Photo by KentonNgo.
Good morning, Washington. Let’s start with Metro, shall we? A Metro train operator who almost struck a safety inspector on December 10 will no longer be allowed to drive Metro trains, according to the Washington Post. Inspectors from the Tri-State Oversight Committee apparently barely avoided being hit by an train running at full speed that day near the Braddock Road station. The operator’s supervisor was also suspended without pay for a week; the operator might be eligible for reassignment to another position in the agency.
Which is all well and good, but the big question still remains: how in the world did the information that a bunch of people, responsible for monitoring safety, were going to be looking at sections of live track not force a mandated slowdown through the area?
In other news this morning:
>> Missed your chance to take trapeze lessons last year? JDLand passes along the word that Trapeze School New York will be coming back to D.C. for another go-round, beginning on February 15th at 4th and Tingey Street SE.
>> Find the criminal justice system out of whack? Here’s a story for you: a 19-year-old from Prince George’s County, accused of armed robbery and assault, was released from jail on Thursday with all charges dropped — right in the middle of a seven-month-long trial.
>> Science! WBJ says that local universities have received a whole lotta stimulus funds to advance their understanding of the world around us. Maryland is using the money to help build its Laboratory for Advanced Quantum Science, a “21,000-square-foot underground lab” which will “study how atoms, molecules, and condensed and quantum matter behave to better understand the universe and, ultimately, devise better sensor and advanced computing technology.” Georgetown will use the money to help study soft matter (i.e. gels, polymers, foams), and George Mason is spending the cash on cryptographic study. So if you ever need anyone to develop unbreakable codes and a sensor to protect a vault containing your three-in-one foaming shower gel, well, you can thank stimulus money for that.
