Photo by pablo.raw
Good morning, Washington. It’s going to be slightly warmer today, but not by much. Still, 42 degrees is better than 32, right?
Settling Up: Today’s Loose Lips column in the City Paper takes aim at a recent Post study that said District services are getting better. But where injuries and wrongful arrests are concerned, not so fast, Alan Suderman says. “D.C. has spent more than $150 million in settlements and judgments in the last five years,” he writes, looking at cases like that of Nicholas Anders, who was struck by an MPD cruiser whose officers then took him home rather than the emergency room. Anders filed a $20 million suit against the city, though eventually settled for $250,000.
Cold Rodents: With inspectors from the D.C. Health Department set to check out their encampment, perhaps the last thing Occupy D.C. needed to discover is that McPherson Square is home to a growing rat population. Besides that, the protest movement is figuring out ways to last out the cold months, the Post reports. As temperatures dropped the past two days “the city’s two Occupy encampments began to resemble ghost towns.”
Dept. of Everything Is Closing: Macy’s Inc. is the latest company to announce it’s closing some of its local stores, with the Macy’s at Laurel Mall and the Bloomingdales at White Flint Mall set to close at the end of the month, the Post reports. The two malls are planning remodeling projects “that would transform them from malls into outdoor town centers.” All told, the two stores employ about 225 people, some of whom may get offers at nearby stores.
Briefly Noted: Monroe Street NE development gets the OK, barely … Thomas now said to be making $17,000 payment … WUSA9 now backing off a little on resignation reports … McDonnell brushes off Perry’s suit for Virginia ballot access … Barry files signatures to “continue 31-year ministry of public service” … I don’t want to grow up, I’m a City Paper essayist.
This Day in DCist: A year ago, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton officially lost her vote in the House’s Committee of the Whole, and Sticky Rice got some good news. In 2010, Ovi was named Caps’ captain, and dolls and action figures got down in Gilbert Arenas’ birthday video.
