Joe Allbritton, the founder of the media company that bears his name, died today at hospital in Houston.

>> Whatever this “new local news television show” is, they certainly have a firm grasp of exactly the sort of people who check the Missed Connections on a daily basis: The same people who would just die to get on television. [FishbowlDC] >> Washingtonpost.com’s Dan Steinberg needs your help to shoot DC United’s Nick Rimando with a water gun. Really. [D.C. Sports Bog] >> Will Augusto Pinochet ever be held accountable for the Sheridan Circle…

According to the Post, PNC Bank — the Pittsburgh-based financial corporation that recently bought Washington’s own troubled Riggs Bank — announced yesterday that it plans on hitting the District ground running in early May with extended service hours, no ATM fees, and a series of new branches. This plan comes amidst increasing bank competition in the Washington region and in the wake of last month’s purchase of Riggs’ 51 local branches for roughly $650 million….

Ahhh, the saga of Riggs Bank continues. The storied D.C.-based banking institution (which financed the purchase of Alaska and the Mexican-American War and more recently pleaded guilty to money laundering and not reporting suspicious activities of some of its clients … namely Equatorial Guinea, Saudi princes and Augusto Pinochet) which was set to be snatched up by Pittsburgh-based PNC, seems to be caught in merger purgatory. After PNC tried to dicker down Riggs’ $766 million…

Marion Barry Teaches Chemistry?: As Wonkette pointed out yesterday, Marion Barry went back to school and taught chemistry to a bunch of Ballou High School students as a visiting dignitary-turned-substitute teacher. While Wonkette makes light of Barry’s history putting certain chemicals in his body, as the Post reports, the former mayor-turned-Ward 8 councilman actually has a “bachelor’s and master’s degrees and some doctoral credit in chemistry.” While Barry did talk a bit about chemistry, he…

Editor’s Note: With the breaking news out of Chile that a retired army chief suspected of human rights violations under dictator Augusto Pinochet has flung himself from a 18th floor balcony at a Santiago apartment tower to his death (say that in one breath?), we thought it was odd timing that we were working on a profile of a monument remembering another violent passage from the Pinochet era right here in D.C.: The Embassy Row…