Transportation News:
— Flooding had closed the Mount Vernon Square-7th St. Convention Center station on the Green and Yellow lines. Shuttle bus service had been provided from Gallery Place-Chinatown. This morning, a WMATA alert referred to the station by its old name, Mount Vernon Square-UDC, which the wires and the Post picked up as well. As of 7:55 a.m., the station had reopened, though escalators were not working.
— WMATA’s police chief, Polly Hanson, has sent a letter to each of her 381 police officers discussing recent “negative reaction to the arrests of riders for eating or talking loudly” in the system, the Post reports. She wants her force to examine situations where verbal confrontations between police and riders spiral out of control so they can be avoided in the future.
WMATA has been criticized for handcuffing a pregnant woman for talking too loud and woman for chewing a Pay Day candy bar as she was entering an metrorail station.
— In Northern Virginia, voters in Fairfax and Arlington counties will consider bond proposals that would send money to cash-strapped WMATA, but the Post notes that it’s sparking the old roads vs. rails debate.
— Meanwhile, the blue ribbon panel studying WMATA’s funding woes is saying that along with recommending the region find a dedicated funding source to fund the transit system, it may suggest big changes as to how the agency manages itself and its system, the AP, via WJLA reports.
Of Pedestrian Concern: A ruling from Prince George’s County Board of Appeals should be handed down today on whether Redskins fans can park off-site and walk to the stadium, something FedEx Field officials have tried to prevent.
Kayaker Drowns: A kayaker went over Great Falls and “did not resurface,” the Post reports. It comes after four drowning incidents near the dangerous cataract since May.
WTOP Subpoenaed: WTOP and at least one other news organization have been subpoenaed in the case involving the so-called Route 29 stalker, WTOP reports.
Off-Campus Hoyas Looking for New Housing: As some of our commenters have noted, D.C. housing inspectors have kicked out a number of students living in unsafe rowhouses on Prospect Street, following a fatal fire over the weekend. Just in time for mid-terms, too.
Australian Marsupial Found in Md.: Considerably less threatening than a snakehead, another foreign species has found its way into Maryland. A wallaby nicknamed Hoppy, which escaped its owners five years ago, has been located in the woods near Severn, the AP via the W.Times reports. Since there is only one wallaby in the area, don’t expect the creature to reproduce.
