Turn Out The Lights: It always feels a little Christmas-y in Adams Morgan, thanks to the illuminated martini glass, music note, coffee cup, and shoe that have been hanging from lightposts in the neighborhood for the last decade. But like a tree that's dropped all its needles and needs to go out to the curb, the lights will soon be retired. The Business Improvement District in the area is replacing them with banners, like the ones that have popped up everywhere else in the District recently. On the plus side: The lights look sort of silly. On the minus side: So do banners. +1

Read more The Needle: Drum Major Edition

Looks like the Park Service has met the deadline set by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to come up with a solution to the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial quote fiasco. The Post is reporting that the agency will replace the 10-word truncated quote, "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness," with the original 45-word phrase:

“If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all the other shallow things will not matter.”

At the time the controversy broke, sculptor Lei Yixin said the full quote wouldn't fit. The solution, apparently? Cut some of the granite off to clear more room for the full line.

Photo by Lydia DePillis

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 2/3. ©2012 Michael W. Hicks

Last night's Zoning Commission public meeting on the Georgetown campus plan—which I've been reporting on for a longer piece that'll be in the paper—was remarkably short. The last Georgetown hearing I went to lasted nearly five hours. Yesterday's ran from 6:30 until about 8:45 p.m.

But the shortness of the meeting was a bad sign—at least for the neighbors who oppose the plan. Chairman Anthony Hood ended the meeting with a decision to wait to see if Georgetown's suite of programs (noise/party patrols, trash pick-up, paying MPD officers to stick close to campus on weekends, etc.) designed to mitigate, well, the existence of students living in Burleith and West Georgetown are actually working. In mid-April, the university and its neighbors will submit their own assessments of how terrible (or not terrible) the student presence in the neighborhoods is. On May 10, the commission will hold another meeting to discuss the issues they weren't able to reconcile last night: Enrollment, housing, and off-campus student behavior.

"They just keep kicking the can down the road," Christopher Clements, president of the campus plan-opposing Burleith Citizen's Association, told me with a shrug. "Really, we're at a point where we just want a decision." Another neighbor added, "I'm a bit disappointed in them."

And really, the winner here seems to be Georgetown. The commissioners made it clear they were uncomfortable with the Office of Planning's fall recommendation that the university house all of its students on campus or outside of the 20007 zip code. And that's the solution that all the nearby neighbors I've talked to are endorsing. But it's incredibly unlikely they're going to get it. Right now the commission seems to be giving Georgetown a "help me help you" moment.

A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.

Garden of Evil: "I have been trying for years and years to get a plot. But, in reading comments from people involved in 'running' the gardens, I am shocked at how unkind and mean-spirited everyone sounds. I thought working a garden should be enjoyable and have a calming effect, but this list seems to be overrun by even more offensive comments than our dear own AdamsMorgan list! Why is there so much anger and hatred on this list?" writes a member of the Adams Morgan email list. This prompts a second member to issue this screed: "Last year, I had also hoped to be put on the list for the garden plot lottery, but was told that signs would be posted to notify us of the schedule.  Much to my chagrin, around the time I had been told to 'look for signs,' I finally walked up to the garden gate and noticed a small 3"x5" card on the garden gate announcing the event, which had taken place the week before.   While a number of things ran through my mind, I suppose I have to take responsibility for not checking the actual gate on a weekly basis.  My fault for assuming that signs(s) might be posted in a location where I would see them more readily." The saga continues! "This year, I submitted my name  to the garden coordinator(s) via email and recently heard back that the lottery would take place this weekend.  As I will be out of town, I immediately sent an email to the garden coordinator address asking if I could have a friend attend on my behalf.  This was one week ago and I've received no response, even though the lottery is to take place in three days.  I followed up this morning and my email bounced back, as the domain appears to have expired.  Finally, I am aware of three others who attempted to sign up for the lottery in the past week, and to my knowledge, not one of them has received any kind of response."

Read more Neighborhood News Roundup: So Much Anger and Hatred Edition

Your U.S. Senate At Work: Maybe it's best D.C. doesn't have any members in the Senate, after all. Because if we did, they'd probably do embarrassing things like what Pennsylvania's Democratic Sen. Bob Casey did today, which was whine on Twitter about the Nationals' plan to sell advance tickets to a May homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies only to people whose credit cards match addresses in the D.C. region. "I'm calling on the @Nationals to reverse course on a reported plan to block @Phillies fans from buying tickets to games at Nationals Park," Casey blurted. ".@Phillies have some of the best fans in the world. They shouldn’t be left out in the cold because the Nats want a stronger home field adv." Of course, it's not like the people in the Senate have anything better to worry about than how many fans of their baseball team get to travel to another city to be obnoxious in person, right? -1

Read more The Needle: Oh, Shut Up, Senator Casey, Edition

Urbanists are making inroads! Sort of. A new survey from the National Association of Realtors discovers what a lot of us already knew: Even though smart growth is gaining popularity, people want to live where they already live. But there's good news; when presented with two hypothetical communities—one sprawling and one smart—people tend to go with the more sustainable one.

When selecting a community, nearly half of the public (47 percent) would prefer to live in a city (19 percent) or a suburban neighborhood with a mix of houses, shops, and businesses (28 percent). Another four in ten (40 percent) would prefer a rural area (22 percent) or a small town (18 percent). Only one in ten (12 percent) say they would prefer a suburban neighborhood with houses only.

Also of particular interest are the findings about what various types of Americans prefer:

• Younger people who are unmarried tend to prefer the convenience of smart growth, walkable communities. Subdivision-type communities appeal more to middle-aged, married couples.
• Political views are predictive of what type of communities Americans prefer.  Democrats and liberals tend to prefer smart growth-type communities, while Republicans and conservatives are more likely to favor sprawl-type communities.
• In general, adults’ current housing situations reflect their preferences.  Those who live in housing-only suburbs, small towns, and rural areas prefer more spread out, less walkable communities, whereas urban residents and those who live in suburbs with a mix of housing and businesses prefer more walkable, smart growth-type communities.
• Those on both ends of the socio-economic scale tend to prefer smart growth communities while those in the middle are more drawn to sprawl-type communities.

Above all, though, Americans really like privacy, and they'll give up smart growth for it. Which means they'd pick a detached home on its own lot in the suburbs over a rowhouse or condo in a walkable neighborhood. Anyway, there's lots more to the survey: Dig in.

Photo by Mike Hicks

Metal Chris, meet the blogger behind the corpse paint.

Read more Photos: Meet The Fans

Although the Washington Redskins didn’t have the worst record in the NFL this season (thanks, Rams and Colts), after another disappointing season fans and sports pundits are looking for a savior. And what better savior for a team that likes nothing better than to win the offseason than Peyton Manning?

After sitting out the entire 2011 season with a neck injury, Manning may become a free agent in the coming weeks, and rumors have already begun to circulate as to where he’ll end up. Falls Church resident Jim Johnson is leading a crusade of Skins fans who hope his destination is the District. (Well, Landover, Md., technically, but you know what we mean, unless you're Marion Barry or Jack Evans.)

About two weeks ago, amid the pre-Super Bowl, post-season hoopla, Johnson started DCPetitionforPeyton.com and began tweeting from @PeytonToSkins, part of a virtual campaign to rally residents around the cause of bringing Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning’s bro to town. Although he only has 62 Twitter followers so far, Johnson isn't giving up. (Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins is on board, now, too!) So Washington City Paper spoke with Johnson to pick his brain about why Peyton would be the best fit at quarterback. This interview has been edited for length.

City Paper: It has been argued that no team needs a quarterback more than the Skins (two words: Rex Grossman), but why Peyton Manning?

Read more One Man’s Crusade to Bring Peyton Manning Here

McPherson Square, January 30

Sandy Point State Park, Md., January 28

Page three photos are also in a big picture gallery.

Gallery Place/Chinatown. © 2012 Michael W. hicks

Some big news today: Five big banks agreed to contribute $25 billion to help relieve the financial burden on homeowners. The money partially immunizes the banks from legal action, and NPR reports, "Most of the money—$20 billion—would go toward writing down principal payments for homeowners who were not foreclosed upon, but who are struggling now."

So what does that mean for D.C.? According to a release today, the District will get about $40 million, which is dependent on the number of homeowners who take advantage of the relief program. The District government itself will get a $4.6 million check.

Mayor Vince Gray's statement is a pleased one: This settlement is a strong win for consumers. Even homeowners who don’t receive direct monetary benefits under the settlement will benefit as the reduction in unnecessary foreclosures helps to stabilize communities and the housing market in and around D.C.”

Full release after the jump:

Read more D.C. To Get $40 Million Under Housing Settlement

The Baltimore-Washington Newspaper Guild sent its members another memo this morning about the buyout offer at the Washington Post, clarifying a bit about who's eligible. Yesterday, the union indicated that six local government and politics staffers were exempt from the offer; the buyout is targeting a total of nine employees in the Metro department, out of 48 jobs targeted for elimination.

Editor Marcus Brauchli reportedly told Posties the paper was only offering buyouts to people in coverage areas where the Post "could afford to absorb reductions," and not in "core areas." So it seemed the local government beat was considered a "core area," despite the focus on Metro jobs.

Turns out that's not necessarily the case. Fredrick Kunkle, the Guild's co-chairman at the Post, says those local staffers are exempt either because they've been at the paper for too short a time to qualify for the buyout, or they're part-time, or they're out on leave—all categories that disqualify any Post employee from taking the buyout.

Full memo after the jump: Read more More on the Post Buyouts

Today Mayor Vince Gray will be introducing a new anti-truancy ad campaign alongside Deputy Mayor for Education De'Shawn Wright.

The District has long had an issue with truancy, Wright told me yesterday. "We think part of the issue is that parents and kids don’t understand the linkage between a day’s absence and how much learning is lost," he says. The campaign—which included a back to school campaign in the fall—will cost between $500,000 and $700,000 "spread across several agencies."

There will be radio ads targeting parents on stations like Majic 102.3 and Praise 104.1, and banner ads on buses and bus shelters for teenagers (one slogan:"The more you learn, the more you earn"). The greatest challenge, Wright says, is reaching ninth graders, a group whose school attendance tends to predict future success.

But as we noted a couple of days ago, there are predictors that are helping researchers find potential dropouts as early as the third grade. An ad campaign is certainly a well-meaning effort, but it's hard to believe that ninth graders will all of a sudden be moved to stop cutting class because an ad says they should. I asked Wright whether there would be metrics for measuring the success of the campaign; half a million bucks is a lot of money, after all.

He says that while the message is intended to help create a "schoolgoing culture" citywide, they'll be targeting three truancy-heavy high schools in particular: Cardozo, Ballou, and Anacostia. Students at those schools will be asked to sign an attendance pledge, and there are plans to measure student response and attendance over the course of the school year.

Photo by WzrdsRule via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License

Though lawmakers were optimistic about the Prince George's bag tax passing—and it received near-unanimous support from the county council—thanks to the Maryland General Assembly, it seems like the bill is dunzo for now:

The bill needed broader support from the Prince George’s House delegation county affairs committee to win approval but fell short on a 3-2 vote. Prince George’s Dels. Carolyn Howard and James Proctor, both Democrats, voted no. Voting for the measure besides Frush were Dels. Jolene Ivey and Justin Ross. Del. Veronica Turner (D) was absent. The measure can come before the panel two more times, and the full delegation could take it up even without the panel’s endorsement.

On Tuesday, the Prince George’s County Council voted 8-0 with one member abstaining to endorse the bill, which first needs approval in Annapolis before the council could enact the bag tax. Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) had also backed the bill. Intense lobbying from plastic bag manufacturers operating as the American Chemistry Council helped scuttle the measure. Opponents of the bill said they worried that it could hurt low-income residents.

Photo by Mr. T In D.C. via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License

(Correction: Due to a reporting error, this post originally misidentified the legislature involved.)