Good morning, D.C. It’s been just a little over one year since the District’s workplace smoking ban went into effect, but Washington’s smokers still have a number of other nearby options when they’re looking for bars that allow smoking, most of them in Virginia and Maryland. But as of midnight tonight, a state-wide ban of smoking in Maryland goes into effect. Smoking had already been banned in Montgomery and several other counties, but this state-wide ban allows for zero exceptions anywhere in Maryland. So what? D.C. smokers will always be able to head to tobacco-friendly Virginia bars to light up indoors, right? Actually, maybe not — a Virginia Senate committee is expected to vote on Gov. Tim Kaine’s proposed smoking ban today. A similar measure failed last year, and despite Senate support, the Va. House could well vote it down again this year, but Virginia is certainly closer than it ever has been to its own state-wide smoking ban.

D.C. Residents Lack Health Care Access: A new report from the Rand Corp. paints a bleak picture of the health care options available to District residents, finding that one in five of us has no regular source of primary health care. The Post took a look at the 134-page report, which was commissioned by the D.C. Council in 2006, and found that it does not blame a lack of insurance, but rather a somewhat more mysterious problem rooted in declining access to family doctors and community clinics. Patients in D.C. with relatively minor health problems are showing up at hospitals for care at very high rates. The report recommends that what the District needs is not more hospitals, but to find a way to encourage doctors to serve out in the community and to educate patients about when to go to the hospital.

Was the Dulles Rail Plan Designed by ‘Experts’?: The Examiner reports on Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf’s attempts to get the state to hire a team of national transportation experts to rework the Dulles Rail proposal in time to address the FTA’s serious concerns with the project. Va. Gov. Tim Kaine’s spokesperson said the governor thinks the state already has an expert team in place.

Briefly Noted: D.C. Council holds hearing on stadium noose … Columbia Heights residents already whining about parking near the D.C.-USA development … Infant tossed to safety in Wheaton apartment fire.

This Day in DCist: In 2007 we gave you our recipe for recreating Mie N Yu’s duck and succotash, in 2005 we welcomed MediaBistro’s Fishbowl DC site to the interwebs.

Photo by akkleis