‘Happy Shark Week 2010!’
courtesy of ‘~Daniel The Animal Lover Techie.TaiShan4Ever~’

Multiple news sources are now reporting that there’s a hostage situation unfolding at the Discovery building. There’s multiple reports of hearing gunfire and speculation that the gunman has explosives. WaPo reports that the building is being evacuated but police have not confirmed that the man is armed or carrying explosives.

More as it unfolds.

Update: the Washingtonian’s twitter feed reports having a tipster inside Discovery HQ who says employees are stuck on their floor.

Update: DCist quotes Corporal Dan Friz describing the individual as a “hostage taker.”

Update: TBD reports that a Discovery employee stated they heard “pops” – presumably gunfire – at aprox 1:20. This doesn’t jibe with WaPo Breaking News blog’s report that the MoCo police were responding to a 1pm call. Uncertain if this means the individual was spotted and reported before he fired any shots or if this is a witness error.

Update: WUSA reports that the demands at savetheplanteprotest.com belong to the gunman. Domain details for savetheplanetprotest.com indicate James Lee as the owner. DCist wrote about an individual named James Lee involved in a dispute with Discovery several years ago.

Update: TBD indicates that police scanner traffic hints at a former employee, unconnected to James Lee. Wonder if WUSA is going to be the first organization to defend against a twitter-based libel suit?

Update: MoCo police radio indicates that the children who were in Discovery daycare have been moved from the McDonalds to 1203 Fiddler Lane.

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‘Food Truck’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
Things are slowly but surely getting back to normal. One of the Sauca trucks is back today near Union Station, and D.C. Slices is back on the road though without a window. It’s a hard life out there for a food truck.

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‘Emily Adding $$…’
courtesy of ‘pthread1981’

It’s the first day of September, and for WMATA riders who set up the cost-saving SmartBenefits, it’s the day you refill your card now that the new month’s funds have been processed. That isn’t such a breeze this morning, as the system is having some serious issues connecting to the server. Wave your SmartTrip card at the machine, press SmartBenefits…and watch as it processes your transaction for a couple dozen seconds before finally saying the request can’t be fulfilled.  I experienced it in Rosslyn this morning as well as at Farragut West when I hopped off the train, and a quick scan of Tweeting commuters indicates things aren’t much better throughout the system (that’s right, by the way, I’m turning to Twitter users as a source for potential news).

Yes, it’s frustrating to get the rejection message, but this is interesting fodder for the debate that raged last week when Metro announced it would not allow SmartTrip users to go negative on balances. For long-time commuters, the amount on the SmartBenefits is precisely enough to get you through a month of trips. Not being able to add new funds (that the user pre-paid) is a new nightmare that is impossible to plan. Will this likely be resolved sometime today, with commuters taking care of things on the way home? Sure. But it may have made the morning a little bit less fun than usual.

‘White Chocolate Pot de Creme, Masa 14’
courtesy of ‘Jenn Larsen’

So you might get stuck with pizza seasoning when you wanted something else. However Sargent Stradanko reminds you that if it’s oregano you can use it in your soup.

‘National Zoo Celebrates Birth of Four Lion Cubs’
courtesy of ‘Smithsonian’s National Zoo’

Sometime between 10:30 last night and 2:30 this morning, Shera, one of the National Zoo’s female lions, gave birth to four lion cubs. FOUR CUBS, guys! Zoo staff is monitoring the family and the cubs appear to be eating, moving around, and generally healthy. Keepers do not expect the cubs to emerge from the cubbing den into the yard until late fall, so you won’t be able to see them if you visit the National Zoo until then, but you know if we get photos from the Zoo we’ll post them immediately for your procrastination enjoyment.

It’s also common for lion cub births to be spaced several hours apart, so the keepers are watching to see if there might be more cubs from Shera. Shera’s sister, Nababiep, is also suspected to be pregnant (no high-fiving the Zoo’s male lion, guys) so there could be even more cubs coming soon.

UPDATE: Now with video goodness:

‘CH Day 2010 Food Trucks’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’
Looks like everyone’s still on vacation (hello…some of us still have to work in August!) but you DOT folks are going to luck out today–Lobster Truck is in your ‘hood! Remember to drink plenty of fluids while in line.

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”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Yesterday, Mike Wise of the Washington Post and The Fan wanted to prove a point about how people use Twitter, and how people will believe anything a credible source tells them on the social network. For his experiment, he tweeted out some fairly believable rumors that he had fabricated, and watched as several respected sources ran with the news. Then he had to apologize (“I’m sorry you felt that way”) for his irresponsible journalism and being an idiot.

Abusing the trust of his followers and the Post’s social media guidelines does in fact have its consequences, as Wise just announced on his radio show that he will accept a one-month suspension from his employer. He was trying to point out that the Twitter universe has a different sense of credibility; all that he proved was  that many journalists still don’t get how this culture works.

‘Red Pistou Pasta With Shrimp’
courtesy of ‘Tschi’
From the folks behind BLT Steak comes Casa Nonna, an Italian restaurant opening this September. Located south of Dupont Circle, the restaurant will have a Roman influence both in the food and the decor. Think terra cotta floors, oak in the bar and lounge, tables built using reclaimed white oak and trattoria-style chairs that will make you think you’re lounging in the Piazza Navona.

At the helm will be Executive Chef Amy Brandwein, a Roberto Donna protege most recently of Fyve in Pentagon City. Her menu will focus on local and seasonal ingredients, but will be all Italian, all the time. Dishes will be served both a la carte and family style and will include house-made pasta and Neopolitan-style pizza fired in their mosaic-tiled pizza oven.

They plan to open in the next few weeks in the former California Pizza Kitchen space at 1250 Connecticut Ave., NW.