly.
Whereas 4.7% of Virginia residents = 362,400 people.
It's a higher percentage, but fewer people.
"just so a bunch of brosephs get back to Ballston after a late Thursday night at Mackeys."
hahah!
Reid because we have a much smaller population than most states, it can only add to an increase in percentages. Same principle applies to why the % of people with HIV/AIDS than most states, why we get called to jury duty more frequently, etc.
I don't follow your logic. If you have two populations with the exact same behavior, but one is much smaller than the other, the percentages of drunk driving, aids, jury duty, whatever, should still be the same. The reason the percentage goes up is that an urban population doesn't behave the same as a suburban or rural one. The reason we have such a high HIV/AIDS percentage is that HIV/AIDS is more prevalent in cities (for a host of reasons), and we don't have anything but city. It's similar with jury duty: per capita crime is higher in an urban environment, so we need more juries, oh and the reason crime is higher is poverty, and people living in poverty don't show up for jury duty very much, so the pool gets smaller.