Photo by eudaimon.

Good morning, Washington. When you think about the scariest bridges in the world, you probably have a mental image of constructions like this one, a pedestrian span that hovers thousands of feet over a gap in the French Alps, or perhaps something like this, a rope bridge that is 450 feet long and is described as “extremely shaky.” But do you think about the Bay Bridge? Indeed, Travel and Leisure says that it’s one of the world’s scariest: “Drivers are notoriously afraid of this bridge, as it’s subjected to frequent—and often violent—storms.” Driving to the beach has never been more terrifying!

Walter Reed Looking At Mixed-Use Future: D.C. is expecting that the U.S. Army will sell them more than half of the 113 acres making up Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2012. (The Medical Center is splitting up and moving to various suburban locations.) So what to do with that big space? Well, the land’s planning team has a “lively, walkable, mixed-use neighborhood” in mind. The redevelopment plan, which was released today, features 40 acres of open space and more than 850 residential units, according to Michael Neibauer. There are also plans for a health clinic operated by Howard University. But without a Metro station nearby and streetcars along the surrounding corridor still an idea for the future, transportation and parking are big concerns which the developers will need to address. (Nothing says “walkable” like a giant parking garage, right?) The Post has a nice graphical representation of the plans so far.

Fenty Went On Hiring Spree Before Hiring Freeze: City Paper’s Alan Suderman reports that Mayor Adrian Fenty went on a little bit of a binge before he announced a freeze on hiring and government spending earlier this month. Suderman also reports that the Fenty administration fired city employees after the primary and “replaced them with campaign aides who were seen as more loyal to their cause.” I guess the real question is how shocking people find this. (Suderman even admits that “[i]f Fenty had won, all this might be business as usual.”) I’m sure there are those who don’t realize how dirty of a game D.C. politics can be sometimes — but as the lamest of ducks, Fenty’s obviously going to go out his way, and that means taking care of his own. Is it unethical? Perhaps. Is it surprising? Eh, less so.

Briefly Noted: A Prince George’s County child was sleeping in the back seat of a car that was stolen in Oxon Hill last night; the car and child, unharmed, were found about 35 minutes later…DCA has the best on-time performance of Washington’s three airports…Treet bakery, and their wonderful whoopie pies, will close…D.C.’s office space is more expensive to rent than New York’s…Groundbreaking on National Law Enforcement Museum today…Rhee’s severance pay, not as good as Lanier’s, but still pretty good.

This Day in DCist: Last year, we photographed KISS in concert, and embattled Jim Graham chief of staff Ted Loza’s “I Am D.C.” ad was pulled.