Photo by pnzr242.Good morning, Washington. Every now and then, we get the feeling that the District’s government just plain isn’t trying that hard. Take, for example, the news that the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has lost its national accreditation, which will make it easier for defense attorneys to discredit the results of autopsies. The problem: Freeman Klopott reports that Chief Medical Examiner Marie Pierre-Louis is actually unable to attain such certification, and the city had been banking on the National Association of Medical Examiners just handing them provisional, one-year accreditations, since the Council waived the requirement that the city’s M.E. be certified in 2003.
Tests Invalidated At 3 D.C. Schools: Yesterday, D.C. State Superintendent of Education Hosanna Mahaley announced that an investigation had shown “evidence or a strong suspicion” that three District classrooms had cheated on citywide assessment tests in 2010. The Post reports that the Superintendent attempted to spin the news as positive, noting that only three cheating classrooms of 3,800 district-wide proved that “most of our teachers and students are playing by the rules.” D.C.’s inspector general is conducting a similar investigation into allegedly high erasure rates at schools around town — it’s unclear if these three incidents are related to that probe or not.
Metro Talks Safety: A new report released by WMATA on rider safety concludes that Metro customers have a 0.005 percent chance of being a victim of crime on the transit system and notes that serious crime was down in the first quarter of 2011. But those statistics weren’t satisfying to those who attended a public meeting with Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn last night — despite being “sparsely-attended,” Taborn was grilled for two hours about safety.
Where’s The Money Coming From?: During a demonstration at the Wilson Building by social services advocates yesterday, D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown told the crowd that he “will do everything I can to restore all of the homeless services…That is a commitment that I have to this group.” WAMU also reports, though, that Brown again reinforced that he would not raise income taxes to find the $30 million needed to keep homeless services at current levels. Brown will convene another Councilmembers’ budge powwow at 12:30 this afternoon.
Briefly Noted: Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns as head of the International Monetary Fund (what took so long?)…It’s tough being Councilmember Mary Cheh…Serving as Prince George’s County’s Metro board member sure is lucrative…Proximity to planned Walmart: now a D.C. condo amenity…Va. nonprofits waiting to see if they made Cuccinelli funding blacklist…Loudoun County might bail on the Silver Line…This City Paper cover story by Amy Reinink on D.C.’s rollerskating scene is all kinds of awesome…Revelatory: the “door close” button in many elevators only works in a special emergency mode.
This Day in DCist: Last year, Marion Barry donned a cape, commenters debated Silver Diner’s new menu, and two Metro employees were drug tested after a man died inside a Red Line car.
