Photo by thisisbossi

Good morning, Washington. Another great day before a not-so-great weekend, so enjoy your time outside today.

It’s One Thing for Escalators Not to Work, But Defibrillators?: Metro officials promised this week to check on defibrillators at 46 stations after a man died after an apparent heart attack on the Yellow Line this week, writes the Post. After the 51-year-old D.C. resident suffered the heart attack on Monday while crossing towards Virginia, a defibrillator at the Pentagon station failed to work, either because it was not fully charged or because it’s battery failed. Metro also said that it would place defibrillators in all 86 stations and replace old units with new ones.

Jack Evans Offers His Thoughts on Maryland Taxes: Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has always been something of a fiscal hawk, but his opinions on taxes and finances no longer pertain only to D.C. The Examiner reports that Evans joked that Maryland’s tax rates were fast approaching those in D.C., setting off cheers and complaints from Maryland politicians. Republicans in the Old Line State used his comments to bash Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget, while a spokeswomen for O’Malley said that Evans did not “have the full picture.”

Metro Tests Bike and Ride Facility: We’re all used to Metro’s Park & Ride facilities, but how about an option for the region’s cyclists? WAMU reports that Metro is testing a Bike & Ride facility at the College Park Metro station, where for a small fee cyclists can leave their bikes in a secure area. The area can hold up to 100 bikes and will cost $5 for an access card and between two and five cents an hour for parking.

Briefly Noted: Male GW student robbed, sexually assaulted … Virginia to start charging for E-ZPass transponders … Poseurs nightclub reunion set for August 4 … Bowie State University student charged with stabbing roommate free on bond … Convicted MoCo drunk driver who killed three seeks to cut short prison sentence … Jeffrey Thompson’s health care company may lose D.C. contracts.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, we learned that Charlie Sheen may be a birther and the Post launched Trove, it’s news-aggregation service. In 2010, Kal Penn was robbed at gunpoint and on resident advocated for Bendy’s re-election.