Archive for the ‘City Paper’ Category
Our Morning Roundup: The “Google Jim Graham” Edition
WTOP went digging through Metrobus records and concluded yesterday that D.C. should ride at its own risk. In the last five years, there were over 400 violations for running red lights, and one driver was even disciplined for watching television while driving (are you feeling lucky?). Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham told the station those riders that notice problems should “Just Google Jim Graham” and email him. Just in case I catch my bus driver watching “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on the way home, I ran a Google-Graham-drill. Unfortunately, the first item that came up was Graham’s decision to give up oversight over the D.C. taxi industry. Old news, but it’s worth checking out again just to note his scarlet bowtie and fluorescent orange grandma glasses. I may be walking home, but that is one dapper man.
Read More “Our Morning Roundup: The “Google Jim Graham” Edition” »
Don Peebles to Take on Fenty: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Accused Taxi Briber Will Stay in Jail, Judge Says“; “Graham Withdraws From Taxi Oversight”
Morning all. It’s official: DCision 2010 is on for real. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty was spotted knocking on Ward 7 doors yesterday evening, according to WaPo’s Nikita Stewart. Good thing, too: He’s got a new potential challenger—D.C. native and megadeveloper Don Peebles, who tells WBJ’s Jonathan O’Connell that ‘he will either run himself or support another candidate because of what he called “a continued pattern of a lack of oversight and accountability” under Fenty….”The current mayor lacks the integrity, competency, capacity and maturity to be an effective mayor, and he’s unable to get along with anybody else.”‘ A real race? Be still LL’s heart!
AFTER THE JUMP—Top city officials react to WaPo HIV/AIDS spending reports; 4,000 Metro citations issued to drivers, only 18 fired; oily rags brought down Cafritz mansion; business owner complains, mayor offers tickets; and should domestic partnerships survive same-sex marriage?
Read More “Don Peebles to Take on Fenty: Loose Lips Daily” »
D.C.’s $25 Million AIDS Failure: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
Morning all. The front page of Sunday’s WaPo featured one of those big-time investigative stories that it’s nice to know a major metropolitan daily is still capable of. Reporter Debbie Cenziper spent some 10 months examining the record of the city’s HIV/AIDS Administration, particularly its grants to housing providers, in a series called ‘Wasting Away.’ She found that the city ‘awarded more than $25 million from 2004 to 2008 to nonprofit agencies marked by questionable spending, a lack of clients, or lapses in record-keeping and care.’ But will Cenziper’s work have any meaningful political fallout? Not likely. The investigation spans the last years of Anthony A. Williams‘ mayoralty and the first years of Adrian M. Fenty’s, and the first article in the series traces much of the malfeasance to HAA supervisor Debra Rowe, who was fired last year by new HAA director Shannon Hader, a Fenty hire. Councilmember David Catania, who’s overseen the health department during the period in question, has been a firebrand on the issue of HAA mismanagement for years. So it’s as yet unclear what accountability might look like.
AFTER THE JUMP—David Wilmot doesn’t need banks for his loans; council hearing stretches 18 hours; Fenty goes one-on-one with a reporter (not LL); the DCHVRA could live after all; Kwame harbors lottery contract doubts; and Chain Bridge Road fire extinguished!
Read More “D.C.’s $25 Million AIDS Failure: Loose Lips Daily” »
‘Reforming the Reform’: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”It’s Official: Gray for Mayor!“; “http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/citydesk/2009/10/15/trinidad-checkpoints-still-illegal/
Morning all. Couple of bits of breaking news: Intralot has been awarded the contract to run the D.C. Lottery—again. This time, however, they did it without their local partner W2Tech, who caused the Greek outfit much grief before the D.C. Council last year. But now Intralot has another problem: They don’t have any local partner at all, and expect various councilmembers to make great hay out of that. In other news, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray is currently amid a 150-witness hearing on the teacher layoffs. There’s been lots of rhetorical fireworks thus far, not least of which is labor honcho Jos Williams calling on the council to impeach Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (no such provision happens to exist in D.C. law). But the more momentous comments came from At-Large Councilmember Michael A. Brown, who announced ‘it’s time to think about reforming the reform,’ marking the first time in LL’s recollection that a sitting councilmember has called publicly for an end to mayoral control of the D.C. Public Schools. ‘We have to figure out another way to move the ball forward….Clearly what’s going on right now isn’t working,’ he said. Yikes.
AFTER THE JUMP—Don Peebles rumored to have $1M for Fenty challenger; Rhee won’t discuss working for a mayor other than Fenty; Evans announces potential chairman run (again); massage parlor opens back up; and District sues sex club
Peter Nickles ‘Speaks for the Law’: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Tipper Gore Stumps for Council Hopeful Clark Ray“; “How to Get a Sweet WaPo Editorial”
IN LL WEEKLY—Parks and Wreck: What Ximena Hartsock’s ouster says about Adrian Fenty’s undisciplined politics.
Morning all. Peter Nickles and Kwame Brown got into it a little bit yesterday on the John A. Wilson Building steps, as Latino groups protested the Ximena Hartsock ouster. Patrick Madden of WAMU-FM and Tim Craig of WaPo were both on hand for the tête-à-tête. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’ Brown shouted to the AG at one point—ashamed, he says, because of Nickles’ references to ‘a misogynist, racist hearing’ and other comments along those divisive lines. Rather, Brown tells the protesters the vote was about Mayor Adrian M. Fenty breaking the law; Nickles’ classic rejoinder, to Craig: ‘To use the excuse that she had violated the law…I speak for the law.’
AFTER THE JUMP—Teen dead in Clay Terrace shootout said to be innocent bystander; some sorely needed good news for Michelle Rhee; some think she’s Braveheart; Clark Ray buddies up to the guy who fired him; Fenty administration commits to Northeast streetcars; and David Wilmot fetes Fenty tonight—but too late to stop the suing?
Read More “Peter Nickles ‘Speaks for the Law’: Loose Lips Daily” »
Students in Search of Answers: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Two Dead, Three Injured In Clay Terrace Shooting“; “New D.C. Chief Technology Officer Is Bryan Sivak”
Morning all. The string of bad press for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee continues, with Bill Turque’s WaPo profile of politically active McKinley Tech students raising questions about teacher layoffs at their school. Student leaders ‘have found themselves in the midst of a bitter adult struggle that involves politicians, educators and labor leaders. They were courted, encouraged and criticized….For the most part, they are not inspired by what they have seen.’ And, like a lot of people in this town, they’re just looking for some semblance of accountability. The student body president says that ‘[m]ore troubling than the cuts…is Fenty’s unwillingness to account for them in a town hall or other public forum. “I’m just confused about why he hasn’t talked about the whole thing.”‘ Call LL less confused, but equally vexed.
AFTER THE JUMP—Two teens dead in brazen daylight Northeast drive-by; D.C. General could be seeing a big bump in homeless residents; ‘Why Michelle Rhee Has to Play Tough’; meet the new CTO; Metro goes ‘by the book’; and Marion Barry and seafood aren’t getting along.
Read More “Students in Search of Answers: Loose Lips Daily” »
Our Morning Roundup: The 70 Percent Lord of the Rings Edition
In honor of the fact I FINALLY saw the movie this weekend. And only liked 70% of it.
There’s a new, crisp smell in the air—is it fall? Or perhaps the first whiff of bipartisanship in the health care debate? Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine has finally been wooed to the, um, dark side—depending on your point of view—and along with 13 Democrats helped President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority clear a key Senate panel. Her rousing battle cry was straight from the mouth of Gandalf the Grey: “When history calls, history calls.”
A police officer on horseback was attacked yesterday by “at least 20 dogs” at Fort Dupont Park in Southeast, according to WUSA. The woman responsible for the dogs was taken into custody for letting them roam free. And for being a fugitive. Which might possibly explain why she had twenty dogs. That, or they were all Ringwraiths working for Sauron. Your call. Read More “Our Morning Roundup: The 70 Percent Lord of the Rings Edition” »
MPD’s Endangered Liaisons: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”Thomas Says He’ll Vote for Gay Marriage Bill“; “Marion Barry Released From Hospital”
Morning LLDers. Is the MPD dismantling its high-profile Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit? According to WaPo’s Theola Labbé-DeBose, Chief Cathy Lanier, due to budget pressures, ‘has frozen hires into the District’s award-winning Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit and wants to train patrol officers to respond to the specialty calls, a plan that has drawn anger from the gay community.’ Plan is to give special GLBT training to officers who want it, which ‘will increase the number of available officers to more than 100 after several rounds of training in the next few months. But advocates say it will strike a blow to the unit’s effectiveness.’ And be warned: ‘Lanier said she is going to take similar approaches with units that reach out to the city’s Asian, Latino, and deaf and hard-of-hearing communities.’
AFTER THE JUMP—Cell phone ban actually works, study says; honored teacher got the ax; guy gets abducted, slashed, left for dead, and lives to see his assailants sentenced; Barry leaves hospital; and Kevin Chavous hits basic-cable airwaves.
Michelle Rhee Feels the Blowback: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—”How Is Causton Toney Connected to the Taxi Probe?“; “Clarence Carter Issues Statement On Homeless Services Cuts“; “Taxi Mogul Solomon Bekele Speaks”
Morning all. And a happy Columbus Day to all—the holiday you only get off if you work for the government. This was a good weekend if you’re interested in watching DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee take some lumps. Start with Robert McCartney’s Sunday WaPo column: ‘I want to love Michelle Rhee—really, I do—but she makes it so hard sometimes,’ he writes. What’s making it hard, he writes, is how she went about the teacher layoffs. ‘She picked a spectacularly bad time, just as the school year was shifting into high gear. She also mishandled the theatrics in such a way that she enraged the unions and D.C. Council even more than she usually does. As a result, labor and political tensions simmering in the city over Rhee’s reforms since she arrived in 2007 boiled over last week. The spillage might jeopardize her whole project and poses a significant challenge for her patron, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), as he seeks reelection next year.’
AFTER THE JUMP—First-year teacher talks about her firing; Hartsock supporters rally at city hall; Colby King isn’t seeing results; WaPo’s Milbank lays into DOH; Red Line train driver flakes out; and remembering a promising 17-year-old caught in crossfire.
Read More “Michelle Rhee Feels the Blowback: Loose Lips Daily” »
Why the Peaceoholics Thrive: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—’Taxi Bribery Case: Syume on Tape Threatening FBI Informant‘; ‘Alleged Taxicab Scammer on Tape!‘; ‘Why Child Advocates Oppose the Jacks-Fogle Bill‘; ‘Ben Ali Created a Political Mecca‘
Greetings all. Perhaps you’ve seen this already, but you do need to check out this week’s WCP cover story, by Jeffrey Anderson. It’s the profile of Ronald Moten and his Peaceoholics that so many in this town have been waiting to read. Writes Anderson, ‘If you’re not familiar with Moten and his group, you’re not familiar with crime in the District. When asked who’s in charge of a [crime scene], an officer replies, “Probably that dude from Peaceoholics; he’s the big boss around here.” Standing nearby, a police lieutenant says she has no idea what Moten is doing. “He didn’t speak to me or any of my officers,” she says. That’s because Moten is wired at the upper echelons of the city bureaucracy.’ But that bureaucracy declaims just about all responsibility for Moten or his activities. Finding any sort of evidence of oversight or accountability for the group in agency after agency is a futile endeavor. Yet Peaceoholics stands to continue to thrive (even though Moten says he’s quitting). That’s because, Anderson writes, ‘D.C. can’t handle its young.’ The politicians and policy wonks don’t offer easy solutions, but Moten & Co. do. Does it matter if those solutions work?
AFTER THE JUMP—Remembering Ben Ali; hundreds and hundreds rally against teacher cuts on Freedom Plaza; listen to the taxicab tapes at WCP; gay marriage could mean economic stimulus to city; and how racist is the D.C. Council?
Can Ximena Be Saved?: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—’It’s Polling Season in D.C. Politics‘; ‘Inside The Homeless Services Budget Mess‘;’Peter Nickles, Document Madman‘
IN LL WEEKLY—Fare Game: Where is the federal taxi investigation headed?
Morning all. Sad, breaking news: Ben’s Chili Bowl founder Ben Ali has died at 82. Check in at City Desk all day for memories and tributes to the proprietor of one of D.C.’s great culinary and political landmarks. In other news, Ximena Hartsock is fighting back hard after her D.C. Council ouster on Tuesday. The would-be parks-and-rec chief tells WaPo’s Nikita Stewart that several of the claims made by councilmembers on the dais Tuesday are false, and says she could be around for another couple of weeks at least, as her 180-day interim appointment runs out. Fenty, she says, ’said he was devastated and he was very sorry.’ Have no doubt that the full-court press will continue: LL visited her at DPR headquarters yesterday, following a Univision camera crew into her office. More on the Save Ximena campaign later at City Desk.
AFTER THE JUMP—Indicted taxi kingpin threatens to go all Mafioso on informant; WTU fires off lawsuit challenging RIF; Nickles gets smacked down by ex-chief judge; city steps up campaign against David Wilmot’s IDI; big fight at Ballou; and Red Line returns to normal!
Down Goes Ximena Hartsock: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
MEA MAXIMA CULPA—LL made a grievous error in yesterday’s Daily: The dozens arrested Friday in connection to the taxicab scam all pleaded NOT GUILTY.
Morning all. Gay marriage? Who cares: The real action at the John A. Wilson Building yesterday concerned the confirmation vote on acting parks-and-rec director Ximena Hartsock in the wake of a Friday hearing fraught with race- and gender-baiting. She became the first agency head of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s (and in anyone’s memory, period) to fall to a D.C. Council disapproval resolution. In their legislative wrapup, WaPo’s Tim Craig and Nikita Stewart say the vote ‘could mark a turning point for the administration in how it deals with labor unions and their allies on the council,’ with the tally ‘aggravating the tension between the council and the mayor and casting fresh doubt on the future of the troubled agency.’ Meanwhile, AG Peter Nickles, to whom Fenty seems to have ceded all spokesduties these days, tells Examiner reporter Mike Neibauer that the move was an ‘[a]bsolutely shameless act’ to reject Hartsock after a ‘misogynist, racist hearing.’ To put a fine point on that, Nickles tells WaPo: ‘I hope the community, particularly the Latino community, recognizes how shabbily she has been treated.’ Also, that paper’s editorial board concludes, in a piece titled ‘Grudge Voting,’ that the council was ‘acting largely out of political spite.’ But is this the end for Hartsock? Nickles says he’s considering a fight, and WaPo says mayoral honchos are ’scrambling to figure out a way to keep Hartsock in the job.’
AFTER THE JUMP—Gay marriage bill is introduced, the nation notices; Barry in Howard ICU for ‘dehydration’; federal fine is holding up Southeastern U. merger; Baltimore tries to lure D.C. United; Rhee makes media rounds to explain firings; and man admits to murdering landscaper because he got grass clippings on him.
Morning Roundup: The “Loud BOOM!” Edition
Happy Hump-Day! I can see you slumping over and sleeping at your desk, so I’ve helpfully ended each news-blip with a BOOM, in honor of the Black Eyed Peas, Brett from FOTC, and the DC Metro transit system. Stay awake! Boom!
For those metro riders who have finally managed to assuage their fears of track-jumpers and crashed cars—stop reading. Prince of Petworth reports that there was more trouble on the red line yesterday. One witness said his car had “a series of explosions, with little fire and sparks everywhere.” Another mentioned a “loud BOOM!” and a decent cloud of smoke at Metro Center. And before that fiasco, the car reportedly stopped to let a sick passenger off the train. Coincidence? Metro says the train “lost one of its collector shoes”. My theory is that there was an X-Men/Heroes/Men in Black character on the train who beat up an invisible bad-guy, and than erased everyone’s memory. Draw your own conclusions. Boom!
Smooth Sailing Seen for D.C. Gay Marriage: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
Morning all. Today is the long-awaited and long-planned day of introduction for a bill to allow gay marriages to be performed in the District of Columbia. In Examiner, Michael Neibauer heralds what may be a bit of a circus at the John A. Wilson Building today, with the Archdiocese of Washington planning to show for the show. And WaPo’s Tim Craig polls congressional leaders of both parties and finds that ‘it appears unlikely’ that the bill will encounter serious trouble on the Hill. Of suburban members of Congress, only Frank Wolf opposes the bill. Even Jason Chaffetz says ‘the minority is left somewhat impotent’! That fact reflects the success of the strategy among local gay marriage backers to drop the bill in the congressional hopper exactly when the body can least afford to deal with it. But fair be warned: ‘[T]he long-term survival of the practice would be in doubt for years, depending on the makeup of the House and Senate, congressional officials said.’
AFTER THE JUMP—Nickles takes aim at the old guard; taxi whistleblower hero speaks; all those bribers say they’re not guilty; school budget madness continues apace; another pedestrian mowed down by Metrobus; and D.C. Council called out for racist treatment of DPR chief.
Read More “Smooth Sailing Seen for D.C. Gay Marriage: Loose Lips Daily” »
DCPS Teachers Get the Ax: Loose Lips Daily
As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—’Jim Graham Takes City Paper to Task‘; ‘Breaking: Read the Taxicab Indictments; Suspects Tried To Bribe Leon Swain Jr.‘; ‘Leon Swain: Taxicab Whistleblower Hero‘; ‘D.C. Taxi Probe: Who Are These People?‘
Morning all. The official tally: 229 teachers have been axed from DCPS, along with another 159 support staff. And Chancellor Michelle Rhee handed out pink slips on the same day that Hawk One Security decided to go under. How’s that for timing? WaPo says that ‘[t]he combination of events, which included a skirmish between students and police at McKinley Technology High School that resulted in two arrests, highlighted the challenges faced by [Rhee and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty] as they struggle to reform the troubled system in lean economic times.’ Question is, who were those fired? ‘Rhee did not offer details but said the terminated employees as a group were “consistent with the overall demographic makeup of the staff.”‘ But WTU president George Parker ‘disputed Rhee’s numbers and analysis….He said early indications, based on calls he had received from teachers, were that the terminated group was predominantly “senior teachers over 50.”‘ (WaPo found one first-year Cardozo teacher who had been laid off.) The paper also posts the official press release and the principals’ firing script. Also AP, NC8, WTTG-TV, Washington Teacher, ‘Real Education Reform’ blog. WAMU-FM reports that Vince Gray wants hearings on the layoffs. Examiner’s Leah Fabel reports that some teachers will protest the firings by wearing black to school today. Candi Peterson indicates that more will be laid off today. And this morning, 150 McKinley students skipped class to march to 825 North Cap; Harry Thomas Jr. joined them.
AFTER THE JUMP—Requiem for Hawk One; homeless service providers surprised by Fenty cuts; Hizzoner takes heat for AIDS visibility; District threw good money after bad university; and was Jim Graham offered bribes by cab interests?
