By Tom Bridge
‘City of Alexandria Police Department’
courtesy of ‘cliff1066’
In the wake of the car accident that left Alexandria Chief of Police David Baker under arrest for DUI, he has officially submitted his retirement paperwork to the city. In a letter to the town manager, he announced his retirement, effectively immediately, expressing regret for the incident and pride in serving the city over a lengthy career. Baker started with the MPD in 1970, moving to Alexandria in 1991.
By Tom Bridge
‘Streaks of Light’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
14th Street will be closed from Constitution Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue starting at 5am tomorrow for a special event, and won’t reopen until 6pm. I’m not sure yet what the event is that’s causing the closure, but DC’s Text Alert Service has a guide for planning your commute along different routes. If you can, tomorrow, work from home. I fully suspect this to be all kinds of bad for traffic and getting around town tomorrow.
By Kirk
‘IMG_7025’
courtesy of ‘Sean Robertson’
After the infamous Eastern Market fire two years ago, Mayor Fenty ordered 7th St. SE closed on weekends to make room for stalls displaced by the disaster. As most of you know, the market reopened several weeks ago, and WaPo reports that store owners along 7th are requesting that the street be reopened. They are concerned that parking and traffic difficulties resulting from the closure are limiting their business, most of which comes on weekends. Stores along market row report a 35% to 75% drop in business since the road closures began.
Their pleas have caught the attention of the City Council, which plans to visit the issue in several months. For now, the government wishes for the street to remain closed to facilitate the revitalization of Eastern Market.
It seems to me that the 7th St. closure shouldn’t have any effect on Market Row businesses. There are many, many side streets in the area and ample parking on the blocks surrounding 7th. I’m not entirely sure why the closure of a single block would limit their number of customers. Besides, Eastern Market is always packed. According to the WaPo article, the majority of these businesses’ patrons are market goers. If anything, I’ve noticed an increase of people on the weekends. I’m guessing that there are factors aside from the road closure that are hurting these shops’ revenues. The economy? Changing tastes and interests? An increasingly younger clientele? It could be any number of things.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Does 7th St. need to stay closed, or should it be reopened?
By Kirk
‘Beach Drive tunnel’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
WUSA 9 reports that a female jogger was sexually assaulted as she ran in Rock Creek Park yesterday. Police say that a man dragged her into the woods and assaulted her at around 7am. While Rock Creek park is generally a safe place, please use caution while running there, particularly until this perpetrator is caught. Hopefully this isn’t something serial.
By Katie
‘art and soul mac and cheese balls’
courtesy of ‘needlessspaces’
Just a quick reminder to all you foodies and Bravo Top Chef fans out there – Chef Art Smith of Art and Soul will be on Top Chef Masters tonight! Art and Soul, located in the Liaison Capitol Hill, right near Union Station is hosting a Top Chef Master’s Viewing Party tonight. The party will be held in ArtBar from 8 p.m. – 11 p.m., and will feature complimentary hors d’oeuvres that showcase classic Art Smith dishes.
Good luck Chef Smith!
By Kirk
‘day295 :: year two’
courtesy of ‘erin*carly’
Two major players in DC’s political journalism are now one major player. Yesterday, Roll Call Group announced its purches of Congressional Quarterly Inc. for an unnamed price. The companies will combine under the name of CQ-Roll Call group and control a significant share of political coverage on the Hill. There’s no word yet on how the buy-out will effect either companies’ publications, although the official closing date is still several monthes away. Major changes may be in the works, but only time will tell.
By Rebecca
‘The damage done’
courtesy of ‘
Three and a half years after a three alarm fire destroyed the Georgetown library’s roof and much of the second floor, the historic branch of the DC Public Library will reopen in the Fall of 2010. The blaze occurred on April 30, 2007 just three hours after another DC landmark, Eastern Market, burned to the ground. The library’s Peabody room, located on the second floor, housed numerous documents and artifacts detailing the history of the Georgetown neighborhood; luckily 80% of these invaluable items were saved from the fire and quickly whisked off to the Library of Congress and various other institutions for restoration and protection. Continue reading
By Kirk
‘Watergate and Moon’
courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’
WUSA 9 reports that the Watergate Hotel will be up for auction next week. The hotel’s owners defaulted on their loan payments last month and the foreclosure notice on the property expires next Tuesday. If the current owners fail to make payments by that date, an auction company will start accepting bids on the Watergate.
By Tom Bridge
We have reports coming in of gunfire near the Capitol. There has been a significant police response, and we’ve seen tweets that suggest that Constitution is closed at Delaware street headed west. Breaking News On suggests that a 35-year old male is headed to the hospital, and WUSA-TV has reported that this was a police-involved shooting.
Update 1: WJLA has the first to print story: A 35-year old male was shot by Capitol Police around 5:15pm, and the all-clear was given at 5:35pm. The person shot attempted to run the barricade at the parking area, but was unsuccessful, which is when the gunfire happened.
Update 2: Constitutition Ave is now shuttered from 1st Street NW to 1st Street NE and will probably remain that way for some time while the crime scene is processed.
Update 3: NBC Washington has Images from the Scene today.
By Rebecca
courtesy of ‘curtis.kennington’
Ed Walker, American University graduate and DC radio legend, has been nominated to the National Radio Hall of Fame in the category “Local or Regional — Pioneer.” With his soothing voice and radio history expertise, Walker has hosted The Big Broadcast, a four hour radio show featuring classic radio programming from the 30s, 40s and 50s, since 1990. These classic shows (Suspense, Flibber McGee and Molly, Dragnet, Gunsmoke, Lux Radio Theater, etc.) offer us a weekly reprieve from computers and TV, and transport us back to a time when big movie stars like Orson Welles, Gary Cooper, Gene Harlow and Jack Benny communicated their acting and comical talents to the American public over the airwaves. Continue reading
By Ben H. Rome
‘Tied Up’ courtesy of ‘clydeorama’
Yes, yes, I know. There’s no actual hockey going on. But, there is.
News came down today that the NHL and NBC have announced the teams and location for the 2009-10 Winter Classic. As expected, it’s in Boston at Fenway Park. Yep, the Boston Bruins hosting. And following prior year NHL logic, the other team will also be a rising powerhouse with a top-notch superstar, right? Like, as expected, the Washington Capitals with Russian powerhouse Alex Ovechkin?
Wrong.
Nope, the League, in its continued head-scratching pathetic screwball logic, has named the hated Philadelphia Flyers as the other team. That’s right, those despicable FLYERS. Supposedly, the decision was made because Philadelphia has a bigger hockey television market than Washington.
Say what? Guess the NHL and NBC forgot about the tremendous buzz the Caps/Pens series put on. Or the continual highlight-reel goals by Ovie, or his mounting hardware from numerous awards, or the fact that the Caps are one of the top five most exciting teams to watch…
Yeah, I know. I don’t get it either. Stupid ****ing Flyers.
By Tom Bridge
‘Baltimore Police Boat’
courtesy of ‘mkriedel’
Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans’ Press Secretary, Desi Deschaine, was found dead this morning in Baltimore Harbor. Deschaine was reported missing yesterday when he failed to show up for work yesterday. He had been on a boating excursion in the harbor over the weekend, but debarked with the rest of the group at 10:30pm on Sunday.
It’s not clear if this is considered foul play or an accidental death at this time. Our hearts go out to Deschaine’s family and friends. Mike DeBonis from the City Paper has a remembrance of Deschaine posted to their City Desk blog. Deschaine’s commitment to the city, and his friends, will be sorely missed.
By Don
‘KitsWoodinville’
courtesy of ‘Seven_Null7’
Even after the closings and liquidations earlier in the year, Ritz Camera has been unsuccessful in working out their bankruptcy reorganization. Like a lot of companies this last year, Ritz has been unable to secure needed funding. Many news outlets reported their intention to petition the court for permission to have an auction for the company a week from today. I’ve checked the Delaware filings and they did indeed get permission to proceed with an auction. The auction will happen at the office of their bankruptcy lawyers in New York and the results will be presented to the bankruptcy court on the 23rd.
It seems unlikely they won’t work something out, but if they can’t arrange a sale they’ll endeavor to start liquidation by the 24th. It’s an aggressive schedule because Ritz would like to pull the plug and get out of their leases as quickly as possible. Some of their landlords were taking issue with the speed Ritz is trying to get this done, but since the court ruled to allow the auction it seems that they were overruled.
Unless one of the two supposed prospective buyers purchases all their assets, including the name, it looks like we’ll see the remaining DC-area Ritz stores either rebrand or shut their doors entirely.
By Tom Bridge
‘Hospitality Island’
courtesy of ‘Justin S. Campbell’
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected the ruling of a lower court that last summer’s police roadblocks in Trinidad were constitutional. The case has been returned to the lower court for further review, so we’ve not seen the last of it. You can read the court’s whole opinion (PDF) via the Pacer system. Councilman Phil Mendelsohn said in an email statement this afternoon, “It is unfortunate that the District’s Attorney General was so wrong to insist that the roadblocks were constitutional. However, today’s decision is no surprise given that the DC Court of Appeals came to the same conclusion regarding roadblocks – ironically, also in Trinidad – in 1991.”
The Court’s opinion today is largely based on an important case concerning police checkpoints decided by the Supreme Court in 2000: City of Indianapolis vs. Edmond. Here, I quote from the finding: “But the Court stressed that “[w]e have never approved a checkpoint program whose primary purpose was to detect evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing.” Edmond, 531 U.S. at 41. The Court then concluded that “[b]ecause the primary purpose of the Indianapolis checkpoint program is ultimately indistinguishable from the general interest in crime control, the
checkpoints violate the Fourth Amendment.” Id. at 48. It is this rule which governs the present case, and as the purpose of the NSZ checkpoint program is not immediately distinguishable from the general interest in crime control, appellants’ argument that the seizures were unconstitutional appears headed for ultimate victory.”
By Kirk
‘the crossing’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’
Ever been pressed between to sweaty guys on a Green Line train after a Nats game because you didn’t want to pony up $20 for parking? Well, Commuter Connections may have a solution. The carpooling agency has extending its services beyond the work week. Now, instead of just coordinating rides to and from work, Commuter Connections offers ride matching to major events like concerts, games, and parades. Ideally, this will reduce congestion and improve the overall air quality of our city. With 30,000 commuters already participating in the 9-5 program, events are a welcome addition to Commuter Connections’ services.
By Tom Bridge
‘DC Metro in black and white’
courtesy of ‘pilgrimscrybe’
Thanks much to the guys at Echo Ditto, the iPhone-optimized Metro Train site is back in action. If you’ve got an iPhone, you can now get live train locations through the website, which is great news for above-ground folks. Just wait until October when AT&T comes to the Metro. That’ll be a great day.
By Kirk
‘DAR Constitution Hall’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’
Robin Williams is coming to DC and HBO is going to film him here. Williams’ national comedy tour, “Weapons of Self Destruction,” will make a stop at DAR Constitution Hall in November. THR.com reports that HBO plans to tape his performance there and air it as a prime-time special at some point December. If you’re hoping to get tickets to the show, good luck. The “Self-Destruction” tour is completely sold out. I guess that means that Robin Williams actually is funny?
By Tom Bridge
‘Pink Croc & Subway Rail’
courtesy of ‘Kevin H.’
If you’re working for Metro, you’d best leave your cellphone in your locker. Starting Monday, if you get caught doing anything with your phone while operating a train, you will be fired, with prejudice. While Metro used to have a three strikes policy, with the uproar in the community after a driver was caught texting this week, the previous 5-day and 10-day suspensions are now gone, and have been replaced with simple termination.
No word yet if this applies to drivers who fall asleep while driving the train.
By Tom Bridge
‘Marion Barry and Mr. Grumpy Pants’
courtesy of ‘ricepeter’
Okay, that’s misleading. And wrong. And oh-god-please-never-ever-ever-for-real. But the City Paper does indeed have a bunch of voicemails between Marion Barry and his ex-girlfriend-now-stalking-victim Donna Watts-Brighthaupt. Mike DeBonis of the City Paper has done some extraordinary work making sure that the voicemails get out and that the story from Ms. Watts-Brighthaupt’s point of view is out there, as well as that of Mr. Barry.
I have a feeling that this is one of those “fractally weird” stories, where any one part of the story is just as weird as the entirety of the case. It’s hard to guess where the Soap Opera that is the life of Marion Barry will go from here, but we’ll find out tomorrow when he appears in court to either be formally charged by the United States Attorney, or have the incident be dropped like a hot potato. Either way, this one’s not nearly done with yet.
By Tom Bridge
There was a moment in last night’s press conference that the cameras didn’t quite catch, and that was Donna Watts-Brighthaupt showing up. It wasn’t immediately clear who it was on the sidewalk listening to the press conference, but it turns out that Ms. Watts was there last night, and she is denying parts of what his spokesman Natalie Williams said.
One thing that came to mind last night after the press conference, thanks in part to the prompting of author Ben Stanfield, is that it’s possible that Ms. Williams may have violated Ms. Watts’ privacy, and HIPAA, by revealing a course of psychiatric treatment and what she was being diagnosed with. This appears to be getting weirder and weirder. We won’t know until tomorrow if Councilman Barry will be charged with anything, but it sounds like the Councilman is doing some full court press for a reason, even if that reason is unclear.
