Morning Roundup: Voting Victory Edition
If today's the first day you've gotten around to reading the news, let's recap what might be some of the biggest news of the week (if not year) for District residents -- the Senate yesterday endorsed legislation that would grant the city a voting seat in the House of Representatives. But just as no victory for voting rights activists is ever truly sweet, a Republican senator again managed to insert language that would effectively gut the District's new gun laws, a poison pill aimed at forcing residents to choose between enfranchisement and self-governance. The bill has yet to make it through the House and conference committee, though, where the offending language will likely be removed as the City Paper's Mike DeBonis explains. Our own Sommer Mathis live-blogged the whole thing, in case you want all the dirty details. For now we celebrate; some sober-minded analysis is sure to follow.
Increases Seen in Utility Cut-Offs There's nary an indicator as good as unpaid electric and gas bills to prove that many area residents have fallen on tough times. The Post is reporting that unpaid utility bills and consequent service cut-offs have jumped in the region over the last year, with Maryland seeing a 23 percent increase since late 2006 and Virginia a 15 percent bump from 2007 to 2008. In the District, over one-fourth of residents using electricity for heat were behind on payments. Officials point to a colder winter and higher wholesale energy costs as the culprits for the increases.
Metro Starts Layoffs: Our cash-strapped transit agency has started what may be the first of many rounds of layoffs as it looks to close a budget gap, writes the D.C. Examiner. Forty pink slips have been issued this week, and more are to come as Metro trims 300 jobs from its workforce of more than 10,000 in order to save $81 million a year. Amongst those losing their jobs will be 13 train operators, 25 bus drivers, 17 rail-car cleaners and 47 mechanics.
Briefly Noted: Fire at National Harbor condominium ... Second Maryland teen dies from flu ... Questions raised about Prince William County's immigration policy ... D.C. residential property values drop only four percent ... Parents advocate for D.C. charter schools.
This Day in DCist: On this day in 2008, we reported on mixed reactions to a subversive D.C. quarter design proposal (that was rejected by the U.S. Mint on the same day, no less) and saw a favorite Capitol Hill coffee shop close its doors. In 2007, a report found that parking meter privatization wasted money and our own hermanos in the voting rights struggle debated their own future.
Picture snapped by Dr. Kim Veis