Photo by Laura_Grageda.Good morning, Washington. If you’re anything like this editor, the most unpleasant sound on Earth is the morning alarm. But a close second for many are the clanging protests which often clog the streets of Washington. The Washington Post’s editorial board feels your pain — the board offers this opinion, bemoaning the “appropriation of the First Amendment as an excuse for District officials to do absolutely nothing to protect those who live and work in the city from unwelcome — even intolerable — noise.” The funny thing is that the District does have a relatively tough noise ordinance, but it depends on the discretion of police officers when it comes to enforcement. But even the Post concedes that the loud protests will continue until someone takes the matter to court — and although we’re sure that there are plenty of people annoyed by the noise, we’re skeptical about how long that list of names is. (I’m guessing the number of people or organizations willing to spend a bunch of money just to shut up the people with the inflatable rat probably isn’t very high.)
Gray Pocket Vetoes Budget Bill: Late news from the Mayor’s Office, as Michael Neibauer reports that Mayor Vince Gray did not sign a bill related to the city’s budget which would have pushed back the installation of a tax on municipal bonds until January 1, 2012. “The Mayor did not sign the BSA emergency bill due to his concerns about the bond tax amendment and its potential negative impact on the reserve funds and the District’s rating on Wall Street,” Gray spokeswoman Doxie McCoy told Neibauer. Since the Council is on recess and the Mayor didn’t sign by midnight, it represents a the first time Gray has pocket vetoed a measure — the Council will likely take up the bill again when they return from recess. (Gray did sign the larger Budget Support Act.)
Evidence, Schmevidence: We briefly touched on the latest round of infuriating legal maneuvers by Dan Snyder’s legal team yesterday, though Andrew Beaujon does a great job of expressing just how silly most of Snyder’s response to City Paper’s anti-SLAPP motion is. Snyder’s counsel calls for the dismissal most of the evidence in that claim, stating that a Wikipedia article, reports by the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, sworn testimony and an order from the Florida Public Service Commission are hearsay.
Well, That’s Curious: Some D.C. schools under investigation for potential security breaches during standardized exams experienced plunges in performance on the most recent tests. The Post reports that scores at Noyes Education Campus dropped by 25 percent in reading and 20 percent in math this year; Noyes was one of three schools who had high erasure rates in 2010. Test security was “strengthened” this year, and the Post notes that not every school under scrutiny experienced drops like Noyes.
Okay, He Really Doesn’t Get It: We poked some fun just like anyone else. But could someone over at the Post please tell Courtland Milloy that Twitter isn’t some mass conspiracy by millennials to send him to an early death?
Briefly Noted: Spot on post by Lydia DePillis about why the term NIMBY isn’t always the slur some take it to be…It’s nice that The Guardian made an effort, at least…Police make arrest in killing of Prince George’s County man…Fannie Mae pulls out of annual Help the Homeless walk on the Mall…Police investigating fatal stabbing on 5300 block of 8th Street NW…An interesting read on Virginia’s longevity gap.
This Day in DCist: Last year, we didn’t get invited to Michelle Rhee’s wedding, Metro got some new maps, Gray went on the offensive — oh, and there was this little bit of squee.
