Photo by Prince Buster
Good morning, Washington. Let’s talk about the weather! Yes, we’re back to typical D.C. snowstorms, in that they aren’t really, which is mostly terrible because I won’t get to fill DCist with 20 straight snow posts during our intrepid editor-in-chief’s day off. But even though the Federal government is open, bosses, you may not see high attendance today with flights, trains, and busses canceled throughout the region. The good news, we guess? If you’re actually driving into the office today, it may be hellishly windy and a bit icy (we’re getting to the good part), at least you’ve pretty much got the Beltway to yourself (hooray!). The wind advisory, with gusts up to 45-50 mph, lasts until 9 p.m. tonight, followed by the temps hitting the 50s later this week.
Virginia is for Road Trippers: Our neighbor state unveiled a brand new tourism guide this weekend, hoping to break you out of your winter gloom with some advanced summer planning. Civil War buffs already know that 2011 marks the sesquicentennial of the start of the war between the states, which Virginia will mark with events across the region. Not to mention, it’s the 75th anniversary of the dedication of Shenandoah National Park. Browse the site and daydream about your wine tasting tour, camping trip, or, you know, Robert E Lee’s 204th birthday celebration.
A Look Back at the Fenty Administration: Jonetta Rose Barras gives outgoing Mayor Adrian Fenty a bit of a pre-post-mortem in yesterday’s Examiner, extolling his accomplishments such as going after slum landlords, improving United Medical Center, and giving him credit for the drop in homicides, rise in student test scores, and jump in number of D.C. residents. “Truth be told, the government was transformed and District residents were better served because of Fenty’s aggressiveness and unrelenting drive. In the process, he also made the city a hip, cool place to live.” Discuss.
Briefly Noted: Welcome to 21st century-style gift-giving, forcing us to actually side with Miss Manners, sigh … A present for the unemployed: free job-seeking advice today and Tuesday … Woman died last night in Dupont Circle apartment fire … Redskins took the Jaguars 20-17 yesterday.
This Day in DCist: In 2006 we said goodbye to President Gerald Ford, in 2007 our film critic Ian Buckwalter looked at his top ten movies, and in 2009 we were getting ready for major Metrobus changes.
