Photo by lonny.gomes

Good morning, Washington. The Post reports that recent news that the D.C. Council is considering new taxes on gyms and yoga classes, amongst other services, has provoked a stiff, well-toned and surprisingly flexible response from the city’s exercise-oriented community. Yoga aficionados apparently bombed council members with emails in opposition yesterday, and a hastily organized rally was set to take place this morning at Freedom Plaza. I can see why our local gym-goers and yogis might be angered by the idea, but at the same time, the city is facing serious budget deficits, and unless more social services are to be cut — and some advocates fear they have been cut too much already — the money will have to come out of somewhere. The taxes are still being debated, but as the process wears on, I’m sure the notion of strong-arm lobbying will become very real for council members who gets visits from the sorts of folks who really don’t want their exercise services taxed.

Medical Marijuana Bill Might Violate Human Rights Act: The Post is reporting that a section of the recently passed medical marijuana bill may actually violate a provision of the Human Rights Act. According to activist Nikolas Schiller, a section of the bill that forbids anyone with a misdemeanor or felony drug offense from ever working in one of the planned dispensaries or cultivation centers violates a provision of the Human Rights Act that prohibits employers from asking for an arrest record that’s over a decade old. During the debate over the legislation, medical marijuana activists proposed changing the provision of the law so only violent felons could be prevented from working at dispensaries or cultivation centers; the amendment was not accepted.

New Pedestrian Crossing Pilot Program for Chinatown: WTOP writes that the District’s Department of Transportation is implementing a pilot program at the busy intersection of Seventh and H streets in Chinatown that would allow pedestrians to cross diagonally across the intersection, instead of crossing one street and then another. During the “pedestrian-only” cycle, which will be 29 seconds long, all vehicular traffic will come to a stop and pedestrians will be able to cross in any direction they please, including directly through the middle of the intersection. The crossing, known as a “barnes dance,” is used in a number of other cities and was in use in the District in the 1960s and 70s.

Briefly Noted: MoCo defends school cuts … Maryland ponies up money owed to Metro … Gilbert Arenas gets out of a halfway house today.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2009, a NewsChannel 8 host threatened a gay blogger on live TV and we were in the midst of yet another panda pregnancy watch. In 2008, D.C. was named the most improved bicycling city in the country and a controversial noise bill made it through the D.C. Council on a first vote.