DDOT notes that it's about halfway through planting the 3,540 trees it promised last fall, and has posted a handy map of all the planting locations and species. (Site works best in Firefox.)

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs: Important typographical news doesn't tend to break that often, so when it does, it's big. The District, it turns out, is switching up the look of street signs in the city for the first time in decades, bringing the latest highway design thoughts to D.C. Gone are the block capital letters, replaced by narrower, lowercase type. The one down the block from you won't change overnight, though: DDOT officials say they're replacing the current signs as needed, switching to the new design instead of the old one whenever whatever happens to existing signs that causes them to need replacement happens. +3

Cash Rules Everything Around Me: Want to get elected to local office in D.C.? Chances are you'll soon find yourself talking to real estate developers and other deep-pocketed corporate interests (unless, that is, you don't particularly want to win) about fundraising, thanks to local laws that allow multiple contributions from corporate partnerships controlled by the same person. This November, citizens may have a chance to vote that law out, if an initiative launched today by a handful of good-government activists makes it to the ballot. To qualify, the initiative will need to collect 22,723 signatures in the next 180 days. And then it'll need to somehow prevail in November despite all the corporate cash that'll go into defeating it. +2

Have It Your Way: Scientists have finally discovered something potentially more harmful to your health than eating fast food—having it delivered. Burger King is trying out delivery at 10 restaurants in the D.C. area, offering combinations like 10 burgers/20-piece chicken tenders for $14.49 (intended to feed a family, we hope) and in the process, removing the slight amount of exercise required to walk to your car, drive to a drive-through window, and consume their crap somewhere other than your own home. No word on whether they'll eventually get the ordering to work with Siri so no one has to burn any calories at all in the course of ordering. -2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 25 Today's score: +1 Today's Needle rating: 26

Sound the data siren: Virginia Tech's released a study about Capital Bikeshare, "A Closer Look at Casual Users and Operations"! Though there's one surprising nugget—51.33 percent of Bikeshare riders are female, while only around 30 percent of cyclists in the District in total are female—the other statistics are probably what one would expect: 78.17 percent of riders are Caucasian, 42.9 percent hold an advanced degree, 41 percent frequently ride on city streets, and 92.6 percent don't wear helmets. The median age of riders is 31 and 53 percent are domestic tourists.

The bottom line: Bikeshare members are a bougie bunch, a revelation to, well, no one who has observed the folks making use of the rather noticeable bikes in the areas where stations are most densely packed.

John Hendel at TBD on Foot uses the study's findings to knock around some assertions I made in a City Paper cover story back in August. Then, I wrote that the notion that only "rich, white, gentrifying newcomer[s]" ride bikes in D.C.—a common trope bandied about during the last mayoral election—was false. Hendel says:

But the overall data here suggests that bicycling is, at least for now, overwhelmingly more popular among white professionals.

The identity of the D.C. bicyclist may not be as far from any casual stereotypes as we believe, and this report is a testament to the gaps our city still needs to bridge. The City Paper correctly points to the many psychological, political issues that underpin that image as well as spotlights the many ways the city and its biking community is reaching out to people who don't fit its parameters of race, class, and education. Yet these efforts don't erase the reality of the data and the need to do more. To say the stereotype is wrong misses the data that underpins it.

That's all well and good, except my story was about bikes, not Capital Bikeshare. (In fact, I only mentioned Bikeshare to note that "logic says that as more Bikeshare users become comfortable with riding in D.C.—and become frustrated with the system’s downsides, such as frequently empty docks—they’ll buy bikes of their own.")

Conflating biking and Bikeshare is really bizarre; it's obvious that the latter's signature red steeds and the people who ride them aren't representative of every kind of cycling and cyclist in D.C. To apply research conducted specifically about one discrete thing—Capital Bikeshare—to an entire mode of transportation is an abject misreading.

If a study found that the majority of, say, Mini Cooper drivers are white, middle-class, and don't wear seatbelts, would Hendel assume that the majority of drivers, period, are white, middle-class, and don't wear seatbelts? Probably not. Capital Bikeshare might boast 1,100 bikes, 17,786 annual members, and 120,000 members of all kinds, but this is a city of more than 600,000. There are people here who use Bikeshare to get to work when they know they're heading to happy hour after, people who ride beaters they found on Craigslist because they wanted a cheap ride, people who decided they wanted to buy a Jamis or a Linus or a Brompton or a Bianchi new and found the prices agreeable, people who ride Colnagos to train in Rock Creek Park, and so on. Virginia Tech's data isn't about biking, it's about Bikeshare.

And it's not like the program is lacking in self-awareness. DDOT has been working on an initiative—since before the study's findings were released—to help "unbanked" individuals get on bikes. Capital Bikeshare Program Manager Josh Moskowitz says the agency is planning more outreach to promote the Bank on D.C. program, will eventually allow members to pay membership fees in installments, and will hook up with the Department of Employment Services to encourage Summer Youth Employment Program participants to ride Bikeshare. "Bikesharing is for the most part relatively new. We had the first program with Smartbike, and we’re still the largest system," says Moskowitz. "Bank on D.C. is the first of its kind. We’re committed to expanding in parts of this city that are underserved."

UPDATE, Jan. 13: Moskowitz says, "I think one of the things that’s gotten lost in all of this is that the study focuses on casual members" and not monthly and annual members. Commenters darren and drez make similar observations. Casual members are just that—less likely to live in D.C. and ride Bikeshare regularly—so, again, data collected on who they are isn't representative of who bikes in D.C. as a whole.

Photos by Alex Baca and zcopley via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0, illustration by Alex Baca

The District Department of Transportation said the "all must pay" policy will begin later this month after it installs handicapped parking meters — all marked with red tops and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act — downtown and in Southwest's federal corridors.

In a written statement, DDOT Director Terry Bellamy said the current system is rife with fraud that harms the District's disabled population as others take advantage of the free parking.

"Right now, they suffer because the placards and plates that are issued to persons with disabilities are abused by people who just want to park for free," Bellamy said. DDOT spokeswoman Monica Hernandez said the new meters, which should be in place by the end of January, will be located in areas where officials have noticed high use of handicapped parking permits.

"It had to do with areas where there is high use, where we see those large concentrations of ADA placards being utilized," Hernandez said.

And according to the San Francisco edition of the Examiner, San Francisco is considering a similar initiative, though activists there say that "officials should crack down on placard abuse, and not on metered parking."

DDOT doesn't know how much additional revenue will be generated by the new policy. I talked to Hernandez, who says, "It's not about revenue for us—it's about striking a balance and providing spaces for members of the community" who are covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Photo by DDOT

Current funding provides for DDOT Trees to plant 3,540 street trees across all eight wards, with installation to occur from November to May. The planting schedule for specific neighborhoods is subject to change due to equipment, weather, emergencies and other extenuating circumstances.

But when the tree-planting backlash comes, remember that I'm the one who called it. As the New York Times pointed out last month, neighbors can be wary of new trees:

Residents worry that the saplings will eventually lead to buckling sidewalks, dangling limbs, excessive shade and leaf litter, among other things. Three of the top five categories of parks-related calls to 311, the city’s help line, involved complaints about trees.

Granted, the District isn't planting anywhere near one million trees.

Full release after the jump.

The Urban Forestry Administration (UFA) is DDOT Trees, the leader in annual tree planting throughout Washington, DC. Planting an average of nearly 4,500 trees annually, with a total of 35,875 planted on public space in all 8 wards since fiscal year 2005, UFA's planting accounts for nearly half of all trees planted in the District each year.

In addition, UFA works to improve growing conditions by reviewing permit applications, enforcing regulations, expanding tree boxes, creating planting strips, increasing soil volume, and installing locally-grown nursery stock to provide as much opportunity as possible for trees to thrive.

Young trees are watered by contractors and staff with critical support from residents, businesses, and organizations who adopt public trees through theCanopy Keepers program. Adoptees receive a free watering tub for every tree adopted. New trees are under limited warranty and will be replaced by the planting contractor if they do not survive their first year.

Current funding provides for DDOT Trees to plant 3,540 street trees across all eight wards, with installation to occur from November to May. The planting schedule for specific neighborhoods is subject to change due to equipment, weather, emergencies and other extenuating circumstances.

The online Tree Planting Map requires no additional software but the web browser optimized for viewing is Mozilla Firefox. Mobile devices (smart phones, iPads, etc.) can access it too but requires an app. To identify the appropriate mobile app suited for your device, go to http://esri.com/software/arcgis/smartphones/app.html.

Photo by rabsteen via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 License

A recent report by the Inspector General says two city officials misused city property by "engaging in sexual activity" in a Reeves Center office and a city-owned car in the building's parking garage. The employees, a female District Department of Transportation staffer and a male Office of Unified Communications worker, also used their government-issued email and smartphones to send "sexually explicit" messages to each other.

How explicit?? Visit LL to find out.

The confirmation hearing for Terry Bellamy's appointment to permanent director of the District Department of Transportation was less an examination of his skills, abilities, and progress than an airing of parochial grievances by members of the D.C. Council.

Today's four-hour hearing on Bellamy, currently DDOT's interim director, saw valuable input from testimonials by D.C. residents. But questioning by the present councilmembers was only occasionally what you'd expect to be asked of the guy who will soon head up an agency of nearly 900 employees responsible for the functionality of the city's streets. Councilmembers Muriel Bowser, Phil Mendelson, Marion Barry, Jim Graham, and Tommy Wells too often brought up points that would have been better suited for small-scale community meetings at either the ward or Advisory Neighborhood Commission level.

Bowser, for example, was emphatic that Montgomery County be made to comply with the District's institution of signal prioritization around 16th Street NW. Mendelson doggedly pressed on when parking meter signage, which is presently rather hard to understand, would be replaced with notices that clearly state when meters are and aren't monitored. Graham declared that there was absolutely no problem with Metro station names that are more like mouthfuls, and suggested Bellamy would have quite the fight ahead should he attempt to shorten "U Street-African American Civil War Memorial-Cardozo" to the much more reasonable "U Street." Barry rambled at length about the quality of bus stops along Mellon Street SE, and demanded that Bellamy inform him how much money would be spent on bus stops in Ward 8. And though Wells, who oversees the council's Committee on Public Works and Transportation, largely stuck to broader questions, the hearing's last hour was essentially a Q&A based on topics brought up by his Twitter followers.

While all of these concerns are certainly valid and fall under DDOT's purview—and some interesting tidbits, such as the fact that Bellamy rides Metrorail more than buses, and walks to work, emerged—Bellamy's character and qualifications as an administrator didn't receive the same treatment. Wells rightfully grilled him on what he thought about green alleys, Complete Streets initiatives, and the timeline for streetcars on H Street NE; Bowser asked what Bellamy believed to be his greatest accomplishment (answer: technology around parking, workforce training that has resulted in D.C. residents making up 97% of crossing guards, and the ever-vague "community outreach").

Still, councilmembers used the hearing primarily to gauge whether their pet projects would be acknowledged during Bellamy's time at DDOT, rather than exact Bellamy's expectations and goals for the agency. Then again, Bellamy isn't nearly as vivacious as his predecessor, Gabe Klein, and didn't assert any particular visions for DDOT's work.

Bellamy, formerly the deputy director of operations at DDOT under Klein, was named interim director in January and is set to be confirmed as permanent director on July 12. Unless someone finds a parochial problem with him, that is.

Photo by Flickr User DDOTDC, Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Former District Department of Transportation boss Gabe Klein just moved to Chicago this week, and already, two high-ranking DDOT officials are leaving the agency.

Leah Treat, deputy director for resource management, and Karina Ricks, associate director for the policy, planning, and sustainability administration, will both be resigning soon.
WAMU'S David Schultz broke the news on Twitter; DDOT officials confirmed it to City Desk afterwards. Treat will follow Klein to Chicago, where he has been installed as the commissioner of the city's Department of Transportation under now-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Ricks will "spend more time with family," having "expressed dissatisfaction with the direction of" DDOT, according to Schultz's Twitter account.

Schultz expanded on his tweets in a comment on a Greater Greater Washington post:

Out of fairness to Ricks, I feel I should expand upon what she said to me. She was referring to the lack of a permanent director at DDOT. As you are all aware, Mayor Gray still has not put forth a nomination for a permanent DDOT director. Ricks said this has left many career employees feeling as if they are in a sort of 'purgatory.' However...Ricks made it abundantly clear that she is very proud of all that DDOT has accomplished in the past ten years. She also had nothing but complimentary things to say about everyone still working there, including and especially interim director Terry Bellamy. She says the main reason she is resigning is to spend more time with her family.

Mayor Vince Gray terminated Klein, an Adrian Fenty pick, in December 2010. Terry Bellamy has served as the agency's interim director since then; nearly five months later, Gray has yet to appoint a permanent replacement for Klein.

Of Treat and Ricks' departures, DDOT spokesperson John Lisle says, "The timing is coincidence, but they're leaving for different reasons."

Phone Takeover of Modern Life, Continued: Pay phones are already something of a relic. Now it seems parking meters could be another piece of ancient history for the next generation. D.C. government officials announced today you can now pay for parking using your smartphone. The parking app will not, alas, help free up available spots—or help you learn to parallel park better. +3

Ready, Aim, Fire: Emergency management officials have long urged citizens to have plans for what to do when they need to escape in a hurry. This morning, we all got to see who did and didn't have those plans in place, as enormous loud booms—sounding for all the world like the End of Days had arrived—began sounding around the District. Turns out there was no need to flee; Arlington National Cemetery was conducting training exercises that, apparently, involved explosions. (Once the training was done, presumably the cemetery could get back to burying veterans in the wrong place.) -2

Winning: For years, the fact that Two and a Half Men was among the top 20 rated TV shows in America was a reliable sign that the country had gone astray. Now we have a more alarming sign: Charlie Sheen's solo tour. It stops in D.C. tonight, and for some reason, hundreds of people bought tickets. (If you're one of them, this may help.) Sheen, who launched his tour with a disastrous show in Detroit, has already announced that he'll be an hour late tonight. Which, we can only assume, means the show will actually be sometime next week. -1

WiFree: Beginning in 2007, Reagan National and Dulles International airports offered WiFi to travelers for a fee. Beginning now, they'll offer WiFi free for everyone—though they'll also allow you to pay for Internet access if you want. Prediction: This will lead to a significant increase in Twitter complaints about the fact that you still have to take those shuttle things at Dulles to fly from certain gates. +1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 64 Today's score: +1 Today's Needle rating: 65

The Sky is Falling!: Mark down today's date, Nov. 18, 2010, as one to remember. For it turns out that the latest absurd problem in the Metro system—the chunks of concrete falling from the ceiling onto a platform at the Farragut North stop on the Red Line—was not the transit agency's fault! District Department of Transportation workers jackhammering the street above were the culprits. However, the fact that Metro's entire online infrastructure died this morning? Yeah, that's on them. -3

Farewell, Wilbon: Raise your hand if Mike Wilbon's column was the first thing (or pretty damn close to it) you read in the Washington Post the morning after, oh, every major sporting event in the last several decades. That run is now over; Wilbon is leaving the paper for ESPN and ABC Sports, where the streets, compared to the ones that run through Newspaperville, are paved with gold. -2

The Beltway Will Kill You: File this under "Yet Another Reason Never to Venture Outside the District Line"—a new study indicates that more than half of drivers on the Beltway are talking on their phone, and that 47 percent more of them are texting while driving than last year. The study, the scientific validity of which we're not necessarily inclined to think is particularly high, was sponsored by the American Automobile Association. Which probably means the findings will soon be marshaled as an argument against red light cameras and bike lanes. -3

Virginia is for People Who Are Waiting for their Tax Refunds: Live in Virginia? Think you might be owed money by the federal government? As long as you're not expecting a check in connection with the brainwave-stealing beams the sinister black helicopters are directing at your head, you might be right. The IRS says it's got $2.3 million sitting around in tax refunds due Virginia residents who, for various postal reasons, didn't get their checks delivered. A little-known Virginia law, however, requires the recipients to use the money to purchase a concealed weapon. +2

Yesterday's Needle rating: 49 Today's score: -6 Today's Needle rating: 43

Attention DDOT: This Route 29 sign is still posted. (Photo by Michael E. Grass)

In the not-really-news-but-still-sorta-interesting department, City Desk gets results! You may recall that I've been closely following the saga of some signs around Dupont Circle that have pointed drivers in the direction of Route 29, a U.S. highway connecting the Baltimore area with Pensacola, Fla. The problem is, as I first pointed out more than five years ago, Route 29 hasn't traveled through Dupont Circle for years, yet the outdated signs still lingered.

Though the power of Twitter and some periodic nagging, most of the incorrectly placed signs have been removed. The District Department of Transportation recently alerted me that the signs were coming down, so earlier today, I hoofed it down to Dupont to check up on the city's sign-removal work first hand. As Mayor Adrian Fenty's re-election campaign team says: No rhetoric, just results!

There is still one Route 29 sign still posted by Dupont Circle, pictured here, where southbound Connecticut Avenue enters the circle adjacent to the Starbucks and PNC bank branch. Even so, the removal of most of the signs should get The Needle to inch up a few slots today. Our quality of life has improved with reduced Route 29 confusion! (In case you're a cartographer wondering, Route 29 enters the District from the south at the Key Bridge, then runs along the Whitehurst Freeway, K Street NW, 11th Street, Rhode Island Avenue, 6th Street, and Florida Avenue, where it turns up Georgia Avenue and heads north to Silver Spring, where it becomes Colesville Road.)

Our next sign removal project? Attention Metro ...

A spy in Foggy Bottom passes along this photo of an aging Metrobus sign on Benito Juarez Circle outside the Watergate complex.

If you call the number listed on the sign, 637-2437—assuming the area code is 202—nobody picks up. It would be cool to call the number and get Metro customer service circa 1978!

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!

The District Department of Transportation uploaded a large set of historical photos of Washington to its Flickr page today, and they're well worth a look. (The shot above is of the intersection of F and 13th streets NW in 1970.) More photos will be coming in the future, DDOT officials say.

As you might expect for a collection of pictures sitting around a transportation agency's archives, a lot of them are aerial photos of D.C. streets and highways. But they show how much the city's physical layout has changed—or hasn't changed—in the 50 or 60 years since many of them were taken.

(If you're interested in old photos of D.C., the Library of Congress has some other good collections available, as well.)

Photo courtesy of DDOT

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Suspicious Package More Suspicious Than Usual," "WaPo: Weigel's Comments Aren't Cool, But Praying For A Sources Is OK," "Vincent Gray To Offer Education Plan," "Vernon Davis Headlines Gray Fundraiser," "Assault Rifle Stolen From Maryland Cop"

Good Morning. Last year, this LL had gotten a tip that Mayor Adrian Fenty's Summer Youth Employment Program had become a magnet for violence incidents. LL had heard that it had been especially hard on the District Department of the Environment. After all, that agency had taken on more than 5,500 kids. But LL couldn't get any comment from the Metropolitan Police Department. LL was stuck. So LL FOIA-ed for the e-mail traffic between DDOE and the MPD. LL got a total of  43 pages back. LL suspects he didn't get all the e-mails. But what he got, he saved until this week—the start of this year's SYEP. In this week's cover story, LL provides an account of just how scary the jobs program became—especially for the Mayor's Conservation Corps...Now on to the topic that's dominating everyone's morning.

MICHELLE RHEE STEPS UP FOR FENTY: WaPo and WAMU get exclusive interviews with the school chancellor in which she basically comes out and says she won't work for Fenty challenger Vincent Gray. You can listen to WAMU's interview with Rhee here. WaPo's Nikita Stewart and Bill Turque write: "D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has all but ruled out staying in her post if Mayor Adrian M. Fenty loses his reelection bid to council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, who she said lacks Fenty's commitment to reforming the city's public school system. In two interviews Tuesday, with The Washington Post and WAMU (88.5 FM), Rhee placed herself in the middle of the D.C. mayoral race, shedding her reluctance to weigh in on the election. She edged closer than ever to framing the election as a referendum on her leadership, signaling that a vote for Fenty would be a vote for her tenure in the District and that a vote for Gray would place her at risk. Rhee told The Post that she 'could not imagine doing this job without the kind of unequivocal support [Fenty] has given,' standing by her despite criticism over school closures, bruising negotiations with the teachers union, layoffs and tough budget decisions. She also indirectly, but unmistakably, said she could not work for Gray, whom she painted as a candidate who lacks Fenty's vision and resolve. 'You can do school reform in lots of ways,' Rhee said.'You can have more incremental changes. If that's the way that a city decided to go, I probably would not be the best person for that. There are probably people that are better suited toward that different sort of tack.'"

Michelle Rhee has experience standing up for troubled mayors. Her interviews may have came off as calculated bombshells, but they worked on the media. Everyone's covering this.  Cheap shots aside, the question remains for District voters: Is school reform bigger than one person as Gray says or is Rhee too good to let go? And can the District every lose its savior complex? One WaPo blogger finds Rhee's attitude troubling.

AFTER THE JUMP—Metro stalls suicide prevention program, McCartney says Nats Park has not sparked any great development, DDOT goes after a dead mother's driveway, people are still really pissed about MARC, and much, much more!

METRO'S SUICIDE PROBLEM: The Examiner's Kytja Weir reports that Metro has stalled their suicide prevention efforts even as incidents spike: "When a 61-year-old Potomac, Md., man leapt from an upper level Metro station mezzanine to his death on Monday, he became at least the 15th person to use the transit system to commit suicide in less than a year and a half. But the agency's plan to fight the tragic acceleration of self-inflicted deaths, which are now occurring five times as often as in the past, remains months late and far short of earlier promises. The first tangible steps are not due until at least this fall, a full year after the agency pledged to fight the growing problem. And any steps that would be visible to the public remain unscheduled. Meanwhile, at least six more people have taken their lives in the transit system since the first plans were announced last September. 'We are committed to moving forward with this program,' Metro spokeswoman Angela Gates said. She said the delay comes from the inability of the agency to fully fund the programs. Since its opening in 1976, about two people a year have committed suicide on Metro. But that has changed rapidly over the past two years. Last September, after two teens killed themselves days apart following five other suicides in the year, the agency said it was partnering with a regional coalition of suicide prevention organizations led by CrisisLink. Then in November, Metro said it had changed gears and was partnering with D.C.'s Department of Mental Health, the D.C.-based American Association of Suicidology and the Toronto subway system. Metro planned to start a public education campaign about suicides, as other transit agencies such as Boston's MBTA have done, and train all workers to spot and reach out to suicidal riders. The program was slated to start in February 2010. But it has yet to begin."

NATS DEAD ZONE: WaPo Columnist Robert McCartney laments the fact that the Nationals have yet to turn the South Cap corridor into a bustling commercial district: "The gap between promise and reality is most dramatic on what might be called the developers' block of shame — the stretch of Half Street SE between the Navy Yard Metro station and the stadium's principal entrance at center field. About half of the fans at each game pass between the lines of wooden barriers concealing large, empty lots whose ground floors were supposed to already be housing fun places to eat, drink and shop. It's a big disappointment for the District, especially considering that public money financed the stadium. The controversial project was pitched in part as a way to spur development in a neglected part of town."

DDOT CRAZINESS: WTOP's Mark Segraves reports on a DDOT conflict over a driveway: "A homeowner in Northwest D.C. is being ordered to remove his driveway that's been in front of his house for nearly three years. The reason: the homeowner's handicapped mother has died. In a letter obtained by WTOP, the District's Department of Transportation has given Michael Chisek 90 days to remove a circular driveway in front of his Cleveland Park home because 'the underlying need for this access no longer exists.' The underlying need was Chisek's handicapped mother. Chisek says his mother needed the driveway in order to get in and out of the house. Chisek's mother passed away in March. The letter was sent May 3. 'It has come to DDOT's attention that Brenda Chisek passed away in March,' the letter reads. 'You have 90 days from the date of this letter to restore the public sidewalk and curb.' The letter made no mention of condolences, and Chisek's mother's name was Bridget, not Brenda. Two days later, DDOT sent a second letter apologizing for getting her name wrong in the first letter."

FIRE TRUCK: The most famous firetruck in D.C. is being auctioned off. Of course, Michael Neibauer has the story.

GRAY'S TRIPLE FLIP ON STREETCARS: WaPo's Mike DeBonis expertly—with an assist from DC Watch—dissects Gray's apparently tortured relationship with streetcar funding: "I revisit the streetcar issue briefly to highlight a notable piece of correspondence: More than four years before Gray decided to use streetcar money for other purposes, he opposed using streetcar funds for other purposes. In a Jan. 3, 2006 letter, helpfully archived by D.C. Watch, then-Ward 7 Council member Gray, along with members Marion Barry and Kwame Brown, wrote Mayor Anthony Williams urging him not to shift $10 million in funds earmarked for streetcars to expanding the Navy Yard Metro station in anticipation of the opening of Nationals Park. 'Because of the time and money already invested in improving transportation technology in the city beginning with East of the River communities, it greatly concerns us that there may be consideration of using funds already dedicated to the Streetcar project to upgrade the Navy Yard metro station,' the members wrote. 'We respectfully request that any such proposal be reconsidered, as we would be greatly disappointed at the District's inability to follow through with yet a second plan to modernize transportation in East of the River communities.'"

GRAY NABS VERNON DAVIS ENDORSEMENT: The NFL star hosted a fundraiser at Ozio last night for the mayoral hopeful.

MARC MESS: NC8 reports passengers are still pissed off about MARC train fiasco: "Train officials offered an olive branch to upset passengers Wednesday at Union Station for the rash of trouble with service. But passengers say it's not good enough. What started as a meet and greet with Amtrak's top officials, ended up being a complaining session at Union Station. MARC Train passenger Calvin Spears was among the hundreds stuck inside of a hot train last week for hours. Wednesday night, he is demanding answers. 'As of yet no one has answered my question, what are the workers trained to do?' said Spears. The MARC transit system has recently been plagued with mechanical problems, storm damage and massive delays. 'They break down so often...and they have no back up plan,' said commuter Barbara Smith. Mark Hartz explained, 'The concern is, we are not getting the service we are paying for.' Officials admit the way recent problems involving brake failure and malfunctioning traffic signals were unacceptable. MTA's Ralign Wells said, 'What I can tell you is that our investigation is gonna reveal whether there are procedures gaps.' Amtrak promises to aggressively review its operations and look for changes, which could include disciplinary actions." More coverage via WUSA9, WTOP.

VA NEWS ROUNDUP: Today, you can finally bring a gun into bar in Virginia.

NEW RAIL CARS: Greater Greater Washington has a preview of today's WMATA public meeting on the design of the new rail cars.

PROOF MAYORAL RACE MUST BE GETTING GOOD: Georgetown Dish counted five Posties attending Fenty's no-show debate w/ Gray.

INTRODUCING: The Fenty Chicken.

PROOF THAT THE D.C. COUNCIL ISN'T SO LIBERAL: Some D.C. Councilmembers love streetcars, bike lanes, and gay marriage. All great things. The council isn't so sure it loves unions anymore. WaPo's Mike DeBonis writes: "At the John A. Wilson Building, a little-noticed but highly contentious war between labor unions and construction business is playing out on Wednesday in a packed council hearing, with the upcoming city elections as a backdrop. The battle has been prompted by a bill introduced in February by D.C. Council members Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) and Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) that would essentially require union labor on all construction projects receiving more than $200,000 in city assistance and further require that contractors hire certain numbers of District residents. Needless to say, these 'project labor agreements' have the strong support of local labor leaders, and unions are pushing hard for the bill. But construction and business interests are deeply opposed to the legislation. The trade group Associated Builders and Contractors has devoted a Web site to opposing PLAs across the country, and the group also released a study in March claiming that a PLA mandate would 'likely to have a destabilizing impact on an already depressed industry ... leading to reduced employment of local residents and considerable harm to small and disadvantaged businesses.' Brown's bill, which attracted a crowd so large to Wednesday's hearing that some spectators had to be sent to an overflow room, is no doubt an election-year issue. In February, a key union organizer called the bill 'the No. 1 priority for labor in 2010'... So far, it's not clear that the litmus-testing is going to get the unions what they want. The local AFL-CIO Metro Council asked council candidates about the bill on its candidate questionnaires. Among incumbents, Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) pledged to supported to the measure, but some usually reliable union backers have hedged their bets. 'I can't say YES at this time because I want to hear the testimony at the hearing,' Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) wrote on his questionnaire."

TRIPLE MURDER PLEA: Joseph R. Mays Jr. has pleaded guilty to murdering his live-in girlfriend Erika Peters and her two young sons in March 2009.

CEREAL SETTLEMENT: Civil case in D.C. Superior Court ends with an agreement to be paid in cereal boxes.

DCUSA'S TARGET TO EXPAND GROCERY SECTION: Will include produce.

THE BUZZ: Councilmember Jim Graham is really, really pissed about losing the Latino Caucus endorsement.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: Is Elections Board ready for the primary? Nannie Helen properties, and much, much more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Linda Greene Resigns From Orange Campaign," "Summer Jobs Program Begins With Knives, Thefts"

Good Morning. Finally, someone has stepped up on one of the city's biggest issues. Councilmember Phil Mendelson has taken a big step in attempting to reform the troubled DYRS. He at least has proposed making some juvenile cases a lot more transparent. WaPo's Henri Cauvin reports: "Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the public safety committee, is set to propose legislation this week that would make public the identity of any juvenile offender after a second serious crime. It would be a radical shift for a juvenile justice system grounded in rehabilitation, and it comes as Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), Mendelson and others city leaders face election-year criticism over their handling of juvenile crime. Under Mendelson's proposal, after a juvenile is found involved in a second serious offense, the case — and all of the juvenile's previous arrests in the District — would become public. The list of qualifying 'serious' or 'dangerous' offenses is long, including assault, arson, robbery, sexual abuse and murder. The public record would include the charges filed by police and by prosecutors, and the disposition, including whether the juvenile was placed on probation with D.C. Superior Court Social Services or committed to the custody of the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services. 'It's about the community being able to get some information and the responsible government agencies having to answer for their actions,' Mendelson said." LL hopes that Mendo will add a clause which mandates throwing a little sunshine on the agency's own dealings. The public also has a right to know just how DYRS lets kids slip through the cracks. But LL is reserving judgment until he reads Colby King's take on the councilmember's proposal.

NICKLES VS. GRAY: The talk of among the local political nerds yesterday centered on AG Peter Nickles, aka Adrian Fenty's Troll Doll, declaring war on mayoral hopeful Vincent Gray during an interview with NewsTalk's Bruce DePuyt. He not only slammed Gray's tenure as head of DHS, but used the man's theme song to taunt him: "And so, this is a very important election. And I say, 'Let's get it on.' I say, 'Let's look at the record that the Fenty administration has had in the last three years, in these agencies, and what happened in 1991-1995. And keep in mind, as a result of those years, all of these agencies — CFSA, dealing with abused and neglected kids; Department of Mental Health, dealing with St. Elizabeth's and mentally-ill folks; DDS, mentally-retarded individuals, disabled individuals; DYRS, criminal justice — in all of those agencies, as a result of what the court was seeing in that administration, all the personnel, all the procurement powers of DHS were taken away from DHS, and each of those agencies was made a cabinet-level department with independent powers." Not that Nickles has had such a great track record managing the CFSA case, among others [see this must read on Nickles' federal court track record]. But anyway, can Gray please make Nickles a campaign issue?

WaPo's Mike DeBonis has the Gray campaign's response to Nickles turn as Fenty campaign flack: "Gray campaign spokeswoman Traci Hughes raised questions about whether it was appropriate for Nickles to address such a politically fraught issue. 'The last time I checked it was the attorney general's role to serve District residents and not to carry out Mayor Fenty's political attacks,' Hughes said Monday afternoon. She accused Nickles of 'campaigning effectively while he's on the clock' — a potential violation of legal restrictions on the political activities of government employees. Nickles defended his comments in part by saying he was "speaking out as a citizen" who had been involved in DHS cases.

AFTER THE JUMP—Judge to announce verdict in Wone case today, Fenty skips education debate, Fenty's inner circle questions whether the mayor even wants to win, a death on the Red Line, and more.

FENTY SKIPS OUT ON DEBATE: Mayor Fenty skipped out on yesterday's debate on education issues w/ Vincent Gray, what organizers had been calling the "Great Education Forum." WaPo's Nikita Stewart and Bill Turque report: "When Fenty failed to appear, organizers went to a town hall-style format that allowed Gray to engage the 100 or so audience members, who appeared to be mostly educators in their 20s and 30s. 'I'm delighted to be here, not necessarily delighted to be here by myself,' Gray said at the Naval Heritage Center in an apparent reference to Fenty. At the outset, Gray took a dig or two at Fenty, saying that the mayor might be in the lobby so 'he can pick up a few pointers.' Word from the Fenty campaign Monday was that the mayor had never "confirmed" that he would participate but that schedulers were prepping him while trying to come up with an alternative date. Campaign sources said that Fenty was obligated to attend other 'private campaign functions.' The group that organized the debate, the D.C. chapter of Young Education Professionals, told a different story about the event, which was announced June 8. The Fenty campaign did not contact the group to pull out until Sunday evening, said Kate Blosveren, the group's president. Gray was left with the floor to himself. As expected, he faulted Fenty and Rhee for a lack of transparency in their dealings with parents and other community stakeholders. 'I'd use the word opaque to describe how some of the decisions were made,' he said. 'The word 'public' in public education needs to be taken seriously.'" More coverage via DCist.

The Examiner's Bill Myers has people within the Fenty camp wondering if the mayor even wants to win reelection: "Mayor Adrian Fenty begged off a key education reform debate on Monday and some in his inner circle are privately wondering if he's as committed to retaining his office as he was to winning it....Longtime aides to Fenty say privately that the mounting criticism and stress of the campaign have made the mayor even more resistant to advice than usual. He has had to dip into his multimillion-dollar campaign funds to pay street workers, instead of mustering an army of volunteers to help him canvass, like in' 06."

SUMMER JOBS: WUSA's Bruce Johnson chronicles the chaos that was the first day of the mayor's summer jobs program–800 kids had to be turned away from a job site, three other kids are in deep trouble over knives and stolen goods at another site. More coverage via Fox5.

WONE VERDICT TODAY: After four years, one of the most closely covered murder mysteries in recent District history may finally come to some resolution. The Examiner reports: "Tuesday, one piece of the puzzle will get an answer: Did Joseph Price, Dylan Ward and Victor Zaborsky conspire to cover up the slaying? D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz is set to rule Tuesday in the trial of the three men, accused of cleaning up the crime scene and misdirecting police after Wone's Aug. 2, 2006, death in their Dupont Circle town house. Wone was spending the night in their home at 1509 Swann St. NW when he was stabbed three times in the chest. The defendants maintain that an intruder killed Wone. Leibovitz has heard five weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses. The defendants waived their right to a jury trial, making Leibovitz the sole arbitrator. All three men face charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Ward, 40, and Zaborsky, 44, were acquitted of tampering with evidence, but that charge still stands against Price, 39. All three could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted." More coverage via Whomurderedrobertwone.com.

DISTRICT REVENUES: The city's CFO reports some not totally bad news on the revenue front, reports WBJ's Michael Neibauer: "The parade of bleak revenue estimates from D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi may have come to an end. The latest, released today, suggests no change from his February projection. This is good news. Not 'windfall' good, but good nevertheless. 'There are signs that both the U.S. and District economies are in recovery, but every indication is that the recovery is likely to be long and slow,' Gandhi wrote in a letter to Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray. The estimate is a mixed bag of economic news. Individual income and sales taxes came in lower than expected, Gandhi said, but real property tax collections were better than anticipated and withholding collections have picked up. In the quarter ending in March, occupied office space rose 0.8 percent from the prior quarter and 1.8 percent from the prior year."

SUPREME COURT GUN CASE: You wanna know the impact of Heller v. D.C.? WaPo's Mike DeBonis says yesterday's Supreme Court decision is only the beginning: "The Supreme Court ruling Monday in McDonald v. City of Chicago places the District of Columbia at the vanguard of answering a new and crucial question: Just what kinds of gun regulations are constitutional in the United States? The McDonald decision has its roots, of course, in Heller v. District of Columbia, decided two years ago by the same 5-4 margin. That ruling struck down the city's blanket handgun ban after finding a constitutional 'right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.' The court Monday, in holding that the Heller standard applies to state and local law, did not significantly modify it."

PARKING METERS: NC8 reports District residents are unsatisfied with meter replacements.

DEATH AT RED LINE STOP: A man was found dead on the tracks yesterday evening at the Grosvenor-Strathmore station, WTOP reports. More coverage via NBC4 . The Examiner's Kytja Weir reports: "A man was killed Monday evening when he jumped from a Metro station mezzanine onto the rail tracks, causing major delays on the Red Line during the peak of the evening commute and trapping riders on a train in 90-plus degree heat without air conditioning. The death occurred about 6:10 p.m. at the Grosvenor station, Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. Preliminary reports indicate the man jumped from the upper platform onto the tracks, she said. The unidentified man was not hit by a train, she said, but died at the scene. The transit agency then needed to shut down power to that section of tracks for safety, she said, which in turn eliminated electricity to a train coming through the station. That shut off the air conditioning inside the train, angering the riders on the loaded train, who threatened to self-evacuate, she said. They were eventually taken into a rescue train. Metro had to close the station and turn back other trains, later reopening to allow trains to share a single track. The agency offered free shuttle buses to riders, but commuters faced significant delays because buses hold far fewer riders than trains."

MORE EVIDENCE THAT FENTY LOVES GO-GO: WaPo's Nikita Stewart captures Fenty celebrating his love of our homegrown sound.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: Lots of Wilson Building activities including hearings on public safety and parks and rec.