Morning Roundup: Goodbye, Abe Edition
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
D.C. Police Seek Suspect in Series of Bank Robberies
Photo of the Day: November 25, 2009
Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Good morning, Washington. We hope those of you coming in to the city on the Orange and Blue Metro lines didn't have too bad a time this morning. Orange Line trains are still sharing the same track between Foggy Bottom-GWU and Clarendon stations due to emergency track work at Court House. WMATA says major delays of up to 40 minutes should be expected in both directions on the Orange and Blue lines through the end of rush hour service. DCist's Rebecca Cooper reports she could see activity in the tunnel just east of the Court House station on the Vienna track side when she was there earlier, and says the emergency track work is being done due to the derailment of a maintenance vehicle before the system opened early this morning.
Dept. of Good Timing: Given the above derailment, Metro must be relieved to be able to point to this morning's stories in the Post and the Examiner detailing how the transit agency plans to spend its stimulus dollars on infrastructure. Metro plans to spend $230 million on upgrades, including $40 million to replace older buses and fix rail station platforms, and $48 million to construct a rail-car inspection and testing building. Notable from Examiner: "Although the stimulus package is intended to promote jobs, the money won’t help save hundreds of jobs that Metro has proposed to cut to bridge a $154 million budget shortfall in its proposed $1.38 billion budget."
How Much Does is Cost to Clean Chairs? The Examiner's Michael Neibauer reports that the D.C. inspector general has discovered that the D.C. Office of Unified Communications is spending $15,000 a year to have its call takers’ chairs professionally cleaned. OUC Director Janice Quintana defends the expense: "The chairs are occupied 24 hours a day 7 days a week and we feel that for the overall quality of the work environment, general upkeep, and proper hygiene, this equipment should be cleaned on a regular basis,” Quintana wrote in her written response to the report. The costs add up to $300 per chair per year.
Briefly Noted: D.C. woman Pamela J. Butler, 47, missing for nearly a week ... 2nd suspect arrested in Sept. shooting death ... First Lady hosts D.C. school kids from KIPP DC KEY Academy, Shaw Middle School and Stuart-Hobson Middle School for Black History Month event.
This Day in DCist: In 2008, DCist visited the studio of local artist Laurel Hausler, and in 2006, a guest columnist discussed his negative experiences with MetroAccess.
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Clusterf**k for those coming into the District by metro from NoVa today. I had a 25 min. delay ... and suddenly felt like I was living back on the red line.
I was on an orange line train stuck at Virginia Square for a while. I didn't really keep track of how long we were there, but it was long enough for me to finish the sudoku and the crossword puzzle in the Express.
So, the $230 million won't save any jobs for Metro, which means it's stimulating *what*, exactly?
I'm glad that Metro is getting some big $$$$ from the Fed. I'm gladder that Metro is spending the big $$$$ on infrastructure improvements, so much of the big $$$$ will stay in the local area.
Coincidentally, you can get $$$$ too by pressing "shift 4" on your keyboard.
... And on a Mac, pressing shift + option + 2 will get you €€€€
... Which I hear is of higher value than $.
...
i can see why those chairs might need to be cleaned often. you ever had to be near an absorbent material that a person sweated into all day?
yeah, it cost money, but so do a lot of things in life...
Here's an idea for eliminating the cost of cleaning those chairs: Ask the employees of the D.C. Office of Unified Communications to clean their asses on a regular basis.
Activated charcoal chair pads have been available for some time. They absorb all the odor and most of the noise of all but the most violent, explosive poo gasses, and leave your rear smelling of bakery-fresh cinammon rolls! And for a mere $30, they're an inexpensive investment in comfort and hygene. Besides, if you don't clean your chair you get rabies! Every year, millions of dollars in productivity is lost because someone caught lockjaw off a stanky office chair.
I had an orange in Virginia this morning.
I guess I'm "OK" with economic stimulus monies going to clean OUC's chairs. What with SBD body functions ramming themselves into the fabric 24/7 something has to give. But can't you replace the chairs for less than $300 each, and sell the used ones for installation in the new Prince George’s County soccer stadium?
"$48 million to construct a rail-car inspection and testing building that would get new and rehabilitated cars in service more quickly."
Not a sound investment, if you ask me. I'm not sure where this project is in the pipe (is it sited? designed?).. let's assume there's a final design and it's "shovel ready". Even so, what is the real benefit from this? Metro already has facilities to do this work, and while this new facility would speed things up when the Silver Line cars come online, I just don't see that as a good use of $48 million. Especially since you don't always have cars in the pipe, so you'll have an idle facility for some periods of time. And the real cost is more than $48 million, because Metro will have to hire more people to staff this facility, meaning not only more salaries, but more pension and health care obligations as well. I could be mistaken, but the Post article gave no indication that this project is necessary.
Better to (finally) build the pedestrian tunnels for the Farraguts and Chinatown/Metro Center. Granted, these are also not necessary, but based on my experience it would have a much more significant impact on the system.
For $300 a chair, why didn't they just buy new chairs? I'm sure you can get some pretty decent office chairs for that price in bulk.
Forget chairs. Get these people hammocks. There's four places. There's the Hammock Hut, that's on third. There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third, too. You got Put-Your-Butt-There. That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact, they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on third. The hammock district.
Scorpio!
He'll sting you with his dreams of power and wealth.
Beware of Scorpio!
His twisted twin obsessions are his plot to rule the world
And his employees' health.
He'll welcome you into his lair,
Like the nobleman welcomes his guest.
With free dental care and a stock plan that helps you invest!
But beware of his generous pensions,
Plus three weeks paid vacation each year,
And on Fridays the lunchroom serves hot dogs and burgers and beer!
He loves German beer!
Really?! D.C. Inspector General, you really going after 15k. You mean that this is the biggest waste in DC govt going on right now? Really?!
Grammar error: "How Much Does is Cost to Clean Chairs?"
I think you mean "it."
Chairy Chairy Chairy Baby!
Chairy Baby!