The Weekly Feed: Experimentation Edition
Former Blade Staffers Launch 'DC Agenda'
D.C. Insurance Dept. Denies Birth Control Coverage Meddling
Controversy Over Rhee Now to Include Sex, Congress
D.C. Unemployment Rate Reaches 11.9 Percent
Good morning, Washington. If you thought the Bee Menace or the Deer Menace or the ever-present Rat Menace was bad, get a load of the impending Stink Bug Menace. WUSA9 warns us all of this latest, notably smelly threat, reporting that the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is getting ready to make its way inside our homes. And no one is safe. Especially THE CHILDREN. The only thing to be done? Seal up "any cracks around the home with caulk" and use "weather stripping around windows and doors." We'll get through this together, D.C.
D.C. Schools Facing More Layoffs: Teachers and staff for the D.C. Public Schools are staring down the business end of another round of layoffs, both the Post and the Examiner report this morning. DCPS announced that it is facing an unexpected $40 million budget shortfall, and that cuts need to be made quickly, by the end of October. The WTU, naturally, is totally pissed about the timing of this, already several weeks into the school year. No specifics are yet available on how many teachers will lose their jobs, and Rhee said the decisions will only be made after consulting with principals and parent groups.
Who Will Be the Next U.S. Attorney for D.C.? Lots of names have been floated around for this job this week, including Anjali Chaturvedi and Michael Bromwich, but the Examiner says the White House is leaning toward veteran trial lawyer Ron Machen. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton reportedly recommended Machen, but not Channing Phillips, the current interim U.S. Attorney and Eric Holder protégé. Possibly feeling the heat for that snub, Norton tried to distance herself from the decision making process on Wednesday, issuing this statement: "The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia is a presidential position, and the choice and the nomination will be his,” she said.
Briefly Noted: Firefighters rescue residents from an apartment building fire in 5600 block of 13th Street NW ... D.C. Council hears testimony on Peggy Cooper Cafritz fire ... Durbin says hundreds of D.C. voucher students are unaccounted for ... Woodbridge to D.C. commuter ferry plans move forward, but funding questions linger ... Montgomery County employees taking yoga classes with public funds.
This Day in DCist: In 2008, we learned that Greenpeace and street artist Mark Jenkins were behind a series of polar bears placed around the city that were mistaken for suspicious packages, and in 2007, the Senate was getting ready to vote on D.C. voting rights legislation.
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so are these stink bugs going to be any worse than the occasional spricket that i find in the basement? because those things are effin' crazy!
Stink bugs!?! Who cares about stink bugs? What I can't wrap my head around were all the cop cars sitting on I-395 last night. They were pulling people over for speeding. YES, SPEEDING!!!
Ridiculous. Don't the cops know that if they drive slower than 50MPH, that bomb Dennis Hopper put in their car will go off?
Have you seen Virginia's budget deficit???? Oh wait, sorry, it's about safety.
Re: speeding- where's I-395 and are they going to make it bike-friendly?
Re: stinkbugs- can I use left over Rumsfeld-era duck tape?
Arlington 395?
Man the Arlington cops have been out with a vengeance this summer.
My favorite speed trap is the one they do on spout run, where there is no shoulder, so they block the merge lane and pull people over in the merge lane.
Tickets are about safe driving right? Not revenue?
There is nothing safer than coming around a blind turn and finding a car parked in what is normally a merge lane.
I guess they will get to write even more tickets when someone smashes into the back of the cruiser, and they might get a new cruiser for free too...
Hiring a bunch of teachers in the summer only to lay them off in September is par for the course as far as DCPS Adminstrators go. Look forward to them hiring more administrators to deal with the firings.
And speaking of stink, only a few months until those goddamned ginko pods start funking up the town. Considering the stinkiness of today's post, I'm pretty sure that the latest FTC Truth in Advertising guidance dictates that this "Morning Roundup" should be referred to as "Painful Rectal Itch/Nasty-ass Skidmark Drawers Roundup." Gothamist's lawyers may want to confirm that so they can avoid a stiff fine. And by "fine" I mean "my penis."
Hahahahaha, you think Gothamist has lawyers? If they can't afford to invite their doting commentati to their 5th anniversary, how do you think they can afford lawyers? We're pricy bitches. In unrelated news, I was looking through the archives yesterday and saw that there was an invitation to the commentati for the 3rd anniversary. The romance is gone...
They just didn't want to run out of whale cake.
Yep, kicked to the curb. Again.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the teachers to get the ax are not the ones hired this summer. If you read Rhee press release she talks about using performance and consultation with the principal (most of whom at this point are Rhee hires or backers) as deciding factors. They will use the RIF mechanism which is not last hired first fired.
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/documents/rhee_letter_to_parents_091509.pdf?sid=ST2009091602964
I find it interesting that we had Back to School night on the 15th and not a peep of this was mentioned and the letter has yet to filter home to parents.
Wow, how did you miss this little nugget:
Tea Party Protesters Protest D.C. Metro Service
Oh my. Did you know the word "irony" does not appear in the dictionary?
the cognitive dissonance is enough to make my head explode.
To even further it, Rep. Brady voted AGAINST a bill that included emergency funding for Metro in July.
http://wonkette.com/411130/what-was-metro-thinking
Congratulations, Tea Party Protesters! You am the winnars of this year's First Annual Godwin Award for Most Worst Than Hitler! This year's winners will be treated to a complimentary iced double espresso at Nick Cho's Ballwrecker's Coffee, followed by an all-expense-paid "meal" at DC's hottest new eatery, Junkpunch-on-the-Green. Relax while your hostess nails your nuts to a plank, which you get to take home as a souvenier of your time in DC. Your friends will marvel at your stamina as you proudly drag your two-by-four down the sidewalk, making that cool scraping noise.
Obviously, the federal government needs to get busy with those trees what grow the money. Of course the taxpayers don't want to pay for water or nutrients for the trees.
What bunch of solipsistic idiots. Is there any hope when they don't care how stupid they look?
no, there isn't...
There are no words...
Government services are BAD! Except when WE need them!
The sum total of WMATA's response to this douchetard should be something along the lines of "FWD: Senator Tom Coburn. Kthxbai."
Reminds of Joe the Plumber bitching about welfare...and then admitting he had been on welfare "But I paid into the system"!!!
Hahahaha! When your complaints make people defend Metro, you know you're a great big FAIL!
STOP GOVERNMENT SPENDING!
Hey, why does this federally-funded subway system suck bawls?
PROTEST THE METRO!
AND DON'T TOUCH MAH FUCKIN MEDICAID!
Just goes to show you what these geniuses are made of.
Well said Yonas.
These people need to go "place themselves on the tracks" as the expression goes.
You forgot to mention the Bat Menace, CHUD Menace and Metro Bus Driver Menace.
+1 on the Metro comment.
Not to mention the H1N1 menace, Dennis the Menace, Menace II Society, and Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which was neither a "menace" nor a "phantom" nor entertaining.
yay kelly towles art!
I regularly battle with the stink bugs. I go to Ben's, get me a nice chili-cheese halfsmoke, come back home, and challenge the bugs to a stink-off.
Sure my plants and 3 dogs have died as a result, but it's worth it.
A photo of ugly street art...great.