Photo by spigoo
Good morning, Washington. Notice an unusual amount of activity in the skies this morning? Don’t worry; it’s just a NORAD training exercise. The maneuvers are slated to last for only one day, and officials assure us that they are long-planned, and not the abrupt byproduct of a classified machine intelligence being awoken by a precocious teenage hacker’s relatively innocent attempt to impress a girl (even though having the word “Falcon” in the operation title seems extremely suspicious).
More on Metro Track Circuit Problems: At the end of the day yesterday we linked to a just-published Post article indicating that the Metro system is experiencing failures of its train-detection circuits across the system, rather than just along the section of track near the Fort Totten station. It’s not yet clear how serious a problem this really is, but other voices are weighing in on the safety of the automated system. The Examiner quotes retired train operator Larry Mitchell saying, “The system can let you down.” As you might expect, Metro General Manager John Catoe disagrees — or at least disagrees with the Post’s decision to report on the new circuit failures. As Fox 5 reports, Catoe called a press conference very shortly after the Post story went online, at which he asserted that the system is safe and that to say otherwise is “a gross misstatement of the facts.”
Earmark Adds to Barry’s Woes: The Post’s D.C. Wire blog reports that Council member Muriel Bowser has asked chairman Vincent Gray to expand the ongoing probe of Marion Barry to include a $300,000 earmark for the National Association of Former Foster Care Children of America. The NAFFCCA sounds like an organization in chaos, but the broad outline of the situation seems to include unpaid staff and the use of a middleman to avoid problems related to the organization’s ineligibility for the grant. D.C. Wire is also reporting that Barry’s legal counsel resigned yesterday, although the Council member’s spokesperson said that the departure has been in the works for a long time.
Briefly Noted: 89 year-old man scares off gang of burglars… Facing criticism for his work for the DNC while on the job, Kaine releases travel schedule… No bids for the Watergate Hotel except from its primary creditor… Va. Gov. candidate McDonnell proposes privatizing state’s ABC stores… Loudoun looks to be getting a minor league baseball stadium…
