Keeping Tabs: Free Wifi! A Streetcar to National Harbor?

Streetcar being tested on H St NE.

Keep in mind that this item is in the pre-study phase, not at all close to reality. Yet. The District Department of Transportation is asking for monies to study the possibility of extending the Anacostia Initial line south out of the city, all the way down to the National Harbor development in Oxon Hill, MD. This would be a commissioned study and any implementation would be years down the road. However, the possibility of adding another transit option to/from the growing development (especially for moving tourists/visitors from National Harbor into DC) is intriguing at the least. Again, keep in mind that as of today, we still don't have functioning streetcar service in DC. At best, we are 4-5 months out from when when the H St-Benning line begins revenue service.

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In other transit news, the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority and WMATA are *thiiiiissssss* close to transferring the much delayed Silver Line project to WMATA. MWAA has handled the construction of the extension of Metrorail into Tysons Corner and Reston, while WMATA has been waiting to take over and actually operate the line. My rough estimate for opening: September 2014.

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Free wifi in NoMa? Yes, according to NoMa Business Improvement District. The BID has installed wireless routers along streets and sidewalks throughout the neighborhood. For now, the free, public service is available along First St NE from H St to New York Ave, L St NE from North Capitol to First and a few other side streets. They plan to expand the service as time goes on. Pretty cool!

Keeping Tabs: DC vs Washington

DC's Big Flea Market and DC Tattoo Expo... held in Northern Virginia?
Yeah, I love regionalism, but there is a limit. The DC Big Flea! Over 1,000 booths! Two huge buildings! In Chantilly? That's like, another world. A good 25 miles from downtown DC. And the DC Tattoo Arts Expo (which I will probably be attending!) is being held in Crystal City. Virginia. At least it is on the Metro. And the land it sits on used to be a part of the District. So, they get a pass this time.

Many events held in VA or MD have regional or national appeal and should be treated as such when they are marketed. I'd rather have organizers of these "capital area" events use the word "Washington" instead of DC. DC denotes like a specific area --the 68 sq miles we call the District. The word "Washington" should be used to denote other places into metro area. Except Chantilly.

Lucky Brand Jeans Closing in Dupont

Dupont has seen more businesses open than close in the last two years on the main part of it's Connecticut Ave strip (in between Metro entrances) the last two years --Panera, AT&T, BGR, Sweetgreen, Hello. But a long time tenant is poised to leave soon. Lucky Brand Jeans at 1739 Connecticut Ave NW will close by month's end. The specialty jeans seller has other DC area stores, but will be missed in this part of town that I consider more of a food lovers mecca than destination for fashionistas. Georgetown still holds that label in my eyes. No word on what business will replace Lucky. 

No Pants Ride? No.

An oddly related event, the No Pants Metro ride, happened yesterday. I was out of town, so I missed it. But there's no way I would have done it if I were here! 30 degrees and in my skivvies? Uh, no. You are brave souls who dared to walk around and ride Metro pantless yesterday: tip o' the hat to you. I won't be joining you anytime soon.

On a More Serious Note,

When Paul Krugman asked "When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?" I have to answer yes, I was expecting something like this, as he did. 

As a former civics teacher, current political junkie and student of history, I know how hard it is for most folks to sideline their own beliefs for the sake of debate, legislative compromise or any other reason. There's such a wide spectrum of opinion and vision about how our American government should operate. Even if only 10% of the 300,000,000 of us participate in political discourse, that still means 30,000,000 voices out there to reconcile and work together.

We can run as far to the left or right as our hearts desire. That's part of the system. But not to the point that we fall off the map. There are boundaries. And the more we abandon common sense, intellectualism, and due diligence in examining the past, the harder we make in on ourselves. America is an experiment. Who knows if we are succeeding or failing. It's hard to say. I tend the think we are a complicated, messy work in progress. But, generally better off than we've ever been.

Sure, every generation feels at some point that it's times are the best/worst/darkest/promising/whatever. But it's easy to look around today and see a lot of common sense being overlooked, overrun and just plain disregarded as we debate our views and each try to have an impact. Let's be smart and conscientious about our actions and words. Democracy is not "anything goes," it's "anything possible." The trick is constantly having to revise the methods we use to get there, including how we communicate with one another as fellow citizens. Let's resolve to do that as peacefully and safely as we can from now on.

La Casa Update and More: Keeping Tabs

** The Washington City Paper has followed up on the La Casa/Highland Park situation. Over two posts, they've revealed more about the plans to to add an addition to Highland Park Apartments and build a new facility serving the District's homeless. 

The timing of the demolition of the existing La Casa and the rebuilding of the new facility is key. The developers want to build the Highland Park addition as soon they can. But questions remain regarding closing an emergency shelter just before winter and of course, the other elephant in the room, money. The new community based residential facility will cost $10 million to construct and only $6 million is secure at this point. Stay tuned for more updates and thanks to Ms. DePillis for digging a little deeper.

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**I'm fascinated by this trend of large corporations pitting non profits against each other in the quest for decent, but one time monetary prizes via online voting. The Pepsi Refresh project comes to mind. And here's another; one that could potentially benefit a great DC organization, Miriam's Kitchen. 

The Sears Chef Challenge will award up to $20,000 to Miriam's Kitchen if chef John Murphy wins the whole contest. But, first he must be voted the best of DC, then go on to face other chefs from across the country. 

So, hit up the website and vote accordingly. The other two DC area charities who could win are Capital Area Food Bank and Maryland Food Bank. Either way, a great cause will benefit, so let's try and steer that money to the DC area.

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**Just a reminder, the DC Asian Pacific American film festival starts this Thursday. This is is a ten day film fest screening films by and about Asian Americans. After the opening night film is screened at E Street Cinema at 7:00pm, there will be a festival reception at nearby Asia Nine restaurant. It's free if you attend the film and $10 otherwise. I just found out they're offering various discounts for groups, seniors and more, which is cool. They're a fairly small organization, so if you're at all interested, check out a film or two and support the arts in DC. 

Taxis and Trees: Keeping Tabs

Haydee's sans tree.

***What is a Tree's Least Favorite Month?:  The tree box controversy in Mount Pleasant took a turn towards normalization last week.  The mysterious removal of a tree in front of Haydee's Restaurant on Mount Pleasant Street was unexpected, to say the very least.  And let's just say it wasn't removed by the city arborist.  Anyway, not only was the tree removed, but so was the entire tree box.  Just bricked over completely.  No trace to the unaware.  

But it appears that an attempt at amends is being made by the restaurant owners.  The tree box (or something resembling it) has been rebuilt. And a tree will again inhabit the space sometime later this year.  Hopefully after the month of Septiiiiimber.  See that.  See what I did there.  September.  You got it.

***Cabbies strike back:  Taxi drivers in DC still dislike the time and distance meters which determine the cost of a cab fare.  It's been just over two years since taxis in DC were forced to operate by the meter: you pay more for each incremental increase in distance and amount of time spent during travel.  The meter system replaced the antiquated zone system in the summer of 2008.  

Cabbies fought it and generally have lost every round with the city.  But, they're aren't done.  They've delivered over 1,000 petitions to United States Senator from Michigan, Carl Levin.  They essentially want to revisit the genesis of the statute which gave the mayor authority to make the change.  It was authored by Levin and embedded in the 2006 District Omnibus Budget Authorization.

***Pay More to Ride the Rails.... Eventually: I'm all kinds of confused about this, but essentially, Metro's new set of fare increases will not take full effect today as planned.  Those of you using paper farecards won't won't incur the 25 cent "fee" for all rail trips until Tuesday.  And the 20 cent peak-of-the-peak increase (for everyone) won't begin until Tuesday.  And even then, we'll only be paying for the afternoon peak, 4-6:30pm.  The software update dictating the morning peak increase won't be installed until later this August.  Got all that?

Keeping Tabs: Presidents and Pitches

**For the third time since baseball's return to Washington, a sitting President will throw out the first pitch. Last year, President Obama declined the open invitation and instead threw out the first pitch for the All Star Game wearing the colors of his hometown Chicago White Sox. Former President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch for the Nationals in 2005 at RFK stadium. And I was there on the chilly Sunday night in 2008 when President Bush again threw out the first pitch at the just finished Nationals Park, opening the MLB season. If you are going to Monday's opening day game get there early. Gates open at 10:00am, game starts at 1:05. The game is sold out except for game-day $5 grandstand tickets. They go on sale Monday at the ticket booth beginning at 10:00am.

**Another type of pitch will be made this Thursday at a public forum near Mount Pleasant. All Souls Unitarian Church at 1500 Harvard St NW will host one of several Metro open house forums. They're trying to figure out what we think should be done to close the nearly $200 million budget gap for next fiscal year. Reduce services? Eliminate bus routes? Increase fares? I covered some of the worse case scenarios a few weeks ago. Hopefully, none of those will come to pass. But expect changes though. Uncomfortable ones. The hearing will begin at 7:00pm after a half hour open house. Can't make it? At the very least, complete Metro's online survey.

**Usually don't talk politics on the blog, but it looks like there may be serious contenders for two formerly comfortable incumbents. Yes, they are Mayor Adrian Fenty and our Ward One Council member, Jim Graham. Fenty may face the toughest challenge from Council Chair Vincent Gray who has opposed Fenty on some key issues in both substance and style. And Jim Graham may have to face off against Jeff Smith, recently of the DC School Board. They say "all politics is local." And in DC, that's all we really have! Since we're taxed without proper Congressional representation. All the more reason to look at the candidates and make a choice come this fall. Stay off the sidelines people! Democracy is a contact sport.

Burritos Fast, CVS, Maoz

Burritos Fast
If you haven't seen, Tikal Burritos Fast is back from the dead! With some fresh new table clothes and a missing counter in the front window, a restaurant nearly 100% identical to the one which closed. I have not set foot inside the new place. Have you? Anyone have anything to report? I will try to get over there for a burrito at some point soon. As you may or may not know, I was a fan of the old place if only for the fact that it was close and you got a lot of food for the money.

CVS
The new CVS in Adams Morgan is open. The pharmacy-food-convenience store moved across the street this month, abandoning the cramped and awkward store at 1700 Columbia Rd NW. The new store is adjacent to the newly renovated Safeway at 1747 Columbia Rd NW. It is much, much larger but looks a lot less quirky than the older location with new precast brick and concrete panel sections on the face.

Maoz Vegetarian
I was really excited about the opening on Maoz Veg in Dupont. It finally opened and I've been there several times since. A few lunch visits and lots of after work and a late night or two. In my opinion, the product has gotten better over the weeks. I've always been happy with my meal, but they haven't always been consistently good. The fries have been, but the falafel was sometimes great, and sometimes OK. Have you had similar experiences? Still glad its here and I'll probably go again soon. Maybe today!

7-11's Private Label and Return of the Black Rooster

***The Black Rooster has a following as strong as any small time pub I can think of. The well known and well worn locally owned bar on L Street closed recently when the owner of the building decided not to renew the lease agreement. But all you BR fans should keep you heads up. The bar is being saved. The Current Papers have the full scoop, but essentially DC council member Jack Evens intervened and worked some personal magic. He's partnering with the federal government, who operates the building, to keep the BR in its place. The Black Rooster website acknowledges as much and should be open again soon. Pretty cool.

***7-11 now has it's own private label wine. Virginians and Marylanders have been able to buy semi-no-name cheap alcohol from 7-11 for years. Now they can buy semi-named cheap alcohol from the 24 hour convenience store; under their new Yosemite Road label. The 7-11 store in Mount Pleasant and other DC stores don't sell alcohol and likely won't anytime soon. H/T to WBJ.

Reality, Bites

The Real World is gone. What?! Whoops. I hardly noticed. DCist pretty much summed up my fascination with the Real World DC: fairly intrigued before the arrival, didn't notice it much after. I tried to stay up on their whereabouts and get into the excitement, but alas, we are in a 24 hour, minute to minute news cycle here. And excitement for any show 20 seasons in would be hard to sustain. How could they compete with the likes of non balloon boy? I'll have to wait until the show airs to see the high and low lights of what happened. Good while it lasted?

If you think you missed out on the reality show buzz, there's still another chance. The cooking reality show Top Chef is scouting DC in early November. Head down to the Occidental --15th and Penn Ave-- on November 4 with this completed 24 page application (PDF). Yes, 24 pages. Oh yeah, and accompanying video tape. Make it good though, because I bet they save the funny ones as "extras" content on the DVD.

Want to be your own reality show? Start a small business in DC. We've been ranked among the top metro areas in the United States to launch a small business. The 127,000+ small businesses we are home to is 4 times the average for the top cities on the list. The article touts the prestige of being in the District proper as an asset and the potential commute for suburban dwellers to a city work location as a negative. Sounds about right. Featured is David Von Storch, owner of various small business all over DC: Capitol City Brewery, Vida Fitness, Bang Salons. Seems to be quite an example of all the good possible for a DC small business owner. Go DC, go. Another plus four our fair city.

Qdoba Should Come to Mt P Street; More Taxis, Taxes: Keeping Tabs

**Qdoba, the Mexican fast-food/casual restaurant is opening a new location in Falls Church. That's not nearly as important as the fact that that franchisee is looking for new locations across Washington. Mount Pleasant Street, NW, perhaps? I wish! Take one of our open storefronts, please!

**The Ward One taxi scandal is turning into a DC-wide taxi scandal with the arrest of nearly 40 people in connection with an elaborate bribery scheme. Well, actually not that elaborate. The accused allegedly attempted to bribe DC Taxicab Commissioner Leon J. Swain Jr. for access to taxi operators licenses. Mr. Swain apparently alerted the proper authorities and worked to ensnare the accused. Initially the news reports centered on the arrest of one man, Ted Loza. Mr. Loza is the chief of staff for Ward One council member Jim Graham. He was arrested on related bribery charges. Mount Pleasant is in Ward One.

**If you hadn't noticed, the DC sales and use tax (i.e. sales tax) just went up to 6%, from 5.75%. Council made the change last summer and it officially changed on October 1. Does not affect restaurant or gas taxes.

**The Wall Street Journal labeled DC the hottest "Youth-Magnet City." We're tied with Seattle as the top destination spot for college grads, interns an the like. That's good I guess. I'm not in my 20s anymore, but I was when I moved here. Loved it then and love it now! Go DC!

Keeping Tabs: Another Mt P Street Vacancy and New Farmer's Market

**Another Mount Pleasant Street business is gone. The Mount Pleasant Deli closed earlier this summer. It was at the bottom of the street, at 3068 Mount Pleasant Street NW, between Mayflower and Ercilia's. I wasn't a frequent visitor, but I often saw customers inside. They served sandwiches and other prepared other hot food as well as acted as a small convenience store.

**Rockville, New York... DC? Rockville, MD just passed a fairly restrictive no-smoking ban. Previously you were not allowed to smoke outside while at Rockville city facilities like dog parks and pools. The new measure amends the current policy to include playgrounds as well. Smoking was already banned inside hotels, bars and restaurants. New York City officials are also considering a similar law, banning smoking in its city parks and on its beaches. Rockville, NYC, why not DC. Let's do it.

**The "White House Farmer's Market" was just approved. Rather the street closures upon which it was predicated were approved. The market will be less than a block from the 42 bus route on Vermont Avenue NW between H and I Streets. Every Thursday 3pm-7pm beginning this Thursday September 17th.

**A handful of conservative bloggers (and others) got punked into publishing a fake photo of the anti-Obama gatherings in DC last weekend. Somehow a photo of a previous protest on the mall was circulated and captioned as last weekend's protest. Too bad the photo was taken years ago; the National Museum of the American Indian isn't in it, as it was not yet built. Common sense people. Use common sense. Easy. Not hard. Clowns.

Keeping Tabs: Target is Cool. Coffee is Hot. School Rulz. Metro Droolz.

***The Washington Post comments on the big box explosion in Columbia Heights and the "hip" kids who shop there. I don't actually believe that people have been moving to CH for any kind of street cred or "bragging rights" as the article puts it. Seems like a win/win/win for the most part. Residents get their amenities (like blue ray dvds and micheal graves microwaves), the city gets tax $$$ and developers chalk up another completed project. General street scape aesthetics took a hit, but hey, who cares about architectural diversity in a down economy. Beats empty, concrete strewn lots. This just in: shopping at Target doesn't make you cool or uncool. Shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond however...

***On a related note; the word "hipster" is meaningless. It means NOTHING. It's not definable. I refuse to use that word. Some people use it as a slur, other people think they are it. Some people use it as an adjective. No, no, no. Just stop Washington Post. Just stop everyone. Please. Not cool.

***Stop leaning on the Metro train doors. One opened during travel yesterday. Not cool.

***Chinatown Coffee Company is open. In this aforementioned down economy, I'm still spending indefensible amounts of money on soy lattes. But if you've had one at this place, you'd understand. They'll get a Coffee/Riot entry at some point. For now, you should just visit on your own. They're open every day of the week. Come today before work and I'll buy you a drink. Pretty cool.

***Taxi drivers in the District just got a small ruling in their favor. The DC Council voted to get rid of the maximum fare within the District. It was set at $19 for any one ride within the city. Now, the rider will pay the entire metered fare. Hard to imagine a normal fare reaching $19 from point A to point B within DC, but for those of you to whom this applies, sorry. Let the meter decide the fare. Cool.

***The University of the District of Columbia is about debut a new master plan which its leaders hope will improve the prestige of the school and success rate of its students. The school is officially breaking up into two separate entities; an upgraded, more rigorous four program and a new two year community college element. The four year school will still be based in Van Ness, but the community college will have satellite campuses all over the District; very much like a state system. I really want UDC to succeed and serve its students well. That means treating them like college level academics so their degrees actually has value. Good moves. Very cool.

Keeping Tabs: Sriracha Sauce and the Curse O' Les Boulez

Adams Morgan Public Art: Three rather uninspiring works of art are finalist for permanent installation at the corner of 18th and Columbia Rds NW. DC Commission on Arts and Humanities is set to choose one of the three entries by next month (PDF of the proposals). The winning proposal will be installed this upcoming winter. The location is the new large sidewalk bulb-out created by recent streetscaping in front of BB&T bank and Adams Mill. If we must choose one, I'd prefer the second proposal, "Sunflowers." Its the only one by a DC artist. This, the most bearable of the three, consists of 18 foot tall stainless steel sunflowers with stained glass colored accompanying butterflies. Yes, 18 feet tall and 14 feet wide. This thing is huge. But much better than other other two entries. And local.

No 2009 Screen of the Green: I was waiting for this story to be retracted, but it looks final. HBO, the former sponsors of the yearly free movie fest on the Mall has called it quits. They couldn't find a suitable cosponsor. For nine years, we've been able to saunter down to the National Mall on a few warm afternoons during the lazy DC summer and watch some great films on a huge screen set up among the Smithsonian and other government buildings. One of the best free cultural downtown events along with Jazz in the Garden at National Gallery of Art. Hopefully that tradition sticks around a little longer.

Les Boulez: In what columnist Micheal Wilbon might call the Curse O' Les Boulez, the Washington Wizards got pretty much what they deserved last night at the NBA Draft Lottery. This was not the draft ceremony itself, but an actual lottery to determine the order of the June 25 draft. The Wizards (Les Boulez is a reference to a previous team name; the Bullets) were at statistical odds for the second draft slot. They even had a 17.8% chance to nab the first pick. Alas the lottery placed them in the 5th slot. We won't be getting wunderkind Blake Griffin. I'm going to go ahead and suggest choosing Eric Maynor of my alma mater, VCU. Not considered a top 10 pick, but I like the guy. Los Angeles Clippers took the number one spot and will likely choose Griffin, considered the best college player available in the draft.

Sriracha Sauce: Gets it's due. By way of the New York Times.

Keeping Tabs: Totally Thai Edition

Lee Loo Lounge, we hardy knew thee: The mysterious Lee Loo Lounge closed without much fanfare a few months ago. The lounge and restaurant never saw me step foot in, but I always guessed it was busy with a small dedicated clientele; or maybe not. It's being replaced with Absolute Thai. No opening dates or menus were available, but there are enough Thai establishments in DC, so you can probably make an educated guess. This location (521 G St NW) isn't even a whole block from two other Thai restaurants, Kanlaya and Thai Chili.

W Hotel is still on: The venerable, best-view-of-the-White House Hotel Washington will soon become the W Hotel Washington. W is a rather sleek and chic hotel brand that could bring some cache to the historic property which is literally across the street from the Treasury and White House. The W website promises a July 16, 2009 opening and provides some draw dropping renderings of guest rooms and a new rooftop terrace; one of the main draws of the previous Hotel Washington because of the view. The W's address is 515 15th Street NW, a stone's throw from the 42 bus route.

Food/No Food/Eating/No Eating: One of the big stories last week was the revelation that Metro may consider allowing vendors to set up shop outside of Metro stations. They would be able to sell a variety of items including food and drink. The rub is the no eating or drinking policy on Metro, which would presumably still be in affect even of the kiosks were allowed. My initial reaction is, OK, let's do it. A new revenue stream for Metro and we can still keep a relatively clean subway system. The kiosks won't be inside the stations, so I don't see how this is any different from going to 7-11, buying a coffee and getting on the train. You just aren't supposed to consume it on the train. Issue over, right? Hardly. We'll keep an eye an see how this one plays out...

Buy stuff, feel better, vice versa: Washington area citizens are apparently feeling better about spending money. While the rest of the nations is still slumming through a mandatory anti consumerism stint, we are spending money in the face of this economic turn down. Well, actually we're feeling more optimistic about spending money and the economy in general. Optimism generally doesn't pay the bills for business owners, but I guess this is good news for the near future in business-land. Retail therapy, a remedy for all your ailments.

Keeping Tabs: High-End Everything + Marriage Rights Edition

***Here's a rather amusing look at a guy on crutches who sometimes found it difficult to snag a "persons with disabilities" seat on the New York Subway. Yes, a serious topic, but this slightly rant-ish site provides a few laughs. Although I'm split on the posting of unknowing people's photos. Kind of weird! People Who Sit In The Disability Seats When I’m Standing On My Crutches

***When regular high-end isn't enough, there is ULTRA high end. Or so says a group of developers who want to outdo even Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons. They are bringing a unique boutique hotelier to Georgetown. Bliss in a bottle. Or in a hotel room. Names (hotel brand) haven't been named yet. But here's what the current location looks like. It's at 1050 31st Street NW.

View Larger Map

***Want more high end news? What about high end bikes! This City Room post let's us in on a secret: sales of $20,000 bikes in Manhattan are down slightly because of the economy. 20K? For a bicycle? Throwing money around like that is sooooooo 4th quarter of 2006.

***My design pick for the National Museum of African American History and Culture gets slammed by the Washington Post. The author notes that "...it is sad to see I.M. Pei's name and his firm's prestige associated with something so lackluster as the project submitted by Devrouax & Purnell and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners." Ouch! But he reveals sound reasons behind his own preference.

***Iowa, Vermont and DC all moved closer to marriage sanity/equality by advancing two pieces of legislation and killing another. DC City Council voted 12-0 to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states. That was not long after Vermont legalized gay marriage; by doing it the hard way. The legislature voted to over ride the governor's veto of the bill with a 2/3+ vote in each chamber. And in Iowa, the state's Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a ban on gay marriage, effectively re-legalizing it. I suspect DC will officially legalize gay marriage in the next few years, perhaps sooner!

Reform Schools, Get Served Until 5 AM and More Inauguration News

***"Teachers hate her. Principals are scared of her." Those are the first two sentences of an abstract for this extensive article about our very own Michelle Rhee, DCPS Chancellor. She graces the cover of the current Time Magazine after recently getting national attention by way of CNN and even the Presidential debates. I've said it before, but I support all the chancellor is doing, although I know there are some hurt feelings among teachers and others who may have been relieved of their duties. If the system ends up the better for her efforts, then obviously the payoff is worth the stretch.

***First reviews are coming in for the newly opened Capitol Visitor Center. The Washington Post offers harsh criticism, on both architectural and symbolic grounds. I tend to agree. The New York Times offers a slightly friendlier review, but pans the effort as falling short in the end. Surprise, a federal government project that came in over budget, years late and still didn't fulfill its aims. Wait, not a surprise.

***Some DC hotels may opt for a quick and dirty face lift. They want to impress the inaugural crowds, who, coincidentally, are paying through the nose for accommodations.

Also, on the inauguration front, have you heard this? Our very own Jim Graham (Ward One council member) introduced a measure to allow DC bars and restaurants to remain open for 24 hours a day from January 17-21, 2009. Also, they'd be allowed to serve alcohol until 5:00 AM, a three hour extension of the usual 2:00 AM weeknight restriction. Thoughts? I can't say I'm against it, but am sure that local opposition will surface.

UPDATED: The emergency legislation passed by a vote of 12-1. Phil Mendelson accounted for the only "against" vote.

Keeping Tabs

A few news stories:

Hardly necessary to take a cab from Adams Morgan to Mount Pleasant, but if you really need to on the weekends, its now "easier." A story about the mandatory, new cab stands on 18th Street (pictured left). Recipe for disaster? And you thought there were too many petty fights on this block already.

If your dream condo went all rental on you before you could buy it, you'll appreciate this NYT article. Its about a couple of projects on 14th Street NW. Turns out U Street and Columbia Heights weren't quite ready for $1+ million condos. Shocking.

Triple the attendance, smaller budget? The Fed appropriations for President Obama's 2009 Inauguration total $15.0 million. That's $2.3 million less than the final cost of President Bush's 2005 event, which drew about 300,000 people. More than 1 million are expected for Obama. Doesn't add up to me. But, I was a poli sci major, so math isn't my strong suit.

Prime, barren, potential office space at Connecticut and K, which I wrote about last week, finally gets construction financing. Maybe the planned parking lot on that site is no longer necessary. $194,000,000 of guaranteed income tends to lessen the need to nickel and dime desperate parkers.