Yesterday morning at Mount Vernon, the cornerstone for a new George Washington museum was laid. The Post takes us through the Masonic rituals involved in the process:
At yesterday’s consecration, members of the Alexandria-Washington Masonic Lodge No. 22, dressed in tuxedos and white aprons, poured corn kernels and cruets of canola oil and red wine over the cornerstone. An architect and other officials inspected the rock. Then prayers were read aloud.
Number 22 was the first President’s lodge back in the day, when the General and his compatriots kept busy by structuring the country’s founding documents and contemporary city plans to guide later Americans to treasure. Best part of the new museum? “Life-size models of George Washington at three pivotal periods in his life: ages 19, 45 and 57.”
Arlington to Get Its Own Transit Network? County planners are recommending that Arlington develop its own secondary transit network to improve transportation within the County, and particularly between underserved and less dense areas outside the Orange Line corridor. The County, which has already taken significant steps toward establishing a streetcar line on Columbia Pike, would likely pursue some mix of transit options that could include trains, streetcars, and circulator buses, according to the Examiner. County Board approval for the plan could come sometime this year.
More School Waste Detailed: More bad news for the D.C. school system arrived yesterday in the form of an audit report from the Office of Inspector General, reports the Times. The audit finds that overtime pay is poorly overseen and inadequately documented, leading to substantial and undeserved payouts. Says the Times:
A pair of custodians who were assigned to clean school bus terminals received more than $96,000 in overtime pay. But terminal managers said they often had to take out the trash and replace bathroom supplies, the audit states.
The examples continue in the Times piece; this is sure to be grist for the mayoral mill.
Briefly Noted: Appears that publisher Philip Merrill took his own life…Key fire station serving Pentagon, Crystal City is incomplete, a year behind schedule…Virginia House sends Governor Kaine a budget, largely ignores transportation issues…Woody Woo bridge construction causing rubbernecking delays.
This Day in DCist: One year ago, we checked on Ana Marie Cox’s novel progress, questioned why Southwest didn’t have a plane sporting the D.C. flag, and we looked at how District schools might play into this year’s mayoral election.
Picture taken by k0rben.
