Good morning, Washington. We apologize: it’s not even December, and here we are running pictures of Christmas trees. But everyone else is doing it! More than one area radio station has already switched to 24×7 holiday music, and trees and tinsel are popping up everywhere. It’s hard to resist when Flickrites like lancehayden start putting up appealing shots of the yuletide frenzy.
Fairfax Restricts Handouts For The Homeless: It’s getting tougher to feed the unfortunate in Fairfax. The Post reports that the county has adopted new restrictions on what food can be given to the homeless, with the aim of preventing food-borne illnesses among the vulnerable population. Churches and charitable organizations must now receive a certification of their facilities before cooking meals to give away — and that means individuals’ leftovers and home-baked goodies are no longer welcome. The county is waiving fees and otherwise trying to lessen the new burden, but, as you might imagine, churches and other organizations are unhappy with the policy.
City Council Mulls Pay Raise: Members of the D.C. Council are considering giving themselves a raise, reports The Washington Times. The two proposed bills would increase members’ salaries to $115,000 or $122,530 — more than the compensation provided by many larger cities. The council hasn’t had a pay raise since 1999.
P.G. County Looks Into Credit Card Charges: Gym memberships, limos and plane fare to Africa — those are a few of the questionable charges turned up by the Post when it investigated Prince George’s County councilmembers’ use of county-issued credit cards. Now NBC4 brings assurance that this won’t be the last we hear on the matter: the county’s state’s attorney has asked State Prosecutor Robert Rohrbaugh to investigate the matter.
Briefly Noted: Webb confirms that he snubbed Bush… Alexandria asphalt plant irks residents (but doesn’t break the law)… New highway ramp to make life worthwhile… WJLA makes late bid for our favorite headline of ’06…
This Day In DCist: One year ago we considered the Post 2.0 and evaluated the odds of an internet-led D.C. rock radio resurgence. Two years ago we got ready for a visit from Tom Wolfe and checked in on the frontlines of gentrification.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user lancehayden.
