May 15, 2008
Morning Roundup: Life and Death Edition
Good morning, Washington. Last night John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama in a televised speech from Grand Rapids, Mich., but even the staunchest Obama supporters stuck in Capital Beltway traffic this morning have forgotten all about it. The set-up for the dedication of the second span of the new Wilson Bridge, which is set for 11 a.m. and will include a flyover by the D.C. Air National Guard and a performance by the Oxon Hill High School marching band, is screwing up everyone's commute in this morning thanks to rubbernecking. They couldn't have planned this ceremony for a weekend?
Lottery Proposal Resurrected: Even though the D.C. Council voted 11 to 1 to table Mayor Adrian Fenty's proposal to give a $120 million D.C. Lottery contract to W2I, the deal is still on the table this morning, reports the Post. By writing two letters to Chair Vincent Gray, one withdrawing the bill and another resubmitting it, Fenty has kept the contract bid alive for 45 more days. It seems unlikely the mayor will be able to persuade enough D.C. Council members to change their minds in that time frame, however.
Fort Reno Park Unlikely to Reopen Soon: It's not looking good for fans of Fort Reno. The Park Service said in a statement that they are currently working with the EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers and the city "to more fully and accurately determine possible public risk, if any, and other courses of action," which is of course code for, "this is going to take a long time." The arsenic levels reported USGS scientist Terry Slonecker are indeed shocking: government guidelines put a cap on any soil sample with higher than 43 parts per million of the poisonous substance, and Slonecker reported several samples with levels closer to 500 parts per million, with a high end at 1,100 parts per million.
Briefly Noted: U.S. House passes Chesapeake Bay clean-up funding ... Comcast service knocked out for 2,500 customers in Arlington ...
Photo by christaki
|
"couldn't have planned this ceremony for a weekend?"
Of course not! No one watches local news on the weekends to watch the circle jerk on the new bridge.
"is screwing up everyone's commute in this morning"
Who's "everyone" kemosabe?
Morlocks feed on arsenic. That's why their skin is blue and their breath smells like almonds.
I'm just saying.
They also have the same barber as the Edgar Winter Group, which explains why, if you put your head to the ground at Fort Reno, you can hear the faint strains of "Frankenstein."
For some reason I was notified about the Comcast outage via the Arlington Alerts notification system. I guess it could be a legitimate community safety issue because some phone service was impacted, but seriously?
Does anything involving the National Park Service NOT take a really long time?
Ok, so this has nothing to do with this post, but I didn't see you guys mention this the other day with the post about the Old Convention Center site. According to Tom Sherwood, the city is still considering getting the MLK library off its hands and moving the library to the old Carnegie Library (most recently it spent about five minutes as the City Museum) as a smaller more technological library, and moving a lot of the collection to somewhere in Anacostia.
Given that it's Bike To Work Week, why are people driving the fossil cages? It's not like biking in from Springfield is difficult, people: it's mostly level, with a MUP available for most of the ride.
Bike to work, folks - it's the future, and the future is NOW!
Granted, when the full spans of the Wilson Bridge are open, there will finally be a bike-accessible way over the stupid thing.
i'd love to know what happened behind the scenes to get Edwards to endorse Obama, the guy he peed on when he was still a candidate. he was probably promised a lifetime subscription to Mad Magazine, a brand new plastic comb, and an Iron Man watch.
Perhaps the Ft. Reno concerts could relocate to Carter Barron
Leave it to pointy headed John Edwards to wait until the race is pretty much already decided before FINALLY offering his endorsement. This guy did himself (and the country) a huge favor by not getting out of the race. Crap, show some backbone, will you? In case you couldn't tell, I despise the kind of opportunist politician that just waits and snipes at the right moment to score points. This is why you lost the race with Kerry last time. Grow up already!!
Has the work in meridian hill park (aka malcolm X park) finished yet? They are supposed to be done this spring, i.e. now. If all is going accoriding to schedule, then fort reno concerts should move there to the large upper field there. There is a stage right by the joan of arc statue. There was a large and very famous opera concert given there back in the 30s, I think. They've been restoring the upper park for the last year and had fencing up around the main field (which has the added benefit for the federales of dissuading protestors from gathering there for a march starting point for marching down 16th st.)
There's probably a zillion other harmful chemicals in the soil all over the city. Keywords: "in the soil." As long as you'er not digging up or eating the soil, you'll be fine. There's no reason to close Fort Reno to casual use by dogwalkers, frisbee-throwers or concert goers. Typical hysteria and overreaction.
Just saw/heard the Air Nat'l Guard Fly over Alexandria
pants, the work is still going on @ Meridian. Every time it looks like progress is being made (equipment cleared out, new grass down, fencing removed), the next day there is new equipment, mounds of dirt, holes, and more fencing. I asked a worker the other morning when it was supposed to be done and he shrugged and said, "I have no idea".
There's probably some kind of reasonable explanation for this that a scientists could offer, but wouldn't arsenic in the oil only be problmeatic for those eating the soil? And who does that?
"but wouldn't arsenic in the oil only be problmeatic for those eating the soil? And who does that?"
Well, first of all, any one walking around barefoot (and particularly any dog, whose paws are very permeable) would likely be at risk. Plus, when soil gets dry, it gets dusty, and thus airborne.
Or let me put it this way, if I've got a pile of arsenic, would you be comfortable having a picnic on it?
"Has the work in meridian hill park (aka malcolm X park) finished yet? They are supposed to be done this spring, i.e. now. If all is going accoriding to schedule, then fort reno concerts should move there to the large upper field there. There is a stage right by the joan of arc statue. There was a large and very famous opera concert given there back in the 30s, I think. They've been restoring the upper park for the last year and had fencing up around the main field (which has the added benefit for the federales of dissuading protestors from gathering there for a march starting point for marching down 16th st.)
As of two weeks ago, no. They still had the fencing up. The concert I think you're referring to is the performance by Marian Anderson, and that was at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939.
If you're walking around barefoot in any park in DC, there are more pressing concerns than soil contamination: broken glass, needles, used condoms, human waste, dog poo, etc.
The upper portion of Meridian Hill is not finished - I have not idea why its taken so long.
If it were finished, it would be a perfect place for the ft. reno concerts. Meridian was the original "park for the performing arts" or something like that. It has a stage. The Fort Reno concerts seem to be having problems, anyway - the website is asking for money. I'd give, but with the problems at the park, I worry more that they're out for the year. Perhaps someone could fill us in here?
The Fort Reno concerts could be moved temporarily* to Fort Dupont Park, which (supposedly) has an amphitheater.
However, I think Ft. Dupont's location on the other side of the city will kill its potential as a concert host replacement. The people who frequent Ft. Reno might be "uncomfortable" with the demographics of the Ft. Dupont locals.
*Of course, the word "temporary" loses all meaning when used within the context of D.C./federal government, as evidenced by the Klingle Road fiasco.
This monkey spent his tender years growing up just across Alabama Avenue from Fort Dupont Park. The neighborhood is far from being homogenous. In fact, the area's become fairly multiculti, what with all the white folk who couldn't afford to buy a house in Shaw. Now, having said that, I wouldn't jog through the area at night with ziploc bags full of cash, but that's only because I don't jog. Not since I got my pimped-out Segway, chopped and lowered, complete with hydraulics, rotating rims, fuzzy dice on the rearview, and Salvadorean rap blaring from the Kickers.
Krisa,
Your comment hardly deserves comment, but... Edwards, for all his failings, is one of the most sincere politicians out there. Don't blame him for your lack of understanding political strategery or history. Kerry lost cause Kerry was/is a dbag and kept edwards on such a tight leash he couldn't say or do anything. Sorry to hear you hate poor people.
And this was actually a pretty brilliant time for Edwards to make his announcement. He was the "blue collar white voters" candidate before he dropped out, and timing his endorsement for yesterday created a potentially powerful counter-narrative to the stories about Hillary winning West Virginia, and the voting patterns there. The general consensus is that Edwards wants a senior cabinet post but not the VP slot ... he waited pretty much exactly as long as he needed to to ensure that his endorsement actually had some impact, and to make sure that he was backing the presumptive nominee. Endorsing earlier probably wouldn't have had much impact on the two-person race that has developed, no matter which way he had decided.
Amen fatkidspecial and Nate.
@Pants - I walked through on Monady and the park looks nowhere close to finished. It's frustrating.
I was surprised Edwards waited as long as he did, but I guess if he had done so sooner before things started going Obama's way (i.e. before North Carolina), his pledged delegates may not have been as willing to simply follow his lead. As it is now, a fair share have already confirmed they're going to follow the endorsement.