Good morning, Washington. Did you catch the State of the Union last night? If so, we hope your chosen SOTU drinking game didn’t include the phrases “tax relief” or “our men and women in uniform.” Even if it did, take solace in the fact that the endless breaks for applause were likely to produce a headache regardless of what you consumed during them.
Nickles, Cheh Clash Over D.C. AG: Linda Singer, former D.C. attorney general, resigned from her position after being ordered by Peter Nickles, Mayor Fenty’s general counsel at the time, to stop work on a case against Bank of America related to the D.C. Tax Office scandal. We mentioned this yesterday; today the Post has more. The city council has entered the imbroglio, led by Mary Cheh. Cheh and other council members are concerned that the AG’s office is insufficiently independent from the mayor. Nickles was grilled for two hours at a hearing yesterday, and legislation has been introduced setting a term limit for the attorney general position and clarifying its accountability to the mayor and council.
Kaine Gets Extension on Dulles Rail: Remember yesterday when we said nothing much related to the troubled Dulles Rail project was happening? Well, even less ended up happening that we expected. But it’s still something (barely). To wit: Governor Kaine has been granted an extension by the Federal Transit Administration. As the AP reports (via WTOP), he’ll now have until Friday to address the concerns that the agency is citing as justification for scuttling the feds’ contribution to the Dulles Rail project. The previous deadline was yesterday.
Va. Driver Fee Repeal Hits Snag: Virginia legislators’ efforts to do away with the state’s new bad-driver fees may have to wait a bit, as the Post reports. The fines, which are paid over several years, went into effect on July 1 of last year. They haven’t been a big hit with the public, and legislators pledged to repeal them as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, a 130 year-old court ruling is now making that difficult: the legislature apparently can’t undo decisions of the court system, so drivers who have been convicted of eligible offenses and begun to pay the fees will have to finish doing so. The legislature is considering issuing a refund or taking other measures to compensate those affected.
In more productive Virginian legislative news, the commonwealth is making progress at reforming its mental health policies after being spurred to do so by the Virginia Tech tragedy.
Briefly Noted: Metro ridership increasing despite fare increase… Cargo ship runs aground in Chesapeake Bay… Happy-slapping suspects sought in Frederick… Fairfax police officer arrested for embezzlement… Howard U. men’s soccer coach arrested for soliciting officer posing online as 13 year-old girl… Yesterday’s Obama rally at AU drew 7,000 people…
This Day In DCist: One year ago tickets to see Sufjan Stevens at the Kennedy Center were in short supply and Abe Pollin was angling for the city to buy him a new scoreboard. Two years ago it was a Sunday, and we ran a pair of opinion pieces by former DCist editors — one from Martin on surveillance, and another from Mike on the city’s historic buildings.
Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user eskepe
