Tomorrow morning, at a station that WMATA has not disclosed, transit police and a special K9 team will surveil the Metro platform during morning rush. There may be as many as 20 officers on the platform at any given time during the 90 minute rush hour that begins at 7:30am tomorrow. No word on whether or not Metro is under any specific terror threat or the reasons behind the random station policing.

If you happen to travel through this station tomorrow, let us know what you saw. Also, if you’ve got an opinion about Metro’s security, which has seen more crime lately than ever before, tell us in the comments.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

That’s right, Dr. Sam Beckett himself is doing an online chat at the Washington Post tomorrow at 1pm, with the subject being his performance in the musical Shenandoah which is at Ford’s Theatre through April 30th.

Me, I’m dying to know about his Quantum Leap experiences, but I’ve got a feeling he won’t be too amenable to taking too many questions about his old school television days, though, the chat description says he will. Got a good question for Scott?

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WTOP News is reporting on their radio broadcast that the District may be adding a few taxes to real estate closings in the coming months that would add up to $2000 to the closing costs of any real estate deal in DC. I know that people are talking about a real estate bubble, and a decline in the prices, but I have to wonder whether or not the Mayor is trying to make things worse.

Anyone out there have more details on this? I googled around, and looked for the original piece on WTOP and on the Washington Business Journal site, but nothing’s coming up. Closing costs are one of those godawful crazy moments where you’ll pay pretty much anything to be done with the process, and adding $2000 to the cost seems to be some sort of extortionist measure to me.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Where are the hotdogs?!

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

Every once in a while I get this craving.

You know the one I’m talking about. You stare out the window on a gorgeous day, and dream of grabbing a half-smoke from the hotdog vendor on the corner, with extra onions and mustard.

Sitting on a park bench, enjoying the creature comfort of smoked sausage and tangy brown mustard with the bite of the onion.

Sadly, I’m at home waiting on the Wells Fargo Wagon’s modern descendent to deliver my replacement TiVo and some new business cards, so popping into the city is a no-go. Going to Safeway, though, for a package of Hebrew Nationals, though, that I can handle.

Except there weren’t any. I could have had a ton of different sausage types, but not one hotdog. How the hell does this happen? Dammit, now I really want a half-smoke.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

not clean

So Verizon’s graffiti is washable chalk, not spray paint, as I originally thought. But its not easily washable chalk – it took me a good 5 minutes of scrubbing just to take off a “F” and it’s the actual act, more than the paint, that should piss us off.

Here is Verizon, a multimillion dollar company, defacing public property for its own marketing purposes. Defacing public property as it will take DC’s Graffiti removal team (and my taxpayer dollars) a good power-washing to remove their blatant ad from what should be a ad-free public space.

Where does this differ from bOrf or even Cool Disco Dan?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

graffiti

While we can debate if bOrf was an artist or a vandal, there can be no mistaking the stencils I noticed on my walk to work today.

Those spray-painted ads for Verizon’s Yellow Pages along the K Street sidewalk – that would be graffiti, straight up and ugly.

Now I wanna know – how did that get on the sidewalk? And why isn’t the District suing Verizon to clean up it’s defacing of District property?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

15th street closed

Good luck on that drive home tonight. Bush is at a meeting on 15th street and its closed between K and M streets NW. As you might expect, downtown is a parking lot as a result.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

The Washington Times, in an occasional piece of halfway decent journalism, has a great article about DC’s speed camera program, which raises a boatload of money for the District, mostly on the driving habits of Marylanders, and doesn’t seem to curb any of the traffic issues. According to the article, traffic fatalities went up to 49 in 2005 from 45 in 2004, despite the addition of new speed and red light cameras.

The District has already collected $5 million in fines this year alone (Note, $100 of it was mine.) on pace toward $30 million in revenue.

So yes, I’m prejudiced against them because I got caught, but I guess I’m more upset that instead of just $50 (my fine), I didn’t get notified until the fine was already due, so I had to pay $100 or face more serious consequences while I fought the District’s commissioner of the revenue on the issue. But, if they’re not improving safety…and there are more fatalities…are the cameras doing any good except raising money for the District?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Friend of Metroblogging DC (yeah, I said it) and occasional MBDC contributor Erin Myers was featured in the Sunday Source this weekend as one of five local DJs profiled for the Source’s cover story.

DJ Lil’e, as the kids call her, spins an 80s alt-pop dance party called “Right Round” at the Black Cat monthly, appears monthly at Saint Ex and is also a regular at Felix, where you may also remember her from Metroblogging DC’s First Birthday Party.

If shakin’ it on the dance floor is your thing, or if you just love Robert Smith, the next Right Round is on April 15. Only $6! What a bargain!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

George Mason University has WON their game against number 1 seeded University of Connecticut Huskies, in an Overtime Thriller at the Verizon Center. Tied at 74 after regulation, the Patriots charged through the Overtime period, beating Connecticut 86-84, becoming the first double-digit seed to ever make the Final Four.

The big story? Mason’s distance attack. Shooting 9 of 18 from outside the 3 point line, Mason was well over their usual 37%. The din from the Verizon Center is coming through loud and clear over the radio, and I would imagine Chinatown is bedecked with yellow and green fans running through the streets!

On to Indianapolis and the National Championship! Gooooooo MASON!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Some random observations from last night:

1) The downstairs bar at Local 16 on a Saturday night is packed so full it’s impossible to navigate with a full martini.
2) Everyone at the inexplicably packed bar looked exactly the same. No diversity. I was even the only girl with short hair.
3) Despite said fetchingly modern haircut and killer jeans, a twentysomething rugby player called me “ma’am”
4) 3am crullers from 7-11 will assuage ageist humiliation and stave off impending hangover
5) A night on the town isn’t complete until you’ve seen a car burst into flames mere steps from your house

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

…Would you find a Maternity-wear store, next to a tobacconist.

Only in Virginia.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I went out to the Farmer’s Market in Courthouse to check out my options for some good local produce and products. I love the idea of a farmer’s market, allowing me to buy direct from the producer with no middle man; my inner capitalist does a little dance whenever I go.

Sadly, though, I wasn’t impressed with what I saw at the market. Yes, I know it’s only the end of March, but the showing was dismal. Bread and pastry, sure. Sorbet, sure. But hardly any produce at all. Some mushrooms, yes, but not much in the way of anything fresh. While I was tempted by the peaches in bourbon, I ended up with some Polyface sausage and a few Fuji Apples. Definitely, it’s still early, but I was bummed. I guess I just want it to be Spring so badly….

One last vignette from the market. Tiffany arrived at the market around the middle of the morning, and two men with t-shirts and clipboards were collecting signatures to put former Secretary of Defense Webb on the ballot for Senator in Virginia. We both looked up at him, not knowing off the top of our heads who he was, I said “Hm. No, I think I’ll pass.”

The look on the guy’s face could best be described as “astounded.” He was shocked that someone would turn him away. It made my day, entirely.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

GMU has triumphed over Wichita State to bring them into the Elite Eight for the first time in the school’s history. Though all of our brackets are completely wrecked, Darpino was seen rejoicing in the streets, shirtless, covered in gold and green.

At the half, the Hoyas are up by two over Florida, but the chance remains that the District’s semi-pro college basketball teams could represent a quarter of the Elite Eight. Not bad, DC, Not bad.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Amid allegations of plagiarism, Ben Domenech resigned his blog, Red America, at the Washington Post today.

For the last several years, Ben’s been a close friend of mine, and has offered counsel, humor and help that I have appreciated on many levels. However, if the allegations are true, and the research done by many in the blogosphere seems to conclude that they are, then Ben has made the right decision. The Post deserves a voice free of controversy and the pall of scandal, even though I believe that Ben would have done an excellent job in that capacity.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

When I got the invitation from my friends Jeff and Cam to go to a protest at the Afghan Embassy on Wyoming Ave in Northwest, I didn’t quite know what to do. See, I’ve always had this dislike for protestors, dating back to the last round of really anarchic WTO/IMF/WorldBank protests which obstructed me from getting around downtown and nearly got me tear gassed as the protestors stormed the Citibank on McPherson square. Going to the protest would be a major change in posture for me, as I’ve felt that often times opposed the nature of protests at embassies in general.

But I went. And here’s what I learned.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading →

Personally I prefer my seafood uncooked. Growing up in Miami there was just so much fresh seafood to be had that I got good and spoiled. So now I’m very finicky about seafood and most places just don’t measure up, so I usually pick sushi over seafood. My darling girlfriend, however, didn’t come to this position despite also growing up in a coastal town. So I end up going to more seafood places than I would necessarily like and she goes to less than she’d care for. Sometimes my inner crank is proved right and it’s lousy. More often I’m simply unimpressed. Our experience at RT’s Restaurant, however, was just flat-out excellent.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading →

While reading about Jenn L’s adventures in finding the perfect pair of jeans, I decided that a nice pair of high-end jeans would be just the thing to treat myself to after a few months of workin’ it at the gym. After all, what better way is there to celebrate your new, cuter ass than with a nice pair of jeans to complement it?

But, I said to myself, what will I do if I go spend a bunch of money on The Perfect Pair and then I tear them? Or wear a hole in them? Or destroy the backs of the cuffs? Being short, most jeans are too long on me and I do this a lot…

DailyCandy DC has provided me with the answer, and although the answer isn’t located in DC itself, I thought I’d share it with you all in case you were as inspired as I was by Jenn’s tale of against-the-odds denim questing. Denim Therapy will re-weave your torn, worn, damaged denim to make the repaired area look just like the rest of the fabric. Prices are about $7/inch for repair work and takes about two weeks. A small price to pay to keep your $125 Luckys looking good…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Yesterday’s Post highlighted some fun comments from MoCo police:

August 2004: “In their country [in Africa] they would get shot for talking back to the police. By the way the international sign for ‘get the [expletive] on the ground’ is a gun pointed at you by a uniform police officer.”

The comments were made on the Union’s Message Board, which is not visible to the public. Of course, the Police Chief’s unhappy about the whole thing, and Hello MoCo has the best summary so far:

• Police Chief: Shut down the message board!
• Doug Duncan: There’s no room for “racism, bigotry and hatred” in the police department.
• The union: We’re not shutting it down, the board has a legitimate purpose. Don’t forget about free speech.
• NAACP chapter: Officers told us about concerns regarding the message board; not much was done about it.
• Casa of Maryland: “Outrage.”

So, should the message board, which isn’t public, be shut down? Well, free speech says No, it shouldn’t. Common sense, though, says, “Hey Guys, Generally, it’s a bad idea to say things on the internets that you wouldn’t say in front of a crowded room.”

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

This train accident from November 2004, which left one train literally atop another at the Woodley Park Metro, caused all manner of conflagration in DC when it happened. The NTSB has finally released their report on this incident, and are citing “Operator Error” as the cause of the incident that injured 20 people and destroyed parts of two trains. Estimated damage for the incident was $3.4 million dollars.

Here’s the rub, from the summary of the NTSB report:

“The train operator’s alertness was likely reduced due to inadequate sleep.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s practice of allowing train operators to return to work after having as few as 8 hours off between shifts following prolonged tours of duty does not give train operators the opportunity to receive adequate sleep to be fully alert and to operate safely.”

Airlines are required to give pilots adequate sleep times. Amtrak is required to give train operators adequate sleep times. But Metro isn’t?! How did this happen? Of course, the NTSB passes the buck on to the Federal Government to create laws that require that, but leave WMATA out of the matter? Shouldn’t the NTSB be directing WMATA to require adequate rest times between shifts? Seems to me like a bit of a no-brainer, don’t you think?

The full report is not currently available from the NTSB publications department, but should be in the coming days. I’m a bit disappointed that the investigation took well over a year, and we’re only hearing about this now.

What’s WMATA’s take on all this? Well, they’re trying to spin it, just a wee bit:

“In Metrorail’s 30-year history, the Woodley Park collision is the only time in which one train rolled backward into another. The Metro fleet is safe and we are confident that our train operators know how to brake trains,” said Steve Feil, Metro’s Chief Operating Officer for Rail. “This was an isolated incident due to operator error, and we dismissed that operator because he failed to follow proper procedures to brake the train.”

Never mind that WMATA has no regulation concerning the rest times between shifts, which lead to a degraded operator making a mistake. Want to do something about this? Email Metro’s Board of Directors, or fill out a comment form and ask for a guaranteed minimum rest time between shifts.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs