WTOP Report Provokes Anger Among Area Cyclists
Goodbye Fixie, Hello Tweed!
Committee Approves Same-Sex Marriage Bill
Burger-pocalypse at BGR
Good morning, Washington. Metro put the Red Line back in full service this morning, with trains traveling between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations in both directions for the first time since last week's fatal crash. Things aren't totally back to normal, of course. Peak trains are only operating every 12 minutes, for one, leaving rush hour trains packed to the limit. All Red Line trains are also restricted to a maximum speed of 35 mph, and even slower through the crash site area.
Older Model Rail Cars Still Leading Trains: In related news, WJLA points out that there are still plenty of 1,000-series rail cars leading trains all over the system. Metro's plan to move all the older cars to the middle of trains will take some more time. Make sure to let us know how your Red Line commute goes this week.
House Clears Way for D.C. Pot Decriminalization: The House Financial Services panel, which is responsible for oversight of the District, has recently removed a lot of language from the D.C. budget that had for years prevented the city from spending money on certain kinds of "controversial" social issues (like needle-exchange programs, for example). Another one of those areas, writes Michael Neibauer in the Examiner, is the ability to spend money to legalize marijuana or reduce penalties for its possession or distribution, meaning the city is now free to pursue a ballot measure on medical marijuana. The last time the District voted on medical marijuana, 69 percent of voters approved the measure, but the votes were declared invalid thanks to the efforts of former Rep. Bob Barr.
Briefly Noted: VRE fares go up today ... Standoff at Wheaton apartment ends when police find no occupant ... Child and Family Services back in court ... Big day in court Tuesday: Harriette Walters will be sentenced and James von Brunn will be arraigned.
This Day in DCist: In 2007, the first iPhone was sold in the D.C. area (and around the world).
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Oh man, my, uh, glaucoma is really acting up these days...
yeah my anxiety is just out of control.
I just wanna' get stoned.
fibromyalgia!
Uh, yeah, medicinal. Without it, I could go . . . even blinder.
A friend with weed is a friend indeed!
The red line continues to be a real pain in the ass -- reports from Dupont that people can't even get down the escalators to the platform past 8am. At least one train was offloaded there this morning.
Even worse, getting off at gallery place, with it's narrow platform coming up the steps from the yellow/green, people couldn't get off the train because those waiting to get on left no aisle for walking traffic.
I've only been using the system for about 2 years, but this is easily the worst stretch I've ever seen.
reports from Dupont that people can't even get down the escalators to the platform past 8am
I don't know why people are taking the Red Line when they have other options within the city. Take the bus!!! It must be summer because the stations up the NW corridor of the line are choked with interns.
I've switched to the MARC from the 'burbs.
Does anyone understand this alert? Metro says "Disruption at All Stations. Until further notice all trains stopping when front of train reaches end of platform." Am I correct in understanding that this means that the trains will be pulling forward as far as they can . . . and that no one at Metro can write clearly?
That was what I thought the announcement meant, although the train I was on didn't pull all the way to the end of the platform, so who knows. And my train today was packed to the gills like all of last week, but at least it did have some air conditioning.
Yes, and seemingly yes.
For as long as they keep trains going 35mph and on an every 6 min schedule (which really means closer to 8-10 min...) the red line will continue to cause headaches.
Whoops, that's every 12 min from Glenmont & Shady Grove. Although it sounds like, even got several e-alerts for this, they were turning some trains around midway.
I did my normal commute (Metro Center to Medical Center) a little earlier than normal (got to the station about 7:20 rather than 8:10) and had no problems at all.
I'm going to show up to work and leave earlier for awhile to avoid all the farrago.
I'm going to try an early morning start tomorrow as well, since going slightly later (and working late) has not been helpful. For me to do anything earlier than 10 am shows just how bad the commute has gotten.
Well, sir, there's nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail!
The Metro press release says "Metro Red Line resumes normal operations." WTF? since when is every 12 minutes "normal" operations. It was awful this morning. This morning was actually worse than it was last week. Surely they can do better than every 12 minutes.
The Metro press release says "Metro Red Line resumes normal operations." WTF? since when is every 12 minutes "normal" operations.
Since you got on the Green Line?
Or the Blue, Yellow, or Green.
No issue on the Red line, but all lines, particularly the Orange continue to make my morning suck...
With all the trains being manually operated, it's as if the conductors never braked before on their own in their life. Screech, thump thump, screech, JERKBACK, thump thump. Though I can't say entirely if it's their fault... it's likely the brakes are just as useless as the ones on the train that crashed. I'm really clueless as to why Metro has so much fail, yet other transit systems seem to work fine and have relative funding for maintenance.
Anyone know why the Petworth Metro station smelled like the worst thing I have ever smelled this morning? They even had a Metro police officer with a walkie-talkie apparently checking it out.
This isn't directly responsive re. Petworth, but one thing the keeps bugging me re smell: about once a week I get into a train car that smells like the worst kind of mildew has been allowed to settle in.
I don't know about Petworth, but it smelled like Union Station crapped its pants this morning.
i share this sentiment.
Any ancient Washingtonian will tell you that smell is just back-up/overflow water that normally runs out to the streams and rivers. The hotter it gets in DC, the funkier the smell. Just ask Mama CHUD Chinatown Sue, she tell you.
I mean, I've encountered sewer stink before. This smelled like someone just pooped a hundred pounds of horsemeat.
it took at least 30 minutes from gallery place/chinatown to union station. tomorrow, i am walking.
even after walking all the way to the end of the platform, i was still feeling as though someone was going to push me off into the tracks because it was so crowded.
@iAManugget: Gallery Place to Union Station is indeed an eminently doable 20-25 minute walk.
And I have to agree the Red Line platform, particularly on the Shady Grove-bound side is scary most of the time.
In fairness to Metro, it appears that the crash was a coalescence of multiple things going wrong. Until they figure out what those were, I think it's reasonable to err on the side of safety. God forbid another crash were to happen.
"House Clears Way for D.C. Pot Decriminalization"
It is all a Republican plot! They know the Council won't be able to resist the urge to turn DC into another Oaksterdam.
Screw it. DC obviously doesn't want the vote so let's forget about all together and turn the city into a new "social experiment" that will be a "model for other municipalities to follow." I propose we legalize animal prostitution, make Esperanto the official language, and guarantee a summer no-show job for every gang banger. Oh wait, we already have the last one.
"I propose we legalize animal prostitution, make Esperanto the official language..."
Make it Esperanto AND Klingon, and I think you're on to something.
Actually, I would expect that legalizing weed would lead to widespread protest among local voters, as doing so would put a lot of area small businessmen out of work.
True. We don't want to hurt the undocumented pharmacists.
It is all a Republican plot!
No. The sinister forces behind the measure are Pizza Hut and Dominos.
And CVS may get involved if the company can get those Pot-O-Matic prescription vending machines (PVMs).
Nice try, but animal prostitution has always been legal in DC. It just took a while for The Real World to clear all the paperwork.
DC should also legalize the stuffing of squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling. I've got a hot tip about Rocket J in the third and baby needs a new pair of shoes.
Anyone have a clue what the fire/commotion was on 18th Street/AdMo last night around 9:45?? They were rerouting buses up and down Belmont, but I couldn't get an answer from anyone. Did something go up in flames?
Madams Organ caught fire
How can you have a standoff - with someone who allegedly has a gun - when you don't have someone to standoff against? Really?
an alleged standoff?
an alleged standoff?