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August 8, 2008
It's a really slow day for local news, so over on the DCist staff email list, all we're talking about is John Edwards. He's admitted to ABC News that he did have an affair with Rielle Hunter, and defends himself by saying that he didn't love her and that his wife, Elizabeth, was in remission at the time. Because, apparently, it would have been totally inexcusable of him to cheat while his wife was undergoing...
Continue Reading "John Edwards Admits to Affair"
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add to del.icio.usEarlier in the week, we reported that bike-sharing operation SmartBike DC was finally operating, but with a few sites still under construction — Judiciary Square, Metro Center, and McPherson Square. Today we walked by the Judiciary Square rack on 4th Street NW between D and E, and it's ready, bikes and all. In case you wanted to ride from, say, the Albert Pike statue to somewhere. Or, less fun, you have to go to court....
Continue Reading "Judiciary Square Smartbike Rack Completed"
WMATA has put out its weekend track work alerts. The Red line looks to be the most affected, as switch replacement work at the Friendship Heights station will be underway this weekend. Red Line: Add at least 25 minutes of travel time between Medical Center and Van Ness-UDC due to the switch replacement work going on all weekend at the Friendship Heights station. Inbound and outbound trains will share one track from 9 p.m. tonight...
Continue Reading "Your Weekend Metro Track Work Delays"Back in May, 21-year-old Anteneh Getnet Amare, of Takoma Park, was found unconscious on the sidewalk on the 600 block of T Street NW. He was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia has since ruled Amare's death a homicide, reporting today that he died from blunt-force trauma. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or 888-919-CRIM[E]. Anonymous information...
Continue Reading "Man Found on T Street Ruled Homicide"
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has put out a report that says that many cities are not doing enough to inform citizens about the results of health inspections at restaurants. Predictably, the District is pretty high on the list of cities that the center feels need to be doing more. The report scolds D.C. for forcing people who want to obtain restaurant inspection reports to file Freedom of Information Act requests. CSPI...
Continue Reading "Report Says D.C. Ought to Put Letter Grades in Restaurant Windows"Advertisement: DCist Continues Below!
August 8, 2008
Take one name off the list of Olympic athletes with ties to the D.C. area. The Associated Press via ESPN.com is reporting that 20-year-old boxer Gary Russell Jr., who was born right here in D.C. and lives in Capitol Heights, Md., collapsed in Beijing while trying to make weight, and will no longer be competing in the Olympic games. Russell, who was not hospitalized, collapsed while running. He had been trying to drop from 125...
Continue Reading "D.C. Boxer Collapses, Won't Compete in Olympics"
Good morning, Washington, and welcome to 8/8/08, the date chosen for the official start of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. This confluence of 8s should of course not be confused with 8/8/88, the date on which soldiers murdered over 2000 peaceful protesters in Burma, and the Chicago Cubs played their first night game at Wrigley Field. So for 8/8/08, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Crazy Eights Edition"August 7, 2008
Ick, ew, gross. Someone has illegally dumped waste from port-a-potties into Four Mile Run Stream near Westover Park in Arlington County. Arlington Alert sent out warnings earlier today telling residents not to fish in or have any contact with the waters – including wading or swimming – until further notice. The Post has a story up about the dumping, and quotes an Arlington parks official describing water near the spill as "blue, crummy and yucky...
Continue Reading "Port-a-Potties Dumped in Four Mile Run Stream"Community organizers from the 5th District Citizens' Advisory Council, the Ward 4 Education Council, the Eastland Gardens Civic Association, the Council of Churches of Greater Washington-Social Action Committee, and the DC Federation of Civic Associations have put together something they're calling a "City-Wide Community Meeting on Crime" tonight from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. They're urging residents from all over the city to come together to "stand up and speak out," and say they've invited...
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Regardless of whether you support it as a viable alternative to light rail or not, Bus Rapid Transit is being seriously considered in many local jurisdictions as a way to move more people around. But in order for BRT to work properly, there's got to be an effective way to keep car drivers out of dedicated bus lanes. Which is why we found this video report from NBC4 a proper jumping point for today's post...
Continue Reading "Transit on Thursday: The Dedicated Lane Edition"
Don't go storming in to Comcast's service center in Northeast to return your DVRs and modems just yet, but you may be able to free yourself from the cable provider's ubiquitous grip soon enough. The Examiner is reporting today that the D.C. Office of Cable Television and Verizon have reached an initial agreement to bring the provider's fiber optic network, FiOS, to the District. The agreement, while not yet a done deal, would mean that...
Continue Reading "Watch Out, Comcast: FiOS Could Be On Its Way to D.C."
Good morning, Washington. Those of you keeping an eye on the vice presidential prospects of Tim Kaine can add another data point to your elaborately-constructed electoral theories: yesterday the Virginia Governor once again took to the national airwaves to discuss foreign policy and to dodge questions about being Sen. Obama's running mate. Arrests Made In Calvo Marijuana Raid; Calvo Appears Innocent: Yesterday we learned that the police raid of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo's...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: Calvo Vindicated"August 6, 2008
Despite what Alert DC told us all this morning, WASA says the power outage in Columbia Heights was not caused by a water main break. We weren't the only ones who reported a main break at 13th and Florida this morning, but it also wouldn't be the first time Alert DC oversimplified something that was more nuanced. "It was not a water main break on 13th street. The corporation stop (or plug) that is put...
Continue Reading "WASA Says There Was No Water Main Break"
While it's no secret that The American Federation of Teachers, the parent union of the local Washington Teachers' Union, isn't thrilled about the merit pay proposal being negotiated between the WTU and DCPS, the AFT had thus far stayed on the sidelines of the controversy. Not so much anymore. DCPS teacher and local blogger DC Teacher Chic reports today that she was called by a pollster from the Hart Research Group, who asked a series...
Continue Reading "D.C. Teachers Push Polled by Union; Paid by Pro-Merit Group"
The Washington Post has their lengthy report up on the evidence released by the FBI this afternoon against Bruce Ivins, the bioweapons researcher who killed himself last week after he had become the government's main suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Some of the evidence the FBI shared with the public today included that Ivins sent emails with wording that was sometimes identical to the language used in the anthrax-laced letters, that he kept odd,...
Continue Reading "FBI Releases Evidence Against Anthrax Suspect Bruce Ivins"Advertisement: DCist Continues Below!
August 6, 2008
We've been following the case of Collin McKenzie-Gude, 18, of Bethesda since his arrest last week on charges of making and exploding pipe bombs and illegally possessing firearms. At first glance, the circumstantial evidence that's been piling up paints a pretty weird picture. Here's what's happened so far: On Tuesday, July 29, Montgomery County investigators acted on a tip from a concerned citizen and searched the Gude family home on the 6300 block of Rockhurst...
Continue Reading "Bethesda Teen Bomb Suspect Case Gets Weirder"It's pretty muggy out there this morning, so we hope news of another power outage from Pepco, this time at 9th and Virginia Avenue SE, near the Navy Yard, isn't portentous of major problems today. Temperatures are going to reach 90 degrees today, with over 50 percent humidity. Stay cool out there....
Continue Reading "And, Another Power Outage near Navy Yard"Alert DC is reporting a power outage at 13th and Harvard Streets NW due to a water main break at 13th and Florida Avenue NW. The water main has apparently flooded electric feeders at the site. Pepco's outage map indicates fewer than 250 customers are affected. The Post says that 13th street is closed between Belmont and Florida....
Continue Reading "Power Outage/Water Main Break in Columbia Heights"
Good morning, Washington. Many of this morning's headlines paint a grim picture of the state of police work in Prince George's County. As we mentioned at the end of the day yesterday, the Washington Post has reported that the marijuana raid that resulted in the death of two family dogs at the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo was not conducted with a proper warrant. The county's swat team lacked the kind of "no-knock"...
Continue Reading "Morning Roundup: County Fair Edition "August 5, 2008
Metro says riders should expect delays on the Red line tonight in the direction of Shady Grove due to an earlier train malfunction at Forest Glen that has been resolved. No word on what kind of delays we're talking about here, but if you were counting on the Red line to be a snap during rush hour, don't be surprised if it's a bit off the normal schedule....
Continue Reading "Expect Red Line Delays to Shady Grove "
August is a mixed blessing – summer school is over and the afternoons are long, but teachers and students alike are aware that the first day of school is only a few weeks away. August should be a time for relaxation and preparation, but tempers have been running high for such a normally lazy month. The Washington Teachers’ Union and D.C. public schools are still locked in a stalemate over contract negotiations, the Mayor’s office...
Continue Reading "Schools Roundup: Summertime (and the Living’s Not So Easy)"