Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Car Pushed Into Anacostia River By Train
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Devendra Banhart @ 9:30 Club
Good morning, Washington. Yesterday the D.C. Council wrapped up its legislative work for the year, so there were naturally about 480,000 bills discussed and voted on before they all finally went home late last night. Here's a rundown of the main highlights:
- The Council voted to approve Tommy Wells' legislation that rolls back the inaugural bar hours ever so slightly. The new rules will allow bars, restaurants and clubs to serve alcohol only until 4 a.m. from Jan. 17 to 21, though they can still be open 24-hours during that time. And each establishment intending to take advantage of the special rule will have to pay a registration fee for each night; nightclubs must pay $250 a night, and bars and restaurants $100. See the Post and the Examiner for more.
- Parking meter rates are going up. The Council voted 11-2 to approve emergency legislation that increases city parking meter rates from $1 to $2 per hour downtown, and from 50 cents to 75 cents in lower density areas. The Examiner has the story.
- The Verizon FiOS deal gained final approval -- expect to wait three to six years before most neighborhoods have access to the service, though by the end of 2009, residents in Barry Farm, Cleveland Park, Anacostia and Friendship Heights should be able to get it. See the Washington Business Journal and the AP.
- With the rejection of Mayor Fenty's pet lottery bid proposal, the Post notes that the city will start seeking new bids.
- The Council voted to create a new cap on the amount of debt that can be issued for capital on economic development projects, which prevents the District from issuing bonds serviced by payments greater than 12 percent of city expenditures. See the WBJ.
- A bill passed that allows the city to charge homeowners a fee for access to the city's storm water system based on how much of their property is covered by a building, by asphalt or by other substances. See the Post.
- There was unanimous approval for the revised Southwest Waterfront development deal. See WBJ.
Briefly Noted: Gov. O'Malley signs furlough order for Maryland employees ... D.C. man, 64, charged in fire apparently kills himself ... Mother and daughter injured in hit and run in Aspen Hill.
This Day in DCist: In 2007, then D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer resigned and Council member David Catania complained about a rude 911 operator.
Photo by furcafe
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I'm interested in seeing whether P.N. Hoffman can get the remaining private sector capital to get SE Waterfront off the ground, considering nobody's lending anybody money for these kinds of projects.
I hear a few of Jemal's projects are currently languishing for lack of funding as well. Which is a shame, because I was really looking forward to that reincarnation of the Waffle Shop to arrive near the convention center.
If all of the meter rates are going up, can the city hurry up and install more of those nifty electronic meters where you can pay with a credit card? I don't have enough room in my glove box for all the quarters that I'll apparently be needing.
Thanks for the Council roundup, Sommer.
I generally read my dead-tree WaPo from the inside-out and I tend to gloss over the Metro section between finishing the crossword puzzles and reading the front page.
The DC Council is weak. As soon as a couple senators (who shouldn't have ANY say in DC local politics) make a little fuss, they fold like a lawn chair. No balls whatsoever.
Only 4 a.m.?! No justice, no peace, no justice, no peace, no justice, no peace (everybody!), no justice, no peace. What's that? No one cares? 'K
Charging that much for meters is a good idea, but only if you have modern meters (credit card meters)
i know they chose barry farm so they could say, "look, we're putting this in both the richest and poorest city neighborhoods," but since barry farm is going to be redeveloped soon (totally razed), isn't this a bit of a waste of effort there? isn't there somewhere else that would make more sense?
Downtown meters should be $3 an hour. Otherwise it's cheaper to just pay the meter all day, instead of finding a garage space.
I'm with IMGoph. It there's any neighborhood that needs to be razed and sown with salt, it's Bloomingdale. That Morlock lair has been a hotspot of stabbiness since Walter Washington sat on a spike. The "shire" has been begging to be "scoured" for years. They can borrow my fell beast and backhoe.
thanks, monkey. the snipers will be on the lookout for you next time you come near.
near where? that's for you to figure out.
ill on the hill, the idea is to encourage use of public transportation.
mho,
No, the idea is to encourage more revenue for DC. The parking increase will fund the HPAP program.
Yeah, good luck finding a decent sniper in DC. No training program, remember?
I can't wait to hear more about this pet lottery. I would be more likely to buy a $1 scratch-off ticket, if I knew there was a chance of winning a puppy.
As I understand it, Hillman, the max allowable time on a meter is how long you are able to stay parked in that spot.
If your meter expires at two hours and you put more money in, you don't get another two hours. You are now in violation of the two hour parking restriction and eligible to be ticketed.
I could be wrong about this, but that's how it has been explained to me.
You're right. You can't pump the meter and expect to stay there all day. Also, you can't park at a broken meter and expect to park there free, either. They give you a ticket, you have to appeal claiming the meter broke, and MAYBE they'll revoke the ticket. Maybe.
What if you drive into the meter, thus breaking it, with your Escalade?