Recycling Legislation: Our federal overlords on Capitol Hill generate 5,300 tons of solid waste a year; after all, as any Tea Party activist will tell you, most bills are hundreds and hundreds of pages long, and printing them all out means a lot of garbage. Now the Architect of the Capitol has grand visions of burning any trash that isn't recycled—in order to generate steam, which will, in turn, yield electricity. The waste is enough to power the Dirksen Senate Office Building for months. The jokes, meanwhile, will write themselves. +1

Embassy Not So Sweet: For the capital city of the country that likes to take so much pleasure in its global hegemony, D.C. is largely free of the sort of Cold War-era international mayhem that, say, postwar Vienna was famous for. But authorities say the Iranian government may have been behind a foiled plot to bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies here, which would certainly have changed all that. How alarmed to be about the plot isn't entirely clear; the FBI says the bombings would have killed lots of people, but there's also the not-so-small matter of the fact that no bombs were ever actually planted. Look for many references to this plot in future bellicose op/ed columns about Tehran, though. -2

Obama Street Market?: This year's version of "shovel-ready projects" the 2009 stimulus bill made famous is a new list of projects the White House wants to fund quickly in order to help make the economy show some semblance of life. And the O Street Market, in Shaw, has made the cut, along with 13 other development initiatives around the country. Being on the list means a faster review for federal loans, permits, and other assistance. Unless, of course, the GOP steps in to prevent such obvious Communism. +2

Stabbing, Masturbating Both Discouraged on Buses: Being a Metrobus driver seems like a thankless task. Haul commuters around all day, get stuck in traffic, deal with the usual gripes about public servants—and, apparently, also get stabbed by guys who don't like it when you ask them to stop masturbating on board. So it went at the Silver Spring Metro station last night, where passenger Victor McEachin, 52, of Silver Spring, is accused of stabbing a bus driver during an argument prompted by the driver's suggestion that his bus should be a McEachin-penis-free zone. Police say they caught McEachin with a knife and with marijuana. The bus driver is recovering. -2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 63 Today's score: -1 Today's Needle rating: 62

On June 26, 2009, hundreds of people waited in line to get their first look at the new and improved Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. More than two years earlier, a three-alarm fire blazed through the beloved Adolf Cluss-designed building, destroying much of the interior and its original vendor stalls, leaving behind a charred brick shell that was originally built in the 1870s. Then-Mayor Adrian Fenty was on hand for the reopening of the market, which went through a $22 million renovation and rebuilding.

Before the fire, smaller renovations had been in the works that would have cost $2.5 million and allowed the market to remain open during construction. After the fire, Fenty sought to rebuild better and more ambitiously than before. The Washington Post reported:

Air ducts were moved underground, opening up a much more dramatic view of the ceiling from inside. The concrete floor, which was cracked, was completely replaced; in the process, severe structural problems in the basement arch and beam supports were discovered and removed. The rat-infested, trash-strewn lower level was restored to life, and an old underground restaurant space, accessible from the street, became the new home for the Eastern Market pottery studio.

The rehabilitated space is bustling today, with most of the vendors returned to their original stalls. Not to mention, the space is now available as a venue for special events, including weddings. (As long as you've got some cash; renting the space can cost from $100 for a community group to $4,300 for a wedding.) Editor's note: Due to a reporting error, this post originally said weddings cost $5,100.

Photo by Flickr user mastermaq using an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license

Gradually Sucking Less: Capitol Hill-based D.C. Crank Tank gives a nod to the CVS on 12th and E streets SE for its attempts to look less like a sterile chain and more like, you know, a welcoming community shop: The location has put up a nice-looking mural, possibly affiliated with the elementary school across the street. Also noted: "D.C. CVS stores are also notable for opening up to the street, and if not that, then at least supplying interesting historical photos of the neighborhoods they reside in.They still kind of suck to shop in. But at least they are easier on the eyes." (Speaking of CVS, we said the best reason to go, when you really need to restock on toothpaste, was the advent of self-checkouts.)

American Water: Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could has all the details on this Saturday's Southwest Waterfront Fireworks Festival, a big event for the community that, this year, is being run in collaboration with the Hoffman-Madison Waterfront team, who will be redeveloping the neighborhood. There's a whole slew of events on Saturday, from Potomac River cruises to face-painting; this year's festival will be the largest yet, and is a dry run for next year's, which will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the District's receiving its famous cherry trees from Japan.

People on the Streets: The Brightwoodian has everything nice to say about Art Under Pressure, a recently-opened business on Georgia Avenue: "Youth- and education-focused; one of the proprietors is Cory Stowers, the artistic director of Words Beats & Life. ("I need to see that 3.0," Stowers was saying to a group of eager young graffiti writers when I was visiting.) Stowers aims to nurture young graffiti writers and help them to develop marketable skills through their artwork." There's more plans for the space, including a print shop, which will hold printmaking classes, and a tattoo studio. Art Under Pressure's grand opening will be April 22.

Where Art Thou, Pennsylvania Avenue? The members of the East of the River listserv have been playing with David Alpert's redistricting game (still fun, a few days later!) and discussing their decisions. Whether Ward 8 should cross the Anacostia River, or Pennsylvania Avenue, or both has dominated the conversation. Something's got to give—Wards 7 and 8 both need to grow in the coming redistricting process. Writes one member, "I will say this, up front, Ward 8 should NOT cross Pennsylvania Avenue. That is a border that makes sense. If Ward 8 needs to expand, move UP, NOT ACROSS Pennsylvania Ave." Another agrees, and adds, "I do agree with councilmember Barry that [Ward 8] should cross the Anacostia River."

As City Paper's Loose Lips reported in the Feb. 13 issue that year:

Fauntroy painted a rosy picture of the prospects for for action in both the House and the Senate during this session. He claimed the political climate has been changed by the election of a Democratic majority in the Senate last fall, many of whom owe their elections to overwhelming support from the black community (offsetting their losses among white voters) and by a weakened President [Ronald] Reagan in the White House. "The Lord only gives you a flunkin’ Reagan once in a lifetime," Fauntroy said with obvious delight.

The congressman said the lion’s share of credit for the Democrats’ return to power in the Senate belonged to the black vote in Southern states. He predicted his statehood bill would clear the Senate early in 1988, as Democrats and Republicans “begin to get uptight” about next year’s presidential race and search for ways to increase their appeal among black voters.

As we all know, that bill did pass, and Fauntroy’s beloved New Columbia was added to the Union on...

...oh, wait. Never mind.

For the complete Today in D.C. History series, click here.

For Hill scandals this ain't illicit
No diapers, nor photos explicit
A word to the many
Who owe quite the penny
The IRS really does miss it

The pen is your weapon of choice?
Then here is a cause to rejoice
The Mall ain't for jogging
'Cause now you'll be blogging
When WiFi enables your voice

Oh hey, there's a Tuesday election
The District must make its selection
My vote goes to Gray
But why, do you say?
Because his name rhymes to perfection...

Dismay, go astray, cabaret?
There's little his rhymes can't convey
And then there is Fenty
(One rhyme just ain't plenty)
Compared to the Vincent buffet

Some residents in a gentrifying part of Capitol Hill have apparently made up their minds: they scream, you scream; truly, we all scream for ice cream.

And as a result, they're no longer hounding ice cream man Hamidu Jalloh. Jalloh—who has been driving a Good Humor truck on a route that takes him through the neighborhood for the past 18 years—had recently had trouble with neighbors who kept calling the cops on him. The callers both complained about the melody that issued from his truck ("Turkey in the Straw") and voiced suspicions that Jalloh was dealing drugs along with his ice cream cones.

What made them think he was selling anything besides sandwiches and bars? Jalloh drives his turf all year round. "Who sells ice cream in winter?" neighbors would ask.

Despite their animosity, Jalloh was adamant about staying around: “You’ve only been here a few years,” he would tell the complainers. “If you guys come here, you’re not going to change us! We do ice cream in this city!”

Washington City Paper wrote a cover story in April on Jalloh, detailing the complaints against him—and revealing the fact that he also sells hot items like nachos, which accounts for most of his winter roaming. The story, for which City Paper spent time riding around with Jalloh in his tiny, puttering vehicle, seems to have done the trick.

"We all came to understand each other now," says Jalloh during a recent phone call. He says he's no longer getting pulled over, and that some of his former critics have even become customers. He also says nowadays, he cuts his music off at 9 p.m. on the dot.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

A damaged gravesite at Holy Rood Cemetery in Glover Park. (Photo by Michael E. Grass)

While the recent grave mismanagement scandal at Arlington National Cemetery may dampen local enthusiasm for the national trend of finding creative new uses for cemeteries, in a backwards-kinda-way, it does spark questions about whether D.C. could taking better advantage of its cemetery spaces for the public good.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, cemeteries across the nation are trying to inject new life into places filled with dead people by having sock hops, fireworks, scavenger hunts, and events involving clowns. It’s in part a long-term survival mechanism: attracting the living before they’re dead, to keep the money coming in.

Hell, even in an emptying Detroit, people think the city "should go into the cemetery business." ("When someone dies it would generate city revenue.")

There’s a future in death, but how do the District’s cemeteries stack up?

Holy Rood Cemetery, maintained by Georgetown University, is in a pretty awful state of disrepair (but a great place to watch July 4 fireworks!). Across town on Capitol Hill's eastern end, Congressional Cemetery was once a scary place. But thanks to neighborhood dogwalkers, the historic resting place is largely a safe, clean and maintained final resting place. So sayeth the cemetery’s website: “The presence of dogwalkers at almost every hour of the day constitutes a de facto on site patrol all day long. With watch dog eyes and ears on duty, Congressional is mostly free and clear of riff raff and vandals.” Somebody needs to keep watch over J. Edgar Hoover and John Phillips Sousa!

A grave at Rock Creek Cemetery near Petworth. (Photo by Michael E. Grass)

Rock Creek Cemetery, which borders Petworth, isn’t necessarily hidden, but is unfortunately overlooked as a D.C. attraction. Not only is it a beautiful landscape—and home to a famous Augustus Saint-Gaudens sculpture—but it's the final resting place for a number of famous-for-Washington types, including presidential daughter and socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth, writer Henry Adams, master brewer Christian Heurich, Riggs Bank founder George Washington Riggs, U.S. Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, Supreme Court Associate Justice John Harlan, and Hope diamond owner and Father Struck It Rich author Evalyn Walsh McLean to name a few. (Writer Gore Vidal plans to be laid to rest at Rock Creek Cemetery, as well.)

Rock Creek Cemetery has hosted larger festivals to draw new people in. But that’s the exception to the rule. Most cemeteries in the District are closed off, precincts for the dead, not the living. But in a crowded city, that’s underutilized open space.

If the cemetery stewards are looking at the Journal article for inspiration, there are ideas aplenty. However, since there are many gravestones at Holy Rood that have fallen over, a community sock-hop competition might not be the best idea.

We've heard there may be more such license plate covers on Capitol Hill, including what's been described as a Ford Excursion with Alaska plates. Does anyone have additional info? We'd love to hear from you.

So is such a license plate cover illegal? There are D.C. regulations on the books that dictate that license plates "shall be maintained free from foreign materials and in clearly legible condition." Five years ago, D.C. police started to enforce a law making license plate covers illegal. A cottage industry had sprang up selling tinted and clear plastic covers that could evade traffic enforcement cameras.

But are the anti-D.C. statehood covers—which only obscure the iconic protest message on D.C. plates, not the tag number itself—out of step with D.C. law? We have an inquiry in with the city and will report back when more information becomes available.

A runaway steed galloped through Capitol Hill on Sunday, riding as if Paul Revere was aboard warning that the British were coming. The horse ran through the intersection at 16th and Independence streets SE, where, one poster to a Hill listserv reported, it"narrowly avoiding being hit." Resident Anne Holbrook also saw the equine escapee. Holbrook was taking her dog on an afternoon walk when she suddenly heard galloping, she tells City Desk. She moved toward the rumble and spotted a big brown horse dashing through traffic and hurtling by stunned pedestrians.

It thundered down 16th Street SE and across Massachusetts Avenue, says Holbrook. But the horse wasn't alone. A small dog, a woman, and a man were running behind it  "It looked like a cartoon," says Holbrook. "The dog was chasing the horse, the lady was chasing the dog, and the man was chasing the lady." Holbrook believes the dog must have  escaped its owner and started menacing the horse, who then bolted.

The Metropolitan Police Department reports the incident happened around 3 p.m., noting dryly that a "horse got loose from a trailer and ran around in Potomac Gardens."  A D.C. police horse unit was able to subdue the freaked-out animal, and it was returned to its owner.  And thus ended the horse's own brief independence. (As these things go, this was an extremely happy ending; in Bellevue, Iowa, a pair of runaway horses trampled 24 people, killing one.)

Pregame-The local American Outlaws supporters group just sang one of their songs for a Fox 5 news crew. Soon a guy at the bar in a Jozy Altidore jersey and a pitcher of beer in front of him performs his best rendition of "The Lion King" opening theme. He has a tough time with whatever African language the lyrics are in, and thus butchers it. "You even know where Slovenia is?" one fan asks his buddy. "It's not in America," his pal replies. "That's all I know." Then someone blows into one of those controversial vuvuzelas and people start booing.

1st minute of play-A chant of "U.S.A. ain't nuthin' ta fuck wit" starts up. Apologies to Wu-Tang Clan.

14th minute-Goool! Slovenia. The wind is sucked out of this place.

18th minute-Outlaws start another chant to try and get everyone going again. They're mildly successful.

21st minute-Fans don't like a foul called against the U.S. A couple of guys yell, "I'm blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref!"

35th minute-The pace of drinking has slowed considerably. Everyone is tensely focused on the game.

41st minute-U.S. gets a pair of scoring chances and some excitement is pumped back into the crowd. A lot of angst ever since that Slovenia goal.

42nd minute-This place had nearly exploded when the U.S. almost scored. Almost. And in the span of just a minute, it's deafly silent. Slovenia scores again, 2-0.

Halftime-One guy at the bar lets out an anguished, "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Some of the Outlaws each take a shot of Jameson. "Here's to three goals and three points in the second half!" one says. The drinking is picking up. Shots and cans of PBR offer at least some level of comfort to my fellow patriots.

48th minute-Real American hero Landon Donovan about decapitates the Slovenia goalkeeper with that strike. This place erupts! U.S. responds, 2-1!

58th minute-The Wu-Tang chant has started again. "U.S.A. ain't nuthin' ta fuck wit!"

82nd minute-Was it the Jameson shots that did it? Michael Bradley! U.S. draws even, 2-2.

89th minute-This place is now a zoo. People on tables, throwing beers, swinging from the suspended air ducts. An apparent go-ahead goal for the U.S. is waived off. One guy gripes, "I'm not normally one to complain about the refs but that was a horrible fucking call."

Final whistle-U.S. got robbed. But still alive! Half-hearted applause in the bar as the match ends, followed by chants of "fuck you, ref," and a few boos. The word "hosed" used in heavy rotation.

Games resume at 7:30 a.m. Drinks at 8 a.m. Where to go? Consult our trusty guide: Where to Watch the World Cup.

Logo courtesy of the D.C. American Outlaws

It seemed a sinister plan was at work. The pellets were just the sort of thing a pooch might scarf down, and they had been placed "adjacent to the area frequented by off-leash dogs," according to the signs. The author of the unsigned warning claimed to have found the poison on June 6.

City Desk called the District's Department of Health (DOH) about the potential poison scattering. DOH informed us that if there was any poison flung around Stanton Park that day, the District wasn't resposible for it. When the city applies rat poison to a site, the poison is placed inside rat holes that are then covered up, a department spokesperson explained.

City Desk's own search of the park turned up plenty of cigarette butts, matchbooks, salt and pepper packets, ziplock bags and one crisp, blue M&M. But no poison.

Kyle Mackintosh, 24, whose brown lab-shepherd mix bounded around the park during our hunt, didn't see any either.  Mackintosh frequents the park and wasn't too worried about the warnings: "My dog's still alive," he joked, "so he hasn't found it yet."

City officials sent entomologist Baldwin G. Williams to inspect the park. In an email, Williams reported finding no poison, although he did offer a possible explanation. "Beneath several benches I noticed some small greenish bluish cylindrical fruits that fell from nearby ornamental trees." he writes. "They look somewhat like common pelletized rodent bait."

Photo by Rend Smith

It was Childers' 11th-hour gun amendment that ultimately cost the District its best opportunity in years to finally obtain a vote in Congress.

Soft-spoken former D.C. Shadow Representative John Capozzi (as seen in the above video) politely encouraged Childers' staff to have him run for D.C. Council if he's so interested in local policy. "That seat is actually open right now," Capozzi noted.

Tau reports that the demonstration represents a return to more direct action on the part of the District's leading voting-rights advocacy organization, which has relied more heavily on consensus building in recent years, as a viable voting-rights bill had become a priority for the Democratic leadership. Or so it seemed.

Zherka tells Tau, "Given that we're stuck, and Democrats are either partially or mostly to blame at this point, it seems clear that we need to engage in more aggressive tactics to call attention to Democrats who are stymieing."

David Krakow, 28, tells City Desk that, under the terms of the deal, the charter school has further agreed to tack up a rather striking notice, which reads in part:

"FEDERAL LAW GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO:

Form, join or assist a union;
Choose representatives to bargain with us on your behalf;
Act together with other employees for your benefit and protection;
Choose not to engage in any of these protected activities.

In recognition of our employees’ rights:

WE WILL NOT coerce you by telling you that you can not engage in protected concerted activities.

WE WILL NOT tell you that you are not a good fit, because you engage in protected concerted activities.

WE WILL NOT tell you that the school will close if you continue your union activities and/or protected concerted activities.

Terri Smyth-Riding, director of  human resources for Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools For Public Policy, which operates the school, confirmed the amount of the settlement. However, she denied that Krakow was fired for his unionizing efforts. To the contrary, she explains, "We did not want to incur any further legal expense."

The dispute started in February 2009, when Krakow says he and some other teachers began meeting at coffee shops to discuss  problems at the high school, located at 709 12th Street SE. According to Krakow, the teachers gabbed about lots of work-related issues, but one emerged as a primary concern: Chavez was bleeding talent.

Though the D.C. Charter School Board doesn't keep data on teacher retention for individual schools, a spokesperson for the board noted that in 2008  and 2009, Chavez charter schools, as a whole,  managed to retain only 53 percent of its faculty.

At the Capitol Hill campus, Krakow says, it felt like about a third of the faculty disappeared each year.

The teachers' group  figured the problem was that faculty members weren't getting their needs met by the administration. So they decided to try to change that.

The group made it a point to not call itself a union, Krakow says. "People as an entire faculty couldn't get behind a traditional union," he explains. Nonetheless, in March 2009, the group began acting like one. It drafted a letter to school leaders asking for a revamp of teacher contracts. Among their requests:

"Having fewer than twenty students per class and eighty students total in order to make teachers much more effective and students more successful...

"Limited class size and adequate prep time...

"Limiting the number of teacher work days before the school year...

"Publishing a pay scale..."

The letter also seemingly attempted to set up labor negotiations:

"We plan to elect representatives shortly and we would like to schedule a meeting with the representatives and you for the week after spring break to begin this collaboration."

Though the correspondence was signed by members of the Capitol Hill faculty, Krakow says it was clear that he was spearheading the effort. Not long after the letter, the school informed him that his contract wouldn't be renewed.

Smyth-Riding says Krakow was let go for "legitimate business reasons," adding, "It had a lot to do with our finances." She described Krakow as a good employee, but that the school couldn't afford his position anymore.

But Krakow says he got a different answer during a meeting with Garrett Phelan, the school's principal at the time. "You're not a good fit for the school," he recalled the ex-administrator as saying.

That baffled the employee, as he'd gotten positive work evaluations and had recently been promoted to the position of  faculty mentor, a gig that essentially involved helping other teachers up their skills, he says.

Things became a lot clearer when he met with Sean Hanover, then the school's human resources director, Krakow says. "He told me the school was fundamentally opposed to unions." Hanover also told him that if Chavez teachers were to ever form a union, the school would shut down in retaliation, he says.

Krakow decided not to take the ousting lying down. In March, he filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which often mediates these types of disputes.

Smyth-Riding says that while the school has never had a union, employees are welcomed to form one. She dismissed Krakow's claim that Chavez is anti-union as "groundless." She says Chavez has never had union for a very simple reason: its teachers are too content. "Our employees feel like they have an HR department where they can come down and voice their concerns," she says.

During its own independent investigation of Krakow's complaint, however, the NLRB "found reasonable cause to believe that some of the allegations of the charge were meritorious," says Wayne Gold, the board's regional director. The agency issued a complaint accusing Phaelen, Hanover, and the school's vice-principal, Arturo Martinez, of union busting.

According to the NLRB complaint, investigators believe Phealan coerced teachers by telling them they couldn't engage in "protected concerted activity" and had also fired employees for engaging in similar activities.  Investigators also backed up the allegation that Hanover had "threatened and coerced employees with school closure."

Under NLRB guidelines, Krakow would have been eligible for an award of up to $5,000 in lost wages, as a result of the investigation's findings. However, the two sides agreed to settle for triple that amount prior to a scheduled April 7 hearing with NLRB.

Smyth-Riding insists that the settlement was not an acknowledgement of any wrongdoing on the school's part. "Multiple people who engaged in the same activities still work at Chavez," she says.

But Krakow, who has since found a new job at a private school in Bethesda, argues that point is irrelevant. "They only have to fire enough people to make everyone else afraid," he says. "Often firing one person is enough."

The end of his term starts to loom
And so I can only assume
Those rhymes that he stretched
Are soon-to-be etched
All over his really huge tomb