Photo by philliefan99
Good morning, Washington. It sounds like the city is backing away from its plans to require residents to use the so-called “One Card” to access city facilities like the Wilson Aquatic Center — the Examiner has the whole story. Put simply, the city is buckling to pressure. Proponents of the card claim that it can unify disparate credentials, simplifying residents’ access to city services. But critics of the card maintain that it is almost certainly the Mark of the Beast foretold in Revelations. That, or they’re worried about privacy — definitely one of those. The One Card will still be accepted as ID for city facilities, but a driver’s license will also suffice.
Scooterjacking in Dupont: WJLA reports on a daylight robbery along 16th Street: two teens stole money from one man at gunpoint, then took the scooter of another man. The thieves were caught shortly thereafter. The article treats this as a new and worrying trend, but of course scooters have been getting jacked in Northwest for quite a while. The City Paper discussed the phenomenon in 2005; folks complained about a string of such thefts in 2007; and we noticed a passive aggressive note about scooter theft just last year.
City Announces Valet Parking Regulations: The Post brings word of the new scheme under which the city’s valet parking will operate. Businesses need to buy signs, and if they offer valet service more than three times a week they won’t be able to park patrons’ cars in on-street parking spaces. That seems fine, but the annual fees have got us a bit confused: $50 per year and fifty cents per hour for the use of a twenty-foot stretch of city curb? That seems kind of low when compared to what an equivalent amount of on-street parking would cost those of us not fancy enough to use valet service — particularly when you consider that the new regulations apparently include some vaguely-defined mechanism by which police will ticket valet-parked cars less frequently.
Briefly Noted: Judge declares Pr. George’s County furlough plan unconstitutional, could force “massive layoffs”… Alexandria gas leak repaired… Dominion Virginia Power customers can expect their bills to go up $3 in the new year… Kaine to announce $1.3 billion in budget cuts… Art-based nonprofit suffered inexplicable vandalism over the weekend… the Post’s LoudonExtra site is getting scrapped…
This Day In DCist: One year ago EveryBlock launched its D.C. edition and terrifying wax replicas of the Jonas Brothers debuted.
