Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Go Home Already: Make Room
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Good morning, Washington. Welcome to July, and to a whole bunch of new laws in Virginia — the Post has the rundown. First and foremost: no more texting while driving! Also, no more electric wheelchairs on highways (sorry guys). There are a number of new laws for Maryland residents, too, but many of them won't go into effect until October 1. What may be the most noteworthy new Virginia law is also slated for a later start: the state's smoking ban begins on December 1st.
Metro To Remain On Manual: There still aren't any definitive explanations for last week's deadly Metro crash, but Metro's General Manager says that the service won't be returning to business as usual until an answer is found. WJLA reports that John Catoe is promising to keep all trains in manual mode until a group of independent experts has vetted the systems that enable automatic operation — a process that could take as long as a year. Also, the red line will apparently operate at a maximum speed of 35 mph until the cause of the crash has been determined. Somewhat more promisingly, WTOP's writeup includes the news that 65 percent of all track circuits have now been tested, and that 80 percent of the fleet's 1000-series railcars have been moved to the middle of its trains.
White Family Sues: Ronnie White was being held in Prince George's County jail, accused of killing a police officer, when he died. The death was initially ruled a suicide, then revised to a homicide by the state medical examiner. Despite this, no charges have been filed in connection to the case. Today NBC4 brings word that White's mother is suing the county for $154 million. Here's hoping the process reveals more details about what happened to Mr. White.
Briefly Noted: Hyattsville teen shot by officer after striking him with car... Looks like the Real World cast isn't here yet after all... Accused Holocaust Museum shooter James von Brunn still too injured to appear in court... Dominion Power customers' bills going up $1.20... Fairfax considers declaring itself a city... Montgomery County declines to impose ambulance fee...
This Day In DCist: One year ago we tried to figure out this crazy new taxi meter business.
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First and foremost: no more texting while driving!
Well that settles that! Now I can go back to eating two McDoubles while steering with my elbows and watching porn at 90MPH.
It's hard to believe Virginia is going to be smoke free.
Well, it will only be kinda sorta smokefree. The law has a bunch of loopholes that make it a disappointment. But for the average person who goes to the occasional bar or restaurant, yes you'll notice a difference. And it will be lovely.
What's hard to believe is that ANY court would allow a murderer's mother to sue for $154M for wrongful/suspicious death.
Alleged Murderer.
"Innocent until proven guilty" and "due process" are simple concepts. Read up.
You're right. What should have happened is the 'alleged' murderer should have been tried, convicted, and then sentenced to death. The fact that he died before this process started saved everyone a lot of time and money.
Here's hoping that the dead officer's family files a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the 'mother' of the murderer. I put mother in parenthesis because I'm not sure trash has parents.
It isn't hard to believe at all. You're just an idiot.
you guys are right ... suing a broken system will solve everything. "innocent until proven guilty" ... I think I might have heard that somewhere before? Hmm ... not disagreeing, it's just ridiculous that people are allowed to crowd the justice system with absurdly overpriced lawsuits. Should the individuals (if there are any) be brought to justice for this? ABSOLUTLEY. Should people be allowed to try and bankrupt a government system for an absurd amount of money? Ask the current administration ... Federal or District. *rim shot*
In your original comment, by using the phrase "murderer's mother" you imply that this man's life was not worth much, and/or that he deserved what happened. Now you've changed your tune and it's only the size of the lawsuit that's bothering you.
In any case, the amount in the initial lawsuit is rarely relevant. The penalty phase of the trial, if it gets to that, will determine the actual award.
Good morning, Washington. Welcome...to a whole bunch of new laws in Virginia...
that makes a lot of sense. who cares about Virginia? well except for the fact that it contains hotter women and we'll use the state as an escape route when a dirty bomb hits DC.
we'll use the state as an escape route when a dirty bomb hits DC.
Yeah. Good luck with that. And what will you be using to defend yourself against the hoards of insane Virginneeyans guarding their proppity their assault rifles? Moldy Whole Foods bread? Rabid labradoodles? Sarcasm?
i'll use my superior intelligence and common sense.
Mhm. You're forgetting a little something called Defense Plan ALPHA, which involves the National Guard dynamiting all the bridges leading into and out of DC. And don't think of trying to swim across because the Potomac will be choked with corpses and makeshift pontoon rafts made out of paint buckets, recycling bins and, yes, more corpses. But you can bet Jim Graham will hold a press conference proposing emergency legislation that bans the dynamiting of bridges and the sale of Jumbo Slices after 11pm. You're going to be begging Snake Plissken and Jack Burton to rescue your sorry asses. They have seen the city's true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and Snake Plissken and Jack Burton'll whisper "no."
Sometimes this city screams like an abattoir full of retarded monkeys.
Whaddaya mean "sometimes?"
Now you've made me all nostalgic for Polly Esthers, The Bank, and Tracks. Sniff.
When the dirty bomb does hit, just head over to nuclear-free Takoma Park. Surely the radiation won't violate an official declaration by a duly elected mayor.
i'll use my superior intelligence and common sense.
Your smug sense of superiority might serve you well inside the District, but in Virginia it will only get you killed. Tread softly, Grasshopper.
Your smug sense of superiority might serve you well inside the District, but in Virginia it will only get you killed. Tread softly, Grasshopper.
Hmm. Pseuodonymous empty threats made in the hackneyed style of the bloviating protagonist in a shitty Ayn Rand nodel. Let me guess, you're either a Virginia conservative, or a character from alt.sex.stories has somehow come to life.
Ha. Not conservative... not Virginian... not making a treat... not some libertarian Ayn Rand reader.
Nor am I some pretentious douchebag that drops Ayn Rand references. That would be you. I was making a reference to the television classic, Kung Fu. If 70's TV references are pretentious, then I apologize. I didn't mean to stoop to your level.
But I will admit this, when people put on airs and think they are somehow superior to anybody because they live in justanothershittymediumsizedcity, I can't help myself from rolling my eyes and thinking 'Ass.'
No wonder the Metro has problems. If they use the instruments in that picture, it explains so much. How exactly would they use an egg slicer in repairs? Maybe I don't want to know.
First laugh of the day. Thank you.
Ewwwww! That picture brings back memories of the movie Dead Ringers.
Particularly the egg slicer. Ow.
Oh god, Dead Ringers! I wish I'd never, never seen that. An ex-boyfriend (oh so very, very EX) took me to a Cronenberg festival in college. I want those hours of my life back. The HORROR. Thanks, Wizzyliz.
wtf was up with the sauna cars on metro last night? Are those the 1000 series?
Hold on, Fairfax "City"? Dwarfing DC? Whaddya'll think of that?
Will residents' addresses change to current "cities" being a neighborhood within Fairfax City? Like, "McLean, Fairfax City, VA"? or something? I am curious and would like to learn more.
Autonomous Republic of McLean has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Griffin told the Board of Supervisors that city status would allow Fairfax greater autonomy over taxes and transportation.
Translation: "We want to be able to collect taxes as both a county and a city."
While they're at it, they should also declare themselves a borough, a prefecture, a protectorate, a shire, a fortified hamlet, and finally, Goatse-Upon-Daniels-Run (nee Unfairfax).
Ah, Fairfax City, Virginia. I like it. Then we could look down on the District as our own Prince Georges County.
like they don't already...
This just isn't going to work. I can't have Real World updates trickling in throughout the day. It's painfully frustrating, like watching an 80 year old man with a prostate the size of mango trying take a leak. I need REAL TIME news on the Real World people! Can we get a constantly updated crawl at the bottom of the DCist page? And dispatch the DCist Action Blog Helicopter at once!
This just isn't going to work. I can't have Real World updates trickling in throughout the day. It's painfully frustrating, like watching an 80 year old man with a prostate the size of mango trying take a leak. I need REAL TIME news on the Real World people! Can we get a constantly updated crawl at the bottom of the DCist page? And dispatch the DCist Action Blog Helicopter at once!
Yay! My first double post! I feel like part of the team now!
Yay! My first double post! I feel like part of the team now!
Beat that!
Beat that!
Beat that!
Beat that!
Beat that!
Beat that!
Beat that!
The city label more accurately describes what Fairfax is
Wha? Not until Fairfax stops being the land of crappily built McMansions on serpentine cul-de-sacs will they ever be a city. You can draw a line around a huge area and say "look, there be a million people here, therefore we're a city" but it doesn't change the fact that the population density is 2,600 per square mile, which is less than half the density of that great urban metropolis Levittown, NY.
And there already is a Fairfax City. Are they going to merge, or are they going to have to come up with a new name?
That's their first step, after they annex the Sudentenland, which has historically been part of Greater Fairfax.
I am not a racialist! But! Und ziss is a big but! Ve in ze National Bocialist Party believe das Überleben muss gestammen sein mit der schneaky Armstrong-Jones!
Historische Fairfax City ist Volkermeinig von Meinhead!
Godwinned!
Godwinned!
Exactly my question. What are they going to do with the existing Fairfax City? Will we have "Old Town Fairfax"?
Agreed. It shouldn't really be called a city if you can't walk to a local store without having to leave the subdivision and cross a six-lane highway, just to get to a strip mall.
Agreed. It shouldn't really be called a city if you can't walk to a local store without having to leave the subdivision and cross a six-lane highway, just to get to a strip mall.
So I guess the Red Line will continue to be a miserable, unusable mess for the foreseeable future. F*cking morons.
So I guess the Red Line will continue to be a miserable, unusable mess for the foreseeable future. F*cking morons.
Is "Maintaining Metro Manually" the new autoeroticism?
Those retrofitted, spring loaded, hand holds provide extra special release.
Those retrofitted, spring loaded, hand holds provide extra special release.
Those retrofitted, spring loaded, hand holds provide extra special release.
Those retrofitted, spring loaded, hand holds provide extra special release.
What's with all of the multiple postings?
What's with all of the multiple postings?
Bad database application development.
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