Author Archive
D.C. Snowball Fight Organizer: Not Expecting Police But “They’re More Than Welcome”
So far, we've heard of at least three snowball fights planned for tomorrow in the District. One near Randle Circle in Southeast (noon), another in a field near the New York Avenue Metro station in Northeast (1 p.m.), and a third on the National Mall (3 p.m.).
Given what happened during D.C.'s last big snow at D.C.'s last snowball fight—remember all those anarchists?—we thought we'd ask Rhys Gerholdt, executive director of CarbonfreeDC, who is helping organize the one in NE, a few questions. Because all of these snowball fights seem awfully suspicious. Read More "D.C. Snowball Fight Organizer: Not Expecting Police But “They’re More Than Welcome”" »
The World’s Largest Snowball Fight: 5,387 Snowball Throwers!
Although D.C. may hold the Guinness World Record for Most Guns Brought to a Snowball Fight, someone else holds the one for the Largest Snowball Fight.
The record was owned until recently by a bunch of snowball pelters—3,745 of them, to be exact—at Michigan Tech, which had on the same day in 2006 earned itself two other records: one for making the largest snowball and the other for "the most people making snow angels simultaneously in a single venue."
Read More "The World’s Largest Snowball Fight: 5,387 Snowball Throwers!" »
Morning Roundup: How Much Time Did You Spend in the Grocery Store Last Night?
Good day, Winter Weather Panicsphere! Do you want to talk about something other than the impending Snowmaggedon/Snowpocalypse/SnOMG2? Well, too bad. Here's the day's roundup, by the numbers:
18-24: Number of inches of snow on the way for the region, according to the National Weather Service forecast
28: Record number of inches for a D.C. snowstorm, from one that hit Jan. 27-28, 1922
8: Number of hours you have after the snow stops to shovel your sidewalks, and the number of inches of snowfall at which Metro will halt above-ground service
12: Time D.C.'s badass open public schools will close (early)
10: Time this morning the Winter Storm Warning goes into effect, and time tomorrow night that that warning ends
3: Number of hours City Paper reporter Jason Cherkis spent in the Adams Morgan Harris Teeter last night
Read More "Morning Roundup: How Much Time Did You Spend in the Grocery Store Last Night?" »
What to Call the Storm: Snowpocalypse 2? Snowgasm? Sno’ Mo’?
Some people apparently think other people should be working, rather than trying to come up with a name for the snowstorm that is bearing down on the region.
What's his problem??
Anyway, lots of folks have weighed in in response to Capital Weather Gang's request for names (I mean, lots of folks...all that productivity, gone!) Here are some of the contenders, from the CWG site and elsewhere:
*Snowgasbord
*Snowly Crap
*Snowper Bowl
*Sno' Mo'
*Snowfulupagus
*SNOWVALANCHE
*Snowgasm (verdict from CWG: "soo not kid safe")
*THE GREAT FLAKE OUT
*Spongebob Snowpants
*Snobal Warming
*Ain't_No_Snowplow_High_Enough
*Snovatar
*The Great Senate Snowfu
*Kaiser Snowze (a personal favorite)
*The Great 2010 Less Than 2, 2 to 6, 6 to 12, 12+, Check Back Tomorrow Snowcastrophe
Read More "What to Call the Storm: Snowpocalypse 2? Snowgasm? Sno’ Mo’?" »
Morning Roundup: Snow Came, More Coming; D.C. Schools Are Open, and Badass!
Snow, baby! Whaddya say, about 3 to 6?
Several wimpy area school systems will be closed today (Montgomery, Prince George's, Anne Arundel), but not the District. The District is badass. Opening on time!
It should turn nice this afternoon. But look into the Capital Weather Gang's Snow Lover's Crystal Ball: There's more stuff coming! "At the moment, everything remains on track for a major winter storm beginning during the day Friday and continuing into Saturday," the gang reports. "A substantial accumulation of snow is becoming increasingly likely."
Who's organizing the snowball fight? Detective Baylor?
Read More "Morning Roundup: Snow Came, More Coming; D.C. Schools Are Open, and Badass!" »
Fenty’s Unpopularity, Explained (With Video): ‘You’ve Got to Break Eggs When You Make an Omelet’
So Adrian Fenty's poll numbers are down, so what? The mayor is bound to upset a bunch of people when he makes "dramatic change" in governance, Bill Lightfoot, chairman of the Fenty reelection campaign, told the Washington Post. "You've got to break eggs when you make an omelet."
Exactly!
Michelle Rhee: “I’m Warm and Fuzzy”
Things that are warm and fuzzy:
"I'm warm and fuzzy when it comes to some things: kids, and I do these listening sessions with teachers," DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee tells WAMU. "And teachers often come up to me and say, 'you are so much nicer than I thought. I like you! And I thought I was going to hate you!'"
Photo of Rhee by Darrow Montgomery
Morning Roundup: Three Ways to Remember J.D. Salinger
Good morning, Friday! Forecast: snow on the way, but maybe not so much.
In trying to abide our New Year's resolutions (see No. 7), we didn't mention a thing about Metro's 10-cent fare hike yesterday! So: here, now, are a few links, in case you want to read someone else's reporting on this. OK, just one link. Plus, a bonus Metro cartoon.
Can you bear to read any more about the iPad? Apparently, the Japanese company Fujitsu in 2002 launched a device it calls the iPAD—it's a mobile hand-held thing used in the retailing world to check prices or verify inventory on the spot. According to Masahiro Yamane, director of Fujitsu’s public relations division, "It’s our understanding that the name is ours." And they're consulting their lawyers.
Note to Apple: Let them have the name!
Read More "Morning Roundup: Three Ways to Remember J.D. Salinger" »
Wizards Arenas and Crittenton Suspended for Remainder of Season
NBA Commissioner David Stern has suspended Washington Wizard Gilbert Arenas and his teammate Javaris Crittenton without pay for the remainder of the 2009-2010 season. The Washington Post is reporting that Arenas has told the players union not to fight the suspension.
Arenas, who pleaded guilty last week to a felony gun charge, already has missed 12 games, and the Wizards have 38 remaining, so the total suspension would be 50 games. Arenas still could face jail time; while the felony charge carries a maximum penalty of five years, prosecutors have asked for six months.
Read More "Wizards Arenas and Crittenton Suspended for Remainder of Season" »
Morning Roundup: The ‘Put on a Tool Belt and Bug a Senator’s Office’ Edition
Morning, City Desk.
Bad news: Police are "fairly confident" they've found the remains of Morgan Harrington, the 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who disappeared in October after getting separated from her friends at a Metallica concert in Charlottesville. The remains were found at Anchorage Farm by owner David Bass, who said he was out checking fences on a remote part of the property he visits only about once a year. Virginia State Police said the body has been taken to a forensic lab in Richmond so it can be identified and a cause of death confirmed.
How's this for a twist in the story plot of the guy who played the pimp in the undercover pimp-and-prostitute ACORN video that got the liberal grassroots group in hot water with Congress? Said guy, James O'Keefe, 25, has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly trying to bug the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
Read More "Morning Roundup: The ‘Put on a Tool Belt and Bug a Senator’s Office’ Edition" »
Report: Remains of Missing Virginia Tech Student Found
The Associated Press is reporting that police believe they have found the skeletal remains of Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student who went missing in October after a Metallica concert in Charlottesville:
The skeletal remains were found Tuesday morning by a farmer surveying his farm. The farm is about 10 miles from where Harrington attended the concert at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville.
State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty said an autopsy will be conducted to confirm the remains are those of the 20-year-old woman.
Harrington's mother, Gil, told CBS affiliate WCAV they are "most likely" her daughter's:
Gil Harrington said she wanted to thank people for all their prayers and the efforts to find Morgan. "I was hoping we would find her alive, but at least we won't always be wondering for a lifetime," she said. "We're still kind of processing, trying to, although all this time, we've been trying to prepare ourselves for this endpoint," Harrington said.
Morning Roundup: The National Enquirer Goes for a Pulitzer and Conan Gets $45 Million to Shut Up
It's Friday!
Today, there is no other place to start but here: the weather (the roads are just wet for now, but there is still a chance you need to panic). Also, road closures and the March for Life. You going?
Next: Howard Kurtz's story in the Washington Post this morning about how the National Enquirer plans to submit its reporting on the John Edwards fathering-a-baby-by-a-staffer-no-really-he-did-even-though-he-denies-it-see-I-told-you-so scandal for journalism's highest prize, the Pulitzer.
DPW Goes Through Trash, City Paper Writer Goes on Kojo
Tune in to Kojo Nnamdi tomorrow if you want to learn all the dirty details of recycling in D.C.! Among the scheduled guests: Washington City Paper freelancer Christine MacDonald and D.C. Department of Public Works' recycling officer Bill Easley.
This is a topic near and dear to City Paper's heart, which is why we bring it up. MacDonald wrote a cover story for the paper in November cataloging multiple instances of private D.C. haulers mixing recycling and trash on their rounds. She also criticized DPW for failing to crack down on violators.
Cue the dramatic music: A few weeks later, City Paper itself received a recycling violation in the mail. Inspector Kayanda Jones had discovered trash mixed in with the recycling-only Dumpster behind 2390 Champlain Street NW and written a $50 ticket. There was even a picture!
The timing of this seemed curious. Was it retribution, City Paper asked DPW at the time? (DPW's response: "Of course not.")
Since then, DPW has provided answers to a few questions we asked about how the whole thing went down.
Read More "DPW Goes Through Trash, City Paper Writer Goes on Kojo" »
Morning Roundup: A Pickup Truck, Pot, and a Mercedes-Benz
Good morning, City Desk. Unless you're a Democrat. If you're a Democrat, it is not a good morning at all. If you're a Democrat, the world has pretty much ended. A Republican has been elected to fill the vacant Senate seat of the late Ted Kennedy. A Republican with a pickup truck! A pickup truck beat an SUV!
Roger Ebert summed it up this way in a tweet: "Massachusetts to Teddy: 'F--k you.'"
The Post reports on a Read More "Morning Roundup: A Pickup Truck, Pot, and a Mercedes-Benz" »
What Does MLK Day Mean to You? We Ask MLK Grocers, MLK Barbershop, King Liquors, and MLK Counseling
Has anyone given their name to more streets, avenues, boulevards, schools, and other buildings than Martin Luther King Jr.? Here in the District, there’s Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Martin Luther King Elementary, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, a Martin Luther King Jr. park, a Martin Luther King Jr. post office, and a slew of businesses.
And if your establishment is named after Martin Luther King, you must have something to say about today’s holiday. Right?
