Today, I wrote up a piece about how Office of Attorney General lawyers were/are furious with fire department brass. What's the reason for their anger? A shoddy investigation into the Georgetown Library fire that has become the subject of a massive lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court. The shoddy investigation means a lot of problems with basics like discovery and evidence requests by plaintiffs attorneys.

In my item (linked above, please read it!), I quote from two OAG lawyers' e-mails to the fire department. The two attorneys call out the department for their potentially damaging stonewalling on the discovery, and question whether fire investigators followed basic national standards when they worked the Georgetown library case.

In my calls to the OAG prior to publishing the piece (linked above, please read it!), I got nowhere. Nothing much beyond no comment, it's pending litigation, the usual.

A few hours after my item ran (linked above, please read it!), OAG's Kimberly Matthews called to say she really, really wanted to see those e-mails. Could I please send them to her?

Read More "OAG Calls. It Wants Its Emails Back." »

As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning.

Morning all. Late last night, we published a piece on the latest mystery woman in Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry's life: Sharon Bowen. Bowen, who resides in Ohio, received $50,000 in contract work from the legendary politico to work on poverty issues in Ward 8. Bowen, our sources say, was also Barry's girlfriend at the time (June 2007 to May 2008). For the piece, we detail her work and interview key players including Barry and Bowen's daughter. Meanwhile, the Hill Rag's The Nose examines Barry's legislative record and finds it lacking in accomplishments. The upshot: many of Barry's bills go nowhere and his priorities seem misplaced.

TREY JOYNER: The U.S. Park Police shooting of Trey Joyner on June 8 is getting a serious look by law enforcement authorities. On that Monday night, four park police cops in plainclothes moved in on Joyner as he was getting out of a car. When the officers tried to arrest him, allegedly a struggle ensued and he was gunned down. Witnesses at the time stated that Joyner was shot in the back and that the officers did not announce themselves. Now, WaPo is reporting that a federal grand jury is getting deep into the case and has subpoenaed an amateur video showing the chaos in Trinidad after the shooting. The WaPo scoop includes an interview with the filmmaker and has the man's video. Fox-5 finds Eleanor Holmes Norton is still fuming over whether or not the U.S. Attorney's Office should be leading the investigation into the shooting. If only all suspicious police shootings got this much attention.

HOMELESS FAMILIES: District officials plan to expand the number of beds for homeless families by 10 percent. But there's a catch: the extra beds will only be available in the winter. WaPo reports that means 75 more beds (WUSA also has the story). Key graphs:

"Nassim Moshiree, a lawyer with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, said the officials who presented the plan seemed overconfident. 'This past spring, 88 families were living at the family shelter at D.C. General Hospital when the capacity was 75,' Moshiree said. 'Some had to stay in the cafeteria. They say they'll only need 75 beds there in the winter, when demand is high now. Where is their Plan B? They need a Plan B.'

Fred Swan, family services administrator for the Department of Human Services, said Moshiree voiced a common complaint. 'To a certain extent, we hear that every year,' Swan said. 'We'll make adjustments as needed.'

AFTER THE JUMP---Cathy Lanier dismisses the controversy over the "police" report in Fenty's car accident, Harry Jaffe continues to hammer away at the Pershing Park case, Fenty signs anti-crime bill, and much, much more.

Read More "Marion Barry’s Mystery Woman Revealed: Loose Lips Daily" »

The one thing you don't mess around with in a tragedy is the body count. But yesterday morning during a press conference on the metro crash, Mayor Adrian Fenty did just that. Even though Metro and the Fire Department had confirmed that nine passengers had died in the Red Line accident, Fenty overruled those officials and confused everyone. Fenty decided presumably on his own that in fact only seven were confirmed dead.

Shortly after the press conference, the body count rose back to nine.

City Desk tried to figure out the discrepency yesterday. Was it a matter of government sources getting ahead of themselves? Was it simply a matter of confusion at the crash scene? Today, the Washington Post published a story which reveals the source of the mix up: Fenty.

Read More "So Who Screwed Up The Metro Crash Body Count? Fenty" »

Today, the Nats lost more than just a game (the team got blanked 7-0 vs. the Mets), the Nats also lost use of its pyrotechnics. D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin put at least a temporary end to the stadium's fireworks displays. Rubin attended today's game, and after a fireworks display for the National Anthem ordered them to be stopped. Why?

Read More "D.C. Fire Chief Rubin Shuts Down Fireworks @ Nats Games" »

Via the Fire Department's Alan Etter.

Earlier this morning three houses burned on the 2200 block of Douglas Street NE [fire department tweets are wrong on location]. It started at 2210 and spread into 2208 and then 2212. Here are some amazing pictures captured by a city source.

Read More "Photos From Douglas Street House Fires" »

Yesterday's massive water main break in Adams Morgan stressed out Monique Lecomte and Joseph Currie. They reside at 1748 V Street NW. Today, they are dealing with contractors assessing the damage to their basement dining room and kitchen. Industrial dehumidifiers are at full blast. A contractor rips at the bottom of the walls in the dining room. But perhaps nothing hurt Currie more than what the Washington Post did to him with its story on the great flood of '09. There are some things more painful than wall mold.

Read More "WaPo All Wet On Florida Ave. Flood Coverage" »

Few in public service have fallen harder. Recently, we chronicled Greg Bowyer, a fire department whistleblower who had been demoted from arson investigator to hydrant checker. Today, his hydrant checking duties were temporarily suspended in favor of rescuing some flooded bathrooms. This morning he attended to the Florida Avenue NW water main break--which still appears to be a problem--and helped citizens mop up their flooded basements and bathrooms. "We responded code one with lights and sirens," Bowyer says of his community service unit's response to the bathroom detail.

Bowyer adds he's "thankful for the unique opportunity."

"I'm not sure if this is a promotion from the hydrant detail or a demotion," Bowyer jokes. "It wasn't too bad today. At least I helped some citizens even if it was just cleaning the bathrooms out....After a year, I finally got a chance to respond to an emergency, although it was a water emergency."

The Fire Department just tweeted: "person dangling from the woodrow wilson bridge water rescue assignment dispatched."

First CFSA lost its spokesperson powers to the Mayor's Office. Now, it's the Fire Department's turn to refer all calls to Fenty spokesperson Mafara Hobson. At this point, I feel sorry for Hobson. Her job is busy enough with the on-going budget debates, the travel issues, etc. Now, she gets to field inquiries about the D.C. Fire Department activities.

Today, I e-mailed Fire Chief Dennis Rubin seeking comment for a story I am working on concerning whistleblower/Fire Investigator Greg Bowyer. I then followed up with a phone call to Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Crosswhite to ask for Rubin's phone number.

By then, Rubin had already complained about my e-mail to Crosswhite. And my e-mail had already been forwarded to Hobson. I asked: why had Hobson become the Fire Department's vetting machine.

“I’m waiting to hear back from the mayor’s office," Crosswhite told me of my interview-with-Rubin request. "All communications go to the mayor’s office prior to us making comments.”

Update 2:31 p.m.: Fire Department is now on Facebook and Twitter.