Updated Forecast: In Excess of 8" of Snow, Plus Wind
And Now, 10-20 Inches
Federal Govt. Closed Tuesday
Snowmaggedon 1.0 in Time Lapse
Good morning, Washington. What perfectly pleasant weekend weather we just enjoyed! Of course while you, me and everyone we know were packed like sardines into Crafty Bastards or playing horseshoes in a massive, sweet alley party, recently laid off D.C. Public Schools teachers and staff were trying to clean out their desks, in some cases reportedly finding locked doors instead. These teachers are mighty pissed, and many of their colleagues planned to wear black today to protest the recent layoffs. Let's just hope the somewhat murky current school security situation doesn't further exacerbate tensions. Candi Peterson also reports that she's heard there could be even more layoffs today, so stay tuned. In the meantime, Vince Gray has scheduled an oversight hearing on the layoffs.
Indicted Cabbies Plead Not Guilty: The latest on the growing D.C. taxicab industry bribery scandal is that the nearly 40 cab drivers arrested on Friday appeared in court for the first time Saturday, entering not guilty pleas all, and are expected back in court today. Meanwhile Bill Myers made a good point in Sunday's Examiner: the transition from the zone system to time and distance meters was the main trigger for the bribery scheme, according to authorities. "A full month before the change took effect in October, 2007, cabbies and taxi industry officials were lining up to bribe their way through, around and under the new regulations, federal officials alleged in two new indictments unsealed Friday."
Fatal Crash Scares Away Metro Riders: Yes, it turns out when nine people die in a terrifying Metro train collision, at least some regular passengers are going to stop riding. Since the June 22 Red Line crash, Metro ridership has dropped to the point that WMATA is now facing a budget shortfall, the Examiner reports. Metro says it is "working on a plan" to lure passengers back. In absolutely, definitely related news, see, "Red Line delays to continue at crash site."
Briefly Noted: D.C. police officer trades gunfire with attempted carjackers in Prince George's County ... Scooter rider dies in hit-and-run ... D.C. woman's dog mauled by pit bulls ... Southeastern U. failed despite cash influx from D.C. coffers.
This Day in DCist: In 2007, we checked out the grand opening of D.C.'s Madame Tussauds.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
I wonder what Metro's plan would be? Lower fares? Latte stands? New and safer cars? Guaranteed on time arrivals? No, no, no, and no. Back to the laboratory, guys, you've got your work cut out for you.
Oh, I know! How about a free sinus infection thanks to the moldy carpet in the cars? That's my favorite.
My heart goes out to all of the laid off DC teachers. I live with one who didn't get laid off, but from what I heard it was about as unprofessional as it could get.
In the DC public school system, I would support any measure designed to bring the system up to par. DC spends more per student than any other school system in the country, and yet we have the worst performance. That ain't right. If firing bad teachers helps, so be it.
Short of herding them into the Gallery Place sewers to meet Chinatown CHUD Mama Sue, is there a better use for this meat?
I'd love to see this bribery scandal become the catalyst for a complete overhaul of the D.C. taxicab system from top to bottom. Sell medallions, require safer, more fuel efficient modern fleets, and set minimum standards for the cleanliness of hacks.
It's easier than that. Just open it up to Va. and Maryland cabs. Most DC cabbies live in Maryland anyways. It's not like its a local industry.
i love VA cabs. the eco-friendly ones are always so clean, and they have GPS!
I F*ING hate Virginia cabs - they cost more and their drivers don't know their way around the District. I guess there are 2 sides to every story, eh?
Every VA cab I have been in (mostly Red Top)has GPS, so it doesn't matter if they know DC or not.
I also do Red Top for my airport run. Others experience may vary, but they've always been on time, cabs clean, and drivers speak english.
Best one was guy who asked if I wanted to hear a poem and to name a topic. I said "baseball" and he recited a poem he wrote about the nationals.
That cabbie poet is the best! And if you are not sufficiently caffeinated to think of a topic, he has a whole binder full of poems you can read.
Yup, that's the guy!!
Would NYC allow cabs from Newark to ply the streets of Manhattan for fares? DC should be looking to VA, MD, NYC and other cities/states for best practices, but maintaing strict control of the volume of Taxis in the city.
There are currently no limits on the number of DC taxis on the street.
The streets of DC do have a limited surface area, which itself serves as a limit to the number of DC taxis.
Of course, if you did cover the surface of DC in taxis it would provide Jim Graham enough scratch to make a run for president. And then all the Ward 1 parks would be named after him. Just imagine!
Let's do a little math here: 5 riders and 20 cabs plus raising the fare...sounds like business run in a Dan Snyder model.
Metro has to make the necessary improvements to get the trains back on auto mode - and reassure potential riders that switch and car changes have been made to ensure safety. And I left Metro for MARC this Summer not because I was afraid of my safety, but I was scared that I would be late for work everyday and that I'd barf on the way with all the slow/stop/start manual driving.
Agreed... I use Metro slightly less mainly because of the reduced frequency of trains on the red line and because of the increasingly inconsistent wait times. Both of these stem from the lack of automatic control. I'd suspect that this is the main reason people would be using Metro less, not some paranoia over the slim chance of another accident.
Seriously, the lurching has to stop...
You rang?
My condolences to the family of the man killed, but seriously--- a foot scooter should be labeled as such, and by omitting that one word in the headlines and before the jump/link, DCist and the Post were cheaply grabbing readers' attention.
Eh, foot scooter, motorized scooter, bicycle--all the same to Legba Carrefour's ego.
Does it matter what the vehicle is if it's a hit and run?
Which is why when I ride on city streets at night, I use a really freakin' bright clip-on strobe light that attaches to my bag or helmet--cuz' I'm a safety nerd (because of some close calls in my past). Unfortunately, like many pedestrian or cyclist deaths, this man sounds like many of the working poor in the city that do not have the means to purchase bicycle safety items. Maybe this is a needed charity--i.e. one that provides helmets, lights, gloves to low income cyclists for free or low cost. OTOH, after witnessing some near misses myself around town, how do you get somebody to use them?
When talking about pedestrian & bicycle safety at night, there seems to be a correlation between education, lifestyle and area where one is residing/riding. Think about it. Where around here are you more likely to find cyclists using helmets and lights? Probably someplace like Arlington. As for the anthesis, riders taking little caution, riding illegal vehicles--somewhere like Georgia Av? There is as much to educating the public why they need to take additional precautions when riding bikes and scooters at night as much as there is changing the culture in some communities. From my point of view, there are a lot of young Blacks in town that view things like riding a bike with helmets and lights, as a "white" thing, and you ain't from the block if you're doing that. Oddly enough, I see plenty of hipsters doing the same bicycling practices. Trying to be safe ain't cool until someone gets killed. I doubt this guy will get a ghost scooter placed on Georgia Av. in his memory.
Good post +1.
the whole teacher firing thing is just proving that the people involved are looking past the most important part here—the children and their education. i feel bad for people who have lost their jobs, i really do, but if children are not excelling under their watch, then it's time for new educators.
I'd guess it was a mixture of both. My roommate who was placed via teach for america mentioned that a number of her just recently employed (past 6 months) colleagues had gotten the axe, which doesn't even offer the opportunity for a quarterly review. I'd also venture to guess that due to the strength of the union many teachers with "tenure" were able to keep their jobs, regardless of their past performance. Agreeing with the idea that the kids come first; I still believe that a number of good teachers got screwed, thus not helping the kids.
I have my fair share of complaints about DC cabbies, but I must admit that they are almost always incredible about finding the streets with the fewest redlights, fewest traffic jams, etc. I don't even care if new VA cabbies had GPS, they would still be twice as slow as a solid DC cabbies who know all the ins and outs and shortcuts and one ways...
shawshank: i don't know about you, but i've found in my (thankfully) limited experience with DC cabbies, that if you live somewhere outside of the NW section of the l'enfant city, they're likely to get completely lost.
i know more in-and-outs and shortcuts in the city than the average cabbie, from what i've seen.
+1 hahahaha
The only thing outside of the NW section is Union Station, and they all know where that is.
Don't get me wrong, I have definitely had times where I had to direct them to take certain shortcuts and avoid known clusterfcuks, but DC cabbies are definitely better than VA ones.
i hear you, but that's kind of like saying syphilis is a better disease than leprosy.