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WASA has put out the alert that residents in Shepherd Park should be boiling their water before using it:

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA) is issuing a precautionary boil water/bottled water advisory for a portion of Northwest DC, affecting approximately 750 buildings.

DC WASA experienced a loss of pressure around 12:00 noon on Monday, December 07, 2009. This resulted in a drop of water pressure in the vicinity of 16th Street and Georgia Avenue, NW. A smaller neighborhood may have lost water pressure entirely, which could present a water quality problem.

WASA does not believe there to be contamination, and this is a safety precaution until they can safely test & flush the system. If you have questions, or are near the affected region, you can call WASA to confirm at 202-612-3440.

‘DSC_0131’
courtesy of ‘KOMUnews’

It’s hard to poll for mayor when there’s only one candidate. It’s just Mayor Fenty who’s tossed a hat into the ring for the mayorship. However, that’s not stopping people from paying pollsters to make phonecalls. The AFL-CIO polled 500 likely voters and pitted Mayor Fenty against three imaginary rivals: Kwame Brown, Vincent Gray and Michael Brown.

The results? Well, for imaginary opponents, Mr. Mayor isn’t doing as well as he’d probably like. Against Council Chair Gray, he’d lose 43%-39%. Against Kwame Brown, he’d edge out a victory, 42%-40%. Against Michael Brown, another win, 44%-37%. It’s hard to compete with candidates that don’t exist, because their flaws can’t be pinned down or addressed. SO, they have that going for them, but it’s not easy to be a mayor whose whole purpose in life seems to be to spin up the Council, so, I’d say these poll results are pretty solid.

The White House Gatecrashers, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, were on the Today Show this morning to talk about the State Dinner and all the attention that has come along with the event. They’re sticking to their claims that they were invited to the State Dinner. They’re saying now, that “their lives have been destroyed,” over the incident, which sounds like exactly what someone auditioning to be on a reality show, and frankly, if your life was destroyed by the fact that you crashed a State Dinner? Good. Just be glad you’re not in jail. Yet.

They were cagey in terms of talking about who invited them to the State Dinner, suggesting that the Secret Service is preventing the release of their invitation. They’re refusing to comment with regard to the reports regarding Michele Jones that suggest that she was unequivocal regarding their utter lack of an invitation.

These are not people who belong in the spotlight. These are people who belong in jail.

Edited, 11:12a: This will be our first & last word on the Salahis, unless of course they get hauled off to jail. Then expect one more post to gloat.

‘Unidentified woman working with scientific equipment: Miami, Florida’
courtesy of ‘State Library and Archives of Florida’

Via the New York Times comes the news that the Obama White House will be holding Science Fairs to honor those individuals who are capable at producing scientific knowledge and events, and not just those who are good at sports:

“If you win the N.C.A.A. championships, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you’ve produced the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too,” Mr. Obama said. “Scientists and engineers ought to stand side by side with athletes and entertainers as role models, and here at the White House, we’re going to lead by example.”

To this I say: Fuck Yeah, Science.

The Streetcars that will ride the rails in Anacostia in 2011 or 2012 left Ostrava, Czech Republic today first via flatbed truck, and then they’re bound for a cross-Atlantic ship to get here to the District in about 4-6 weeks. The three cars cost $10M to procure and have been in storage at the manufacturer for the last two and a half years. In addition, we’ve had to extend their warranty, despite being kept in storage since manufacture. They’re a fairly hefty investment in the new streetcar system, and hopefully we’ll one day see them on our streets! No word where they’ll be stored while we wait for the rails to be built.