Well, did the last 24 hours of weather forecasts and warnings succeed in scaring you into a bunker to pray for your immortal souls? Even before a single flake of death appeared, many suburban schools scrapped the day in fear of Snowpocalypse: Episode Three. Various forecasters predict 1-3 inches for the District and even more in areas West. As for DCist, we’ll fan out through the city to bring you complete coverage, which, like the other major media outlets, will break down into a dozen reporters saying “Yup, it’s snowing here too.” So keep your wits about you and stay safe out there.
There’s a New Chief in Town: Today Mayor Fenty will announce his pick new Chief of the D.C.Fire and EMS Department. Dennis Rubin, who currently leads the Atlanta Fire Department, replaces Adrian Thompson, who was ousted in December. Thompson drew fire over D.C. EMS handling of the fatal attack on New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum, whose treatment was seriously delayed by confusion on the part of paramedics, prompting a lawsuit by his family. The City’s emergency resources also the subject of a slew of reports about poor equipment maintenance and long response times.
Sex Ed Gets Real: Montgomery County students will now learn about gender identity and homosexuality in between rolling condoms on bananas. As we noted in January, approval of the change spurred ire among the usually liberal Marylanders. Opponents of the new curriculum have filed a legal challenge to stop the addition of language that, among other things, describes LGBT people as “celebrat[ing] their self-discovery” and labels certain religions as anti-gay. Health advocates stress the need for frank discussion of such issues, as most pubescent students are already engaging in sex, even if it’s with a (gasp!) same-sex partner.
Briefly Noted: Giant to open 4 deluxe stores in the District…Armed robbery near Va. Metro station… Maryland could get a state-wide smoking ban…
This Day in DCist: Last year we had high hopes for Safeway’s bold decision to stop sucking. In 2005 we were also looking for some retail therapy in the form of Walmart.
Photo by Flickr user yorktronic.
