Hunger Striker Adrian Parsons at press conference for Occupy the Vote DC,
1200 Vermont Ave, NW, Dec. 30.  © 2011 Matt Dunn

Bathrooms Are For Closers: If you think riding a Metrobus around the District is a tough, you should try driving one. The union that represents bus drivers says schedules are so tight there's no time built in for them to use the bathroom—meaning they're left to keep a bag or cup in the back of [...]

Thinking more about the story on race and school suspension disparities has me wondering why the Post chose to highlight the troll-baiting fact that black kids get suspended more often. That's kind of a gimme, based on the factors they mention: higher rates of poverty tend to mean more behavioral issues.
What's far more interesting is [...]

Contributor Ryan Little takes on Matthew Yglesias' contention that D.C. is lacking cool because...the murder rate is too damn high (among other things):
Speaking as a proud local resident, musician, and arts journalist, Yglesias–while he's not totally off base–sold our fair city short.
First, there are bizarre references to the murder rate, which is both irrelevant and inconsistent; [...]

1800 Block 14th Street, NW.   © 2011 Matt Dunn

No Taxation Without Starvation: Getting D.C. representation in Congress turns out to be physically hard work. The last remaining protester from the Occupy D.C. movement who's on a hunger strike to demand voting rights, Adrian Parsons, has lost 25 pounds in three weeks. He's consuming only vitamins and water, enhanced with electrolytes. Parsons' doctors have [...]

The Post has a new report up showing that black students in the Washington area are suspended and expelled "two to five times as often" as white students:
Last year, for example, one in seven black students in St. Mary’s County were suspended from school, compared with one in 20 white students. In Alexandria, black students [...]

We love the dark arts of search engine optimization as much as the next struggling news organization, but sacrificing clarity for the all-mighty SEO monster may be a bit much. WJLA had this terribly awkward headline for a story about a young girl who lived in Maryland before being found dead in Indiana: "Aliahna Lemmon, [...]

Timonium, MD. © 2011 Michael W. Hicks

A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Stupid Fox: A member of the TakomaDC email list offers this warning—which comes in near-haiku form: "Big old fox sunning himself in our neighbor's yard this morning. Vicious, bold tabby cat quietly slinked away." Another member adds, "Vicious, bold, [...]

Congress, Occupied: Occupy D.C. is one of the only remaining encampments in the nation, after crackdowns in other cities, and the protesters in McPherson Square appear to be making the most of it. They filed for permits today to hold an "Occupy Congress" march on the Mall on Jan. 17. But maybe that doesn't go [...]

For more than a quarter century, the Cheap Seats column in Washington City Paper has been the place the District turns for the best stories in area sports. Not the breaking news, or the game coverage, but the tales of the businesses, institutions, legends, and most of all, people behind sports in the D.C. region. [...]

A tipster who prefers to remain anonymous sends in these photos of foam blocks that fell from the Reeves Center this morning, and the ensuing chaos on 14th Street NW:

Baltimore, MD. ©2011 Michael W. Hicks