Photo by wolfkann
>> A 80-car CSX train carrying coal derailed in Ellicott City overnight, killing two people, reports the Post. According to police, two people were on a bridge spanning the city’s historic downtown when the train crossed it and derailed; 21 of the train’s cars overturned or came off the tracks. Police and CSX officials are investigating what caused the derailment.
>> The city’s medical marijuana program is still barely off of the ground, despite promises that patients will have access to medical marijuana by early next year. The Washington Times reports that none of the six cultivation centers or four dispensaries have applied for building permits, business licenses or certificates of occupancy. At this point, the city’s medical marijuana program exists mostly on paper.
>> The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the agency that oversees the area’s airports and Metro’s Silver Line extension out to Dulles, isn’t looking good these days. The Examiner reports that four relatives of board members were given summer jobs; the board members defended the practice as being normal and acceptable. The Examiner also reports that one board member billed the agency nearly $2,500 to attend a funeral of a former chairman, while the Post reports that one member’s fight to remain on the board has cost it some $75,000 in legal fees.
Briefly Noted: Department of Justice upholds Virginia’s voter ID law … Newsflash: Marion Barry didn’t run to be pope … Challenger David Grosso tries to get Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large) booted off of the ballot … Capitol Hill sees jump in crime … New rules benefit D.C. vintage and second-hand stores … Tickets go on sale for State Fair of Virginia.
This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, the Cuban Interests Section said it would open a bar in its 16th Street diplomatic mission. In 2010, Vince Gray and Adrian Fenty squared off in the pages of the Post.
Martin Austermuhle