Good morning, Washington. Got Halloween plans? Personally, I’m still trying to come up with a decent last-minute costume idea. My party deadline isn’t until tomorrow, fortunately. For those who’ve got costume parties lined up for tonight, I hope you didn’t make any part of your outfit from papier mache — it looks like it’s going to be a soggy evening.
Jemal Acquitted Of Most Charges: The verdict is in, and prominent District developer Douglas Jemal has been acquitted of six of the seven charges he faced, the Post reports. The charges focused on alleged bribery of city officials, including the prosecution’s star witness, former deputy director of property management Michael Lorusso. Ultimately the jury didn’t believe Lorusso’s account of gifts of rolexes and humidors full of cash — or at least didn’t believe that those gifts came with strings attached. Wire fraud was the sole count on which Jemal was convicted, but it’s unlikely to carry a significant sentence.
Md. Running Low On Absentee Ballots: It was about two weeks ago that Maryland placed an unusually large order for ballots, requesting 2-3 times as many as normal. Looks like it’s a good thing they did: WJLA is reporting that Governor Ehrlich is concerned about the supply of absentee ballots in various precincts around the state, and has expressed that concern in a letter to elections supervisor Linda Lamone. As you may recall, Lamone is responsible for the decision to stick with Diebold despite widespread problems during the primary election (Diebold’s back in the news, incidentally). For her part, Lamone says that most jurisdictions have received the ballots and that the rest will be receiving them shortly.
Va. Bans Smoking In Public Buildings: I’ve got a couple of friends who occasionally like to recount the novelty of smoking in the stadium at University of Richmond basketball games. I’m not quite sure whether I believe that story, but I definitely won’t believe any new ones: WTOP reports that Governor Kaine has just signed an executive order banning smoking in state buildings and colleges.
Briefly Noted: Arizona officials interviewing Malvo about 2002 Tucson shooting… Rooney enters not guilty plea in murder of UVM student from Arlington… Foley revelations came from blogger who worked at HRC (since fired)…
This Day In DCist: One year ago we panned Warren Brown’s Food Network debut and talked to Alexander Ovechkin. Two years ago we were talking about Target coming to Columbia Heights and getting ready for the Marine Corps Marathon.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user andertho (who’s been on a tear lately)
