Good morning, Washington. Grab the galoshes. The D.C. region, which has been suffering from moderate drought, is locked in for more rain today. Heavy downpours are expected, and the National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch for most of the metro region. Maryland’s tax-free week starts today, so if you don’t find the rain too dissuasive, be careful on the roads.
>> Tim Craig sits down with D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown (and apparently his entire senior staff), to discuss Brown’s waning popularity and his struggle to, “move past sports metaphors to demonstrate he’s in control and can be trusted.”
>> The Washington Post has a sobering story of Theodoric C. James Jr., who served in the White House under every president from Kennedy to Obama handling some of the most important classified documents. James died tragically this summer, isolated and living in filth in his rundown D.C. home. The Post tries to discover why.
>> At least nine people died in accidents on area roadways Friday and Saturday, including a 3-month old who was inside an SUV that ran off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and slammed into a tree.
>> 16,892 voters cast ballots in the Ames straw poll Saturday, handing Michele Bachmann the win. After a disappointing finish, T-Paw dropped out, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Saturday he’s joining the Republican presidential race.
>> At least five people have died and dozens were injured after a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair Saturday.
>> In sports, D.C. United secured a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at RFK Stadium. The Washington Nationals lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 11-3.
>> The District is one of five capital cities the EPA is partnering with to make our neighborhoods more sustainable and pedestrian friendly. As part of the EPA’s work with the District, which could begin this fall, they’ll be making three intersections around the Anacostia Metro station, “more effective for cars, pedestrians, and bicycles.”
>> WAMU does a Q&A with Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the only member of the recently announced debt reduction super committee from the D.C. region.
>> Scientists say a 1,200 square mile dead zone from nutrient pollution growing in the Chesapeake Bay may be one of its five worst ever.
>> The Washington Post editorial board questions the fairness of saddling Fairfax County with a bill for $160 million as part of the deal to save the Metrorail’s Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport.
>> A property tax credit program that was created to reward Montgomery County residents for using renewable energy-based heating and cooling systems has a $2.5 million backlog of payments, and some residents may have to wait as long as six years for their tax credit payout.
>> A disability rights program manager at the Equal Rights Center gives her take on the Washington Post’s “Ride, interrupted,”
>> Descendants of slaves who own the Sandy Spring plantation are told their street doesn’t exist.
>> “At a burly 6 feet 4, Jack Kujawski had the look and manner of an old-school city editor who wouldn’t hesitate to challenge a crooked cop, the mayor’s office or his reporters. He had all the right instincts of a good editor. … Only Mr. Kujawski didn’t issue his questions and edicts from a desk at a newspaper or magazine. He served up his opinions from behind the bar at the National Press Club.”
