Good morning, Washington. D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown’s chief of staff, Nichole Streeter, has resigned. Her departure comes at a precarious time for Brown, who has been mired in scandal surrounding his taxpayer-funded, fully-loaded SUV and the federal investigation of his 2008 reelection campaign.
“It’s nothing bad. It was mutual,” Brown said. “She decided to move on to other things and I understand and respect that decision. I think she is a wonderful individual and wish her the best wherever she lands.”
There’s a hole in my heart where a sports metaphor should be.
Brown said his legislative director, Megan Vahey, will serve as his acting chief of staff as he looks for a permanent replacement. (Brown’s at-large office was well-known for high staff turnover.)
Brown and Mayor Vince Gray now both lack permanent chiefs of staff.
D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh offered her two cents on the kind of candidate Brown should seek to permanently replace Streeter: “He needs to really hire someone who knows about politics and has good judgement to be an effective chief of staff. You really have to have both dimensions so someone can say, ‘gee, this is going on here’ and maybe offer him a bit of advice and run interference for him. You have to be sophisticated to have good judgement to run interference.” (There’s that metaphor. Better Cheh than never).
>> Violently powerful thunderstorms swept through the region Friday night, causing widespread power outages. Two people are in serious condition after being struck by lightning in Arlington during the storm.
>> Monopolizing guided tours on the mall since 1969, Tourmobile’s blue trolley dominance will likely come to an end this year (a nugget was reported earlier this week). National Park Service spokesman Bill Line says Tourmobile’s contract to provide transportation won’t be extended after it expires Dec. 31. The National Park Service is considering whether to allow bikes, pedicabs and Circulator buses on the streets it controls.
>> In sports, John Beck led the Washington Redskins to a 16-3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts Friday night, and in what was called a “stunning” game, soggy Nats fans were rewarded for their patience when Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk-off grand slam at 12:25 am for an 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies (rain delayed the game just five minutes after it began for over 2 hours).
>> It’s going to be painful getting around the Washington region this weekend. Metro Red Line work closes five stations, the Chain Bridge connecting Northern Virginia and the District is closed for repair work, and 9/11 memorial riders are snaking their way out of the area this morning via the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.
>> “Faces of Petworth” is a recently opened photo exhibit featuring mostly white faces, despite the fact that last year’s census figures show white residents make up only 13 percent of the population of Petworth. The Washington Post’s Vanessa Williams questions why there’s so little diversity in the exhibit.
>> Mike DeBonis reports on the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute’s “snapshot” of the city’s gay households, telling us some of what we know (highest proportions of gay couples are in Dupont Circle and Logan Circle) and some of what we may not (ranking third in the highest proportion of gay couples is suburban Crestwood).
>> Following up on your editor-in-chief’s enthusiasm for the centenary edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, a theory on slang.
>> An unabashed tactic for digging up dirt.
>> Fifty essential Washington history books. What do you think of the list?
>> The tale of a figure skater and an unidentified urn.
>> “It’s a very high-end panty with a technology.”
