As the joke goes – you’d think he’da seen it.

More accurately, as the History channel reports, President John Adams arrived in our town on June 3rd, 1800, to find the President’s House not yet done. This document from the historical society reveals that he had to pack up and get out of the President’s House in Philadelphia because the lease expired. While the unfinished structure could safely store his furniture, it wasn’t habitable for people, much less a President.

So he took up lodging in what they describe as “Tunnicliffe’s City Hotel near the also half-finished Capitol building.”

If you wonder, as I did, whether the current Tunnicliffe’s over at Eastern Market could be close enough to be the same space, well The Hill is Home has the answer: no. In part two of their piece last year about William Tunnicliff they talk about this space and Adams’ stay there and identify it as being at the south-east corner of 1st and A, NE.

If that doesn’t immediately jump out at you, that’s where the Supreme Court currently resides.

Drew Storen photo by Ian Koski, Nationals Daily News

Ladies, meet Stanford graduate and Nationals reliever Drew Storen. He’s quite a catch. Likely the #2 prospect in an organization with a lot of young talent, you can take him out to lunch or dinner if you win the auction that Stand Up and Take Notice is putting on next Monday. Tickets are $52 ahead of time and include open bar (wine/beer/champagne) at 19th on Penn Ave. For the fellas, you can go golfing with Tyler Clippard (Clipp, of power bullpen combo Clipp and Save), professional photo shoot with Ryan Zimmerman, and lunch for four with John Lannan and Craig Stammen at ESPN Zone downtown. Tickets are $60 at the door on Monday.

Do a good turn for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society, go check it out.

‘Navy Yard Station’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

Day got you feeling down? Commiserate with cinema’s greatest schlubs at the Ultimate Underdogs Outdoor Movie festival. The free event kicks off tonight at sundown with Hoosiers, and continues every Thursday through August 5th. All movies will be shown at Canal Park, located just two blocks from the Navy Yard Metro station at M and 2nd Streets SE. Get there early for trivia and Wii, or just roll out your blanket, lie back, and cheer on your favorite lovable losers.

‘Baltimore, Maryland’
courtesy of ‘dougtone’

Friday, it was the West Wing on sale for $99.  Today, it’s The Wire: The Complete Series on sale for $90. Two distinct and awesome series, full of amazing writing and milieu, and some of the best characters ever written for television. Get a copy of the David Simon masterwork. It’s worth it.

And, thanks to Joe on the Twitter, he pointed out that you can add his other Baltimore series, Homicide: Life on the Street for just $64. Good lord is that a deal.

‘Mayor Fenty 502’
courtesy of ‘yospyn’
Candidates in most of the District’s 2010 races met last night at forum sponsored by DC for Democracy. This morning, D.C. Wire gives us a glimpse of Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) on the defense. Fenty came out hard against his opponents, both Vincent Gray and Leo Alexander were present. Fenty characterized them as excellent critics but questioned their leadership abilities. Fenty also tried to make some effort to be a bit more social, arriving (surprisingly) on-time and greeting the hosts of the event.

WaPo’s Tim Craig notes, however, that Fenty eventually left early and spaced out a bit via his Blackberry:

Gray was late, but as the questioning began, Fenty appeared to grow increasingly uncomfortable. After about 20 minutes of questions, Fenty had his aide deliver a message to the moderator that he needed to wrap up the questioning so he could leave to make another appointment.

Craig also described Fenty as “annoyed, distracted and uneasy.”

Vincent Gray touted that the Council’s approval rating is north of 50%, rare for a legislative body. Gray said that is  “because the 13 members of this council know how to stay focused on the most important goal and operate in an open, transparent manner and work to move the people’s business forum.” Not sure how he gets to that total of 13, what with all ethical problems facing a certain Ward 8 Councilmember.

Leo Alexander, the former news anchor, was only mentioned for again blaming the District’s problems on illegal immigration. That’s a bit unfortunate, as Alexander does have a few other ideas which are interesting, he just doesn’t want to talk about them.

‘Nation’
courtesy of ‘Rukasu1’

The deal was, in 2005, when the city agreed to finance with 30-year bonds the building of a new baseball stadium, that city would levy taxes of $8,000 to $28,000 per year on the city’s biggest businesses. The businesses agreed to pay the tax, hoping that the ballpark deal would spur growth along the Anacostia Waterfront, and create new markets for them to operate in. One of the tenets of the agreement was that, like for the similar bonds to build the Verizon Center, all monies collected by this tax and other methods of stadium-based revenue generation, would be used to pay down the bonds. That meant, if the city collected extra revenue over projections, that money would be used to make the life of the bond shorter. In the case of the Verizon Center, the city paid off those bonds, and removed those taxes, in half the time that had been proposed.

Cue the budget crisis, which has city leaders scrambling to shake out every last dime from the couch. You can guess what happens next. They’re using the additional revenue to fund the city budget, something they told businesses that they would not do.

It’s disingenuous to say that the city will keep the tax “permanently” as Ilya Somin writing for Volokh says, because the tax on Nats Park, like the tax on the MCI Center (now Verizon Center) will expire when the bonds are repaid. If the city can pay it out ahead of schedule, as they should do with these monies, that closes the schedule on the ballpark payments in 2021, instead of 2035. It was very interesting to read the quote from DCFPI in the Examiner piece, given their contention that the ballpark couldn’t possibly pay for itself ahead of schedule. Guess that research was off, eh boys?

‘Ballot Box Close-up’
courtesy of ‘joebeone’

Take a deep breath, everyone, the long standoff between DCPS and WTU is ratcheting down, thanks to today’s vote from WTU members. Teachers voted overwhelmingly to accept the proposed contract, voting approximately 3.5:1 for the contract. The deal, which runs through 2012, grants teachers a 20% raise over that period of time. The victory is a big one for DCPS and Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who, in an election year, desperately needed one.

‘DC and US Flags’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

This November, District residents will decide whether the city’s Attorney General should be an elected public office. Presently, the Attorney General is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. This would mark the first city-wide referendum since 2002, which supported the popular election of a District Attorney. The D.A. position remains a federal appointee. As of last November, there were still hold-ups in Congress to make this happen.

This new referendum  is the result of legislation passed by the Council yesterday. No one was willing to say it out loud, but this was clearly a shot at Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) and his Attorney General Peter Nickles. Many consider Nickles to be too close to the Mayor, often getting involved in issues that an independent Attorney General would have likely avoided. This measure, says Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), “makes the AG more independent.” Maybe. Provided that voters decide to make the AG spot an elected office. Passage is likely given previous polling on the subject.  This isn’t an outright attempt to oust Nickles, the first election would not happen until 2014.