Photo by ianseanlivingston.Good morning, Washington. You know, no matter how gloomy you might perceive the atmosphere to be in this town, you can at least hold your head up high knowing that a) things (likely) aren’t going as poorly for you as they are for the god-awful Sidwell Friends Fighting Quakers football team, and b) you (probably) don’t have a bunch of suburban moms taking to internet forums to engage in lame flame wars in defense of your incredibly poor performance. Hey, moms: the indignation of losing every game by fifty points is embarrassment enough for these kids, don’t you think?
Fulfilling Tractor Man’s Legacy: So why did police have to close off a large portion of the National Mall on Wednesday afternoon? A U.S. Park Police officer saw something suspicious inside a camper parked in front of the National Air and Space Museum. When authorities searched the camper for explosives, they found nothing which indicated the camper was a threat — but they did find three guns in the vehicle. The owner of the camper, a man from Arizona, was arrested on weapon possession charges. The Mall reopened around 7 p.m.
The Transition, Brought To You By The 90s and Marion Barry: If you were worried that Vince Gray was going to go back in time during his mayoral administration, this news certainly won’t allay your concerns. Freeman Klopott checks out the makeup of Vince Gray’s transition team and finds a lot of connections to Marion Barry and the bad old days of the 90s. Thomas Downs, who will co-chair the transition’s infrastructure and transportation committee, worked under Barry for several years, including as Barry administration spokesperson. Cellerino Bernardino also worked for Barry as chief of the Department of Public Works, resigning in 1998. There is also Alice Rivlin and Constance Newman, who were both members of the federal control board put in place in the 90s to monitor the city’s financial mess.
Levy Murder Trial Not Going So Well For Prosecution: A dual blow for the prosecution during the Chandra Levy murder trial yesterday — first, several government experts testified that tests performed on clothing found on Levy’s person in Rock Creek Park after she died in 2002 produced no DNA evidence linking defendant Ingmar Guandique to the crime scene. There was one witness who said that there were two positive tests, but that might be wiped out by the fact that another scientific expert said that there was contamination while analysts tested Levy’s bra in 2008. Another concern for the prosecution: a witness who testified that Guandique said he was in prison because of a “dead girl” in letters later admitted under cross-examination that Guandique never actually admitted to killing anyone in their conversations.
One City, Indeed: Mike DeBonis lists the precincts where Gray got the most and the least votes in Tuesday’s election. Ward 3 and Ward 6 both featured five precincts where Gray pulled in a minority of the vote; Ward 7 and 8 combined had nine precincts where Gray got more than 95 percent of the vote.
Briefly Noted: A rehash of the Saturday’s L’Enfant Plaza Metro escalator speed-up reported at Gallery Place last night…Clara Barton’s home may be converted into a museum…It’s good to be Hispanic in Washington…Who will love D.C.’s Statehood Green Party?…Pedestrian killed in Marlow Heights hit and run…WTOP wants you to know that pretty much everyone is looking to hack into your Facebook account via public wifi. Stay afraid, people!
This Day in DCist: Last year, we interviewed chef Mike Isabella about Top Chef. In 2008, Barack Obama won D.C., Virginia, and a whole bunch of other states on his way to having lunch with Vince Gray two years later being elected the 44th President of the United States.
