July 3, 2008
Morning Roundup: Do Your Duty Edition
Good morning, Washington. As you get ready to do your patriotic duty tomorrow by grilling meats, drinking beers and watching fireworks, beware that if you haven't been doing your civic duty by showing up for jury duty, you could be in big trouble. The D.C. Superior Court's chief judge has issued bench warrants for almost 100 D.C. residents who failed to show up for jury duty and then also failed to show up to a hearing to explain why. The penalty for failure to appear for jury duty includes fines of up to $300 or up to seven days in jail. Got any good D.C. jury duty stories? Tell us in the comments.
Nickles v. Mendelson: Attorney General Peter Nickles did not attend Wednesday’s D.C. Council hearing on revising the city's gun laws, and instead sent a letter to At-large Council member Phil Mendelson asking him to put a hold on his legislation. Nickles wrote that he felt it was important for the Council and the executive to work closely on crafting the new law. Mendelson said he was “mystified” that Nickles didn't show up and openly criticized that decision at the hearing.
Bus Transit Center Nixed: Looks like DC2NY's campaign to make people think L'Enfant Plaza is more dangerous than it really is has succeeded: the Examiner reports that DDOT has gone ahead and suspended its plans to create an intercity bus depot near L'Enfant Plaza for the time being. Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham said he asked DDOT officials to slow down the process and give the public a chance to weigh in on the change.
Briefly Noted: Fire at construction site in Northeast ... Unidentified body found under the Taft Bridge ... Suspicious package shuts down area around World Bank ... 7-year-old boy drowns in Silver Spring swimming pool.
Photo by Samer Farha
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finally some info about the Taft Bridge incident... and it involves an adult diaper. I was wondering why helicopters were circling at 4:30am and keeping me awake.
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i want to be sitting next to that girl on the right.
does "no diving" include cannonballs?
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Alright, so they arrest 100 people for not showing up for jury duty. What are they going to do when they don't get the 1,200 people to serve for judy duty on those 100 cases? Issue more arrest warrants for failing to show up for jury duty? And who's gonna serve on on the jurys for those people?
I give it 18 months before everyone in DC is in jail.
"Hi, Dad! I'M IN JAIL! I LIKE IT HERE!"
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So mean, Sommer! Why do you taunt me with the pool, why?
Seriously. I want to just dive into that picture. Well, except that if I did I would probably crack my head open, since it clearly says No Diving. And that would be bad.
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Listen, I understand there's a knee-jerk reaction to any complaint from outsiders about safety in DC to disagree, but in this case I don't think you're on firm enough ground to say "than it really is".
Just because the crime rate is low around L'Enfant Plaza does not mean it is safe. For comparison, the rate of skateboarders killed on the beltway is probably zero (or ought to be at least), that doesn't make it any less true that the beltway is dangerous for skateboarders.
Gathering people in an isolated and unpopulated area at predetermined times is inherently less safe than dropping off people in one of the most bustling and well-lit quarters of the city.
And all of that is not even considering the better urban planning arguments for keeping the depots more centraly located.
Don't let your parochialism get in the way of common sense.
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Reid, it's too early for logic.
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does "no diving" include cannonballs?
Or muffs?
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re: tafty
"beige shorts over an adult diaper"
because that is CRITICAL news
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Using the picture of a pool for a post that mentions the drowning death of a child in a pool? Well played DCist, well played...
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you think those people in that pool picture could have saved that kid who died in the pool (see last news item). they must be the biggest jerks in the world for just sitting there.
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You all are invited to my building's pool this weekend. Bring beer.
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Party at Bob's place! WHOO!
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Re: the jury duty story -- Who wants to rub me and get some of my Jury Duty Summons Immunity juice all over them (it's also scientifically proven to be SPF-50)?
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will there be hot chicks in bikinis there? i'll bring tequila. and whippets too.
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They're certainly getting desperate for jurors. I went about five years between my first and second times getting called for duty, and just two years between the second and third. A friend a while back said a court employee told him they're having trouble getting people to show up. I suppose next time they'll just come to my door.
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If we spread the word that a bunch of dudes from the comments at DCist.com are partying, then how will the hot chicks in bikinis stay away?
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Where is this pool? It looks nice.
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I'm hoping the hot dudes in the adult diapers show up, personally.
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McGillicuddy, doyou mean the dogs or the "vcr head cleaner" kind of whippets?
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Bob - will the dudes be sporting banana hammocks? I like to know what I'm dealing with right up front, none of that hiding under 3 feet of board shorts crap. Tit for tat...
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actually, i meant whippit
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Whippets, eh? 'At's my kinda party! See, one day I was at home threatening the kids when I looks out through the hole in the wall and sees this tank pull up and out gets one of Dinsdale's boys, so he comes in nice and friendly and says Dinsdale wants to have a word with me, so he chains me to the back of the tank and takes me for a scrape round to Dinsdale's place and Dinsdale's there in the conversation pit with Doug and Charles Paisley, the baby crusher, and two film producers and a man they called 'Kierkegaard', who just sat there biting the heads of whippets and Dinsdale says 'I hear you've been a naughty boy Clement' and he splits me nostrils open and saws me leg off and pulls me liver out and I tell him my name's not Clement and then... he loses his temper and nails me head to the floor.
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I get called like clockwork every 26 months. My boss loves that (not).
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If only Taft was suicide-fenced like Ellington.. Have the authorities contacted Vitter? I imagine the diaper wearing community to be pretty close knit.
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Both Nickles and Mendelson are so full of it, they need to re-name this thread the Do Your Doody Edition.
The Vitter reference makes this renaming even more urgent. Also, I really have to go potty.
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those babes in the photo appear to have purchased their swimsuits from American Apparel, yet their posture hasn't been affected. hmph. weird.