Photo by philliefan99.Good morning, Washington. Last night’s pounding rain and lightning caused some issues, including power outages around D.C., clogged catch basins and road closures, including a part of the Beltway, due to standing water and fallen trees. Lightning may have also caused a two-alarm blaze at the campus of St. Elizabeth’s hospital which required the efforts of 100 firefighters. Just to top things off, reports of smoke at Metro Center have been seriously cramping Blue and Orange Line commutes this morning. Welcome to the middle of the week!
This Week In Go-Go: City Paper’s Rend Smith got his hands on a copy of the super-secret D.C. police “go-go report,” which MPD claims helps them combat gang violence and focus police resources at concerts. So what’s in the report? It’s basically just a listing of concerts, not very different from the ones DCist puts together every week — and interestingly enough, with a high concentration of Maryland clubs. Smith quotes a source who says that the vaunted “go-go report” is “typical of the Intelligence Branch’s work—an aggregation of publicly available information and tips from other cops, compiled into a marginally useful memo.”
Cases Closed: WTTG reports on the confession of a District man which has closed five cold cases; Ronald Brisbon, Jr. confessed to killing five people since 1998 in an affidavit given in D.C. Superior Court last week. Police aren’t sure why Brisbon confessed to all the murders.
Matt Capps, All-Star Game Winning Pitcher: I didn’t expect to write that subhead this morning. The Nationals’ closer struck out the only batter he faced and had the good fortune to be the active pitcher when Brian McCann doubled with the bases loaded, so he picked up the win for the National League last night.
For Some Reason, This Doesn’t Seem Like The Best Compensation: Were you stranded on a MARC train on June 21 for hours without air conditioning? You’re eligible for five “MARC VIP day passes,” whatever that means. (I think it means the same thing as a regular day pass. But VIP!) Of course, you have to go online and fill out a form. Then wait to get your passes. Then ride the same service that stranded you for hours in sweltering heat five times.
Briefly Noted: Small-claims suit against Mayor Fenty dismissed based on immunity clause…Teenager completes bike ride from Rancho Cucamonga, California to D.C….Two men steal $20,000 in copper wire from Amtrak…Metro launches internal review of Dupont Circle escalator troubles (though it’s hardly like this is a new problem)…Man found dead in Wheaton, another man confesses to killing…National Zoo sends vets to the Gulf coast…17 displaced after fire on Taylor Road NW.
This Day In DCist: Last year, Jim Graham introduced a resolution to rename the park at 14th and Girard Streets NW “Barack Hussein Obama Park,” and in 2008, we reviewed some proposed new handgun regulations.
