Photo by bencarrdus
Good morning, Washington. “The precious liquid is panda urine” — this and other gems can be found in today’s state of the panda pregnancy Post story. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like the news is good. Mei Xiang’s keepers have been monitoring her hormone levels, and it looks like they’re getting back to normal — a signal that either a birth is imminent, or that she’s passing through the final stages of her third consecutive false pregnancy.
Gandhi Won’t Certify Teacher’s Contract: WTOP’s Mark Segraves reports on yet more problems for the proposed contract between the District and its teachers. Apparently several of the private foundations that are underwriting the agreement have made their participation contingent on things that can’t be ensured — things like city schools meeting performance benchmarks and Michelle Rhee continuing to be schools chancellor. For this reason city CFO Natwar Gandhi is declining to certify the contract, which means the council can’t vote on it, which means getting DCPS members to approve it is now something like the contract’s third-biggest problem.
Traffic, Metro Problems in Northern Va.: First, the good news: those of you who commute through the Alexandria area by boat will probably have a perfectly fine morning. Everyone else will have a lousier time of it, though. A tractor trailer accident blocked multiple lanes on I-95 south. The accident’s been cleared and traffic is moving, but the effects still linger. Metro’s having trouble, too: trains are traveling slower than normal between Crystal City and National Airport this morning. A piece of maintenance equipment derailed twice this morning on this section of track; officials are slowing trains on this section of track out of an abundance of caution. No word yet on when things will be back to full speed. UPDATE: Via Unsuck D.C. Metro’s Twitter feed, it sounds like Red Line passengers are facing problems, too, thanks to a malfunctioning train near Forest Glen. UPDATE 2: Green line, too!
Council Considers Stance on Arizona: The Post reports that the D.C. City Council could take an official stance on Arizona’s new immigration law as soon as next week. The measure is still subject to revision, but the thrust seems to be a prohibition on the city investing in or otherwise doing business with firms based in Arizona. It’s not yet clear how many such business relationships would be affected — but D.C. isn’t the only municipality considering such a move, nor is the idea unprecedented. Arizona faced a boycott when its governor rescinded state recognition of the MLK holiday back in the late 80s. Lost business (and a lost Superbowl) helped lead to an eventual referendum that re-recognized the holiday.
Briefly Noted: Thousands attend funeral of Dorothy Height… Va. universities raising fees almost 10 percent… Young brothers fight off apparent abduction attempt in Prince William… School bus snags overhead wires in College Park… Nasty multi-car wreck in Bowie…
This Day In DCist: One year ago Marion Barry protested same-sex marriage.
