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Good morning, Washington, and thanks for not burning the place down behaving yourselves while your faithful editrix was away on vacation. An even bigger thanks goes to the guest editors who filled in while I was out, especially Heather Goss, Angela Valdez, Martin Austermuhle, and Aaron Morrissey. Having spent my Sunday catching up on the spectacular DCist coverage that was, looks like there were an awful lot of embarrassing stories for the District government during what's typically a slow, post-national holiday week. But nothing, not even a $75,000 pool heater, can top this morning's top headline...
Inmate Escapes from New Juvenile Detention Center: It really takes the breath away, doesn't it? The brand spanking new New Beginnings Youth Center, which opened, that's right, on Friday, complete with mayoral fanfare, as the official replacement to the troubled Oak Hill youth detention center, saw its first successful escape late Saturday night, reports the Post. "As of last night, the youth had not been found." You'll recall that much was made about the lack of razor wire atop the fence at New Beginnings; the Post story says that since Saturday night's escape, razor wire has been added to the fence. So much for the "the anti-prison."
Council to Consider Emergency Summer Curfew: The D.C. Council may not be ready to vote on Mayor Fenty's emergency crime package on Tuesday, but it will consider a curfew-only bill introduced by Ward 5 Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells, reports the Examiner. The bill would set a temporary curfew of 10 p.m. weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends for youth 15 and under during the summer only; normally, kids 17 and under must be off the streets by 11 p.m. on weeknights and midnight on weekends. The last time the city saw a special summer curfew was during 2006's "crime emergency." Notably, then-Ward 4 Council member Adrian Fenty was the only councilmember to oppose that legislation.
Briefly Noted: Fenty kills crime lab contract after appeals ruling ... Two women fatally struck by vehicles in the District over the weekend ... Suspect injured in officer-involved shooting in Southeast ... 14th Street lane shifts begin.
This Day in DCist: In 2007, Columbia Heights was rocked by a 9 a.m. shooting at a crowded bus stop, and in 2005, we honored the first of the month by looking at the history of Javins v. First National Realty Company, the 1970 case that established the rule that landlords have to pay to maintain their buildings, as opposed to tenants.
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Welcome back Sommer. Tanned, rested, and ready to go.
At 8 am, no less. I am stunned!
It's June 1! And with our editrix back, it looks like we are in for one hot Sommer.
All jokes aside, Wells is the Ward 6 Council member not Ward 5. And yes, Harry Thomas is the joke.
A day before the facility opened, Schiraldi and David Muhammad, chief of committed services, said they had brought in young men to try to scale the fences and made modifications based on what they observed. Schiraldi said he planned to place prickly shrubbery, possibly rose bushes, near the fence so inmates would not be tempted to flee.
While I applaud their attempt to make the "anti-prison" both visually attractive and botanically effective in discouraging escape, had they consulted with the Knights Who Say "Ni," they'd realize that a shrubbery does little to discourage trespassers.
If the juvenile offender is ever apprehended, I would encourage the Oak Hill facility to discipline him by cutting down the tallest tree in the forest with....A HERRING!
"New Beginnings....same old endings"
Wow! Razor Wire! Because a thick blanket or floor rug thrown over top couldn't possibly make it completely worthless!
Well, that was fast. I guess that's what happens when you have someone who doesn't believe in prisons (Schiraldi) in charge of running the juvenile prison. Kind of like having someone who doesn't believe in crime laws heading the Council's committee responsible for crime laws (Mendelson).
+100
Oooh, I knew it! In last week's story about the new youth detention center, I posted the first comment asking "but won't it be easy to escape without any razor wire" or something along those lines. Ha ha ha ha!
Mr T - don't you know that razor wire would hurt the ego of a young sociopath that has held up 20 people in his short time out of custody? God forbid we ever remind them that if you break the law that you actually go to prison...
I am sure the young man who escaped is a victim and society failed him.
I can't believe the escape was not thwarted by the prickly rose bushes.
D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty calling it one of the best rehabilitative facilities in the country...to break-out of!
Did the offending yute run straight into your arms?
And up my legs!
Listen to all of you naysayers. They hadn't had a chance yet to plant the prickly plants.
Once those are in place, you can bet there will be no escapes.
That is until the inmates realize the doors aren't actually locked, they are simply held shut with stubborn latches.
I bet a retarded monkey could escape from that detention center.
Sommer, the two women in the post story weren't struck and killed by vehicles acting of their own accord. There were drivers behind the wheels of those vehicles and your note should reflect that even if the Post was too f***ing stupid or biased to do so. Please don't perpetuate outrageously passive language in traffic fatality reporting.
So should it read "Vehicles fatally struck two women" or "Drivers killed two women" or "Two women were killed by drivers" or what? Which is the least passive/most correct?
Should we start saying "Criminals shot three people this weekend" instead of "Gun violence claimed the lives of three people this weekend?" Because, technically, the shooter killed them. The guns weren't acting of their own accord.
"Three people shot this weekend."
"Gang violence claims 3 victims"
I am okay with "Pedestrian's struck by cars" as a headline, but the line "hit by a vehicle making a left hand turn" should be "hit by a driver making a left hand turn"
Yeah, GGW had a great post on that. I never realized it, but they are right. It's a new pet peeve of mine with the media.
"She was struck by a vehicle making a left hand turn" Unless it was Herbie the Love Bug, I bet there was a driver behind the wheel making the left hand turn.
At least they're not saying, "A pedestrian struck a vehicle and died," as if the car was just minding it's own business in the road and a reckless pedestrian hit it at 40 MPH.
Yet.
The first one in the Post write up should be really classified as a construction accident.