Fenty Picks Up a Six Pack: Of cabinet members, of course. The Post reports that the Mayor-elect announced yesterday he will bring in Tangherlini-protege Brender L. Gregory as director of the Office of Personnel, and Janice Quintana as the director of the city’s Unified Communications Center. Additionally, four other department heads from the Williams’ administration will keep their jobs: William O. Howland from the Dept. of Public Works, Vincent N. Schiraldi from the Dept. of Youth Rehabilitation Services, Deborah A. Gist, the state education officer, and, perhaps somewhat controversially, Devon Brown from the Dept. of Corrections. You’ll recall that Brown was in charge in June when two prisoners escaped from the D.C. Jail, though he was praised for taking swift action in firing 11 employees after the incident. And really, having only two prisoners escape this year is (if our math is right) a 72 percent improvement over the seven that escaped in 2005 (Brown took over in January).
Big Changes for New York Ave. Metro? Developer Sang Oh Choi has proposed a more than $1 billion project that would turn the Capital City Market site into condos, restaurants and a hotel, and now the D.C. Council has officially endorsed the plan. Of course a majority of property owners would first need to sign off on the plan before it became a reality, but we certainly hope they also consult residents in the area as well — if they’re anything like our commenters, they’ve got some pretty strong feelings about the proposal.
Briefly Noted: After ten years, Route 234 actually ‘finished’ … Good Samaritans save man who collapsed near Jefferson Memorial … Girl hit by truck leaving school holiday program.
This Day In DCist: One year ago we were getting excited about the Fringe Festival and getting excited about the city government’s sudden enthusiasm for baseball. Two year ago we welcomed Wegmans and pondered why no one smiles on the Metro.
Photo by Eye Captain.
