Happy Fourth of July, Washington! We hope you’ve got a good spot staked out for watching the fireworks. And we hope you’ve been having a good time not working — your morning roundup writers certainly have. That’s because there’s practically nothing to round up. With the local media mostly off for the holiday, the news is slooow. But that’s not such a bad thing; we should all be manning grills, not computers. Here’s to a Fourth that’s pleasantly-paced, safe, and doesn’t involve riding Metro to the mall.
Legislators Claim Smoking Ban Success: Montgomery County legislators Isiah Leggett and Phil Andrews say that the county’s smoking ban has been good news for its restaurants, according to WTOP. They cite a 19 percent increase in sales over the last two years as proof. Ban opponents say that this is a faulty measure, however. They maintain that since 77 percent of the county’s restaurants were already smoke-free, the overall sales increase is largely meaningless.
Zoo’s Panda Party Planned: As you may have heard, the zoo is throwing Butterstick a birthday party on Sunday. Looks like the press release just went out: WJLA reports that “there will be entertainment, educational programs, children’s activities and best of all, free cupcakes for the first one-thousand visitors.” Educational programs? Nuts to that. You should come to our party for the Stick instead — we promise you won’t have to learn anything. And we’ll see what we can do about the cupcakes.
Second Gorilla Dies At Zoo: It’s not a good week to be a D.C. gorilla. On Saturday a gorilla named Kuja died during the implantation of a “cardiac device” — now another, older animal named Mopie has collapsed and died. The exact cause of death isn’t yet known, although Mopie was known to have heart problems, but he seemed to be in good health as recently as Monday.
Briefly Noted: Fourth of July weekend off to a violent start… Ocean City riptide proves to be deadly… Area should be back to full power by tomorrow morning… Evacuation plan to be used to help clear the city after tomorrow’s fireworks…
This Day In DCist: One year ago today the news was just as slow as it is today. And by and large we took the day off, too — but DCist cofounder Mike Grass did take the time to write some Fourth of July impressions.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user commonroman. This entry written by DCist staff member Tom Lee.
