Morning Roundup: Air Supply Edition
Good morning, Washington. Air is moving from one place to another at rapid speed this morning, continuing yesterday's warm but difficult-to-hang-on-to-your-newspaper conditions. The wind is being blamed for power outages across the region, mostly in the outer suburbs. Wind is also making it more difficult for firefighters to battle a blaze on the grounds of Laurel Regional Hospital, reports WTOP, though surely the fact that the fire hydrants at the scene are all broken is the bigger factor. Still, AlertDC tells us that the National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for the District of Columbia today, from 10 a.m. until after sundown. A Fire Weather Watch means optimal conditions exist for fires to spread—hopefully it won't actually start raining fire down on us. That seems like it would be bad.
Should We Be Charged for Grocery Bags? The Post reports that D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) has a bill that would force District residents to pay 5 cents every time they take a plastic or paper bag from a retail store. A majority of the Council apparently supports the tax. Creating incentives to using fewer plastic bags seems like a great idea, though adding additional costs, however small, to the cost of buying food in the middle of a massive recession will surely get some pushback from somewhere.
Metro Delays Service Reduction Discussion: The Examiner reports that Metro's board has taken reviewing proposed service cuts today off of its budget meeting agenda, delaying discussing the controversial proposals in favor of looking for more budget cuts elsewhere first. Last week, Metro officials indicated the service cuts would be on today's agenda, but the agenda has since been revised. The proposed cuts include ending 3 a.m. rail service on weekends and stopping weekday trains at 10 p.m.
Briefly Noted: Autistic teen missing from his home near Capitol Hill ... Police presence beefed up at Cardozo High School after fight ... Council looks at possibilities of stimulus at public roundtable.
This Day in DCist: One year ago, a taxi strike failed to materialize, and two years ago, we were getting ready for Snowpocalypse '07.