June 17, 2008
Morning Roundup: Rest and Reprieve Edition
Good morning, Washington. Yesterday's thunderstorms have left behind one of the most beautiful days we could have hoped for. Today's high is expected in the 80s, but humidity will be kept to a minimum, meaning you just might not break out into a sweat by walking from your office to the corner to pick up a sandwich later. So go ahead, eat your lunch on a bench outside today. Show that totally batshit crazy mother nature who's boss.
Police, Police, Police: So yesterday D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson held a hearing on Chief Cathy Lanier's "Neighborhood Safety Zone" initiative, which led to the controversial checkpoint stationed in Trinidad last week. Ward 5 Council member Harry Thomas Jr., who initially supported the program, admitted he had concerns after hearing from residents at a community meeting the previous night. The Examiner says a recent survey that may or may not be at all scientific shows a majority of Trinidad residents are against the checkpoints. Meanwhile Lanier is getting it from all sides this week; another new plan to increase weekend patrols in Georgetown and Dupont Circle has some on her police force grumbling about suddenly having to work weekends for the rest of the summer.
MoCo Water Main Fixed; Boiling Alert Still On: The large broken water main in Montgomery County has been repaired, but authorities are still recommending residents and business boil their drinking and cooking water, and mandatory water use restrictions have been put into effect for the time being. It's been estimated that more than 100 million gallons of potable water was lost due to the main break, and Montgomery officials closed 1,200 restaurants on Monday as a precaution. So far not a single illness has been reported that can be linked to contaminated water.
Briefly Noted: National Zoo makes history with reverse-vasectomy on on an endangered species ... Man dies in Falls Church house fire ... Man charged with stealing gasoline, re-selling for $2 a gallon ... Virginia adds 1,100 more miles to list of polluted waterways.
Photo by Synapped




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Sure hope the zoo is stocked up with frozen peas.
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Show that totally batshit crazy mother nature who's boss
You just do not effing learn, do you? So you've already pissed off the Pepco and Metro gods. Now you're peeing in Mother Nature's face? Why don't you just say "Even God himself can't sink DC" and act suprised when an iceburg tears the hull open and James Cameron makes a boring-ass movie about it?
I predict live frog rains followed by a plague of boils and painful rectal itch. Thank you, dcist. Thank you so f***ing much.
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i'll admit, sommer, i was happy to see someone using the phrase batshit crazy, as i don't think it gets used enough in the contemporary vernacular. but, monkey makes a point. you might have really, really cursed us this time. this is worse than cursed frogurt.
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The Examiner is such a joke. That "survey" was a questionnaire Thomas distributed at a meeting of around 100 people. Some 55 people filled out the survey. Most of them opposed the checkpoints. To say that a 55-person survey shows much of anything is utterly ridiculous. Yet the Examiner breathelessly overhypes the survey "results" as being meaningful.
Also funny that the Examiner didn't quote Lanier when she trashed a bunch of their previous stories for being full of crap and never getting MPD's reaction.
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Cranky: It seems like one of those things where only those who are either really in favor or really against something will actually respond. People who don't have an opinion or don't care typically won't respond. In this case, the 55 people who did respond were really against.
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"Yesterday's thunderstorms have left behind one of the most beautiful days we could have hoped for. "
Dammit! stop jinxing us!! ;)
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Two bucks a gallon? I woulda bought that, and I don't have a car.
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How about an update on the Comet v. Frank Winstead battle?
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"The Examiner says a recent survey that may or may not be at all scientific shows a majority of Trinidad residents are against the checkpoints."
Yeah! It's messing up our drug trafficking! How's a person supposed to make a living around here anymore? I guess I'll have to file some claims against Metro ... seems to work for Ward 8.
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Ever get the feeling the DC city council is sorta reactive rather than proactive...hearings on the checkpoints after they have happened...what's next hearings on metro's accident reimbursement policies...nahhh me thinks not