Good morning, Washington. We really wish we had some good news to share in regards to the local weather forecast, but it’s starting to seem as though the more often we refresh the weather page, the worse the predictions actually get. So new rule this morning. We’ll only talk about kittens and lollipops and pretty pretty ribbons until we get at least two days in a row with sunshine. Our strategy is clear: annoy the weather gods until we get some relief.
Panel Suggests Closing Walter Reed Sooner: The front page of the WaPo this morning has a story detailing the potential demise of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the hospital which the paper exposed earlier this year as providing inadequate care for Army soldiers in squalid conditions. Walter Reed had been scheduled to close in 2011 according to recommendations made by the Base Closure and Realignment Committee. Now a Pentagon review panel has concluded that the hospital should be closed immediately in light of the recent revelations about its standard of care. The article rightly points out that should that come to pass, it seems certain that a clash between the neighbors of the proposed replacement hospital site at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and the Army would ensue — especially if plans proceed without the promised environmental review to assess the effects of added traffic in that area.
Metro Employees Cashing in on Overtime: The Examiner’s Joe Rogalsky has been digging through WMATA’s payroll records, and discovered that 100 bus and train operators took home paychecks of more than $100,000 in 2006 thanks to generous overtime rules. The story also points out that despite its potentially high wages, Metro has difficulty attracting top job candidates because of its unusual hiring practices which require a recruit to spend a year working part-time. General Manager John B. Catoe clearly has his work cut out for him as he tries to balance Metro’s budget. If they’re paying out so much overtime, that seems to indicate a personnel shortage. But only weeks ago Catoe suggested he would cut jobs to avoid a rate hike. Which is it?
Briefly Noted: Boys charged in three arson fires in Loudoun County … PG County hospital shutdowns worry experts … University of Mary Washington president charged with DUI.
This Day in DCist: Last year we wondered why emergency responders couldn’t find 9 1/2 Street NW, and the year before that we got excited about combining craigslist with Google Maps.
Photo by Eye Captain
