Morning Washington. Animals everywhere are breathing sighs of relief this morning after one giant creature makes a recovery and five little creatures get some justice. Ambika, the Asian elephant at the National Zoo was found with a blood clot yesterday, worrying the vets with what could have been a life threatening condition for the 59-year-old female. Luckily, the clot isn’t dangerous, and Ambika looks to live will beyond the typical 50-ish year elephant life expectancy with — and this warms our hearts to say — the good care she’s receiving at the Zoo. The five kittens that the Hagerstown psychopath burned to death last year weren’t so lucky, but they’ll finally get some justice. The “man” was sentenced to almost a year in prison and the judge is moving his gaze to the girlfriend, insisting prosecutors look into her possible involvement.
>> Is It The Lesson On “Tolerance” That’s The Problem?: The Post reports on the small uproar that unsurprisingly followed a Montgomery County decision to teach a segment on sexual orientation to middle school students during regular sex-ed courses. Last year a federal judge issued a restraining order just as the pilot programs were to be implemented, but the county adjusted them into fully scripted lessons with no mention of religion. The new Board-approved program will be implemented in just six schools where principals expressed interest and parents gave written approval — if all goes well, the lessons will go county-wide next fall, though some organizations continue to argue they violate rights of free speech and religious exercise.
>> New Metro GM Starts Out Strong: Metro is finally on the ball, looking to save us some cash while reviewing safety issues after the three deaths and twenty injuries over the past twelve months. According to WTOP, Metro will look to an outside consultant who will spend five years analyzing current safety rules. In the meantime, General Manager John Catoe plans to find a way to eliminate the $51 million budget shortfall without implementing another fare raise until at least July 1.
>> Briefly Noted: Va. pushes Amber Alert for wandering seniors … Fenty stumbles over eye-rolling bureaucracy in naming Latino Affairs head … Speculation that Old Post Office redevelopment may include residences … D.C. kids may get new science lessons.
>> This Day In DCist: Last year we watched Borf get shipped off to jail, but in 2005 we were watching Virginians freak out over gays.
Photo of cow cloning protest by Eye Captain.
