Bring Out Your Books: It's finally safe to return that copy of What It Takes that you got from the library to brush up before the 2000 election. The D.C. Public Library will run an amnesty from Dec. 5 to Feb. 5, forgiving all fines for overdue, lost, or damaged books, CDs, DVDs, or other things you checked out. It worked for the Department of Motor Vehicles, which got 35,000 people to pay overdue tickets during a recent amnesty program. +1

Fugazi Goes Phish: Unedited archives of live shows have been a treasure trove for jam bands over the last few years. The pitch, basically, boils down to this: "Now you can finally go buy that Widespread Panic concert you don't really remember because you and your frat brothers ate too many mushrooms! Sweet, bro!" D.C.'s Fugazi, thankfully, doesn't have much in common with Leftover Salmon, and with its straight-edge ethos, the band isn't quite after the same crowd. But even so, Dischord is now selling live Fugazi shows online. Added bonus: They only cost $5, just like the tickets did. +3

I Bleed, You Bleed, We All Bleed For Redskins Tickets: Once upon a time, getting into RFK Stadium for a Redskins game was a tough ticket. These days, of course, the team stinks, and plays in a stadium with nearly twice as many seats as the old place did. Seeing the last home game of the regular season, on Christmas Eve against the Minnesota Vikings, would only cost you $19. Or you can just give blood! The American Red Cross and the Redskins are giving tickets away to every donor at some upcoming blood drives. No word on whether Rex Grossman will be serving as phlebotomist. +1

So Long, Mozfather: There's a changing of the guard today at DCist, a friendly rival to Washington City Paper. Editor Aaron Morrissey is leaving, four years after posting his first item for the site. (Martin Austermuhle is running the show for now.) British tabloids have an old tradition known as "banging out," where everyone in the newsroom pounds on their desks to salute departing Fleet Streeters; here in the States, the term would seem to imply something different, so instead of calling our tribute to Morrissey that, we'll just tick the quality of life index up in recognition of his work, one for each year at DCist. +4

Yesterday's Needle rating: 61 Today's score: +9 Today's Needle rating: 70

It's a "scary" bridge!

Did you hear the big news? The esteemed folks at Travel & Leisure magazine named Maryland's Bay Bridge one of the most scary in all the world! It's No. 9 on the list!

Today, the scary bridge news was mentioned by NBCWashington ("bloodcurdling"), DCist, and The Washington Post's Lori's AM Buzz.

Both WBAL-TV and The Baltimore Sun mentioned the scary bridge on Tuesday. (While Lori's A.M. Buzz linked to the WBAL story today, the Post's breaking news blog linked to the WBAL story on early Wednesday evening. City Desk also mentioned the scary bridge news in yesterday's edition of The Needle.)

TBD linked to the Travel & Leisure slideshow at 7:48 a.m. today, pictured at left.

Just about everyone is writing, linking or talking about that scary bridge to and from the Eastern Shore!

Obviously, the origins of scary bridge meme are in the page-view generating slideshow from Travel & Leisure, but it appears that the scary bridge news is actually sort of stale to warrant such full-court press by local news sources. According to a Google News search, it appears that the first local mention of the scary No. 9 ranking came on Oct. 4 from WBOC-TV, "Delmarva's News Leader," with an updated story on Oct. 5. (There are now seven pages of comments, including some gems: "Anyone willingly calling themselves a Democrat is scarier than the Bay Bridge." "Christine O'Donnell is scarier.")

Over at ABC2 News in Baltimore, it appears that when it mentioned the scary bridge stat, the station had came across the Travel & Leisure slideshow independently. So writes traffic reporter Kim Brown:

While surfing travelandleisure.com, sipping Earl Gray tea with my pinky finger up, I happened upon a list of the world's scariest bridges and lookey there! Maryland's own William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge (better known as the Bay Bridge) ranks 9th scariest.

The CBS affiliate in Baltimore, WJZ-TV, investigated the bridge fears, too, reminding viewers of some of the scary accidents on the bridge. Thankfully, WJZ reminds viewers that the Travel & Leisure scary bridge rankings are not scientific and does not constitute "an engineering study and draws no conclusions about the structural soundness of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge." Phew!

Photo of Chesapeake Bay Bridge by Flickr user delgaudm under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Photo by Michael E. Grass

It hasn't for years. But the Route 29 signage along the former New Hampshire Avenue and Dupont Circle alignment has somehow endured. Along the actual route of Route 29 in the District—Georgia Avenue, 7th Street NW, Rhode Island Avenue, 11th Street NW, K Street NW, the Whitehurst Freeway and Key Bridge— isn't really signed well at all. For instance, going from the Key Bridge to Whitehurst Freeway and vice versa, there aren't signs marking the critical Route 29 turn-offs.

Why is this important? Well, it's not that important. (And I sort of like the old signs from yesteryear.) But it's something I've written about for five years, first on DCist, then on my personal blog and then again during a DCist guest editing stint back in June.

When the D.C. government was touting its post-Snowpocalypse Twitter-fueled pothole repair effort, it seemed like a good idea to test the District Department of Transportation's social media savvy by also tweeting a request to have the errant signs removed. Why not?

While there are easier ways to make such a request, such as calling 311 or making a phone call to DDOT, I decided to test the effectiveness of Twitter. And while I got a prompt reply from the agency, it did not get much of a follow-up. I pestered here and there, but it was clear that removing the Route 29 signs was not a high priority. But it was an "interesting" request for the city. You can't say much in 140 characters or less, but it was something!

My first inquiry on the matter was back in March. It's now August and the signs are still up. (One, however, was mowed down by a run-away taxicab.) In the meantime, I've tweeted requests to DDOT on other more critical matters, like fixing crosswalk signals that were facing the wrong direction. (I do care!) Those requests were promptly attended to.

On Thursday, I inquired again about the Route 29 signs and I got a new response from DDOT! They'll make arrangements for those blasted signs at Dupont Circle to come down and they'll update me when they're removed. That's some progress, yes?

City Paper colleague Jason Cherkis may be the "most passionate—and least decisive—writer" as it comes to the mayor's race, but for this undecided City Desk contributor, the first candidate to release a comprehensive Route 29 highway signage plan is more likely to get my vote!

Good morning.

So, in no particular order: Marion Barry is "truly, truly" sorry. Erik Wemple is leaving City Paper. Dick Cheney has had another (!) heart attack. And more snow could be on the way!

Speaking of Barry's apology, some people think poems are a good way to express regret. For example, the Web site perfectapology.com offers the one below, explaining: "This poem works well in a situation where you've been a little stubborn and haven't been able or willing to acknowledged your wrongdoing." That is perfect!

Three words, eight letters, so difficult to say.
They're stuck inside of me, they try and stay away.
But this is too important to let them have their way.
I need to do it now, I must do it today.
I am sorry.

Unknown Author

Speaking of Wemple, where did DCist get that picture of him wearing a tie?

Speaking of Dick Cheney, Wonkette says "he didn't die so you all can make fun of him."

But seriously. Speaking of snow, did you know that the District's Online Snow Removal Tracking Tool has been recognized as one of the best in the nation? I'd direct you to the press release, in which Chief Technology Officer Bryan Sivak is quoted as calling the Snow Map "just one of many examples of how the District has leveraged technology to make city services more efficient and helpful for our residents," but the link there from DDOT's home page is broken.

Luckily, I received a copy in my electronic mail.

A website that monitors creative government initiatives has confirmed what many District residents already know: the city has one of the best online tools for tracking snow removal efforts. OhMyGov says the DC Snow Map, provides a “snow mountain of useful information” and is ranked a close second [Editor's note: behind only Spokane, Wash.!] in a review of government snow removal websites across the nation.

So, basically, D.C. has an awesome tool to track how awful it is at snow removal? The press release goes on:

In the period between January 29 and February 15, which included back-to-back blizzards in 5 days, 40,071 users logged on to snowmap.dc.gov to track the snow plows. Traffic on the site peaked on February 8 when 7,804 people used the tool, and February 11 when 7,473 people logged on. [Editor's note: Admirable traffic indeed, even if all 40,071 logged in screaming, 'Where's the freaking plow?']

And so. Happy hump day.

The answer is two! I think. Karen Hart, About.com's guide to Washington, D.C., travel, Twitters under the name washingtondcist. This was a surprise to Sommer Mathis, editor of popular local blog DCist.

There is some overlap in mission: DCist aggregates mercilessly, excellently, and amusingly, mixes in original reporting about D.C., and has a commenting community that used to make people in this building weep with jealousy.

Hart takes a softer focus approach, since her audience is presumably not too interested in the niceties of curbside collection or a stellar collection of Chien Ming-Wang jokes. Her About.com page tends to work the bejeezus out of details of the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival, 10 great reasons to visit here, that sort of thing.

But on Twitter, look out! If you write about a D.C. hotel offering curling, Hart is all over that! Georgetown Cupcake's secret flavor of the day? RETWEETED. I didn't notice any DCist RTs in Hart's feed, but I'm sure she wouldn't be stingy with them. (I have not been able to find this Karen Hart, though I have high hopes for the "Send E-mail" link on her forum. (I will, of course, update if I find her.) "We have over 11,000 Twitter followers to her 350, so if she's trying to confuse people, she's not been very successful," says Mathis. "Still, I'm sure our publishers would prefer she come up with an original name."

Since the suspense is by now killing you, I'll let it fly. It's Washington Post Metro columnist Robert McCartney, the too-often overly evenhanded Robert McCartney. Titled "A Look at the Dan Snyder You Don't Hear So Much About," the piece talks about how Snyder's charity has given boatloads of money to organizations that help children. Here's the columnist's take:

I'm not defending his management of the team, and I realize he shares his wealth partly out of self-interest to improve his image in the community. Nevertheless, a string of people whom I interviewed last week praised Snyder for being sincerely considerate and benevolent and said the toxic reputation he's acquired is incomplete and misleading.

This is a classic case of betcha journalism—as in, I'll betcha you can't write a favorable column about Dan Snyder. And so, you go ahead and try to find something good about him. As a strategy for columnizing, it's a good one. Everyone wants to read the contrarian take, everyone wants to see if you can make the asshole look the part of a genius, and everyone wants to hate on you for even trying.

Yet McCartney should have gone further. He should have focused, say, on London Fletcher, a good free-agent pickup. He should have noted that after the Post exposed the lawsuits against season ticket holders this season, the team moderated its behavior. He should have pushed the argument till it burst at the seams.

Speaking of things Snyder-related, how 'bout that Skins game? After having ended Detroit's losing skid, how glorious would it have been for the Skins to have ended another streak this year, only in a fashion that boosts the team, not deflates it? Well, just like the last couple of Skins games, a great outcome just barely slipped through their hands, or slipped wide of the uprights, as the case may be.

DCist has a little post on a nasty NW fire mid-weekend.

Washington Times posts AP story giving context to the Salahi drama. Dropping in unannounced on the prez was once a time-honored tradition, goes the report: "Americans staked their claim to the White House in muddy boots on fine carpet, picnicked on the grounds, parked their carriages and then their cars outside and tromped inside to look for the man, often finding him. They did not need invitations, engraved or otherwise."

Congratulations to Post Ombo Andy Alexander for staying on the story of the Washington Post and its historically lax corrections practices. In this iteration, Alexander nails the paper for taking forever to print simple corrections. It's all a legacy going back to the Ben Bradlee years and perhaps beyond—a stubborn refusal to admit you're wrong. It lingers. Here's one example cited by AA:

– A photo caption identified an officer as being in the Coast Guard. A reader pointed out that he was in the Navy. A correction ran, but more than 10 weeks later.

On the reading front, looks as if the Post's Style section is making a move to up their local feature count. Today, Dan Zak goes long on a D.C. mural, following on the heels of other feature-box stuff on D.C., including Michael Rosenwald's experiment in listening to sports-talk radio.

Post columnist Colbert I. King goes long and hard about acceptance of violence in the city. Murders, shooting sprees, deaths—no one seems to care, screams King, citing the emergence of a "new normal." And it's not a good normal, either: "That 'new normal' view embraces bike paths and a bicycle center at Union Station, townhouses and parks along the Potomac, couples eating al fresco at neighborhood coffee shops, doggy parks, schools befitting the middle class, and poor people who behave themselves and patiently wait their turn.

The city's chosen means for coping with a crisis shaped by self-destructive forces and a shifting civic landscape? The medical procedure, triage.

Officials won't say it this way, but this is what it means: dividing our social order into three groups — those who aren't going to make it, those who might and those who will."

District rocks!

A perennial: D.C. cops out to get the prostitutes and johns at 5th and K. And another perennial: D.C. voting rights lobbyists are taking their act on the road, where people—surprise!—don't know that we don't have meaningful congressional representation: "DC Vote is reaching out to people like 62-year-old Henry Perry of Tennessee.

Not until the advocacy group visited Mr. Perry in Mississippi earlier this month did he learn that D.C. residents pay taxes and serve in the military but don't have a vote in Congress.

'I think it's really a disgrace that they're denied that right,' said Mr. Perry, president of the Teamsters Local Union No. 667 in Memphis, which also has members in Mississippi. 'I was kind of shocked.'"

Howie Kurtz discusses how powerless the media is when it's face to face with disinformation (i.e., death panels).

Solid tale by Post's Del Wilber on $3 million, sexual molestation, a duped judge, and a defamation case. Not to mention a stolen barbecue grill!.

DCist is reporting that the Real World DC cast may be arriving right friggin now. Has anybody been this excited by the arrival of more d-bags into D.C.? DCist writes:

"A tipster just texted that the D.C. Real World cast appears to be arriving as we speak — she reports seeing a blonde girl with a suitcase walking through Dupont Circle, looking clueless and being trailed by a camera crew."

Of course, we've been doing our own serious blogging on the subject over at Housing Complex. The Anti-Real World DC blog has pictures (see above) capturing the apparent awkward move in.

"Hi. I'm Ethan. I will be playing the drunken frat boy in cargo shorts."

"Hi. I'm Zoe. I will be playing the drunken ditz who hooks up with you in the second episode."

There's more after the jump!

Anti Real World blogger writes of the mayhem/excitement:

"Walking by the house on my way to my birthday lunch and saw Generic Blonde Girl castmember walking to house. Straight male friend thought she had too much make-up on.

Sidenote, cameramen were literally shoving people out of the way..."

One Real World-themed twitter feed notes the following:

*"Remember: Know the law: Stay off RW property. Stay off Safeway property. Sidewalks are public – not even cops can have u move"

*"The Real World Cast is moving in. Fer REAL"

*"They're filming outside by the grill now."

*View really bad picture of possible cast outside Real World Home.

*photo by Anti-Real World DC. They have more pictures. You should check out their site if you give a shit.

Get the latest on the Real World in DC

DCist also reports that films will screen Mondays through August 10, starting with Close Encounters of the Third Kind on July 20.

Bravo is spinning off yet another series from its Real Housewives franchise: The Real Housewives of D.C., which will be the fifth in the series....

The series will be produced by [D.C.'s] Half Yard Productions, which produced Discovery’s American Loggers. Different production companies produce the different spin-offs, perhaps to keep them fresh.

This is absolutely fantastic. Would it be too much of a stretch for Half Yard to recruit Maureen Dowd?

Washington City Paper's twitter account (@WCP) is leading the hunt on this one. Twitter your guesses as to which neighborhoods are most likely to produce Half Yard's "real housewives" and tag your tweets #realhousewivesdc. Guess correctly and there may be some swag in it for you.

Thanks to the folks at DCist for putting the heat on Republican Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Az.), for saying the following in Senate proceedings on the D.C. voting rights issue:

"The District does not lack for representation in Congress. It actually already has representatives in Congress, 100 Senators and 435 House members, all of whom, under the Constitution itself, have the jurisdiction and indeed the obligation to provide for the general welfare of the residents of the District of Columbia."

And how thoroughly that setup has enfranchised us D.C. residents!

To hold Kyl to his word, DCist posted the senator's contact information, urging everyone to pummel him with constituent-service requests, and one citizen even got a response. The Kyl people referred this person to D.C. congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. Yeah, delegate, as in no voting power.

A search on DCist came up with an error. A google search shows that he's popped up 475 times. But that is way too high and should be completely discounted. I just bet he's quoted at least once a week or every other week. Why is he so ubiquitous? He's on the listservs, so few cops talk on the record, and he works in the Third District where probably the majority of bloggers and blog readers live.

Hey Sommer, why not let Delgado post directly?

This past week, two prominent web-first web-only outfits vented over the pervasive poop smell invading major power corridors of our city. The poop smell comes from ginkgo trees. Wonkette was the first to bitch. DCist questioned its army of readers about it. Readers described the smell as "vomit," and referred to the trees as "jizz trees." Awesome.

Cap Hill and Dupont Circle have been overrun with the jizz. The obsession was more than justified. And this morning, the Post has a great reported expose on Ginkgogate. Apparently, arborists have made the problem worse. In an attempt to mask the smell, they injected 1,000 ginkgo trees with a chemical to prevent them from producing the smelly fruit. They failed.

In fact, the arborists made the smell worse:

"The chemical didn't work, for reasons that scientists still don't understand. Now, instead of less ginkgo stink, Washington has its worst case in years — a bumper crop of nastiness that is studding sidewalks and sliming dress shoes from Capitol Hill to Kalorama."

* It's not just for Republicans anymore! Michelle Obama wears fabulous, egregiously expensive jewelry, too. [via Wonkette].

* DCist Sommer Mathis cries foul on $9.95 plus shipping for a newspaper (don't even get her started on the special election issue sweatshirt). Commemorative hand towels of DCist's official declaration of election newsprint hype blog post coming soon.

* Prince of Petworth is two years old. Join him and other crown princes of the local blogosphere tonight at Wonderland to celebrate the milestone—and toast to 730 more doors of the day.

* New Columbia Heights deems the new neighborhood Panda Express . . . decent!

* Catch up with the Good Guys strip club arson case as it happens with trial updates over at the Sexist.

* And in this newspaper: The Education Issue!

- Marina Koestler Ruben on D.C.'s English-Chinese bilingual charter.

- Dave McKenna on the end of a local football dynasty.

- Mike DeBonis on Michelle Rhee's rising star.

- Ruth Samuelson schools Obama hangers-on on where to reside in the District.

Photo by Army.mil

* Seven years later, a Pentagon memorial is unveiled. [Via Washington Post]

* The Examiner asks if we're safer than we were in 2001.

* Via Politico: Republican foreign policy experts don't have much to say on Palin; Obama and McCain call a 9/11 "truce"

* In alterna-9/11 news, Busboys and Poets kicks off the "9/11 Truth Film Festival" this evening at 6 p.m.

* In case you missed it: Check out Brightest Young Things' comprehensive Large-Hadron-Collider-Will Kill-Us-All Doomsday coverage from yesterday, complete with stellar crying baby photo accompaniment. And via DCist: How to tell if the Hadron Collider has destroyed the Earth yet.

* And in this newspaper:

- Arthur Delaney on winning and losing rec centers

- Jule Banville on the long, slow investigation of an Adams Morgan hate crime

- Mike DeBonis on why Kwame Brown loves Love (and the Park at 14th)

- Dave McKenna on the Redskins' struggle to quit smoking

- And our arts & entertainment column, Show & Tell, meets its makers.

* Find your sex & gender roundup over at The Sexist.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery