Good morning, D.C. In addition to scattered showers and thunderstorms, today brings news that the Circulator bus line is nearing its millionth passenger. Not too shabby — although the city’s busiest buslines put up those kinds of numbers every month and a half (probably less, given the age of the linked numbers). But officials say that Circulator ridership has been increasing steadily; assuming the service survives the looming Tourmobile legal apocalypse, its planned route around the mall seems likely to help it sustain that growth.
Ehrlich Signs Air Pollution, Stem Cell Bills: Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich made 16 bills into laws yesterday, reports the Post. The most notable: a funding proposal that would provide state grants for stem cell research; and the Healthy Air Act, which will tighten pollution restrictions on the state’s dirtiest coal-fired power plants. The latter signing came as something of a surprise, given Ehrlich’s statements of opposition to an earlier version of the bill.
Metro May Be Getting An Inspector General: The Metro board has taken another step toward establishing an independent oversight position, the creation of which was originally prompted by congressional legislation. The job is likely to come with a $140k salary and a staff of 27, and would replace the agency’s current auditor general position. As far as we can tell, the primary difference the two jobs seems to be that the inspector will report to the Metro board rather than to Metro’s general manager. It seems like a small change, but if the powers that be genuinely think it’ll mean commuters getting more for their money, we’re all for it. A final vote on the proposal will occur on April 20.
Steele Aide Under Fire: WJLA is reporting that Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele has been approached by the state’s Legislative Black Caucus and asked to fire recently-hired aide Doug Heye. Heye is accused of participating in GOP efforts in Florida to suppress voter turnout among African Americans during the 2000 presidential election. Others seem to be maintaining that this is a ploy to discourage Maryland’s black voters from casting their ballots for Steele in this fall’s senatorial election. Whatever the merits of the Caucus’s request, it seems like the next Maryland election will be a particularly contentious one: just yesterday the Washington Times ran an article in which Gov. Ehrlich’s communications director preemptively complained about Democratic vote fraud.
Briefly Noted: Congressional hearing on Nats TV rights scheduled for today… No leads yet on school shooting… Bean-happy Mets trounce Nats, 10-5… Area bank robbery rate skyrockets… JC Hayward gets promoted, will no longer anchor WUSA’s evening newscast… Wilson Bridge bald eagle eggs in jeopardy…
This Day In DCist: One year ago today we were talking about about Mesopotamia’s treasures and Maryland’s tariffs.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user DCMatt
