Photo by Rich Renomeron

>> Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has been sued for $100 million for the role he played in a Metro land deal, reports the City Paper. One of the developers that sought the site says that Graham unfairly conspired against him, working to hand the valuable Florida Avenue plot to someone who had contributed to his campaign. Graham was recently found to have violated the city’s ethics code for his role in the deal.

>> Some Prince George’s County legislators are pushing back against County Executive Rushern Baker’s plan to take over the county school system, writes the Examiner. Under Baker’s plan, the school superintendent would become part of his cabinet and he would gain the power to appoint new members to the schools board. And while he wouldn’t have exclusive control over the school budget, the county council would not have oversight, a provision they have criticized.

>> The Silver Spring Transit Center certainly is a mess. Over budget and behind schedule, the Post reports today that a firm hired to test the strength of concrete used for construction didn’t do a particularly good job. As a consequence, some of the concrete has started cracking, and Montgomery County officials say that the transit center will have a useful life of 12 years instead of the 50 years expected.

Briefly Noted: D.C. officials break ground on new Ballou High School … Maryland residents face $2.3 billion in new taxes … Man stopped at DCA with loaded gun … Arlington residents terrorized by coyote … After woman killed by driver, residents demand traffic light on Florida Avenue NE … Those emergency intercoms on Metro might not be worth much.

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2012, murder suspects in a D.C. court wore hipster glasses to try and get sympathy from the jury and most of us would survive a nuclear blast in D.C. In 2011, Metro celebrated its 35th birthday.