>> A man was hospitalized this morning after his Ford Expedition crashed into a Metrobus at 8th St. and Massachusetts Ave. NE. [WJLA] >> A 19-year-old Maryland woman got stuck in a two-story chimney about 12:20 a.m. Monday at her father’s tire shop on Bladensburg Road. Firefighters were able to rescue her to safety. [WaPo] >> D.C. police responded to a shooting at an apartment complex at 6420 14th St. NW just after noon…

If you’re a regular reader of Transit on Thursday, you’ll have noted week after week of Green line delays over the past few months caused by the testing of new rail cars. Good news – those delays could soon cease. Metro is getting ready to stop testing and starting using, reports WTOP. The new rail cars, featuring two different designs, will be brought into service by Christmas. The first design is carpetless, with lots of…

Roll Call had a subscriber-only story up yesterday about today’s kick-off of an effort on the part of non-profit Trust for the National Mall to raise $350 million to revitalize Washington’s top tourist destination. Students from Ann Beers Elementary School in Southeast are getting things going today by planting 3,000 daffodil bulbs in Constitution Gardens. Citing maintenance needs due to heavy use like cracked walkways and patchy grass, the Trust will be working alongside the…

>> The ICC has been given the green light by a federal judge who denied a request by environmental groups. [AP via WTOP] >> The District’s Department of Public Works has launched a new campaign trying to get local youths not to litter so much. Maybe if they spent some of their energies putting some more trash cans on the streets, that would help. [WaPo] >> An interview with one of the D.C. firefighters…

Now that it’s getting darker earlier, bicyclists in the city need to be more careful about riding at night. But if you’re like me, you’ve been putting off buying a safety light for oh, forever. So I’m planning on being first in line this Friday, November 2 at the Suntrust Plaza in Adams Morgan to snag free front and rear bike lights courtesy the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and DDOT. All you have to do…

>> Sports Bog purveyor Dan Steinberg’s minivan was stolen. If you see a blue 1996 Dodge Caravan around town, please tell the thief that he or she has very bad taste. [DC Sports Bog] >> A student graduated from Brentsville High School in Virginia today with a perfect attendance record of 2,836 consecutive days. He hasn’t missed a single day of school in 13 years. [WTOP] >> A two-alarm fire early this morning swept…

We know, we know. Bloggers, like all journalists, are supposed to be hyper-skeptical of everything that comes across their monitors, only acquiescing after the most rock solid of facts are in. Well, forgive our optimism and idealism, but whenever we see any forward movement at the statehouse down in Richmond, we can’t help but get a little giddy. This week in transit, we look at the motivating forces of partisan democracy in Virginia, the…