IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'Ted Loza Speaks: ‘This Is Bulls--t’'; 'Harry Thomas Gets Booted, Blames Fenty'; 'Bowser Moves to Reform D.C. Open Meetings Law'; ''; 'How Did D.C. General Get So Crowded? One Family Tells All'; 'Newborn Dies at the D.C. General Shelter'; and tweets galore!

Morning all. WUSA-TV's Bruce Johnson reported yesterday, citing city hall sources, that D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray will be joining the mayoral race in the coming days. On camera, and in a statement, Gray brushed off the report. But inside the council chambers yesterday for a DCPS oversight hearing, Gray certainly sounded like a man with his mind on higher office. He repeatedly deployed the 'One City' trope that won him the chairmanship, and he found a willing audience in RIF'd teachers (some bearing 'I Am Not a Child Molester' T-shirts) and Hardy Middle School parents and students---who marched on Freedom Plaza, decrying the ouster of beloved principal Patrick Pope and comparing Chancellor Michelle Rhee to Harry Potter villain Delores Umbridge. Usually a stickler for decorum, Gray minded not at all yesterday when hearing attendees applauded as witnesses took shot after shot at Rhee---she'll be testifying next week, in a separate hearing.

AFTER THE JUMP---City parking-ticket revenues are lagging; attention DCPS teachers: it may soon be a firing offense to have sex with your students; more cash needed for Capital Gains; Lieberman could force Senate voucher vote

MORE---From WaPo: 'About a half dozen former educators at the hearing were wearing T-shirts with the message: "I am not a child molester." Former school counselor Brenda Eichelberger said Rhee should apologize for the sweeping characterization and provide references to those who were dismissed and have had trouble finding new jobs. Rhee said in an interview that she would not apologize because "that statement was in fact true," but she said it was "important to clarify that not everyone fell into that position."' Also NC8. And Guy Brandenberg wraps up the proceedings nicely, from a Rhee-skeptic perspective.

LL and WTTG-TV's Roby Chavez have more on Harry Thomas Jr.'s booting last week. 'The boot was removed, but FOX 5 has learned the tickets remain unpaid....DMV records show the car with his license number was booted and is highlighted on bold red letters. "As you know, two or more accumulate over time and you get a boot and you become boot eligible, so guess what I have to do. I have to pay for the boot whether I was right or wrong. I have to pay for it," said Thomas. Thomas paid the $75 to remove the boot. However, he didn't pay $655 in outstanding parking tickets-- like most people have to.' HTJ might not have this problem if he used his councilmember plates; alas, he does not.

City ticket-writers are well behind year-to-date revenue figures, Alana Goodman reports in Examiner, thanks to a rising rate of challenges. 'D.C. took in $70 million in parking ticket revenue in fiscal 2009 but will generate less than $45 million this year if current trends continue, according to data provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles to the D.C. Council's public works committee...."We know that more people are not paying their tickets and that is causing a decline in revenue, probably directly related to the economy," [said] Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham....The value of parking tickets issued between October and January, but were not paid, totaled $18 million. That's half of what the District didn't collect in all of fiscal 2009.' The solution: 25 new ticket-writers begin training this month.

So DRES renewed its lease in the Penn Branch shopping center last month, but DMPED Valerie Santos has yet to sign off and send the deal to the council, Jonathan O'Connell reports in WBJ, because she wants 'to achieve what the community ultimately wants, which is better quality retail.' Kwame Brown, at yesterday's DMPED oversight hearing, didn't want to hear that: 'The delays, he said, were "unacceptable" and "an embarrassment." Ward 7 residents are waiting for improvements, he told her. "I want to be clear to them that you're holding it up. And the mayor's holding it up," he said. He said he would organize a community meeting in Hillcrest at which Santos could explain herself.' But apparently the Fenty folks are in no rush. Bottom line: 'Santos made no commitment to send the lease extension to the council.'

Travel industry players assume a threatening posture regarding pending council legislation that would force bookers to pay sales tax on the full price of hotel rooms, Michael Neibauer reports in Examiner. 'A recent letter to Council Chairman Vincent Gray, co-signed by five major travel associations, suggests that tour companies and online travel agents would divert bookings out of D.C. and into nearby jurisdictions if the tax is implemented. "The new tax would effectively reverse the welcoming approach Washington has had to the travel and tourism industry -- damaging that critical industry, raising hotel prices, reducing the number of visitors, creating major paperwork with particular effect on small travel businesses, costing jobs, largely among the most economically vulnerable, and worsening the impact of the current slump in the process," the group wrote...."They're completely blowing smoke," Brown said Monday. "These are taxes that the District of Columbia deserves to get." Brown said he worked with the D.C. Hotel Association to craft the bill. Only national organizations, he said, are employing "scare tactics" to kill it.'

Behold the post-Fast Company political landscape: Kwame Brown had plans to introduce a bill today that would require DCPS to fire any teacher that had sexual relations with a student, Tim Craig reports in WaPo. 'But Brown said late Monday that [Gray] has postponed action. Both the District office of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington Teachers Union have raised concerns about the proposal....Brown staffers said Monday the council member initially sought last week to change the law to make it a crime. But Brown (D-At Large) and his legislative staff determined Friday he needed more time to draft that proposal. He instead decided to push for emergency legislation requiring that such teachers be fired.' ACLU 'would want the bill narrowly focused on teachers with direct supervision over the students they have sex with.' Also NC8.

DCPS needs more money, $255K more, for the Capital Gains program 'because student participants are performing at a higher level than originally anticipated,' but WaPo's Bill Turque makes a fabulous point: If we have to pony up more money, don't taxpayers deserve to see some results? Alas: 'Since the roll out, staged for cameras with great flourish at Shaw@Garnet-Patterson Middle School, the District has offered no data answering that question. Officials have said the program's creator and funding partner, Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer, is crunching the numbers and will be ready to say something when he's, well, ready. A Freedom of Information Act request, which I filed in September, has not been answered.'

ALSO---Turque covers Kwame's annual trip to a North Carolina college fair with D.C. high school seniors. 'Brown reported in an e-mail Saturday evening that of the 130 District kids who made the trip 121 received acceptances, and six got cash scholarships.' Kudos!

Another day, another voucher editorial in the Washington Post! '[Joe Lieberman] plans to offer an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that would continue federally funded vouchers for low-income students attending private schools in Washington. This could well be the program's last chance....Over and over, parents cite their satisfaction with schools that are safer, where students are more respectful and where teachers better meet their children's needs. Politicians like to say they want to do what is best for kids; here's their chance.'

Metro has its eye on a new safety chief, WTOP's Adam Tuss reports. 'If he accepts the position, James M. Dougherty, who has served as the chief safety officer with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) for the past year, will take on a daunting challenge: Changing the culture of safety at Metro. According to the agency's website, he has nearly a quarter century of experience in transit safety, occupational safety and health, industrial hygiene and environmental protection.... Metro board members believe that Dougherty will bring immediate stability. "Safety has been his mantra," Metro Boardmember Jeff McKay tells WTOP. "We needed someone who lived and breathed safety, and he is a transit safety specialist."' Also WaPo.

ALSO---Via WaPo: 'Metrorail ridership rebounded quickly from its February blizzard low....On Feb. 10, the day that wind and snow essentially shut down the Washington area, Metro operations were severely curtailed, and the number of rail trips dwindled to 36,097, a figure described by a spokeswoman as "very, very low." But by Feb. 18, trips had soared to 803,641, Metro said. Typically, according to Metro, that level of ridership characterizes days during the height of the tourist season or during large-scale special events....The explanation for the sharp increase in Feb. 18 ridership this year was not immediately clear. One possibility was that effects of the storm on surface travel had not yet disappeared.'

WaPo's Darryl Fears previewed last night's Washington Interfaith Network rally, where Hizzoner was expected to join them in a 'pledge to weatherize for free between 2,000 and 4,000 homes of low income residents to cut their energy bills, and it will train and hire up to 700 unemployed residents to do the work. Rev. Lionel Edmonds, pastor of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church and a co-founder of WIN, said the jobs will pay $13.25 to $25 per hour, depending on the task. The focus of the training by the Laborers International Union, a partner in the effort, “will be installing insulation,” Edmonds said....Edmonds said the city and churches have a database of thousands of homes in Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8 that could use weatherization.'

COINKYDINK---M.M. Washington Career High School redevelopment award goes to Urban Matters, Mission First Development, Mt. Lebanon Community Development Corporation and Square 134 Architects, DCmud reports. 'The school will be developed into 90+ units of affordable senior housing, The House of Lebanon, and 15,000 s.f. of community space with an estimated project cost of $25 to $30 million....Also involved in the 94,000 s.f. project is the Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church, which sits just a few blocks away from the project site and is part of the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN). Fenty reminisced about WIN saying the group "has come a long way" since he first began meeting with them, adding that WIN is now a "full-fledged community partner and developer."'

WaPo's Carol Morello probes governmental efforts to drive up Census 2010 response rates: 'Census officials say they are more worried about neighborhoods considered hard to count, such as Woodland Terrace. The apartment complex that lends its name to the neighborhood comprises more than 400 city-owned units, many in need of painting....Attitudes toward the census are mixed. Some residents regard it with suspicion; others hope it will generate money to build playgrounds and update the apartment complex's balky plumbing....Darrell Gaston, 23, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission member responsible for part of Woodland Terrace, said he would be pleased if half or more of his constituents fill out their census forms. "These are communities that have been distrusting government for a long time when it comes to services or quality-of-life issues," Gaston said of Woodland Terrace and the residential streets around it....[Michael Brown], the council's census liaison, said myths about the count are widely held in the District, where just 65 percent of residents responded to the 2000 Census. People fear that providing information will bring authorities to their doors over unpaid parking tickets, or for having too many people living in a house, or calls from telemarketers. None of these is the case.' ALSO: A great picture of Phil Pannell at work in Census garb.

'Gang whisperer' Thandor Miller is profiled by WaPo's Petula Dvorak. 'Miller is your interpreter, an anthropologist who can translate their impossible-to-fathom culture, habits and language. "That right there, the arms crossed thing," he says as he pulls out a metal chair and perfectly splays his 58-year-old body into that posture that drives so many teachers, counselors, probation officers, volunteers and mentors mad. "That's 'cool pose,' " Miller explains to about a dozen adults who work with these kids....Miller's workshops are informed by his 40 years of mentoring the District's youth and are part of his work with the DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation. He is a dynamic speaker, switching from educator in a sweater vest and fancy leather shoes to street boy mugging and thugging in a flash. He explains how to get kids to dress up for court. "They tell me they don't want to dress up because they want to keep it real. So I tell them they also have to keep it real for the environment they're dealing with. I call it 'code switching,' and that is their language. They understand it when you put it that way," he says.'

Like LL, WAMU-FM covers Muriel Bowser's introduction of open-meetings legislation.

Dementia-suffering woman Doris Logan is reportedly discharged from GWU Hospital in nothing more than a hospital gown and slippers on Friday and is left to find her way back to her east-of-the-river home, WUSA-TV reports. 'Recalls Tiffany Hunter, "When I asked the lady where's my Mom, she said she's not in the system anymore. I said how could that be?" Tierra Hunter, Logan's other daughter, adds, "They said they sent her with two bus tokens on the way home. With no coat and it was very rainy on Friday. It was rainy and cold." For more than four hours, the family frantically drove the streets of Southeast, crying and looking for their mother....Meantime, their mother was taking not one, not two, but three Metro buses back to Anacostia to an unfamiliar house she'd only moved into, just two weeks before. Remarkably, she made it-cold, and confused.'

For you National Law Journal subscribers: 'A lawsuit about unused balances on calling cards in the District of Columbia has morphed into a test of D.C. consumer-protection laws, Jordan Weissmann reports. The D.C. Court of Appeals is planning to hear the case en banc, and lawyers for the plaintiffs' bar and for corporate defendants are piling on.'

FLOODING THREATS---Examiner: 'The Potomac River — bloated by rain and melted snow — overflowed in parts of Georgetown and the Southwest Waterfront....Floodwaters also washed out portions of Constitution and Independence avenues, and along Ohio Drive near Hains Point. In addition, Coast Guard officials reported that high water levels had dislodged a construction barge anchored near the 14th Street Bridge. The barge rammed into one of the bridge's support columns, but a Coast Guard spokesman said there was no structural damage and the bridge remained open to traffic.' NC8 cruises on a fireboat.

Baptist Press holds out hope that District's gay marriage law could be reversed---via activist judges, natch: 'Hope may seem lost for conservatives, but they were heartened March 2 when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts -- while turning back their long-shot emergency appeal to prevent the law from taking effect -- said in a three-page opinion that their "argument has some force." Opponents of the law, he noted, could appeal again to the Supreme Court once the D.C. Court of Appeals hands down a final decision on the "relevant legal questions." Conservatives also are emboldened by the fact that it's an election year and that a new Congress may have a more conservative makeup that could challenge the D.C. council on the "gay marriage" law.'

Two transsexual individuals attacked in Columbia Heights on Saturday by man wielding metal pole, MPD reports. 'The investigation further revealed that the suspect attacked the complainants because of their gender identity. One of the complainants sustained injuries from the attack and received medical treatment. The suspect was arrested on scene.'

Via Legal Times: 'The District of Columbia, Nevada, Washington, Montana, Utah, and Florida have the highest per capita rate of Internet crime perpetrators in the United States, according to the 2009 annual report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center.'

WaPo letter: 'It's amazing to me that D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is joining the Secret Service in adding to the woes of anyone driving west to east through the city by proposing to reduce lanes on I and L streets NW' for bikes.

CHECK IT---'Rent Your DC Basement Apartment Legally'---whatever DCRA's paying Mike Rupert, it's not enough.

Justice First's perspective on utility hikes: 'No rate hike is acceptable, not even so-called moderate ones....Heat and light are a right!'

$14M project creates new Convention Center meeting space, WBJ reports. They'd still like that hotel, though, please.

Remember WASAwatch? Still posting!

Troubled Allied Capital to shed 91 District jobs.

Social Safeway reopening: less than two months away!

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee of the Whole meeting, to be followed by the 30th Legislative Meeting, JAWB 500.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10:30 a.m.: remarks, scattered-site redevelopment project kickoff, 1350 Jasper Place SE.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'If Earmarks Were Prohibited, How Did Harry Thomas Jr. Get Them?'; 'Farewell, Washington City Paper' (from Erik Wemple, ex-LL), and tweets galore!

Morning all. On Saturday, WaPo columnist Colby King revisited the topic of D.C. Council earmarks, 'the practice of steering money to pet projects and programs through D.C. spending bills.' And, as in many of King's columns, the topic returned to troubled youth and how tens of millions of dollars in earmarks sent to politically connected organizations might have helped D.C. kids in trouble. Remember the earmarks, he writes, when 'tight-budgeted DYRS, implementing its lenient inmate-release policy, sends the alleged shooter back into the community. How will DYRS give him the needed monitoring, counseling and supervision, and protection against reprisals? It can't.' But earmarks are thing of the past, right? Banned in fiscal 2010 by Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray because of a budget crunch? Not quite: As LL reported Friday, Harry Thomas Jr. still managed to set aside a nice chunk of funds and influence how it was spent. Those aren't earmarks! Thomas and Gray protest. But if it quacks like an earmark...

AFTER THE JUMP---NYT checks out WASA's George Hawkins; Thomas gets the boot; Jonetta calls out Eleanor; DMV safety inspections could be back; more ambulance problems aired at FEMS hearing; United Negro College Fund could save Shaw development deal

ALSO---Blogger Richard Layman makes the valuable point that funding for arts groups and other community nonprofits isn't the core issue with earmarks; it's the lack of a fair, competitive process for distributing those funds. And GALA Hispanic Theatre, in a letter to the editor, says it feels shabbily treated by King's last column.

WASA GM George Hawkins, the 'long-haired environmentalist who now leads one of the largest and most prominent water and sewer systems,' gets his closeup in the NY Times, as the centerpiece of a Charles Duhigg-penned article on the challenges facing the nation's aging water utilities. 'For decades, these systems---some built around the time of the Civil War---have been ignored by politicians and residents accustomed to paying almost nothing for water delivery and sewage removal. And so each year, hundreds of thousands of ruptures damage streets and homes and cause dangerous pollutants to seep into drinking water supplies. Mr. Hawkins's answer to such problems will not please a lot of citizens. Like many of his counterparts in cities like Detroit, Cincinnati, Atlanta and elsewhere, his job is partly to persuade the public to accept higher water rates, so that the utility can replace more antiquated pipes. "People pay more for their cellphones and cable television than for water," said Mr. Hawkins, who before taking over Washington's water system ran environmental groups and attended Princeton and Harvard, where he never thought he would end up running a sewer system....But in many cities, residents have protested loudly when asked to pay more for water and sewer services. In Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Sacramento---and before Mr. Hawkins arrived, Washington---proposed rate increases have been scaled back or canceled after virulent ratepayer dissent....As these discussions unfold, particular attention is being paid to Mr. Hawkins. Washington's water and sewer system serves the White House, many members of Congress, and two million other residents, and so it surprised some when Mr. Hawkins was hired to head the agency last September, since he did not have an engineering background or the resume of a utility chief....The mayor of Washington, Adrian M. Fenty, asked Mr. Hawkins to move to the city in 2007 to lead the Department of the Environment. He quickly became a prominent figure, admired for his ability to communicate with residents and lawmakers. When the Water and Sewer Authority needed a new leader, board members wanted someone familiar with public relations campaigns.'

MORE---'Mr. Hawkins's mandate was to persuade residents to pay for updating the city's antiquated pipes. At a meeting with board members last month, Mr. Hawkins pitched his radical solution. Clad in an agency uniform---his name on the breast and creases indicating it had been recently unfolded for the first time---Mr. Hawkins suggested raising water rates for the average resident by almost 17 percent, to about $60 a month per household. Over the coming six years, that rate would rise above $100....Others have attacked him for playing on false fears. "This rate hike is outrageous," said Jim Graham, a member of the city council. "Subway systems need repairs, and so do roads, but you don't see fares or tolls skyrocketing. Providing inexpensive, reliable water is a fundamental obligation of government. If they can't do that, they need to reform themselves, instead of just charging more."'

Earmarks not his only woes: Harry Thomas got booted, Examiner's Michael Neibauer is first to report. 'for four unpaid parking tickets, totaling $655, that the Ward 5 representative claims he never should have gotten. Thomas' 2007 Audi Q7 was booted at about 7 p.m. Wednesday as he attended a meeting with constituents....Thomas said the boot has been released and he's fighting the fines....According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Audi was ticketed between Sept. 21 and Dec. 15 for being parked in a rush hour lane, $205, parked during street cleaning hours, $65, parked in a loading zone, $105, and parked in a bus zone, $205. The fines increase the longer they go unpaid.' LL spoke to Thomas on Friday about the tickets; he saw foul play in the booting revelation. 'Conspiring against the councilmember is what I'd say to you,' he said. 'That tells you what level it's gotten to.'

Jonetta Rose Barras calls out Eleanor Holmes Norton for tone-deafness bordering on hypocrisy: 'The political maneuvering of [Norton] can be breathtaking. She's been known to brush aside her constituents' desires, favoring her own or those of her beloved Democratic Party. Last week, for example, she proudly announced her victory in pushing back efforts in the Senate to mandate a public vote on same-sex marriage. Yet, the majority of District residents---proponents and opponents---believe the issue should be placed on the ballot, according to a poll released earlier this year. Norton also held up for attention her $5 million request for 2011 to President Obama's administration. She wants the money to help District children who were closed out of the federally funded Opportunity Scholarship Program after initially being accepted....Get out of here! Norton knows she and other Democrats are the reason the program has yet to be reauthorized....Truth be told, Norton's request is for guilt-easing money.'

Car safety inspections could return by April, Alana Goodman reports in Examiner, after inspection-station workers alerted Graham to hazardous cars. 'Workers have produced at least 30 photos showing severely damaged vehicles that they say had to be allowed back on the road because they passed emissions tests. The pictures show cars with smashed rearview mirrors, broken windshields, hydraulic line leaks, and rear bumpers duct-taped into place....The maintenance employees were prepared to testify in person at the hearing Wednesday, but their requests for an administrative leave day were denied by DMV Director Lucinda Babers, who was at the hearing. "I'm sufficient to represent the DMV," said Babers of the reason behind her denying the leave....Babers said that studies have not shown a connection between the condition of vehicles and public safety, and that further analysis would be done by the DMV. However, Graham said that type of study "misses the point."' He plans to have emergency legislation ready for the April council meeting.

WaPo's Ashley Halsey surveys H Street NE merchants affected by ongoing street reconstruction, and their belief in better times to come: 'Within a year---two snow-bedeviled months played havoc with the region's construction deadlines---a proper boulevard is to emerge from the construction cocoon, with wide sidewalks, granite curbs, freshly paved traffic lanes and new landscaping. Tracks are being laid for six trolleys, expected to arrive in 2012, that will run from near Union Station to Benning Road and Oklahoma Avenue, in the shadow of RFK Stadium....There seems to be a consensus among the merchants of H Street that if they can weather the disruption, they will emerge with something a bit closer to an urban utopia than recent history has allowed. They see the best of upscale Capitol Hill to the south merging with the middle-class sensibilities of the Trinidad neighborhood to the north, blending in the ethnic and cultural diversity of Adams Morgan but with the fabric of community woven in a tighter knit.' DDOT expects the project to wrap up by winter.

Neibauer covers Friday's FEMS council oversight hearing, wherein Dennis Rubin called recent lapses 'total failures.' And WTOP's Michelle Basch collects more disturbing stories about ambulance crews aired at the hearing. Among them: 'Stephanie Thomas has a son with asthma and allergies. In 2008, when the then 9-year-old complained of chest pains, Thomas called 911. But instead of taking her child to the hospital, she says paramedics told her to put him in a hot shower. "Steam him out, you know, help open up the airways," Thomas says. That's the same advice paramedics gave the family of the little girl who died. The steam didn't work for Thomas' son either, and she eventually drove him to Children's Hospital, where a nurse asked why the boy had not been brought in sooner.' Also WRC-TV, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

Federal prosecutors are looking into more than 100 cases dating back decades 'that need to be reviewed because of potentially falsified and inaccurate tests by FBI analysts,' Keith Alexander reports in WaPo. The exoneration of Donald Gates, falsely imprisoned for 28 years, sparked the probe, which is being conducted by a DOJ special counsel. Patricia Riley 'wrote that since December, her office performed a "preliminary review" of 78 of the cases and found "no misconduct." Prosecutors have presented no findings so far on the remaining 22 cases. "We intend to fully research the remainder of the cases to determine whether additional disclosures are required or appropriate," Riley wrote.'

Catholic Charities is now 'requiring new employees to promise they will not "violate the principles or tenets" of the church,' Michelle Boorstein reports in WaPo. This, of course, comes weeks after the organization dropped spousal benefits rather than extend them to gay couples. Spokesperson Erik Salmi 'said the addition of the clause to the hiring letter was not a result of the new law but rather reflected a longer-term concern that employees adhere to the organization's Catholic philosophy. Salmi said the new language "is more of an expectation than a condition. It's letting people know this is the culture." Asked if that meant employees could speak or act against the church without being fired, Salmi said: "We can't speculate on the hypothetical. It's handled on a case-by-case basis."'

Dr. Gridlock covers the many, many choices facing Metro riders and the WMATA board in balancing the transit system's budget: 'The list of options already was pages long when board members told the staff to look again to make sure the document included every concept that was legal and technically feasible from any responsible source. A review of what is now a 16-page document---all the way up to Attachment F---won't give riders many clues about how Metro will wind up balancing the budget this spring. But even a glance will tell you this: We're in serious trouble. The board is divided by jurisdictional interests, desperate for time, and uncertain how to maintain service and fares at levels riders will tolerate.'

ALSO---'Board member Jim Graham, who also is a D.C. Council member, said the overall impact of the proposals would unfairly burden the District's transit riders. Several service improvements championed by Graham, such as the extension of the Yellow Line to Fort Totten and late Metrorail service on Friday and Saturday nights, are under review. Graham once again urged the board to borrow money from the capital budget, the long-term budget for equipment purchases and maintenance, to balance the operating budget and avoid service cuts. That idea remains unpopular with other board members who describe that as the start of a "death spiral" that would sacrifice the system's future to preserve current service.'

RELATED---WaPo covers Metro's efforts to save money by encouraging MetroAccess users to use regular rail and bus service. 'Many of the District's disabled travelers...rely on MetroAccess, a shared-ride service for those who can't navigate the bus and rail system. With Metro facing a projected $190 million budget gap for the coming fiscal year, new emphasis is being placed on helping people with disabilities be more independent.'

Coolidge HS introduces new football coach Natalie Randolph. Reports WTTG-TV: 'Her news conference drew the kind of attention usually reserved for the Washington Redskins. It was delayed nearly two hours so Mayor Adrian Fenty could attend and proclaim "Natalie Randolph Day" in the city.' The announcement even drew the coverage of WaPo's Michael Wilbon: 'This is a feel-good story now, but it only remains one if Randolph wins. And if you think the good old boys she's coaching against will take it easy on her, think again. One player, Raynard Ware, told me, "different schools called me about transferring, and I said, 'No, I'm not going to do that.'"'

United Negro College Fund CEO 'is committed to moving the 65-year-old financial aid provider into D.C.,' Jonathan O'Connell reports in WBJ. Michael Lomax made the pledge at a Friday council hearing on $4.5M in city incentives to bring UNCF to the former Media Center One project in Shaw. 'Lomax said the group's board met last week to solidify plans to move to the District from Fairfax. "They reaffirmed first of all, our strategy, which is to move from the suburbs into the central city, where we will have direct and robust access to the students with whom we'd like to work," he said. As part of its plan to purchase 50,000 square feet of office space in the Shaw project, planned for the northeast corner of Seventh and S streets NW, Lomax said UNCF plans to create a 5,000-square-foot financial aid assistance center on the ground floor.' If a package is passed and a deal is inked, construction could begin this year.

ALSO---American Society of Nephrology wants $7.9M in revenue bonds in order to move two blocks.

WaPo's Bill Turque with the latest on the Hardy MS drama: '[P]arents angry about the ouster of principal Patrick Pope have accused [Rhee] of attempting to "segregate" attendance at the school. The charge comes as the group intensifies its campaign to force Rhee to reverse her decision, which is effective in June. They've met or scheduled meetings with almost every member of the D.C. Council. On Monday, they plan to rally at Freedom Plaza and speak at the council's DCPS oversight hearing. There will be another protest Friday, March 19th, this one at the school....The dispute has created what some other Hardy parents describe privately as an increasingly shrill and even intimidating atmosphere. Some fear that the struggle to reinstate Pope will ultimately tear the school apart.'

Admitted cyclist Harry Jaffe writes in Examiner that Fenty administration bike-lane plans '[sound] fantastic, but I am concerned. Let's face it: Biking is so green and carbon free and good for you it could solve all the world's problems. Wouldn't it be great if we could all be friends and slim and bike together? Statistics, however, show that few of us will hop on a bike in downtown D.C. Just more than 2 percent of commuters come to and from the city on two wheels and pedals. It's farfetched to imagine all the lawyers pedaling in from Bethesda. How would they dictate memos by BlackBerry to their secretaries? I fear we bikers are tempting a backlash from four-wheelers.' Since when do we make policy based on the needs of Bethesda-resident lawyers? Oh wait...

ALSO---WashCycle asks: 'Does Fenty's Cycling Matter?...I tire of hearing about how this bike facility or that is happening because Fenty is a triathlete. I'm training for a triathlon right now, and I don't do my training rides on roads with bike lanes. If DC were building a velodrome or closing off Hain's Point to cars to allow for bike training that would be one thing, but building cycletracks and a bike station are not things a triathlete would really care about.'

DCmud does an exhaustive review of the Skyland eminent domain dispute, including a conversation with Dana Berliner, who litigated the infamous Kelo v. New London case. 'Berliner said the instance of eviction without subsequent development is a very common one. "What you are talking about here [at Skyland] is really speculative. Its a big development in a difficult part of town...that project could easily end up destroying the jobs that already do exist at Skyland. They could spend tens of millions of dollars and end up with nothing. Now, the project actually does employ people and raise tax dollars."'

The Hill covers the latest developments in getting federal disaster money for the February snowstorms: 'Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is concerned that FEMA may not be fully in touch with the unique needs of the D.C. region and is worried that its response to the snowstorms may reflect that disconnect. "FEMA [is not] accustomed to snow emergencies that cripple big cities, much less the federal government itself," said Norton.'

The latest on the fate of Mount Pleasant's burned-out Deauville apartments, from WRC-TV.

DID YOU KNOW?---Per WaPo: 'On April 15, 1848, more than 70 slaves from Maryland, the District and Virginia gathered at the Seventh Street pier in Southeast Washington and boarded the Pearl, hoping it could take them to freedom. Stormy weather left them stalled in the Chesapeake Bay long enough to be recaptured, but the attempt brought fame to some of the passengers and buoyed the abolition movement.' Now The Pearl Coalition, which hopes to commemorate what is the largest recorded slave escape attempt in American history, 'thinks it has found the perfect learning tool: a schooner the same size as the slaves' original getaway boat. The only problem: The vessel is stuck in El Salvador awaiting $300,000 in repairs before it can sail to its new home in the District.' It could find a home in a redeveloped Southwest waterfront.

Tommy Wells has some competition in Ward 6, from Republican Jim DeMartino, reports Tim Craig at D.C. Wire. 'A lawyer and former Marine Corps officer, DeMartino is currently a contract military analyst for the Navy Department. DeMartino, who lives near Nationals Park, is also on the board of directors at Capitol Hill Tower and the D.C. Cooperative Housing Council. He is closely aligned with Will Cobb, the independent candidate whom Wells defeated by a margin of 3 to 1 in the 2006 general election....DeMartino said he plans to run against Wells, who will also likely face a challenger in the September Democratic primary, because he wants to improve education in the city. DeMartino supports Chancellor Michelle Rhee and vows to fight to expand charter schools and protect the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.' Funny issue to challenge Wells on.

More on the Carlos Allen 'mayoral run' from WaPo's Amy Argetsinger. The party-crasher 'said he's simply thinking about getting into the race---"I really feel there are issues with the city"---but thus far, no filing papers, no exploratory committee, no fundraising efforts, no petitions. Just that Facebook poster. Allen told us he's waiting to see whether voters seem interested in him pursuing this.' Let's end this now: No, they're not.

Dancer Quansa Thompson is suing The House, the Georgia Avenue strip joint, 'alleging that the club pays dancers no wages but ought to under the law,' Paul Schwartzman reports in WaPo. 'Thompson found a lawyer, Philip Zipin, who, after some research, concluded that The House, like a preponderance of strip clubs across the country, classified their dancers as "independent contractors"---as if they were plumbers, only without the tool belt (not to mention the shirt, pants and underwear). Zipin said The House's practices---its schedules, rules and fines---amount to treating dancers as if they were employees, but without paying minimum wage. "This is exploitation," Zipin said. Thompson is seeking $75,000 from The House, an amount that includes the wages and overtime she said she would have collected had she been working full time.'

Teacher-blogger Guy Brandenberg crunches DC-CAS numbers, concludes that Capital Gains pay-for-grades program doesn't work.

Two women shot early this morning on the 4900 block of G Street SE in Marshall Heights. 'Upon arriving on the scene, officers say both victims were conscious and breathing. They were transported to a local hospital,' NC8 reports.

Antwan Holcomb, 20, has been charged in Dec. 27 murder of Anthony J. Perkins, 29. Holcomb was 'being held at the D.C. Jail on an unrelated charge,' WaPo reports.

Latest in Robert Wone murder case: Prosecutor Glenn Kirschner tells judge that he doesn't plan to charge any of the three current defendants with Wone's actual murder, but he 'thinks one of the men, if not all three, was involved in cleaning the crime scene and that the men know who killed Wone and are covering for the killer,' Alexander reports in WaPo. 'Kirschner said the prosecution's "theories are evolving" and that investigators were looking at Price's brother, Michael Price, and his possible involvement in the death. Just months after Wone's killing, Michael Price was arrested in the burglary of his brother's house, Kirschner said. Prosecutors had discovered that Michael Price was enrolled in a phlebotomy course at Montgomery College and was absent from class the evening Wone was killed. Prosecutors said Wone had been drugged intravenously and that there were also nine postmortem puncture wounds on Wone's body. Price, who has attended a majority of the court hearings in the case since his brother was arrested in 2008, was absent from Friday's hearing.' Trial is set for May 10. Also Legal Times, WMRW?

'Georgetown Cuddler' gets more than 26 years in prison 'for burglary and assaults on five male Georgetown University students,' Alexander reports in WaPo. Todd M. Thomas, 24, was convicted of 'burglarizing the homes and assaulting the students between 2007 and 2008. The victims said they awoke in the middle of the night to find Thomas in their apartments. At times, Thomas was massaging or groping the victim's shoulders and ankles. Another time, Thomas sexually assaulted one of the victims. The attacks occurred in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of 33rd and 35th streets NW.' Another Cuddler is still thought to be at large.

Motorcycle cop found unconscious at 5th and H Streets NW on Sunday morning; he was revived at Howard University Hospital.

Metrobus, cars collide on Southern Avenue SE Friday morning.

COLD CASE---Examiner notes that no arrests have yet been made in the 2005 murder of nine-year-old Donte Manning.

Ace zoning lawyer Maureen Dwyer has left Pillsbury Winthrop for Goulston & Storrs, WBJ reports. 'Dwyer, the co-chair of the land use group at Pillsbury, said in a news release that Goulston's size, scope of services and experiences better matched her clients, particularly universities. Dwyer's clients include Georgetown, George Washington, American, Catholic, Trinity universities and the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area.' Also Legal Times.

News flash: Not all gays want to get married now that they can, WaPo reports.

The National Organization for Marriage reportedly did push polling in the District over the weekend. The key question: 'Do you believe that marriage between only one man and one woman should be legal?' ALSO: Metro Weekly covers NOM political donations.

The Weekly Standard on 'Metro's inherent liberalism.'

Mike Grass to DDOT: Take down those U.S. 29 signs from Dupont Circle!

Nats water taxi will be back.

Charlie Bermpohl, ace Current reporter who owned the Spring Valley munitions story, is dead at 74.

THIS WEEK---is Sunshine Week. Demand better from your government.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Economic Development agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Small and Local Business Development and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, JAWB 412; Committee of the Whole agency performance oversight hearing on D.C. Public Schools, JAWB 500; 1 p.m.: Committee on Housing and Workforce Development agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Employment Services, JAWB 120.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---2 p.m.: remarks, developer selection announcement, 27 O St. NW.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'LL's March 10 Campaign Finance Report Roundup'; 'D.C.'s Approach To Homelessness: 'It's Still Big Buildings Full Of People''; 'Department Of Corrections Refuses To Say How Many Inmates Have Been Stabbed at the D.C. Jail'; and tweets galore!

Greetings all. D.C. police will investigate the circumstances surrounding the medical care of 2-year-old Stephanie Stevens, to see if there was criminal negligence on the part of an ambulance crew that initially refused to take her to a hospital during last month's blizzards. Stephanie later died. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty held a press conference yesterday with his attorney general and police and fire chiefs to announce the probe, but the specter of David Rosenbaum hangs over Fenty's head, and the prospect that promised change within the FEMS ranks following Rosenbaum's death simply has not happened. Nor has Fenty made any move to make good on a campaign promise to separate emergency medical responders from the fire department. The marriage is deemed a failure by ex-fire chief Adrian Thompson, who is interviewed by WaTimes' Matthew Cella. 'It's not working....It's a cultural issue. They're not going to change the culture of this department,' Thompson says.

BELOW THE JUMP---Ticket handed to council, Nickles lauds 'semblance' of civility; campaign finance roundups; Gunn Report is 'withering'; Jim Dinegar hates Fenty's style, loves his results; spending on Virginia Avenue facility could total $400M; D.C. General homeless shelter packed to the gills

MORE FROM THOMPSON---'The former chief, who is black, said white firefighters with generational ties to the department largely have been less accepting of the job's evolving responsibilities, particularly an increased emphasis in recent decades on providing pre-hospital care. "They want to be firefighters and firefighters only," he said, adding that black firefighters have entered the department in significant numbers in only the past 20 or 30 years and largely have been more open to other responsibilities if it meant securing a job.' Responds FEMS Deputy Chief Kenneth Crosswhite: 'Leadership starts at the top. If he had that notion during his tenure, he should have solved the problem.'

MORE ON FEMS PROBE---Reports WaPo: 'The investigation will be handled by the homicide division's special victims unit, which looks into the death of any child younger than 13....The department placed one emergency medical technician and one paramedic on "non-contact" duty, said spokesman Pete Piringer. "We have pretty strict guidelines and protocols" for the handling of distress calls, Piringer said, "and it appears as if they were not followed." After the review, he said, the EMT was returned to duty. But the paramedic is being kept on non-contact duty, and her conduct in the incident is being referred to the police department.' Says EMT union chief Kenny Lyons, 'The agency is not held to a standard of accountability, and so they will continue to find scapegoats to somehow have the public believe that they've either done a good job or a credible job.' Also WAMU-FM, WTOP, NC8, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

WaPo's Tim Craig writes up the news that Fenty has delivered the baseball tickets to the council, writing that Hizzoner 'has decided to avert a ninth-inning showdown with D.C. Council members.' The context: 'Fenty's overture this year, which comes nearly a month before Opening Day, occurs amid growing indications that his previous tiffs with the council have damaged his political standing...."The price he paid for those actions surely could not have been worth it," said [Mary Cheh], a frequent Fenty critic. But council members, half of whom are also up for reelection this year, also face criticism over their use of free baseball tickets. Last spring, [Kwame Brown] introduced a bill to auction off both the council's and the mayor's free baseball tickets to raise up to a half-million dollars to help balance the budget....Brown said Thursday that he is still trying to determine whether the city can legally sell off something that might be Nationals' property.'

SAYS NICKLES---'It just seemed like the right thing to do...We have reached our semblance of peace and order with the council.' Indeed, 'semblance' seems to be the correct word.

Nikita Stewart wraps up the March 10 campaign finance filings for WaPo. The lede: 'Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has surpassed the record $3.8 million he raised to win election in 2006 by collecting $327,306 in less than five weeks, bringing his total to more than $3.9 million and widening the fundraising gap between him and his declared opponents....The report also showed that the Fenty campaign, known for its aggressive fundraising, is going beyond traditional contributors to people outside the city and outside government. Fenty's reach stretched from hip-hop producer Irv Gotti to wine critic and merchant Pierre-Antoine Rovani.' The most interesting downticket development: 'The finance reports show that an interesting contest could be brewing in Ward 5. [Harry Thomas Jr.] raised $41,890 in the period and has $76,189 in cash on hand. But challenger Kenyan McDuffie, a Justice Department lawyer who left his job to run, entered the race Feb. 17 and has raised $25,434 since then. Brookland community organizer Delano Hunter is also in that contest and recorded $7,567 in receipts for the period, bringing his total to $19,541.' LL, meanwhile, summarizes every filing.

ALSO---Tom Sherwood at WRC-TV covers the pathetic state of the mayoral race, as does DCist. GLAA Forum points out that council candidates Delano Hunter and Anthony Motley have taken money from the National Organization for Marriage, a national group opposing gay marriages. Oh, and longtime abstinence activist Richard Urban is running for an at-large seat as an independent. He is running 'to encourage the formation of two parent man and woman families.'

The Gunn Report is in, and it's 'withering,' Ann Scott Tyson reports in WaPo. Transit veteran David Gunn tells Metro that 'it will take three years to turn the nation's second-busiest transit system around.' Says WMATA board chair Peter Benjamin, 'It was more than frank, it was withering....He gave us a very clear, very honest, unvarnished-truth type of assessment, and told us we have a lot of issues we have to deal with, and we have to deal with them immediately.' A report summary 'said Gunn urged the agency to "level with the public regarding the seriousness of the problems facing Metrorail" and end the "shoot the messenger" phenomenon that discourages employees from raising safety concerns....On personnel issues, Gunn stressed the need to move forward quickly to recruit a general manager with "a strong operating and technical background" as well as hiring and retaining "competent" senior managers with engineering experience....One major personnel problem Gunn identified was absenteeism and low morale at the agency, which has about 10,000 employees, Benjamin said. Gunn pointed out that Metro's absentee rate is unusually high at more than 7.5 percent, compared with an industry average of about 4 percent...On budget and financial issues, Gunn said a major restructuring is in order. "He looked at our financial structure and said it was basically unsustainable," Benjamin said.' Also WAMU-FM, WTTG-TV.

MEANWHILE---Empty Red Line train derails in Maryland yard, Kytja Weir reports in Examiner. 'The derailment occurred at 12:21 p.m. at the Brentwood rail yard, according to the transit agency. The train was being moved inside the rail yard without any passengers aboard when the operator apparently ran a red signal, said spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The front two wheels of the four-car train derailed, causing damage to the track and the third rail. Farbstein could not provide any damage estimates Thursday. No one was injured.'

ALSO---WBJ's Sarah Krouse interviews new Metro development chief Steve Goldin, who 'has pledged to jump-start development on some of the region's most valuable properties near Metrorail stations — and overhaul the authority's development bid process....Under Goldin's plan, developers would pay about $100,000 to enter the bid process — similar to a deposit at an auction. Metro would use the money to hire a staff that would focus on the development of a site. The team ultimately selected would pay back the deposit to the companies not selected....The changes in joint development come after years of controversy and delays in the department.'

A real eye-roller from Harry Jaffe slamming MPD for its handling of the December snowball-gun incident: 'It was funny fodder for comedians and grist for the "off the pigs" crowd. Police Chief Cathy Lanier chose to give comfort to the latter....Here's the message street cops get from the chief and her top brass: We do not have your back. And: If you get in a dicey situation, we will throw you under the bus....If we want street cops to stand between us and thugs, the department has to defend its own. Otherwise, we all lose.' Here's the message LL got: Cops aren't above the law, and they won't always have their misbehavior whitewashed. And police brass were responsive to the public they serve, not just Jaffe's embattled 'street cops.'

Ah, good old 225 Virginia Avenue---Examiner's Michael Neibauer gets still more mileage out of the city's white elephant lease: 'The District will spend upward of $400 million over the next two decades to purchase, redevelop and occupy a cavernous former printing plant in Southeast that it has rented, but done nothing with, since 2007....From the first rent payment in July 2007 to the end of the StonebridgeCarras deal, the District will have spent more than $274 million to lease, buy, renovate and lease the building again. Operating costs for 345,120 rentable square feet will be in the $6 million-a-year range, adding $120 million to the price tag. "I think we made the very best decision that we could given the situation we were in," said Sean Madigan, a spokesman for [Fenty]....The administration "screwed it up from the start," said [Phil Mendelson]. If the trigger was pulled earlier, he said, D.C. taxpayers would have saved millions. "The mayor has the cards and he played them for $400 million," Mendelson said. "I think he could have played them for less."'

The dire state of the D.C. General homeless shelter is examined by WaPo's Darryl Fears: 'Flooded with more homeless families than the city has ever seen, District officials have jammed up to 200 families into space at the D.C. General shelter meant for 135. The result: serious overcrowding, with people bunking together in common rooms and sleeping on cots in hallways....*Matthew Salgado, who said he has lived in the shelter with his girlfriend, Ashley Coleman, 20, and their 10-month-old, Milayah, since late December, said the crowding has led to arguments and near-fisticuffs between residents. Conditions are sometimes unsanitary, he said. "We have a lot of gnats or fruit flies or something in our room," Salgado said.' City officials blame high unemployment and bad weather for the overcrowding; but '[a]dvocates for the homeless had warned city officials as early as July that they could be facing a crisis this winter....At the time, one of the attorneys, Nassim Moshiree, dismissed the city's plan to add 25 winter rooms to the 75 provided year-round at the shelter, saying the increase wouldn't be nearly enough. The city didn't add more rooms until January, two months into the season, when it reopened a substance abuse detoxification unit that was closed last year.' Also Examiner.

NOTA BENE---If you haven't already, do see Jason Cherkis's WCP reporting on the scene earlier this week.

Board of Trade CEO Jim Dinegar talks to WaPo about Hizzoner: 'We're not happy about his style and would encourage him to work more collaboratively, but he is also delivering the important results that were for far too long black eyes on the region....We now have a mayor who knocks heads, but the results are speaking volumes.' However, BOT chair Jim Dyke---a Virginian and erstwhile chair of the UDC board---'said that the mayor could "perhaps get a lot more done if he worked with people" and that there are "questions and concerns about how certain deals have gotten done."'

Muriel Bowser's foreclosure reform bill is detailed by WBJ's Jonathan O'Connell. The legislation introduced this month 'would require lenders to undergo mediation with borrowers facing foreclosure in a last-ditch attempt to prevent them from losing their homes. Should the borrower still go into foreclosure, the measure would require lenders to offer to rent out the properties to the borrower for up to one year. "We owe it to our residents who are having a real tough time to put something like this on the table," Bowser said....Bowser cautioned that she did not want the bill to spur mortgage lenders to pull out of D.C. and is open to changes once lenders weigh in. The rental provision could be a problem because it might make mortgages issued in D.C. more difficult to sell in the secondary market.'

Petula Dvorak covers the hiring of a female football coach in her WaPo column: 'Sadly, cries of foul have already begun. After The Post broke the story Wednesday that Natalie Randolph will take the job at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School in the District and probably be the only such female coach in the nation, a flurry of online commenters worried about the boys of Coolidge. "This is a brutal physical sport that rips the testosterone from guys and puts it on display. There is no place here for an estrogen injection," one reader commented on the story. I wonder if this person has ever seen childbirth up close....Just as they have proven they can be firefighters, cops, pilots, mayors, soldiers, surgeons and senators, women will surely prove they can discipline, inspire, train and mentor boys who happen to wear shoulder pads and helmets.'

A record number of parents applied to the DCPS out-of-boundary lottery this year, Bill Turque reports in WaPo: 'School leaders said the historic level of participation, which generated first-time waiting lists at 14 schools, reflected improvements in test scores, school building conditions and teacher quality since control of the system was transferred to [Fenty] in 2007. "In just three years, a number of schools have gone from underenrolled to flourishing," Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said in a statement....The overall number of unique lottery applicants grew by 50 percent over last year to 5,219. The number of families placed in schools through the lottery grew by 1,300 over last year, to 3,365 from 2,056. In all, 64 percent of lottery applicants received a placement this year. Although officials praised the lottery, some parents said it also reflected the continued dearth of real choices in a system where a majority of the schools are under some sort of federally mandated corrective action...."To me, the deep disadvantage of the lottery is that it's a crapshoot," said Peter MacPherson, former president of the Capitol Hill Cluster Schools PTA.' Also WAMU-FM, We Love DC.

Ward 6 parents are lobbying DCPS for improved middle schools, Turque reports: 'Elementary schools on the Hill, which have seen an influx of young families in recent years, feed into three middle schools: Stuart-Hobson, Eliot-Hine and Jefferson. Two of the three, Eliot-Hine and Jefferson, have reading and math proficiency rates at or below 50 percent. Although Stuart-Hobson has been more successful---reading and math proficiency was at 75 percent last year---parents say the 1927-vintage building is in poor condition and needs major renovations. As a result, many neighborhood families have looked to nearby public charter schools, such as Two Rivers and Friendship, or entered the lottery for seats at public middle schools such as Deal in Tenleytown or Hardy in Georgetown.' The parents' plan: Expand Eliot-Hine and add grades at Brent and Miner elementaries. But what will Rhee think?

ALSO---Among District schools identified by feds as the 'worst of the worst,' Examiner reports: Anacostia, Dunbar, Eastern, and Spingarn high schools, among others. The good news: 'Each school is eligible for a share of $3 billion in federal stimulus dollars deemed "school improvement funds." The money must go to one of four school turnaround options approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Options include massive staff replacement, turning over the school to an outside operator, such as a charter school, or closing the school altogether.'

Another internal WTU conflict between President George Parker and VP Nathan Saunders, over whether laid-off teachers should be able to vote in union elections. Reports WAMU-FM: 'Saunders...says all the teachers dismissed by DCPS should be allowed to vote until their cases are resolved. He says he'll file a lawsuit to try and make that happen....But [Parker] says this is all political. "The executive board got a interpretation from the legal WTU parliamentarian to support that. We've always abided by that and I don't know why this sudden questioning."'

UDC could have $5M in federal money on the way, O'Connell reports in WBJ. '[Eleanor Holmes Norton] wrote key members of the House and Senate Wednesday to request an extra $10 million for D.C. education, including $5 million for the community college that UDC began in 2008 and another $5 million for charter schools to help them absorb students who were using the city's voucher program.'

Examiner editorial calls for voucher reauthorization vote in Senate. And here's some 'Myths and Facts about the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program,' courtesy of Joe Lieberman.

The interim People's Counsel is Brenda K. Pennington, current senior telecommunications attorney at the office. She can stay in the slot 180 days, per WaPo report.

Denardo Hopkins and Steven Harrison, both 20, are found guilty in a 2007 robbery and murder, WaPo reports. Sentencing is May 5.

Eight arrested in joint federal-local drug investigation of Barry Farm drug ring.

The D.C. Jail inmate who escaped yesterday morning has been recaptured, Scott McCabe reports in Examiner. 'At about 8:50 a.m., jail guards were taking 28-year-old Terrence Moore to Greater Southeast Community Hospital for medical treatment. At the hospital, he jumped from the vehicle and ran from the scene, jail officials said. D.C. police apprehended him without incident at around 7 p.m. near Wheeler Road and 10th Place, SE. They are trying to determine how Moore was able to remove his restraints during transport.' Moore had been charged in a 'wild shootout' with police. WTOP reports Moore was found sleeping in a car. Also NC8, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

DOWNTOWN MESS---Fire truck responding to small fire at GWU campus collides with two other vehicles at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW at 7:30 a.m., AP reports. 'Three people in the two cars were taken to a hospital with serious injuries. No firefighters were hurt.'

Armed men attempt armored-car robbery in Columbia Heights.

Federal appeals court declines to rehear case over Adams Morgan protest arrests.

WTOP covers Gallery Place sign battle.

P.G. police chopper makes emergency landing at Davis ES.

'Temporary urbanism' set for Bruce-Monroe ES.

All the reasons that handing Northrop Grumman $25M is a bad idea, courtesy of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute.

Transportation policy makes blogger 'want to vote for Mayor Fenty's re-election regardless of almost anything else he does (or doesn't do).'

'Top Chef" in D.C. this spring.

Aldi to Hechinger Mall? If so, Frozen Tropic commenters will not be happy.

Marion Barry makes appearance at Tucker Carlson's Palisades house for profiler's book party.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary agency performance oversight hearing on Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Office of Unified Communications, Department of Corrections, and Corrections Information Council, JAWB 500; Committee on Finance and Revenue hearing on B18-619 ('United Negro College Fund Tax Abatement and Relocation to the District Assistance Act of 2010'), B18-520 ('Shirley's Place Equitable Real Property Tax Relief Act of 2009'), B18-669 ('SOME, Inc. Technical Amendments Act of 2010'), B18-658 ('District Job Growth Incentive Act of 2010'), and PR18-748 ('American Society of Nephrology Revenue Bonds Project Approval Resolution of 2010'), JAWB 120; Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs agency performance oversight hearing on Office of Tenant Advocate, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, plus boards and commissions, JAWB 412.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---2:30 p.m.: remarks, Deauville Tenant Association announcement, 3145 Mount Pleasant St. NW.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'What Will Happen to Adrian Fenty's $12,000 Gift Bike?'; 'Fenty's Gifts To Homeless Families: Mold, Peeling Paint, Rib Patties, And Overcrowding'; 'Pershing Park Case: Who Wrote That False Affidavit?'; and tweets galore!

IN LL WEEKLY---Trust Issues: How accountable is D.C.'s funnel to youth nonprofits?

Greetings all. Here's a piece of welcome municipal correspondence, obtained by WaPo's Nikita Stewart: "Dear Chairman Gray: Pursuant to our practice of the last three years, enclosed are tickets and parking passes to Suite 61 of the National Park [sic] for the 2010 baseball season. Sincerely, Neil O. Albert." That means that LL, Stewart, and other reporters will have to find something substantive to write about in the coming months---like how hip-hop producers love Mayor Adrian M. Fenty! Huzzah!

BELOW THE JUMP---Troubles mount for FEMS; WaPo ed board demands answers on ambulance miscues; bike lanes planned for Pennsylvania Avenue median; DISB rolls back CareFirst rate hikes; EastBanc finally gets West End deal; party-crasher is running for mayor; Peebles says 'I don't plan to be a candidate'

MORE---From WaPo: 'Hip-hop producer Irv Gotti contributed $1,000 to [Fenty]'s reelection campaign, according to the mayor's latest campaign finance report filed Wednesday....He was a last-minute contributor, paying by credit card on Wednesday, according to the report. His fame grew with hits for Ashanti, Ja Rule and Jay-Z, although Lorenzo has since moved into reality TV. In 2005, he and his brother were acquitted of federal charges that they used his record label, then known as Murder Inc., to launder money for a drug kingpin....Lorenzo's $1,000 contribution was part of $327,305.51 that Fenty raised from Feb. 1 through Wednesday, bringing his total to more than $3.9 million for his reelection campaign.' More campaign finance news later today at City Desk.

The WaPo editorial board would sure like to know what the hell is up with FEMS: 'City officials are appropriately examining the case of Stephanie Stephens, a Southeast toddler who died last month after emergency personnel decided against taking her to a hospital. They need to determine why more progress hasn't been made in fixing the systematic deficiencies first identified in [David Rosenbaum]'s case---which, tragically, appear to be a factor in the death of this small child....[I]t is clear that progress has stalled. Medical providers have yet to be fully integrated into a department that clings to a culture where firefighters are valued over emergency medical personnel....[I]t is premature, and wrong, to conclude, as Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin told Fox News this month, that current procedures are adequate. One need only look to Stephanie's case or listen to stories across the city of 911 calls gone wrong to know that Mr. Fenty must renew the reform of this department. We would urge him to reconvene the Rosenbaum task force to assess the department's progress and plot where it still needs to go.'

ALSO---WUSA-TV's Dave Statter reports than an ambulance crew has been disciplined for not taking Kimberley Kelsey to the hospital on Dec. 22. And WTTG-TV covers concerns about Rubin's leadership on the council, not just from Phil Mendelson, but from Kwame Brown. Love this quote: 'The leadership should be accountable. They are not working as fast as humanly possible that creates stability in the department and that causes confusion.'

Pennsylvania Avenue NW is getting bike lanes---right down the middle---report both GGW and WaPo's Ashley Halsey. Writes the latter: 'A pair of bike lanes are destined to grace the middle of one of the country's most fabled boulevards, an avenue that ranks as a destination with Broadway, Fifth Avenue, Hollywood Boulevard and Bourbon Street. The two lanes will be part of an expanding network of dedicated bicycle lanes in the District, soon to include L, I and Ninth streets NW and more of 15th Street NW....The two center lanes, one in each direction, will be converted to bike-only traffic. Traffic signals will be recalibrated so that drivers wanting to turn left will await a left-turn arrow, while cyclists will be allowed to turn left on the general "green dot" signal. If yellow posts are used to delineate the lane, Sebastian said, they would be removed for "a major event, such as the inauguration." He said the cost of the new lanes was being calculated, "but they're pretty inexpensive." "It is Pennsylvania Avenue," he said, "and it will be kind of a statement about bike-friendly America."' Early reports pegged installation date as May, but given the need for federal approvals (NCPC, CFA) that may be a pipe dream.

ALSO---Tommy Wells expresses support for installing dedicated cycle lanes on M Street SE/SW, GGW reports. 'While many people were enthusiastic about the proposal, ANC commissioners and leaders of other neighborhood groups were the most likely to express fear about the impact on traffic and parking....One particularly angry woman asked "Who are these bike lanes for? Who uses a bike to drop off their kids at school? Who brings home groceries for a family of four on a bicycle?" But after each question several hands went up from people who did those very things. To that, she responded sarcastically each time, "Congratulations, you must be real proud of yourself." After the school question, she added, "You're an irresponsible parent."' Aaand: National Bike Summit is this weekend.

Fenty has signed the emergency smoking-ban exemption bill, in time for the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick to light up on March 17, Ann Marimow reports in WaPo, who notes: 'The exemption measure, which passed on a 10 to 3 vote last week, put Fenty (D) in a political quandary. As a council member, he championed the District's smoking ban. But the waiver was backed by [Jack Evans], a close ally who is a member of the Friendly Sons....A spokesperson for Fenty said late Wednesday that "the mayor continues to be a strong proponent of the District's smoking ban and believes it has had a dramatic positive impact."'

It's official: Natalie Randolph will coach the Coolidge HS football team this coming year, and she makes WaPo A1: 'On Friday, Randolph is scheduled to be formally named the head football coach at Coolidge High School in Northwest Washington, making her what is believed to be the only woman coaching boys' varsity high school football in the United States.'

Oh, God. The third White House party crasher is apparently running for mayor, Politico reports. 'A flyer announcing "Carlos Allen for D.C. Mayor" was obtained by POLITICO on Wednesday. The image shows Allen wearing a suit in front of the Capitol building with the slogan, "Let's Crash the Nonsense out of D.C. Politics!" The issue of national representation for the District appears to be one of his issues, as a logo on the flyer says "Taxation/No Rep for D.C." Allen's attorney, A. Scott Bolden, confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that it is "an accurate document."'

Examiner's Michael Neibauer reports on dispute over dogs using the playing field at Tyler ES on the Hill. 'The squabble has turned especially ugly in the past month as the Tyler principal, backed by the Sports on the Hill youth athletic organization, ordered the gates to the field locked down. Signs have vanished; locks have been cut. "Here we are fighting tooth and nail for every inch of green space," said Mike Godec, Sports on the Hill vice president and a Tyler parent. "There isn't enough. I appreciate the dog owners' frustration, but that space is very difficult to share." The baseball diamond is rife with holes, Godec said, and the field is a dog poop minefield. But there are no public dog parks on Capitol Hill to let a pet roam leash-free, dog owners respond.'

School scoops from WaPo's Bill Turque: For one, DCPS has moved back the reopening of Eastern HS to fall 2011 'to allow more time for planning the revival of the long-troubled Capitol Hill school.' Rhee has 'opened up the principal selection process to the entire school community'; an opportunity to meet the candidates is scheduled for April 9. Also: Remember the Shaw Middle School eight-graders who persuaded Rhee to let them stay for ninth grade? Well, now they're staying for 10th grade, too, rather than move on to Cardozo. 'Spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway said Rhee made the decision after meeting with the students again. "Also, the building has the physical space, we have a strong cohort of staff serving the upper grades and the students have performed well on their benchmark assessments."...Keeping the kids might also have been an attractive idea because 10th-graders take the DC-CAS standardized test. If these students are on the rise academically, they could potentially have a leavening effect on Shaw's test scores, which were a disappointment last year.'

What's old is new again: EastBanc has been chosen to develop the West End library site, Jonathan O'Connell reports in WBJ. 'The Georgetown developer, led by president and founder Anthony Lanier, has proposed a 150-unit residential building above a new library and a 52-unit affordable and workforce housing development above a new fire station....More than two years ago, Fenty and the D.C. Council agreed to grant EastBanc development rights to the West End properties before community anger over the sole-source process unraveled the deal.' Also DCmud, which reports Fenty saying 'that he expects groundbreaking for the project "at the end of 2012, at the very latest."'

ALSO---UDC signs lease for 801 North Capitol Street, which will house community college classrooms. 'UDC will occupy 121,000 square feet, about 88,000 square feet of which is usable, for 17 years with an option for a 10-year extension. The university will pay $1.8 million in the first year, with rent escalating to $3.8 million in 2027. The space will include offices, classrooms and a child care center available to employee and student parents....The community college could move into the new space as early as Aug. 1, in time for the fall semester, should the build-out be completed in time, bringing new energy to the NoMa neighborhood.'

LL was just thinking: Man, how long has it been since Herb Miller sued someone? Well, here you go: Miller's Western Development, along with Akridge, are suing the Gallery Place condo association over unpaid maintenance and insurance bills, Sarah Krouse reports in WBJ. 'The team is calling for $458,630 in damages plus interest, attorneys fees and a judgment that would require the association to continue to pay for future expenses.'

Insurance commish Gennet Purcell puts the kibosh on 35 percent CareFirst rate hikes, IFAnews.com reports, 'after discovering a filing error by the regional insurer.' That mean 'premiums for affected customers will revert to their previous rate until CareFirst files and receives approval for a revised rate. The new rate can take effect 90 days after CareFirst notifies subscribers. The order also provided for a refund of any overpayments plus interest.' The revised rates, of course, would be subject to the council's new rate-hike caps.

IN OTHER REGULATORY NEWS---Muriel Bowser announced on WPFW-FM this morning that People's Counsel Betty Noel has left, and that Fenty has appointed a subordinate to fill the role until he can make a new appointment. Unclear whether this settles the dispute with the council, which voted last Tuesday to keep Noel on.

District unemployment rate ticked up 0.1 percent in February over January, WaPo reports, 'a shift that economists said could be a positive sign for the economy because it suggests that discouraged job-seekers are feeling more optimistic about their prospects and have resumed looking for work.' The good news: 'The District experienced the nation's largest monthly increase---1 percent---in the number of jobs, according to the federal data. That represents the addition of 6,700 jobs, mainly in the federal government, according to the city's Department of Employment Services. Officials at the agency say the city's labor force grew by 3,300 from January 2009 to January 2010, and they are seeing more job postings and job fairs held by large employers, including Safeway and Pepco.'

Jonetta Rose Barras wonders about a city jobsmobile. 'As a young girl...[t]he bookmobile developed and satisfied my voracious appetite for literature. D.C. Councilman Michael Brown had a similar positive experience growing up in Washington. That's the reason he has been pushing a Bookmobile concept to get services to unemployed young people in the District.' Turns out there already is a 'jobs van.' Brown says there needs to be two! But Barras doesn't like the idea at all. 'One, two, it doesn't matter. It's a bad idea. It could discourage initiative and ingenuity. It also creates a false perception of the real world.' Bigger issue: Don't we need some jobs first?

Don Peebles is profiled by HU student publication District Chronicles: '"What I see is two cities, a city that is Black and a city that is White. It is poor and prospering. As a native and resident I would like to have one city to create more opportunities and success for all residents. How can you tell residents that you don't have money for services, but you have millions to give to businesses in Maryland to move to the District?...We need a public servant whose heart is in D.C.," he said....For now, Peebles said that he'll work for change as a private citizen focusing on family first...."My vow as a husband and my responsibilities as a father to support my wife and children, supersede my desires to serve in a public office. I don't plan to be a candidate.'

Examiner scoop: Restaurants get health-code violations! Ye gods! Reporter Markham Reid devotes special attention to the likes of the Palm, Georgia Brown's, and Gordon Biersch. None of the violations were serious enough to warrant closure.

More on the 10-month-old baby that died on Hizzoner's Crestwood block. The reporting of WaPo's Paul Duggan indicates a truly heartbreaking story: 'The child, whom authorities did not identify, suffered "a possible injury to the neck" that might have been accidental, said Capt. Michael Farish, a supervisor in the homicide unit. Detectives have interviewed the nanny and the parents, and "nothing jumps out to make this suspicious," Farish said....Farish said the parents, whom he described as a couple in their 40s, were not home when the incident occurred in the 4600 block of Argyle Terrace NW, near Rock Creek Park, a few doors from D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's house on 17th Street NW. Farish said the girl was the couple's only child....He described the parents as "beyond distraught." "We're talking about a couple who aren't young" in terms of being new parents, he said, adding that the child was not adopted. "We're talking about folks who spent a long, long time trying to have a kid."'

Murder trial begins for Terrence Barnett, 45, accused of killing girlfriend Yolanda Baker who disappeared 11 years ago. Writes Keith Alexander in WaPo: 'This week, Baker's family poured into three rows of Judge Michael L. Rankin's third-floor courtroom in D.C. Superior Court, hoping for some closure in the death of the woman they nicknamed "Princess."...It is only the third time a "no body" murder case---the most difficult for prosecutors---has been tried in the District in at least 30 years, according to a spokesman in the U.S. attorney's office. Adding to the challenge for prosecutors is the lack of eyewitnesses to Baker's disappearance or death. No murder weapon has been found and no cause of death established. When Baker's car was discovered almost a week after her disappearance, drops of her blood were found in the trunk, but no DNA from Barnett...The trial pits two of the District's most formidable lawyers against each other: Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Haines and criminal defense attorney Nikki Lotze.'

WaPo's John Kelly airs parking-meter gripes, a reasonable one, LL thinks: With meter hours now extending into nights and weekends, what sense does the two-hour limit make then? How can anyone say, have dinner and show without breaking the law? 'The folks at the District Department of Transportation seem to realize there's a problem. "We got a lot of feedback from businesses when we extended the hours into the evening," said DDOT spokesman John Lisle. "It's not a complaint that people have to pay at night, it's exactly what you said: What if I want to go to a movie or park for more than two hours?" Lisle said they're looking into extending evening parking hours in some D.C. neighborhoods. "It comes down to, in some places anyway: Can we make the meters two hours for part of the day, four hours for others? And what should the signs say?"'

D.C. Jail inmate escaped this morning while being transported to United Medical Center, WaPo reports. 'Authorities said they were taking Terrence Moore to the hospital at 8:50 a.m. When they arrived and opened the vehicle in which Moore was riding, he fled and jumped into a burgundy colored Cadillac. Officers were able to get the license plate number of the car: D.C. tag CX3623. Moore, 28, is black, 5'-10" and weighs approximately 200 lbs. He has braids in his hair and was last wearing a two-piece navy blue facility-issued uniform. He had been at the Correctional Treatment Facility as a pre-trial inmate facing charges of assault with intent to kill.' Also NC8, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

The numbers are in, via AP: 'Courthouse spokeswoman Leah Gurowitz says the 466 applications received from both gay and straight couples is much higher than the 50 or so applications normally received in a week.'

ALSO---Who gets married at a Ben & Jerry's? And is Harry Jackson a 'modern day Martin Luther King'?

D.C.'s Office of Human Rights is fielding 70 percent more discrimination complains than two years ago, WAMU-FM reports, and they attribute the uptick to a foundering economy: Director Gustavo Velasquez 'Believes the economy is the main reason- because business have been hiring less, laying off more people and feeling reluctant to promote employees. "That creates an effect where many people believe that the reasons why is because of who they are and not what the companies claim which is deteriorating revenue," he says.'

Examiner's Barbara Hollingsworth relays Dave Mallof's dire concerns about the state of the city treasury: '"Our beloved D.C. is starting to look like a municipal Toyota," Mallof told The Examiner. "It's very hard to watch. And the same folks who intentionally accelerated recklessly and careened wildly on an irresponsible joy ride now want to claim to be safety engineers looking out for our fiscal (and physical) lives."'

Newsweek, WTTG-TV cover D.C.'s embrace of the female condom.

Campus Progress covers planned Barry Farm development: 'Disregarding the concern over whether endemic violence can be quelled with bulldozers and incoming homeowners, the people who stand to see their homes demolished are worried. Making matters worse, the project appears to have no end in sight. The largest concern among families is the right to return to their redeveloped homes.'

Lede of Afro-American story by Dorothy Rowley: 'Councilman Marion Barry's supporters questioned the fairness of the District of Columbia Council's censure of their Ward 8 peer last week. While Barry was taken to task for awarding $15,000 of taxpayer money to a former girlfriend, they say, Mayor Adrian Fenty hadn't been held accountable for the $86 million he allegedly doled out in contracts to his buddies for projects in the Department of Parks and Recreation.'

A message from the Project on Government Oversight: 'What Congress Can Learn from the DC Council'---about the city's new Whistleblower Protection Act, among the strongest around.

Ex-Rhee aide Justin Cohen blogs a great point: 'DC is not a typical school district. Beyond the fact that it is far worse off than most other districts, the governance and history of the DC schools is more complicated and storied than that of most other city districts … particularly in relation to its actual size. The NYC school system is 20 times larger than DCPS. Important to keep in mind. Here's a sample of districts bigger than DC that don't have the regular attention of the president of the American Federation of Teachers and routine glossy newsweekly stories: Knox County Schools, TN; Granite School District, UT; Polk County Public Schools, FL. Granted, they also don't have Michelle Rhee as Chancellor, but even if they did, I'll still bet the attention wouldn't be proportionate.'

Changes at the Judicial Nomination Commission, courtesy of Legal Times. Kim Whately is new executive director; Woody Peterson of Dickstein Shapiro and Grace Speights of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius have joined as commissioners.

Teacher-blogger Dee Does the District has done and left DCPS: 'I just sent off my DOI and my resignation letter, effective August 14th. Never fear, I'm not leaving the classroom, just DCPS. I am ecstatic to say I will be working at a high-performing, unique charter school next year.'

Following anonymous tip, Tyrone Hines, 46, has been charged with bank robbery and attempted bank robbery in connection with the Feb. 26 robbery of a downtown Citibank. He is a suspect in two other robberies.

Harry Jaffe's complete article on Fenty, 'His Own Worst Enemy?,' has been posted at Washingtonian.

Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Washington, is departing for Boston College, where she will lead its Center for Catholic Education, WaPo reports.

Maryland bag fee bill introduced with 39 cosponsors.

Chain Bridge to close on weekends.

Georgetown Dish, Georgetown Voice cover Fenty presser on Philly Pizza closing.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Human Services agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Disability Services and Child and Family Services, JAWB 500; Committee on Economic Development roundtable on PR18-687 ('Washington Convention and Sports Authority Board of Directors John Boardman Confirmation Resolution of 2010'), JAWB 123; Committee of the Whole agency performance oversight hearing on D.C. Public Charter School Board and Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, JAWB 412; Committee of the Whole hearing on B18-461 ('Public Charter School Board Residency Requirement Act of 2009'), JAWB 412; 11 a.m.: Committee on Government Operations hearing on PR18-715 ('Washington Center for Aging Services Disposition Approval Resolution of 2010'), JAWB 120.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---6:45 a.m.: guest, Connecting with the Mayor with Barbara Harrison, WRC-TV; 7:10 a.m.: guest, Fenty on Fox, WTTG-TV; 10:15 a.m.: remarks, West End Library update, 24th and L Streets NW; 11 a.m.: guest, D.C. Politics with Jonetta, WPFW-FM.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'Jeff Smith Will Make Graham Challenge Official'; 'Michelle Obama to Address Anacostia HS Grads'; and tweets galore!

Morning all. Same-sex couples started pickup up their marriage licenses yesterday, and some immediately proceeded to get married. 'There were yellow roses, champagne toasts and tiered cakes. There were tuxedos, lace dresses and Pachelbel's Canon in D,' write WaPo's Keith Alexander and Ann Marimow. 'This D.C. watershed moment was bursting with pride and happiness. Yet it was also tinged with memories of political struggles and legal battles.' But that's all over---for the moment, anyway---it's no longer a political story, but a human-interest story. So who was first? Seems to be a tossup between Jeremy Moon and Bryan Legaspi, Obama administration employees married by Judge Brook Hedge in her courtroom, and Robb Hawthorne and James Betz, GWU students who were married by a minister just outside the courthouse.

AFTER THE JUMP---Vince Gray's Fencegate rolls on; Rhee and KJ dish to WaPo; snowball cop recommended for 10-day suspension; DCPS hires woman as football coach; more alleged FEMS misconduct; what exactly is the connection between cigars and Ireland?

Three couples married at Human Rights Campaign headquarters, as DC Agenda covers, including Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend, who had been first in line to apply for a license. WaPo notes that at the event, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty 'invoked his parents' interracial marriage as he congratulated the newlyweds at a news conference. The weddings, he said, "were a great step forward for equality and for our city that has always been a standard-bearer for treating people equally and justly."...Among the more than 100 guests, friends and relatives of the three couples at the HRC were [David A. Catania] and [Jim Graham], who are gay. Catania, the leading sponsor of the bill, which passed the D.C. Council 11 to 2, called the moment "the most profoundly rewarding day....I could not be prouder of this city."' Also video.

Notes WaPo: 'The District...has issued 42 such licenses and received 12 signed certificates, indicating that at least 12 couples were married by the time the marriage bureau closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday.' Adds AP: 'Normally, the courthouse hosts four to six weddings a day, but over the next several weeks, officials are expecting 10 to 12 per day because of the demand for same-sex ceremonies.'

Evan Wolfson of national group Freedom to Marry blogs at HuffPo about what it all means: 'Marriage in our nation's capital marks a significant victory not only for D.C. couples who no longer need to leave home to secure the protections and responsibilities of marriage, but also for the national movement to win the freedom to marry....Our victory in D.C. brings us one step closer to winning marriage for all committed couples - and other victories are within reach....As members of Congress and the Administration mingle with local committed couples living more securely than before and witness first-hand that the sky does not fall, it will be evident that there is no good reason for denying gay couples the freedom to marry, and every reason to end the federal discrimination against married couples inflicted through the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act."'

ALSO---Some WaPo readers don't like it when the paper 'shove[s] this "Gay" business in our face.'

MORE---WaPo delivers the umpteenth story on the economic stimulus of gay marriages. WTTG-TV covers couples crossing the border from Maryland to get hitched. Metro Weekly looks back at the political fight. Local politicos praise Boston congressman for butting out as chair of House oversight committee. Yeas & Nays covers the fashion angle. Also Metro Weekly, Examiner, AP, LA Times, Economist, NC8, WRC-TV, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV, The Hoya, Advocate, Christian Science Monitor, Perez Hilton, Fox News.

***

An update on Fencegate from WaTimes' Jeffrey Anderson: Council Chairman Vincent Gray has been ordered by DDOT to obtain a public-space permit for his six-foot-high iron fence, lest he incur $300 per day fines. 'A March 4 letter from Lamont Regester, chief DDOT inspector, cites a D.C. regulation that says permits for fences higher than 42 inches are granted "only when specifically approved by the mayor." DDOT gave Mr. Gray seven days to apply for a public space permit or remove the fence. Once he applies, DDOT's Public Space Committee also must approve the application based on "neighborhood input, sight lines, need, feasible alternatives and impact on utilities, trees or design."' Gray attorney Robert Spagnoletti told DCRA in December that his client would apply for any fence permits, but that appears not to have happened.

LEDE---'The man who would be mayor of the nation's capital may have trapped himself behind a 6-foot-high aluminum fence he can neither explain nor justify, an unlikely and possibly costly albatross as he weighs a bid against an unpopular political incumbent.'

Detective Mike Baylor, the cop who brought a gun to a snowball fight, has been recommended for a 10-day suspension in connection with the Dec. 19 incident, Bill Myers and Freeman Klopott report in Examiner. 'Baylor didn't fill out the correct paperwork after he stopped a man who he thought had tossed a snowball and "engaged in conduct that is prejudicial to the reputation of the police force," according to an internal police report of the incident....Police union Chair Kris Baumann said Baylor was unfairly ridiculed. "People were manipulated by this story," he said. "Everybody rushed to judgment, including the chief. And you can't do that if you're the police."'

Harry Jaffe tarnishes the 'Green Team' brand, bestowing Fenty's campaign-season sobriquet on the New Cronies: 'I suspect it refers to money, as in greenbacks. Team members are: Sinclair Skinner, Omar Karim, Warren Williams and Keith Lomax. The foursome shares two things: proximity to Mayor Adrian Fenty; and a boost in their fortunes since Fenty took office....Gotta be some kickbacks or bribes. Right? Wrong. I'm afraid what we have here is old-fashioned patronage and cronyism. When I asked a council member what he made of the deals, he said: "It's like Chicago around here." And Philly, and Boston, and Detroit and New York. Fenty often says he wants to be a "big city mayor." Cronyism comes with the turf.' But no one, he says, 'has come up with anything that smacks of criminal acts. What would be criminal is if the contracts were awarded and the work was not done. Or the work was shoddy. Or the contracts were grossly inflated. That would take us back to the Marion Barry days.'

The hed on Wil Haygood's WaPo Style fronter: 'Kevin Johnson's winning streak: NBA, Sacramento City Hall, Michelle Rhee's heart.' And yet: 'They are not Romeo and Juliet. Let others get weak-kneed over love poems. He's got homeless souls to get off the streets. She's got thousands of schoolchildren to rescue. Conferences and urban-themed seminars and books and position papers and think-tank get-togethers dominate their lives. This is the way they roll, Johnson and Rhee. There's work to be done...."We're both reformers," Johnson says proudly.'

HOW THEY MET---'In 1989, he founded St. Hope Academy, a nonprofit community development corporation. It evolved into a conclave of independent local charter schools, with St. Hope High, Johnson's alma mater, as its flagship. The academic reputation of the schools soared as high school students gained admission to elite colleges. Johnson, who became the schools' chief executive, began inviting talented educators to come to Sacramento and talk to his staff. Michelle Rhee was among them....It was in early 2008 that Johnson, 44, and Rhee, 40, say they started sensing something deeper between them...."They're both very focused and driven," says Robert Graswich, 54, a mayoral assistant. "When you see them together, they're very loving. She's always looking out for him. Clearly, she's a hard-charger---and brilliant. She'd need to be to keep up with him."'

THE PROPOSAL---'For months, [Johnson] walked around with an engagement ring wrapped in tissue. He wanted a sweet movielike moment to give it to his Michelle....Johnson drew it out for so long that Rhee's daughters---Starr, 11, and Olivia, 8---began asking him what that suspicious lump was. Then on Oct. 30, after the couple saw "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Kennedy Center, Johnson suggested they catch some night air and visit the Capitol. "I said, 'It's cold! What do you want to go over to the Capitol for?'" Rhee recalls. I just want to go, Johnson answered. And there they were, two souls shivering, when Johnson dug into his pocket and popped the question.'

THE RELATIONSHIP---'The couple plan on carrying the reformist torch into their marriage. "My true north is here in Sacramento," Johnson confesses. "So we'll have a bicoastal marriage for a time. But we're lucky we get a chance to see each other a couple times a month. It's not ideal, but when you're in love, you climb the highest mountain. You know how the song goes." Rhee says she and Johnson intend to be married sometime this year, although the details of when and where are unsettled. "With my schedule," Rhee says, chuckling the words out, "I don't have a lot of time to plan a wedding!"'

THE ALLEGATIONS---Responding to a congressional investigation's findings: 'In 2008, there was [an] allegation made against Johnson by a high school student at his St. Hope Sacramento High School. Rhee considered herself familiar with the inner workings of St. Hope High and didn't believe the charges against Johnson. "It was a hard thing for me," she says. "I actually knew firsthand about the accusations. I knew them not to be true. Kevin just said, 'If people want to throw stones, let them.' " Johnson's accuser later recanted and no charges were filed.'

A woman has been hired as football coach at Coolidge HS, Alan Goldenbach reports in WaPo, 'making her what is be believed to be the first female head football coach in the Washington area.' Natalie Randolph, 29. had been an assistant at H.D. Woodson, one of the top public school squads in the city, and played for the magnificent D.C. Divas as a wide receiver. 'One school source said Randolph, 29, was introduced to the team after school Tuesday. After initial skepticism, Randolph won them over, according to the source...."Some of the kids tried to test her knowledge of football," the source said, "and she just shot them down. At the end, they were clapping for her. They didn't know she played football."..."All I know is, I don't want to be the first one to lose to her," said one D.C. coach. "That's going to be wild."'

Another allegation of FEMS misconduct, this time from a 39-year-old woman who says that an ambulance crew wouldn't take her to a hospital. Kimberley Kelsey tells WaPo 'rescue personnel showed up at her home on Rhode Island Avenue after she called Dec. 22, but "one of them told me it didn't sound like I was having, you know, breathing problems....He didn't even examine me." She said the rescue workers left without taking her, but she later called 911 again and spoke to a supervisor. She said other rescue workers arrived, and took her to Georgetown University Hospital, where she spent days in intensive care.' Kelsey says she came forward after hearing about the death of Stephanie Stevens. Also WTTG-TV, NC8, WRC-TV.

Eleanor Holmes Norton tells WAMU-FM's Peter Granitz that the House is 'close to the point where we will be taking this bill to the floor. We're working on odds and ends of the kind you always have to put to bed before a bill goes to the floor.' LL's with Shadow Sen. Michael D. Brown, who says: 'If you're asking my personal opinion on it, I have a hard time seeing it move forward.'

City economist Fitzroy Lee tells WAMU-FM's Patrick Madden that 'D.C. revenues will not return to pre-recession levels until 2014.' That's due to the nature of property taxes, he says---the two-year lag. 'That means in 2011, the property taxes flowing into city coffers will reflect 2009, when real estate values plummeted across the city.'

WaPo's Daniel de Vise interviews UDC communications chief Alan Etter about the university's new ad campaign: 'Now that we have created the University System, it is time everybody is made aware of what's going in DC's State University. The purpose, obviously, is to increase enrollment....You saw the first ad yesterday [Monday] on the Fed Page of the Washington Post. We are following that up with supporting print ads in the Northwest Current, the Washington Informer, the Washington Hispanic and others. We are also doing a significant amount of online and broadcast advertising, including program sponsorship on NPR and TV and cable business. A Metro bus and rail campaign starts next month.'

'REPOSITORY'?---Says Etter: 'Part of the reason for the low graduation rate has been that UDC was receiving students who just weren't ready for college. They needed serious remediation. The community college, which began last August, is the repository for those students.'

ALSO---Allen Sessoms talks transformation at Phoenix conference.

Irish Times covers the smoking-ban exemption bestowed upon the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick: 'Neither Evans nor the Washington chapter of the Sons could be reached by phone, but Jackie McCarthy of the New York chapter said there would be no cigars at their dinner. "I think it's kind of strange that they would allow it," she said. "Since the smoking ban came in, there's absolutely no leniency in it." [Angela Bradbery of Smokefree D.C.] said she thought the waiver was un-Irish. "In Ireland you passed a smoke-free law years before the district," she recalled. "You guys don't smoke cigars in Ireland, so invoking that tradition is ridiculous. The Friendly Sons can go outside if they want to smoke. That's the law. They should abide by it."'

ANOTHER VIEW---'Hypocrisy, thy name is DC Councilman Jack Evans,' says blogger.

Another WaPo voucher editorial: 'The truth is that opponents know how bad it would look to vote against a program that has helped low-income, minority children get a better education. So instead they take no action and hope the program dies a slow, quiet death. Those championing vouchers are right to call out Senate leaders for their cowardly refusal to---at the very least---allow a fair hearing for this successful program.' There is a bit of news therein: Joe Lieberman tried to add a voucher reauthorization amendment to the Senate jobs bill, but Democratic leadership ruled it 'not germane.'

Metro trains have been subject to an increasing spate of 'slow orders,' Kytja Weir reports in Examiner: '[T]he transit agency had 59 speed restrictions on its rail system the same week Metro officials discussed on-time performance last month, according to an internal Metro report obtained by The Examiner. Train operators had to slow trains because of track circuit malfunctions, worn rails, slick conditions and other safety problems, the report said. Some operators say manual operations are being used as an excuse for a broader trend of increasingly bad track problems---many of them found after the crash when a track circuit failed to show a train stopped on the tracks.'

Efforts to up jurisdictional Metro subsidies is covered by Ann Scott Tyson in WaPo: 'The Fair Share petition, organized by Transit First!---a coalition of transit advocates, Metro riders and environmental groups---allows signers to send online messages urging their local representatives to bolster funding to help fill a projected $189 million gap in Metro's budget....Transit First estimated the contributions required from the jurisdictions to make up the $74 million as follows: Maryland, $30 million; the District, $27.4 million; Fairfax County, $9.3 million; Arlington County, $4.5 million; and Alexandria, $2.6 million.'

More on the February murder of 15-year-old Joel Watkins, from Theola Labbé-DeBose in WaPo: Another 15-year-old has been arrested for the crime, rooted in an incident where 'some other teens "faked" on [the suspect and friends], or pretended to have a gun. The trick was meant to disrespect the 15-year-old's group, and it left him angry, authorities said. A couple of weeks later, on Feb. 21, police said, he saw two youths from the other group near Seventh and Rittenhouse streets NW and fatally shot [Watkins].' The suspect, charged as a juvenile, 'is a 10th-grader from Northwest with a consistent attendance record. He had no prior arrests and two school suspensions: one from several years ago for fighting and one for not wearing a uniform.' He will be tried next month.

ALSO---Adelmo Tolentino, 24, is stabbed to death early Tuesday on the 3500 block of 14th Street NW, in Columbia Heights.

A 10-month-old baby died last night after being found unconscious in house just a few doors down from Fenty's Crestwood home. 'A housekeeper found the baby with an object wrapped around her neck in a house on the 4700 block of 17th Street,' WTOP reports. 'The housekeeper ran outside to a security detail parked outside Fenty's house. The detail then called paramedics. It's not known where the child's parents were when the incident occurred.' Also WTTG-TV.

Woman tried to snatch two children from a stroller in Capitol Hill on Monday, WaPo reports: 'It started shortly before 5 p.m. as the female caregiver was walking with the two young children in a stroller, authorities said. Schneider said another woman approached them and tried to grab the children from the stroller, and pull the stroller away....The assailant pulled the caregiver's hair and spit in her face. Capitol Police responded and arrested Crystal Ann Barnes, 23, who has no apparent connection to the children.

Collision between SUV and empty school bus briefly closed New York Avenue NE yesterday afternoon.

Federal appeals court rules that prosecutor's closing-statement exaggerations about PCP don't mean that convicted felon gets off the hook, Legal Times reports.

With court order in hand, Philly Pizza in Georgetown may actually be closed for good, Vox Populi reports. Hizzoner has scheduled a press conference for this morning to tout the 'enforcement action.' However: 'Philly Pizza owner Mehmet Kocak has filed with the D.C. Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs for a new certificate of occupancy.'

The main backer of University High PCS, which aims to open in Capitol Hill's International Graduate University, has apologized for plagiarizing his course descriptions, VotH reports. Said Shelton at an ANC meeting: 'Due to extenuating circumstances, perhaps my oversight wasn't as it should've been....I'm sorry and I'm not sure how that happened or why that happened.'

WTTG-TV's Karen Gray Houston looks at how WASA's dealing with trash washed into the Anacostia River: 'Blame back-to-back snowstorms for all that garbage that's starting to wash up....You may not have known it, but D.C.'s [WASA] is at work five days a week trying to clean up some 400 tons of debris. WASA officials say in the last month, they've seen three times as much as usual. They're hoping the city's bag tax will help with some of the clean up eventually.'

Hey builders: $5.2M in Neighborhood Investment Fund money is available 'to support development of either affordable housing projects of at least 10 units, facilities providing community benefits or mixed-use projects that propose some combination of housing, office space and community facilities' in the 12 NIF-targeted areas, WBJ reports. 'Money can be used toward developers' costs related to planning, environmental work, accounting, market studies, soil testing, legal services and other expenses.'

The city---finally---explains to WCP's Amanda Hess what the procedure is for insuring adoptred children of District employees. 'Although such a policy is hardly sensitive information, and although it should be readily attainable by a DCHR public affairs officer, DCHR refused to answer my questions until I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request. I submitted the FOIA on Feb. 12, and DCHR took its time getting back to me—it took the agency fifteen business days, the maximum allowed, to cough up the policy.'

Norton wants to overhaul Smithsonian board, subbing major government players with little time for the job with 'the kinds of people who are in the governance structure of comparable institutions like major art galleries.'

Charles Colson---yes, that Charles Colson---writes at Catholic Exchange that the Catholic Charities benefits decision demonstrates 'the increasingly fragile state of religious freedom in the America.'

Metro Weekly covers problems with OSSE health data.

DDOT parking meter decal FAIL.

Eric Gilliland is leaving the Washington Area Bicycle Association to head the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

More on female condom distribution from WAMU-FM.

Robert Wone defendant Dylan Ward has moved to Florida, where he is advertising 'sensual massage' services, WMRW? reports.

DDOT prepares to unveil new bike lane plans for downtown streets.

Barry namechecked in Clarence Page column titled, 'Black leaders learn scrutiny comes with power.'

West End Marriott's future still uncertain, says DCmud.

GGW shares DDOT plans for C Street NE redesign.

Pondering the mystery of the LeDroit Park post office.

Carol Joynt asks: 'SHOULD GEORGETOWN SECEDE FROM DC?' Hey, Jack Evans would finally get to be mayor!

Miles Groves, downtown neighborhood activist extraordinaire, died Sunday. Writes the Downtown Neighborhood Association board: 'His dedicated and selfless service was the crucial force behind the downtown area's continued positive growth and harmony with the residents. More specifically, Miles was a key player in our communication with the Council and the Mayor, a voice we would not have had if not for his leadership.' Also Penn Quarter Living.

SAVE THE DATE---Defeat Poverty DC---a new coalition including the Children's Law Center, the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, D.C. Appleseed, the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, D.C. Hunger Solutions, the Moriah Fund, the Washington Area Women's Foundations, and Wider Opportunities for Women---is sponsoring a March 24 panel discussion moderated by Tom Sherwood

TODAY ON WTOP---'Ask City Hall' hosted by Mark Segraves, 10 a.m.; guests are Jack Evans and Kwame Brown

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Health agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Mental Health, JAWB 412; Committee on Public Works and Transportation agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Public Works, JAWB 123; Committee on Finance and Revenue meeting (scheduled), JAWB 120; 11:30 a.m.: Committee on Finance and Revenue agency performance oversight hearing on Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board, Board of Real Property Assessments and Appeals, and Office of the Chief Financial Officer (including Office of Tax and Revenue), JAWB 500.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---11 a.m.: remarks, regulatory enforcement announcement, 1211 Potomac St. NW.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'Rhee’s Magazine Comments Draw Lawsuit; and tweets galore!

Morning all. The D.C. Council's finance and revenue committee---er, Jack Evans---held a hearing yesterday on the $25M Northrop Grumman incentive package. No one from Northrop, or anyone besides DMPED who would stump for the deal, showed up. But there were plenty of folks who came to grouse about a prime example of corporate welfare. And Nikita Stewart reports in WaPo that the bid 'is unraveling' as CMs question the wisdom of the deal. Among them: Mary Cheh, who 'said she is now undecided because the council recently approved tax breaks for other companies without an overall plan or cost-benefits analysis. "I don't think we can keep doing this bit by bit," she said. "I like the idea of using the incentives to lure these companies here, but I am uneasy."' WBJ's Jonathan O'Connell details the objections aired at the hearing, from the likes of Andy Shallal of Busboys & Poets, the Latino Economic Development Corp., the Center for Corporate Policy and CODEPINK. Add to that an ex-LL ('Elissa Silverman, from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute...brought a handful of studies touting evidence that tax incentives do little to influence corporate relocations') and this sucker's dead in the water.

AFTER THE JUMP---Northrop's decision may not come till June; independent evaluation of DCPS begins; Pershing Park settlement filed; developers try to move ahead in Shaw; Red Line crash cost Metro $25M to start; RIP Maurice Williams and Mack Cantrell

ON THE PLUS LEDGER---'Evans said the city ought to go after the company because of the jobs it would provide, the charitable contributions it would likely make and the city’s existing lack of corporate headquarters,' and noted the company has expressed interest in Southwest real estate. DMPED rep points out that 'the company’s charitable foundation and its employees had made more than $11 million in charitable donations in 2009 and that District nonprofits could expect similar gifts should the company move to D.C.'

ALSO---Sarah Krouse, citing sources 'familiar with the negotiations,' reports in WBJ that Northrop might put off its decision until June. And O'Connell notes that the deal sets up a Jack vs. Kwame dynamic: 'Presiding over whatever subsidies Northrop Grumman will get are two councilmen...who may well be campaigning against each other shortly to become chairman of the council....Both are well-known to industry, as Evans chairs the Finance and Revenue Committee and [Kwame Brown] chairs the Economic Development Committee. Brown could have more of a say over the proceedings than he would even a week ago. Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. of Ward 5 is now a member of the finance committee (he replaced Marion Barry) and is more likely to vote with Brown on many issues than with Evans.'

INCIDENTALLY---In the course of reporting (and correcting) his item, O'Connell learned this: 'Gray chief of staff Dawn Slonneger: Chairman [Vincent Gray] will finish term whether or not he decides to run for mayor.'

Office of Employee Appeals backlog has led to exorbitant back-pay awards for successful appellants, Michael Neibauer reports in Examiner. OEA 'has a backlog of 533 cases, only four administrative judges on staff and finances so depleted that it can't even hire court reporters, agency leaders say. Cases stemming from basic budget-related layoffs to terminations for cause often drag on for years, and those workers who successfully appeal are ultimately paid "to take a long vacation," said [Mary Cheh], government operations committee chairwoman....Four months into the current fiscal year, the office has nearly as many appeals (290) as it did in all last fiscal year (299). In 2009, OEA judges ordered 38 workers reinstated and reimbursed $3.4 million in back pay and benefits. Of the 42 orders issued since Oct. 1, 13 have gone in favor of the employee — or 30 percent.' Neibauer recounts the story of a cop caught driving drunk in 2004; he appealed successfully and was awarded more than four years of back pay and benefits.

Metro has tallied the infrastructural costs of the Red Line disaster: It's $25.5M, per a memo obtained by Examiner's Kytja Weir. 'The memo says four rail cars were destroyed at a cost of $12 million, while the other cars involved had $3 million worth of damage. Metro spent another $3 million to run shuttle buses when that section of track was closed. Other costs came in for maintenance and cleanup, police security of the accident scene, and overtime. Metro is trying to recoup about $24 million through its property insurance and has said it plans to hire a forensic accountant to develop its claim. But officials acknowledge they are on the hook for at least $1.5 million in uninsured track structure work and system maintenance associated with the crash. The agency also has a $1 million deductible to pay.' Legal fees, lost revenue, etc. are not counted.

ALSO---Weir reports on the tough sell that transit advocates are attempting in local jurisdictions: Convince local policymakers to increase WMATA subsidies to avoid service cuts and fare hikes. Good luck with that.

Confirmed: 18 DCPS employees have been fired from the central office's special education department, Bill Turque reports at WaPo Schools Insider, confirming Candi Peterson's weekend reports. 'No details yet on what jobs they held or what exactly drove the dismissals, although spending pressures seem to be in the mix. Spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway said Sunday evening that "in an effort to control costs and improve operations OSE made personnel decisions based on each of their department's overarching goals and initiatives."' Also Examiner. Meanwhile, Peterson claims the firings didn't end with the 18.

The long-awaited 'independent evaluation' of DCPS reform kicked off yesterday, Turque reports, with a joint public panel featuring Michelle Rhee, Victor Reinoso, Kerri Briggs, and...Vince Gray. 'On Monday, all four speakers said they welcomed the NRC inquiry, and committee members asked them what questions they would like to see answered by the study. Rhee asked the panel to assess whether her "theory of change," about the District overhaul, which has emphasized raising the quality and effectiveness of teachers, was on target. She also asked the panel to reflect on whether there were organizational changes to be made "to better set ourselves up to be successful." Without explicitly criticizing the arrangement, she mentioned that the DCPS general counsel reports to D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, and that the agency's chief financial officer reports to D.C. chief financial officer Natwar M. Gandhi. The soft-spoken Reinoso asked that the panel not make final judgments about the failure or success of an effort that he said will be under way for many years. "I don't think that the standard should be, 'Have we crossed the finish line?'" he said. Gray urged the panel not neglect special education and career and technical education when looking at what the District has or has not accomplished.' The budget has been scaled back from $1.5M to $750K; an interim report is expected by fall.

The WaPo editorial board, meanwhile, calls for teacher discipline to be addressed in any new contract proposal: 'District law considers it a crime when doctors betray a trust and have sex with patients, no matter their age. Ditto for hospital volunteers, ambulance drivers and other people entrusted with caring for others. But, for reasons that no one can really explain, this common-sense protection doesn't apply to teachers and students. It's an anomaly that needs to be addressed as officials assess how well the system deals with teacher misconduct.'

IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING---The DCPS performance oversight hearing is next Monday, March 15.

The D.C. Council's cigar-smoking exemption antics are covered in WaPo by Ann Marimow: 'Angela Bradbery, co-founder of Smokefree DC, urged [Fenty] in a letter Monday to veto the legislation that she said would force workers to choose between their health and a paycheck; open the door for other organizations to request exemptions; and send a message that "it's okay to break the law if you're on the council or a buddy of a council member." Evans, who has attended the annual dinner for at least the past 10 years but does not light up, said his bill is "perfectly appropriate for both organizations."....A hearing on Evans's subsequent bill to make a permanent exception for the Friendly Sons was canceled on Monday. An aide to [David Catania] said the council member thought it was best to first review results from the one-year waiver before deciding whether to move ahead with a comprehensive measure.'

Pershing Park settlement is filed, Legal Times reports: 'Under the roughly $8.25 million settlement in Barham v. Ramsey, the District would pay $5.64 million to marchers who were arrested en masse and detained for hours during a 2002 International Monetary Fund and World Bank protest. Another $2.46 million would go to cover attorney fees and costs incurred by the plaintiffs’ lawyers from Washington’s Partnership for Civil Justice. Another $150,000 would be used to administer the fund....The settlement also requires the District’s police to adopt improved document management standards.'

Both WaPo and ABC News cover the impending nuptials of Angelisa Young and Sinjoyla Townsend---the first gay couple to apply for a D.C. marriage license.

A rare LLD link to WaPo's Federal Page: Columnist Joe Davidson notes how the federal government isn't doing squat for gay couples newly married in the District: 'When Lorilyn "Candy" Holmes and Darlene Garner get married Tuesday, it will be a joyous and historic occasion. But an uninvited uncle will lurk among the well-wishers....Uncle Sam doesn't like the Holmes-Garner wedding because the couple are the same sex. Though he does not have the power to stop the nuptials, he does have the ability, like a meddlesome relative, to make his displeasure known. While Sam provides a nice package of benefits that cover spouses of his staff members, he's not going to give that wedding gift to Holmes, who has served him for 33 years, and Garner.'

More on the Stephanie Stephens death from WTTG-TV: 'The two ambulance medics who allegedly refused to transport the toddler are at the center of a discipline investigation. However, FOX 5 has learned that others in a supervisory position on a fire truck may have arrived first, but never went inside the Southern Avenue home....The internal documents obtained exclusively by FOX 5 seem to contradict the city's account. They are the automated time stamps generated by a computer showing the history of the fire units. The documents clearly show Engine 33 with a paramedic on board arrives first at 4:56:45 a.m. on February 10, 2010. Medic 33 arrived at the Southern Avenue address at 4:58:28 a.m., nearly two minutes later, but they were the only ones to go inside. So the question is, why didn't the higher ranking paramedic on engine 33-- who arrived first-- make the evaluation on the little girl, and if he was there, why did he not intervene when medics decided not to transport the child? More importantly, why is the engine 33 paramedic still on the job?'

WAMU-FM's Patrick Madden > interviews council budget guru Eric Goulet about what lies in store for FY2011: One word: 'bleak.'

DCmud covers the Media Center One project after Radio One's exit: 'Ellis Development Group, Jarvis Company, LLC and Four Points...are modifying their plans and seeking official permission to extend their development timeline. The current approved Planned Unit Development is coming up on its two-year deadline, the requested two-year extension would give the developers time to regroup after recent setbacks.' And square footage is being scaled back. Question is: Will the council be willing keep debt tied up doing nothing for another two years?

Police identify jogger struck and killed Saturday morning at 14th and Constitution NW as Debra Ann Schiebel, 51, of Logan Circle. Reports WaPo: 'Police said Monday that the owner of the tractor-trailer [that struck Schiebel] contacted them Saturday night. It appeared that the driver of the vehicle was unaware that anyone had been hit, police said. They said no charges were pending against the driver, who was not identified....Preliminary information indicated that the woman was in the roadway and crossing against the light when she was struck, police said.' Also NC8, WTTG-TV, WUSA-TV, WRC-TV.

Joseph Harrington, 31, has pleaded guilty to the 2007 stabbing murder of Charles Smith, WaPo reports---'just one day before he was scheduled to face a retrial in the case. The first case was dismissed because an assistant U.S. attorney admitted withholding evidence from defense attorneys.' Harrington faces up to eight years.

Mark your calendars: 'A prosecutors’ request to introduce evidence that police found a collection of S&M devices in the home of three gay men implicated in the 2006 murder of Washington attorney Robert Wone is expected to be debated Friday during a D.C. Superior Court hearing,' DC Agenda reports.

And now, a note from Allen Sessoms: 'Today, you will start seeing a series of print, broadcast and online advertisements designed to get the word out on all the great things going on in the University System of the District of Columbia. This is the most aggressive effort in the history of this institution to promote itself. The goals of this campaign are – of course – to increase enrollment, but we are also lifting the image and public perception of the community college as well as UDC, including the law school.'

Missing six-year-old is promptly found.

WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV cover the enviro-impacts of snowmelt on the Anacostia River.

Mark Katz is new chair of Arent Fox.

Man arrested for entering zoo's elephant enclosure.

ALSO---Panda-mama: Not preggers.

Don Peebles is gala chair for the 100 Black Men of Greater Washington's April 9 Legacy Awards Gala. Ben’s Chili Bowl will be honored as Small Business of the Year.

Dish wants to know: 'Vincent Gray in Georgetown: kibbitzing or campaigning?'

TODAY IN HISTORY---In 1977, Hanafi Muslims stormed the District Building, wounding Marion Barry and killing WHUR-FM reporter Maurice Williams and security guard Mack Cantrell. May they rest in peace. (Read WaPo's next-day story, by Bob Kaiser and Milt Coleman.)

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Special Committee on the D.C. Taxicab Commission performance oversight hearing, JAWB 500; 10:30 a.m.: Committee on Government Operations and the Environment agency performance oversight hearing on Office of the Inspector General, District of Columbia Retirement Board, Office of Campaign Finance, and Board of Elections and Ethics, JAWB 412; 2 p.m.: Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary meeting (scheduled), JAWB 120; 4 p.m.: Committee on Libraries, Parks, and Recreation meeting (scheduled), JAWB 120.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---9:30 a.m.: attendee, education budget hearing, Smothers ES, 4400 Brooks St. NE; 11 a.m.: attendee, same-sex marriage celebration, Human Rights Campaign Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'D.C. Council Hires Lawyer to Investigate Parks Contracts'; 'Fenty Opens Up to Washingtonian'; 'Pershing Park Case: District Employee Admits They Destroyed Evidence'; and tweets galore!

Morning all. The new cronies get the front-page treatment in Sunday's WaPo, in a story by Nikita Stewart and Paul Schwartzman focusing on the 'good fortune' of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's most controversial allies. Those would be Omar Karim and Sinclair Skinner, who are 'at the center of a coterie of Fenty friends who since the mayor's election have traveled from the political margins to the center of power and influence, often helping one another along the way.' The Post's story begins to put some meat on the bones of rumors about how the mayoral allies make hay out of their connection to Hizzoner. The only man to go on the record: Don Peebles, who has a political ax to grind, but WaPo cites concurring anonymous sources. The bottom line: 'Politicians have long cultivated circles of lawyers, developers and lobbyists who, in turn, thrive on access to government's highest levels. But Fenty's friends have risen from obscurity at a pace that has captured the attention of the political and business establishments and fostered an image that is seemingly at odds with Fenty's campaign themes of reform and transparency.'

AFTER THE JUMP---The Skinner shakedown: How it works; the Trout Report is coming; Colby King wants more investigation of earmarks; Newsweek sees Rhee vs. Randi as education battle of our time; city blizzard spending was good for McDonald's

THE SHAKEDOWN---The meatiest part of the WaPo story:

After Fenty's election, Skinner and Karim were not shy about mentioning their mayoral ties as they tried to attract business partners or obtain consulting work, according to five developers and consultants who spoke to the men about possible deals. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they said they fear retribution from the Fenty administration.

R. Donahue Peebles, a developer who has considered challenging Fenty in the 2010 mayoral race, has spoken openly about how political networking during Marion Barry's reign as mayor helped him land his first major real estate deal. After critics accused Peebles of benefiting from cronyism in the mid-1990s, the developer became infuriated and relocated to Miami for a decade before turning his attention back to the District, where the Fenty administration has twice rejected his company's bids for city projects.

Since his return to Washington, Peebles said, at least two of Skinner's associates suggested that he hire Skinner, who they said could help him win District projects and gain access to the mayor and his top aides. Peebles said the associates told him that Skinner's fee was $10,000 to $20,000 a month.

Peebles said Karim approached him after an appearance on the Howard campus in 2007 and told him that Fenty was seeking to empower a new group of minority builders, including Karim. As African Americans, Karim and Skinner could benefit from city requirements that developers partner with minority-owned companies.

Karim, Peebles said, told him that "if I wanted to get to do a development deal with the District of Columbia government under Fenty, I'd have to do business with them and their circle, this new inner circle. He gave me this whole spiel about how it was a new day and how the old guys' day was up. Essentially, the message was I was going to need him."

Peebles said he was angered by what he considered a "flagrant pay-to-play overture." He rejected Karim's offer, he said, and refused to hire Skinner.

Another developer, who renovates commercial and residential properties in the city, said Skinner told him that he represented Liberty Law, owned by Karim, which could provide lobbying services for $25,000 a month even though it is not a registered lobbyist. "They wanted a big part of it up front: $200,000," said the developer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he does not want to antagonize the Fenty administration.

The developer said that when he asked Skinner what services he would provide, Skinner told him, "You need some stuff, don't you?"

THE DEFENDERS---'[A. Scott Bolden], speaking for Karim and Skinner, acknowledged that his clients have been real estate consultants, but he said: "They're consultants because of their expertise. It has nothing to do with access to the mayor. [To imply otherwise] devalues their educational background, their entrepreneurship, their love of this city." He added: "They're Howard graduates. They're fraternity brothers. They're friends with the mayor. Maybe they like doing business together. Anything illegal, inappropriate about that?"...Peter Nickles, the D.C. attorney general and a longtime Fenty adviser, said he sees nothing unusual in the frequency with which Fenty's friends have obtained city work. "They're young, African American guys trying to get involved . . . in the business of the city," he said....Ben Soto, Fenty's campaign treasurer, said the mayor's ties to Skinner and Karim are rooted in a common commitment to improve the city. "He likes people who have a sense of urgency," Soto said. "Omar and Sinclair have that." Their bond, Soto said, trumps any political embarrassment. "When Adrian knows you have his back, it's a hiccup." Although the friends have benefited from minority contracting rules, access to the mayor does not ensure winning bids, Soto said. The District twice rejected proposals from Karim's company, said Sean Madigan, a city spokesman.'

GOOD NEWS FOR FENTY---No one is accusing Karim, Skinner, Warren Williams, or Keith Lomax of not doing the work they were paid to do. Biggest campaign worry: That allegations of cronyism could be used to depress white vote in Wards 2 and 3, where he's counting on big majorities.

***

Get ready for the Trout Report: The council introduces defense attorney Robert Trout as the guy who will wrangle its long-running probe into Fenty administration parks contracting into a conclusive investigative report. LL covered the move; and WaPo's Stewart noted Saturday that the council's investigation into itself resulted in a referral to federal prosecutors: 'Depending on Trout's conclusions, the council could take the same approach with the contracts investigation, said council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D). "We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in contracts that were involved in this effort," Gray said Friday at a news conference at the John A. Wilson Building. "The testimony is stunning, shocking. . . . There's a lot of questions associated with this thing."' Peter Nickles says he'll cooperate with trout---to a point---but maintains that the probe is politcally tainted: 'Nickles said [Harry Thomas Jr.]'s goal is to malign Fenty (D). "Obviously, that's where this is headed," he said. "That's the motivation. It's political motivation. . . . It just seems to me it's being viewed by Thomas as a tit for tat."' The report, says Thomas, should be out within 45 days.

Jonetta Rose Barras writes in Examiner that Trout's appointment doesn't change her opinion of the probe: 'Undoubtedly the contracts, and Fenty's possible circumventing of procurement laws, deserve scrutiny. But the council marred its own effort with politics and procedural irregularities. Trout's appointment at this stage is more of the same....Trout enters an environment where council members have engaged in McCarthyesque tactics, blacklisting private businesses whose greatest offense appears to be their association with the mayor....That goal of objectivity could be affected by the fact that Trout's appointment already is perceived by some as an attempt by Thomas and other legislators to inoculate themselves against potential injury for their Barry censure vote....This much is indisputable: Unlike Bennett, Trout has the burden of producing a fair and credible report from a tainted investigation.'

Colby King, in his Saturday WaPo column, fingers a problem with earmarks that does not end with Marion Barry: 'The D.C. Council's censure of [Barry] was no profile in courage. Barry's 12 colleagues had little choice; anything less would have brought well-deserved public ridicule. The problem with the resolution is that it didn't go far enough. It should have included the council as a whole....[T]he system that Barry abused is the politically self-serving budget earmark process, a D.C. Council concoction that is so badly designed and monitored that millions of dollars have been improperly managed, poorly accounted for and not used for their intended purposes. Barry was not the only player.' King details the investigative findings of Robert S. Bennett and Deborah Nichols, before concluding: 'Barry's censure shouldn't close the books.Millions were shoveled out the door by city politicians trying to make themselves look good with other people's money. Who answers for that, D.C. Council?'

More on the city's problems with drunk-driving prosecutions from WaPo's Mary Pat Flaherty: Faulty equipment provided inaccurate results, says Attorney General Peter Nickles, and 'District officials have begun a review of all DWI charges brought between October 2008 and February to look for questionable results.' Two weeks before the issue outed last Friday, 'D.C. police supervisors were alerted to systemwide trouble with the machines' accuracy and had explored remedies....In mid-February, prosecutors began dropping DWI charges in court -- but kept pursuing related drunken-driving charges on the same cases -- without detailed explanations to defense attorneys, some of whom were weighing plea offers for their clients....The lack of information has angered numerous defense attorneys, who contend that prosecutors were obliged under a procedure in criminal cases, commonly known as the Brady rule, to reveal any information that could help clear their clients.' Says Nickles: 'I know what Brady requires, and our office fully complied.' What caused the screwup? '[P]roblems arose when their motors were replaced [on nine of 10 Breathilyzer machines] beginning in October 2008 and the machines were not correctly recalibrated'; older breath-testers are being replaced, and officers retrained on the machines' use. As to how many cases might be affected: 'It may be hundreds; it may be tens of cases,' Nickles says. 'We won't know until we complete our review.'

NOTE---Maybe good news for a certain shadow senator?

Michael Neibauer details snowpocalypse spending in Examiner: 'The city, largely the D.C. Department of Transportation, shelled out $73,380 between Feb. 5 and 15 for McDonald's gift cards. Taxpayers also footed nearly $300,000 in room charges at a half dozen D.C. hotels. Courtyard by Marriott netted $115,045 from three storms, the Capitol Skyline nearly $83,000 and the Channel Inn more than $10,000. "It's not like they're at the Four Seasons," said Ward 1 D.C. Councilman Jim Graham, who has oversight of DDOT. "It was just a place, after a 12 hour shift, for them to get some rest. That's the way it was presented to me."...The $73,000-plus breaks down to 12,230 $6 value meals, 69,225 cheeseburgers, or 18,350 Big Macs. DDOT, on Feb. 10, dropped another $13,937 at Panera Bread. On the healthier side, perhaps: The Unified Communications Center, Feb. 5 and 9, spent $1,012 at Giant.'

Michelle Rhee is back in the pages of a national news magazine, this time in a Newsweek story setting up a feud between her and AFT President Randi Weingarten: 'Weingarten and Rhee are the two principal actors on the most important stage in the ongoing drama of school reform in America. Almost three years ago, Rhee was brought in to fix what was arguably the worst school system in America. The public schools in the nation's capital were notorious for high costs and low performance. Rhee has taken direct aim at the holy grail of the teachers' union: the common practice of giving public-school teachers lifetime tenure under rules that make firing a teacher, no matter how incompetent, very difficult, expensive, and time-consuming....Weingarten, a media-savvy and clever lawyer, can see that the days are fast ending when the teachers' union can count on the support of the Democratic Party and the passivity of the education establishment to protect teachers with near impunity. But she is putting up a spirited rear-guard action to preserve the long-established job security of her union members...."You have two strong-willed and very smart and determined women with very different agendas," says Chester Finn Jr., a former assistant secretary of education and a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. "It has an almost gladiatorial aspect to it."...Aside from graduating from Cornell, the two have little in common. During several long and short interviews with NEWSWEEK over the past year, Weingarten spoke in big, round, high-flown sentences, and then artfully changed the subject or lapsed into jargon when challenged with uncomfortable facts. In private negotiations, she is known for letting loose with fits of temper, real or contrived. In public or private, Rhee, whom we also spoke to several times, is direct and blunt to the point of rudeness. In negotiations, she is known for staying cool—or cold—though her eyes burn and bore in. Rhee and Weingarten, who first tangled about five years ago when Weingarten was running the New York City teachers' union and Rhee was testifying against her as the head of a nonprofit organization promoting school reform, clearly dislike each other.'

DO TELL---'The Obama White House is generally supportive of Rhee, but administration officials who would not be quoted directly say her heavy-handedness has unnecessarily antagonized union members and prolonged negotiations over a new contract.'

INCIDENTALLY---The WTU is airing new radio commercials. The Chicago Tribune namechecks Rhee in editorial calling for end to seniority-based layoffs. And Candi Peterson is reporting at The Washington Teacher that 'over 20 employees were laid off last Friday from the central office and that even more terminations are scheduled to come,' citing two anonymous 'inside' sources. LL has not confirmed with DCPS.

WaPo's Keith Alexander reports on bizarre circumstance at D.C. Superior Court, where a juror was charged with contempt for skipping a day's proceedings in a robbery-murder case. Louis F. Alexander, 42, showed up the next day, but '[b]y then, however, [Judge Herbert B. Dixon Jr.] had charged him with contempt and ordered him out of the courtroom until his initial hearing.' Alexander's explanation: 'In court Friday, Alexander, at times with his voice cracking, told Dixon what he said was the real reason he did not return to court: He had an emotional breakdown. He also testified that he didn't make the work meeting because he was so distraught. Alexander is the son of D.C. Superior Court Judge Harry T. Alexander, who was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and was one of the court's first African American judges before his retirement in the late 1970s. Alexander helps care for his elderly father, who is recovering from a series of strokes....His mind wandered, he said, to the days of watching his father. "Being in the courthouse affected me emotionally. It was a little difficult," he said.' Dixon let him off the hook.

ALSO---Alexander interviews former federal prosecutor J. Brooks Harrington, who, in 1981, sent Donald Gatesto a life term in prison for a crime he did not commit: '"I can't express how sick this has made me feel," said Harrington, 61. "I was always trying to be about protecting people. To find out that I had the wrong guy is beyond description."..."Not only can this happen again, but it will," said Harrington, now an ordained minister in Fort Worth. "Nobody has any interest in convicting somebody who didn't commit a crime. You do your best with the evidence you have. I was just flatly wrong about it. I did my best, and it wasn't good enough."'

D.C. is the first city in the country to hand out female condoms to combat AIDS---as many as a half-million---Daryl Fears reports in WaPo. 'City officials said the distribution could begin within the next three weeks in parts of wards 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7, where a study showed that large numbers of African American heterosexuals engage in risky sexual behavior that could easily lead to infection. The move is an official acknowledgment of the futility of relying solely on the use of male condoms, which have been distributed citywide for nearly a decade, to stem the District's epidemic of HIV and AIDS. Officials said they are turning to female condoms to give women more power to protect themselves from HIV and sexually transmitted diseases when their partners refuse to use protection....The project is funded through a $500,000 grant from the MAC AIDS Fund, a subsidiary of MAC Cosmetics, which contributes to numerous city programs, including two of the city's needle exchange programs.'

Daniel de Vise confirms the news in WaPo: The Graduate School has acquired Southeastern University: 'Leaders of the Graduate School said they hope the acquisition will steer their institution toward a broader mission, still serving a core of federal employees but also reaching out to the D.C. community. The Southeastern campus, on I Street in Southwest, is less than a mile from the Graduate School on Maryland Avenue. School leaders said District residents are significantly underrepresented in the federal workforce, a deficit the combined institution could help close....The Graduate School acquired the Southeastern name and wants to "honor that tradition," but officials are not sure how the name will be used, said James Huske, Graduate School chief of staff. A handful of Southeastern staff members have joined the Graduate School, Huske said. The Graduate School is not a degree-granting institution and will have to reestablish accreditation to offer degree programs, Huske said. Allied health programs will be a major focus.'

Examiner's Kytja Weir polls those familiar with Richard Sarles's previous work: 'Advocates who worked with -- and against -- him in New Jersey painted a picture of a man who knows transit issues and could improve some of Metro's key management and equipment problems. "I think he can be a big help in upgrading the system," said David Peter Alan, chairman of Lackawanna Coalition, which represents commuters. Albert Papp Jr., a director for the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers, called him a "very good hands-on operator" who will be able to give Metro a good housecleaning. But Papp and others repeatedly said he didn't show innovation or creativity. "I don't see him as a visionary," added George Haikalis, president of New York City's Institute for Rational Urban Mobility. "As a placeholder, you can probably do worse."... "His biggest flaw is he's not good on public participation and his decisions tended to be made in secret," Alan said. "So he's a mixed bag."'

ALSO---WaPo editorial board examines the scathing FTA audit ('The interim chief will hardly need reminding that revamping Metro's procedures, culture and attitudes toward safety will be job one. The federal audit may provide him with the outline of a road map for how to proceed'). And Weir looks at just what Sarles will have to confront---the audit, and more.

Harry Jaffe lauds D.C.'s ever-declining murder rate in Examiner: 'Wrap your arms around this: Washington is on track to become as safe as it was in 1963, measured by the homicide rate....According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the homicide count as of March 5 was 14. The number last year was 24. That's a decline of 41 percent. At that rate, the District could have as few as 84 homicides in 2010, which would put the city three higher than the 81 homicides recorded in 1960, according to MPD stats. "The tipping point is when we go under 100," Police Chief Cathy Lanier told me.' She credits 'the community,' members of which have been turning in the bad guys. 'If Lanier is correct -- and it's a big if -- the balance of power in the streets of D.C. may have tipped from the thugs to the cops,' Jaffe writes. Still: What will summer bring?

ALSO---Teacher Guy Brandenberg retorts to Jaffe's column on Anacostia HS: 'If you listen to Rhee or writers like Harry Jaffe, DCPS all went to hell when the teachers got a union and stopped caring. Get rid of the union, and everything will be hunky-dory. Yeah, right. Like everything is wonderful in education in “right-to-work” states like Mississippi, Alabama, and poverty-stricken western Virginia??? What a crock.'

The city will conduct a review of how FEMS handled the case of 2-year-old Stephanie Stephens, who died after an ambulance crew initially did not transport her to a hospital for breathing difficulties. Fenty announced the 30-day probe in a Friday afternoon press conference. Reports WTTG-TV: 'Were professional procedures followed, and were medical procedures followed? Those are the two basic questions Mayor Fenty says the investigation needs to answer. Right now, the two paramedics involved are off the street and on non-patient contact status. City officials want to know what medics did or did not do on February 10, when Stephens needed help...."Anyone dying is a horrible event to begin with," says FEMS chief Dennis Rubin. "Compound the fact that it's a 2-year-old child, our heart goes out to the family." The response of FEMS is now under a quality review. Officials say all documentation, provider interviews and medical assessment by the medical director are being looked at, and Rubin is conducting a disciplinary investigation before determining what appropriate action to take....Rubin says he believes the procedures currently in place are adequate.' Also NC8.

ALSO---Children's Hospital SVP, in WaPo letter, says the incident 'points to how little progress has been made in improving the agency's level of service as was promised in the aftermath of the tragic David Rosenbaum case in 2006....The decision not to immediately transport a 2-year-old with respiratory symptoms is inexcusable. As a pediatric emergency physician, EMS medical director and advocate for quality emergency medical services for children, I have stated often for the public record before the D.C. Council Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary just how little attention D.C. Fire and EMS has paid to preparing its workforce in the care of children.'

Jogger is struck and killed early Saturday at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW by hit-and-run driver. Reports WaPo: 'A surveillance camera showed the vehicle that hit the woman was a white tractor trailer with a conventional cab attached to a flatbed containing a scissor lift and a rectangular crate. It was traveling north on 14th Street NW when it struck the pedestrian, police said. Investigators believe the driver might be unaware that he struck someone, police said. Police have yet to identify the woman, who was not carrying identification....Police described the woman as an Asian or white female with dark hair, in her mid-30s to early 40s. She was wearing a multi-colored top, black Spandex pants, Asics running shoes and several yellow metal bracelets, and she was carrying a Sony Walkman CD player.' WTOP has a low-res photo of the truck, as does WUSA-TV; NC8, WTTG-TV have video.

Gains in DCPS math test scores might well reflect the triumph of a new curriculum, Bill Turque reports in WaPo. 'The road to mastery no longer runs strictly through rote memorization and drilling, District educators say. It requires deeper conceptual understanding. They say they think the shift is paying off,' he writes, citing NAEP scores. '"The whole thrust has changed in how we engage children," said Marguerite Nelson, elementary math curriculum specialist for D.C. public schools. The shift is a legacy of Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's predecessor, Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, who imported more rigorous math and reading standards to the District from Massachusetts in 2005, along with the DC-CAS, an annual standardized test that resembles the NAEP. That year, he also introduced Everyday Mathematics, a K-6 curriculum developed in the 1990s by the University of Chicago. It emphasizes problem solving rooted in the students' world and frequent practice of math skills through games....Although Janey laid the groundwork in the District, Nelson said Rhee was "right in line" when she took over in 2007. She has placed "instructional coaches" on school staffs to help teachers improve their practices and stepped up the frequency and quality of professional development.'

ALSO---WaPo ed board on Race to the Top finalists: 'The District's selection was another surprise, albeit a welcome one that helps buttress Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's critical reform efforts.'

Gay marriage may be legal in D.C., but barriers to full gay equality remain, Michael Laris notes in WaPo. 'Decisions on same-sex marriage in the District and Maryland are radiating deeply into the life of Washington, a place where people's day jobs often give them responsibility for important parts of the nation's government. But beyond their jubilation last week, gay couples who will begin to marry in the District in coming days will still face a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman -- and families that sometimes do the same.'

WaPo's Robert McCartney talks to gay activists about what legal marriage in D.C. means to them. One is Frank Kameny: '"It's like a storybook ending," he said as he sat in the living room of the house where he lives alone in the Palisades neighborhood. Although bald and forced by age to walk in what he laughingly calls "little old-man steps," he still speaks forcefully in a rich voice and recalls even small details about the movement's history....Kameny and [Md. Sen. Rich Madaleno] said the legalization of same-sex marriage in the District is important especially because it improves public perceptions of gay people. It's not just the granting of equal legal rights and responsibilities. It's the weakening of the idea that they are separate, lesser, threatening. "This is going to accelerate the trend of the last number of years of gays to become open and out and visible," Kameny said. "It helps to create the impact of first-class citizenship and first-class status."'

WaPo's Hamil Harris collects laments on the demise of the Edgewood Safeway, which closed Saturday after 25 years in business: 'It was particularly convenient to residents of the nearby Vantage at Edgewood Terrace, an apartment complex of families, singles and senior citizens, such as Bernice McIntyre, 70. "I walk to the store," McIntyre said. "I don't want to go to the Giant because it is a longer distance. And those steps: There are 52 steps." The Giant is four blocks from Edgewood Terrace, but residents must walk down one hill and then up another.' Spokesperson Craig Muckle responded to concerns that the store is being closed due to its mostly black clientele: 'We have a strong commitment to the black community....We are the only major grocery store east of the Anacostia River. We have stores in almost every ward of the city except for Ward 8, where our store on Alabama Avenue serves residents in that community.' (Umm, Craig? Giant's in Ward 8 now.) Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5) 'said he was disappointed that Safeway officials did not do more to upgrade their store to compete with Giant...."Safeway didn't rise to the challenge. They really didn't make enough investments to that store, and residents deserved better."'

ALSO---Harris interviews the Rev. Jeffrey Haggray, the first black pastor of the First Baptist Church.

Another pro-voucher op-ed in WaPo today, this one penned by filmmaker Kelly Amis and philanthropist Joe Robert: 'Obama could have stood up for these children, who only want the same opportunities that he had and that his daughters now have. Instead, his education secretary, Arne Duncan, proffered an argument that would be funny if it weren't so sad: Scholarships for poor students aren't worth supporting because not enough of them are given out. Note to Duncan: You could give out more....Duncan had the temerity to admit that Opportunity Scholarship students "were safe and learning and doing well . . . [but] we can't be satisfied with saving 1 or 2 percent of children and letting 98 or 99 percent down." This is a false choice. But, were it fair, his answer would be to let down 100 percent instead? Fortunately for the secretary, his children won't be in that 100 percent; he moved his family to Virginia. For the schools.'

Jack Evans may have gotten the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick their cigars this year (as Cigar Aficionado notes) but he may have struck out on a permanent exemption. Smokefree DC notes that 'Monday’s D.C. Health Committee hearing on a permanent exemption to the smokefree law has been cancelled, and there appears to be no plan to hear the legislation anytime soon. '

More animated signs may be coming to Gallery Place, Tierney Plumb reports in WBJ. 'Orange Barrel Media, an advertisement agency that has signs in several U.S. cities, is proposing to install eight full-motion LED screens in Gallery Place this year. The Grove City, Ohio-based company wants six of those to be in the form of street kiosks and two would be 45-feet-tall vertical signs that attach to the Residences at Gallery Place, a 192-unit condominium that delivered in 2005.' Needless to say, residents of those residences are none too excited.

Potholepalooza is here. NC8: 'The mayor was in SE Friday talking about potholes, but it was one constituent complaining about the Ridge Road REC Center that he couldn't wait to get away from. "When are you going to fix the center though?" District resident Kevin Ellerbe asked. Ellerbe is angry about toilets left for months on the field, saying the kids deserve a better REC center. "You know he's redone every center uptown, but what about east of the river," he said.'

Read WaPo's Mike Wise on the cruelly dominant H.D. Woodson girls basketball team. (Ferchrissakes, they beat Cardozo 94-0!)

WBJ on the 'sorry state of small business lending'

Dr. Gridlock addresses Metro platform etiquette. Also: Dr. G dives deep on the new DDOT Web site.

Government Technology covers WASA hydrant-tracking system.

Man seeking 'emotional damages' after false-positive HIV test from Whitman-Walker gets another day in court.

Cary Silverman recaps the comments of Superior Court Chief Judge Lee Satterfield and Judge Ronna Beck at a Mount Vernon Square community meeting last week. Most interesting: 'If there is one area in which the judges felt the District's criminal justice system could improve, it is in juvenile justice. Some interesting facts. D.C. Superior Court judges have no role in sentencing JV offenders - it is up to the District government and JV's know it. The District's JV facility is too small and overcrowded, which may result in early releases when filled past capacity. While there is a JV facility for boys, there is no facility for girls. Judge Satterfield suggested the need for a larger JV facility with more educational programming.'

Body found Saturday in Rock Creek Park, near Park Road NW.

Early-Sunday traffic stop on Georgia Avenue leads to chase into Maryland.

Lunch with Mary Cheh: worth $2,100!

Dave Stroup wonders why the local political talent pool is so shallow.

Palisades residential development gets Zoning Commission nod; BZA approves variance for Georgia Avenue mixed-use project.

Census-taker wage: $20 an hour.

Truesdell ES students send teddy bears to kids in Haiti.

Catholic archdiocese not winning fans among WaPo letter writers.

Key Bridge lane closings tonight.

Leo Alexander a 'big crowd pleaser' at P.G. anti-immigrant rally.

BlackBerry freaks are in awe of Hizzoner's triple-holstered approach.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Economic Development agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Small and Local Business Development and Small and Local Business Opportunity Commission, JAWB 500; Committee on Finance and Revenue hearing on B18-651 ('Global Security and Aerospace Industry Tax Abatement Act of 2010'), JAWB 120; 1 p.m.: Committee on Public Works and Transportation agency performance oversight hearing on Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration and Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, JAWB 412; Committee on Housing and Workforce Development roundtable on PR18-599 ('Rental Housing Commission Jeffrey Poydras Confirmation Resolution of 2009'), PR18-696 ('Rental Housing Commission Chantal Jean-Baptiste Confirmation Resolution of 2010'), and PR18-697 ('Rental Housing Commission Peter Szegedy-Maszak Confirmation Resolution of 2010'), JAWB 123.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10:30 a.m.: remarks, intersection reconstruction groundbreaking, Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue NE

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'City Awards Voting Rights Grant, Takes It Back'; 'Mary Cheh Leaves No Doubt She's Green'; 'Video: 11-Year-Old Westboro Baptist Protests Gay Marriage in D.C.'; 'Video: Newlyweds and Protesters at Superior Court'; and tweets galore!

Morning all. The greater political machinations reflected in this week's D.C. Council censure of Marion Barry are becoing increasingly obvious. Now that Chairman Vincent C. Gray has cleaned his own house, he and his colleagues are moving with confidence to take a peek inside Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's. Nikita Stewart reports at D.C. Wire this morning that the council has engaged yet another big-name attorney, this time to investigate the questionable awards of millions in parks funds to Fenty-allied contractors. The council's appointment of criminal defense lawyer Robert P. Trout 'elevates its months-long investigation into how the contracts were awarded.' And in an election year---imagine! Questions yet to be answered: Will Trout, working pro bono, merely review materials already gathered by the council, or will he embark on his own probe? And if he does will Peter Nickles and the rest of the Fenty administration cooperate?

AFTER THE JUMP---Federal report slams Metro safety record; Sarles officially appointed interim WMATA GM; DCPS still racing to the top; out-of-boundary lottery results leave many disappointed; charter high school to be shuttered; Baltimore looks to D.C. Council for ethical leadership

WHO'S TROUT?---He is, among other things, 'the defense attorney who represented former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson who was convicted of corruption after he placed $90,000 in marked bills in a freezer in his District home.' Great optics, that. But he's also a DOJ veteran whose private practice 'has concentrated primarily on complex commercial litigation and on white collar criminal defense as well as the defense of administrative agency enforcement actions,' according to an online bio. 'He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in three categories (Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, and White Collar Criminal Defense), and he is also listed in Super Lawyers, Chambers USA Guide America's Leading Lawyers for Business, and Washingtonian Magazine's Top Lawyers.'

Federal Transit Administration delivers highly critical report on Metro safety. The agency's investigation 'identified pervasive flaws in rail safety at Metro and severe inadequacies in the agency responsible for oversight,' Lena Sun and Joe Stephens report in WaPo. 'Findings released Thursday call for widespread changes in how the nation's second-busiest subway system is supervised and managed....The sternly worded report, prepared by the Federal Transit Administration and presented Thursday to Washington area members of Congress, was the first in-depth look at Metro's safety program, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff said. It revealed deep-rooted deficiencies at the transit agency and its independent oversight committee, highlighting vulnerabilities in the systems that are supposed to safeguard passengers and workers....The findings will make it increasingly difficult to placate members of Congress who have called for "direct federal intervention" if Metro does not make immediate safety improvements, although Rogoff flatly ruled out a takeover of Metro by the FTA.' Read the full audit [PDF].

FINDINGS---WaPo: 'Metro has no process to ensure that safety problems are identified in a timely fashion. Top leaders don't receive regular reports about safety issues. The safety office has been marginalized within the agency, lacks access to key data about subway operations and has been left out of decision-making. As a result of those problems, the report says, the safety office has allowed known hazards to remain uncorrected for years.' Adds Kytja Weir in Examiner: 'Train operators told auditors they do not always know if workers are on the tracks until they see them, which especially can be a problem in blind spots that give them little time to slow down. "This is a fundamental violation of rail safety operations," [Rogoff] said. Metro developed new safety procedures for track workers after a 2006 death at the Dupont Circle station but never consulted its oversight group about them. Metro officials said they trained employees on the rules, but the audit found employees were given a copy of the directive and asked to sign a form saying they understood it.'

ROGOFF SPEAKS---'"Our audit makes clear that these two agencies are not doing enough to guarantee the safety of Metro passengers or Metro workers," Rogoff said, referring to Metro and its oversight body....He said the findings were a symptom of a much deeper problem, extending from executive leadership down to the most junior employee, and he urged the incoming Metro general manager to use the report as a "road map" for the "overarching safety problem." Rogoff, a daily rider on the Orange and Green lines, said the agency needs "radical restructuring," including "knocking some heads and putting some people on the unemployment line."'

Meanwhile, Metro appoints and introduces its interim GM, Richard Sarles, at Thursday's regular board meeting. Sarles, said board members, 'would keep the transit agency from drifting as it faces unprecedented safety, financial and leadership challenges,' Ann Scott Tyson reports in WaPo. 'Sarles pledged to make safety his "first priority" when he takes the helm at Metro on April 3 amid four investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board into serious accidents---including the June 2009 Red Line crash that killed nine people....Sarles called the string of employee and rider deaths during the past year "unacceptable" and said they have tarnished Metro's reputation. "It's our job to restore that reputation through action," he said at a news conference after his appointment. "We have to show results."' Sarles begins work March 29, one week before Catoe leaves; he will be paid $25,000 a month plus housing and benefits. Also WBJ, NC8, GGW; Metro has posted video of Sarles presser.

ALSO---Sarles: 'Let me be very clear, first, that I am not a candidate for the permanent GM job. I am taking this position as the interim GM because Metro is a vital public transportation system not only in this region but as a symbol for this entire country.'

Aaand...WMATA unveils possible fare hikes and services cuts to be implemented July 1: 'Possibilities include raising the peak period boarding rate up to $5.45, adding a 50-cent surcharge to weekday morning trips between 7:30 and 9 and evening rides between 4:30 and 6, in addition to raising fare during off-peak times to $1.65. Also, rail and bus passes could get more expensive to keep pace with the fare increases. Another proposal calls for an $1.70 MetroBus boarding charge,' Examiner notes. Meanwhile, train headways could increase, stations could close nights and weekends, bike locker fees could 'nearly triple,' and some bus routes could be axed. Metro has set hearings starting later this month. Also Dr. Gridlock, WAMU-FM, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

Race for the Top finalists are named: D.C. makes the cut, Virginia and Maryland do not. WaPo's Nick Anderson and Bill Turque lede with this: 'The Obama administration gave a major lift Thursday to the reform agenda of Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and D.C. charter school leaders, announcing that the District had joined 15 states as finalists in an unprecedented $4 billion contest for federal aid....The District beat out 25 states...with a proposal to "drastically reduce" the number of low-achieving schools, increase standardized test scores by five percentage points a year, and raise graduation and college enrollment rates. The plan would build on Rhee's drive to use achievement data to assess teacher effectiveness, link pay to performance and improve instruction....At stake for D.C. schools is $20 million to $75 million. There is no assurance that the District will win anything; Education Secretary Arne Duncan warned that many finalists will not be winners....The District's finalist status suggests that it will continue to be a prominent venue for educational experiments.'

ALSO---'The District's 189-page application was drafted by officials from the school system, charter schools and the office of the state superintendent of education under the direction of Deputy Mayor Victor Reinoso. These sectors have not always worked in harmony, but Rhee said the application process could be a turning point. "We were pleasantly surprised at how aligned all of our priorities were and how each of the groups pushed each other's thinking," Rhee said.'

DCPS out-of-boundary lottery results were released yesterday, and there are a lot of disappointed, if not outright upset parents out there. One of them is WaPo columnist Petula Dvorak, who writes of the lottery: 'It's an opportunity to pretend that you live in Georgetown or Chevy Chase or Palisades while staying in your crummy little house with high property taxes and no parking. Hooray! More important, it's a chance for many parents to dodge the age-old quandary of whether to put their faith in a struggling school that has been called "up-and-coming" for 10 years, ruin the family finances to pay for private school, or finally give in and trade their urban lives for cul-de-sac living and great public schools outside the city....Parents set up spreadsheets comparing the schools. They had online chats, dinner discussion groups, and meeting after meeting with exhausted school officials. I was up until late Sunday, rearranging the rankings again and again, trying to find the right strategy. The truth, as it showed up at noon Wednesday on the school's lottery results Web site, hurt....Yes, the District has some great schools people are clamoring to get into. But there still aren't enough of them in enough neighborhoods. And a lot of parents are just like me: wary of taking a leap of faith at the not-so-great schools and entrusting them with our kids. Maybe I should start playing Powerball.' For more mishegoss, may LL direct you to DC Urban Moms.

ALSO---'The school that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's kids sailed into last year got a wave of applications. One parent who is 246th on the list to get into Lafayette Elementary lamented that the lottery seems impossible. It seemed so easy for the mayor.'

Former Catholic Charities executive pens scathing letter about decision to cut off spousal benefits to exclude gays, WaPo reports. Tim Sawina, COO until last year, 'called the elimination of spousal health benefits "devastating" and "wrong" in a letter Wednesday to the governing boards of the social service organization....[B]y eliminating such benefits, Sawina said, Catholic Charities is driving current employees to look for jobs elsewhere, handicapping the group's recruitment efforts and losing the respect of the D.C. community. "Some, including the archbishop, have argued that by providing health care to a gay or lesbian spouse we are somehow legitimizing gay marriage," said Sawina, a former priest. "Providing health care to a gay or lesbian partner---a basic human right, according to Church teaching---is an end in itself and no more legitimizes that marriage than giving communion to a divorced person legitimizes divorce, or giving food or shelter to an alcoholic legitimizes alcoholism." The archdiocese responded to Sawina's letter Thursday, calling it an inaccurate portrayal of the Church's position and saying that his appeal to the organization's board of directors would have no effect, because the board can't overturn the archbishop's decision.'

ALSO---Gay marriage FTW: DC Agenda's Lou Chibarro Jr. reports on a couple who are moving from Silver Spring to D.C. because of legal same-sex marriage. 'Kareem Murphy and DeWayne Davis...have been together for nearly 19 years. The two gay men, who are active members of D.C.'s Metropolitan Community Church, said they have been grappling for several years over whether to remain in Maryland or move back to the District, where they lived in the 1990s. "Moving back to D.C. was attractive, but when the marriage issue took off it made the choice between Maryland and D.C. very clear in D.C.'s favor," said Murphy....The couple has placed their Silver Spring house up for sale and is actively looking for a new home in the District.' And, in Agenda column, activist Peter Rosenstein looks at what it all means: 'As my former boss, Rep. Bella S. Abzug might have said to her constituents, "We have come a long way baby and screw 'em if they don't like it." We have come a long way and we owe that to the hard work of so many people. As we celebrate this victory we must also never forget that we still have a long way to go before we in the LGBT community have our full equal rights.'

WAMU-FM's David Schultz examines a fascinating question: Did the planned K Street busway miss out on federal funding because it was K Street? '"There was a rumor-which we were unable to confirm one way or another," says David Alpert, editor of the transportation blog Greater Greater Washington, "But there was some sensitivity about the fact that K Street has a connotation nationwide of being 'The Street of Lobbyists.'" Alpert says the FTA may have been wary of being seen as "giving money to K Street," with its stigma of corruption and influence-peddling.' No comment from FTA, natch.

Harry Jaffe likes what's happening at the post-takeover Anacostia High: 'Under new management for less than a year, Anacostia High appears to be rising from the ashes of its past as D.C.'s worst and most violent high school. Will it succeed in teaching the city's least teachable? Or will it fail, as so many high schools have in the past?...Last year [Rhee] put an end to the lassitude. She put Friendship Public Charter Schools in control of Anacostia High. Its Collegiate Academy, not far from Anacostia High, was turning out young scholars. Why not give it a shot at turning around Anacostia?...Much has changed; much has not. "Now the teachers care more," Melanie says....I ask Hope what percentage of Anacostia students come with the trio's desire to learn. "About 20 percent," she said. If the hybrid Anacostia can educate some of the other 80 percent, it will be a game changer. Let's keep an eye on it.'

Marion Barry tells WaPo's Stewart that, following his long week, he's 'probably going to have a quiet birthday party' for his 74th tomorrow. '"I'm saving the big one for 75," Barry said. It will be a fundraiser for foundations for scholarships, kidney transplants and leukemia, the cause of death of former wife Effi Barry, he said.'

Here's the lede to the Informer's coverage of the Barry censure: 'The recent reprimand of a veteran D.C. Council member by his colleagues has not diminished the support in the ward that he represents....Former D.C. Council member Sandy Allen, who represented Ward 8 from 1996 to 2005, and who attended the event, did not like her former colleagues' actions. "It was sinful," Allen said of the action. "With all the corruption in the city, you single out one person. You call out everybody, not just him."'

IMAGINE THAT---Baltimore Sun editorialist looks to the D.C. Council for a ethical example: 'In what seemed a remarkable demonstration of integrity by an institution often viewed as ethically challenged, the District of Columbia City Council last week finally moved to censure its most famous member, former Mayor Marion S. Barry, for his well-publicized ethical misdeeds....Would that Baltimore's own city council could summon the courage to show the same moral clarity. But instead of standing up for the integrity of their institution, council members here seem more intent on cutting whatever deals they can to advance their personal political agendas rather than upholding principles aimed at ensuring that elected officials conduct themselves honorably.'

Police Chief Cathy Lanier addresses DCPS teacher allegations on WTOP's Ask the Chief. Of the 200-plus incidents catalogued over the course of the 2008-09 school year by school security, 69 were referred to police for investigation, and of those, four arrest warrants were issued. Only one teacher was ever arrested. 'Lanier says police referred another 12 or 13 cases to the U.S. Attorney's Office, but prosecutors declined to pursue charges. "A lot of times in cases like this, it's one person's word against the other. We do the best we can to investigate or sustain one side or the other. But the attorneys have to make the decision whether they can prosecute that case. Just because a warrant was submitted and declined, it doesn't give you any real conclusions."' Also Bill Turque at WaPo, Examiner.

ALSO---Lanier discusses the fate of gun-pulling cop Mike Baylor. 'I am aware that there was some policy violations that were sustained, but that's pretty much the extent of what I can comment on....I don't think this is a termination offense.'

Arrest made in killing of Calvin LaVonne Woodland, younger brother of Calvin B. Woodland Jr., chief of staff to Jim Graham. Graham tells WCP that the suspect is Reginald Rogers, 18. The elder Woodland tells WaPo that 'the suspect and his brother, who both are 18, had known each other since elementary school, but the two were not good friends...."[My brother] and this guy crossed paths and had a fight about two weeks earlier," the elder Woodland said. "This probably was revenge for that fight."' Also Examiner.

IN PRINT WBJ---God forbid: A groundbreaking is set for residential development! Sarah Krouse reports on impending construction for JBG project at 14th and S Streets NW. 'The company acquired the south end of the 1800 block of 14th Street NW when developer Scott Pannick walked away from it in 2008. JBG paid $11 million for the entire stretch between S and Swann streets. The company plans to finish the design on the 120-unit project, which will also include 18,000 square feet of retail, in late spring, apply for permits and break ground in the fourth quarter if it can get financing. That's a big if, JBG officials acknowledge, but say they have talked with several financing brokers eager to get back to business.' Also: Jonathan O'Connell covers council tax break for business affected by H Street NE reconstruction---and potentially on 14th Street NW, too.

Public Charter School Board is set to close the Young America Works Vocational HS, located in Lamond-Riggs, in an emergency meeting tonight, Turque reports at D.C. Schools Insider. 'Board communications director Nona Richardson said the school has been under increasing scrutiny for the last couple of years because of issues with truancy, student safety and poor academic achievement. "It seems evident that the situation is not improving, and given recent incidences of violence and ongoing disruptions at the school, board members felt they needed to act immediately," Richardson said.' See PCSB statement.

ALSO---Mark Lerner interviews new PCSB chair Brian Jones

More on the federal disaster declaration for December snowstorm from WaPo: 'District officials did not provide information on the amount of money they requested, but [Fenty] said in a statement: "We appreciate the Obama Administration's swift decision to reimburse the city for recovery efforts related to the 2009 storm, and are preparing to apply for additional support for the February winter storms."...The declarations cover snow removal, some infrastructure damage, removal of debris and storm-related emergency services. They do not cover losses by individuals or businesses.'

Grandmother of 2-year-old who died after FEMS wouldn't take her to a hospital speaks out to WTTG-TV's Paul Wagner. Also see very good coverage from WaTimes' Matthew Cella and from WUSA-TV's Dave Statter.

Federal appeals panel sends Skyland eminent-domain litigation back to D.C. Superior Court, Legal Times reports.

Late-night D.C. Jail release controversy is covered by NC8.

Cherry blossom peak: April 3 to 8.

WaPo Sports Bogger Dan Steinberg on the council's stumping for the NHL Winter Classic.

Wilson High School is a historic landmark.

Rhee 'office hours' next Thursday at Ketcham ES.

Invites are out for this year's DCBIA awards dinner. Honorees: Allen Lew, Deborah Ratner Salzberg, and Bob Peck.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Housing and Workforce Development agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Employment Services, JAWB 500 [yes, Michael Brown's first hearing as a committee chair]; Committee of the Whole agency performance oversight hearing on Office of the State Superintendent of Education, JAWB 412.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10:45 a.m.: remarks, Potholeapalooza kickoff, 740 Ridge Road SE.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'The Quiet Demise of Marion Barry's Politics'; 'Bennett Report/Barry Censure: Winners and Losers'; full Gay Marriage Day coverage at The Sexist; and tweets galore!

IN LL WEEKLY---Dealing With Marion Barry: Is Vincent Gray a leader or an enabler?'

Morning all. Lots of smiles, lots of tears, and lots of reporters at the Moultrie Courthouse yesterday morning as same-sex couples lined up for their first opportunity to apply for marriage licenses in the District of Columbia. Notes AP: 'Normally, the bureau handles 10 applications a day. On Wednesday it was 151, though at least four heterosexual couples did show up.' WCP's Amanda Hess interviewed many of them. First honors went to Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, and Angelisa Young, 47, partners of 12 years. Notes WaPo editorialist Jonathan Capehart: 'The symbolism is obvious. They are African Americans in a majority-black city. And they are a proud rebuke to those who tried to use black conservativism on homosexuality as a hammer against equality. Gay rights are civil rights. Anyone who thinks differently should take it up with Townsend and Young.' Hear, hear.

AFTER THE JUMP---Lots more marriage coverage; the long road to marriage equality; Barry ponders political life sans committee; Trinity U. prez says Barry's gotta go; feds approve December snow relief; more allegations of FEMS malpractice, resulting in child's death; WHC keeps on firing

MORE MARRIAGE---See Examiner, WaTimes, DC Agenda, Metro Weekly, WRC-TV, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV, Advocate. GLAA Forum notes the 'beautiful sight outside Room 4485.' WAMU-FM asks various couples about their wedding plans. WBJ, NC8, WTTG-TV cover the positive business impacts. WCP, WaPo, DCist, Legal Times have photos.

From WaPo: 'The line to get into the marriage bureau was composed of racially diverse couples of all generations and appeared to include more women than men. By the end of the day, 151 couples had filed to be married, far surpassing the dozen or so applications the bureau typically collects on a single day. Some brought their children or spoke of the importance of their change in status to their sons and daughters.'

From NC8: 'Lots of couples left with cupcakes given to them by the man who had pushed gay marriage through the council, Council Member David Catania. Catania came to greet the couples but was met by an opponent, the Reverend Rob Schenck. "Celebrate love always, but marriage is between a man and woman, only between a man and a woman," said Schenck. Catania replied, "And you know everyone is entitled to their opinion."'

Yesterday's joy followed three decades of preparation, Ann Marimow reports in WaPo: 'Advocates employed an incremental strategy, quietly stacking up rights and responsibilities for same-sex couples to avoid soliciting an outcry from Congress....Soon after President Obama was elected in 2008, [Catania] saw an opening to take what he called the "necessarily bold" last steps. With Democratic majorities in Congress, Catania, who is gay, thought the marriage measure's chances were best before the 2010 election cycle or near the end of Obama's first term. Catania started meeting with advocates in December 2008 about introducing same-sex marriage legislation but initially agreed to hold off so as not to interfere with the District's effort in Congress to gain voting rights in the House of Representatives. By last March, Catania and Mendelson were working to modify legislation that would have recognized same-sex couples married in other states as domestic partners to instead validate couples as "married." The recognition bill was essentially to test congressional reaction.'

HIZZONER---Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's statement: 'The District has taken a historic leap forward, becoming a more open and inclusive city in which all residents can thrive. Congratulations to the all District couples who are committing themselves to one another under the eyes of the law. I wish you each a long and fulfilling marriage.' He also discussed the matter on WRC-TV this morning.

***

Marion Barry's post-censure existence is examined by WaPo's Nikita Stewart. '[T]he former four-term mayor shrugged it off, outlining how he can remain effective as a council member despite his lesser rank. "When you know more, you can do more. I'm not braggin'," said Barry, 73, who sat for an interview in his office while eating a chili turkey dog from Ben's Chili Bowl---with a knife and fork.' Stewart gets at the dirty little secret about taking Barry's committee away from him: He didn't do all that much with it, anyway. 'Privately, council members and aides assailed Barry's performance as committee chairman, questioning whether he pushed enough legislation on job creation, rent control, and other housing and employment issues. Legislative records show that Barry-authored bills out of those committees were often slow-moving or never made it to the full council for a vote....When asked to name his most significant legislative accomplishment through the committee, he said: "I don't know. There are so many."' Barry points to the opening of the Camp Simms Giant as an accomplishment---a deal primarily negotiated by the Anthony Williams economic development team.

ALSO---Barry stopped in at yesterday's pre-fight press conference for the Floyd Mayweather-Shane Mosley bout. ('The MC then reintroduced "the honorable Marion Barry." A writer turned around to his friend seated next to me. "Honorable?" the writer said. "That's…questionable."') Bruce Johnson reports at WUSA-TV that Michael Brown 'has told Barry's [committee staff] he won't fire anybody for the next thirty days. After that he will be making changes.'

Examiner's Michael Neibauer looks at why federal prosecutors are likely to punt on Barry's case: 'Prosecutors are cautious of pressing charges despite Bennett's detailed accounting of Barry's alleged misdeeds. A law enforcement source told The Examiner that a successful public corruption case would be difficult with a lead witness, [Donna Watts-Brighthaupt], who has publicly contradicted herself and is still seen with the former mayor on occasion....Barry, 73, has always been a slippery target, from his 1990 misdemeanor drug conviction---he was charged with three felony perjury counts and 10 counts of misdemeanor drug possession---to his 2007 acquittal on drunken driving charges. Last year, prosecutors insisted that Barry go to jail for failing to pay his taxes. He walked away with probation.'

WaPo columnist Robert McCartney trots out the old black politics vs. new black politics shift in looking at the Barry sanctions, saying the 12-0 vote 'contained an important unspoken message, especially from a rising generation of African American leaders based in the predominantly black, eastern half of the city: Step aside, old fellow, and clear the way for a new kind of politics....The most important thing about Tuesday's vote was its unanimity. The resolution...was supported even by black council members who said their constituents adore Barry. "They love him unconditionally," said [Yvette Alexander], who had perhaps the toughest vote as the representative of the other ward east of the Anacostia River, in addition to Barry's. "For the record, I love Marion Barry, too," she said. "But you have to take action when you see something wrong....We have to start really stating who we are and what we stand for," she said.'

McCARTNEY'S QUESTIONS---'[W]hat will the council's new emphasis on improving the city's ethical standards mean for Fenty? Gray said the council wants to step up its investigation into the executive branch's handling of more than $85 million in parks and recreation contracts. By the end of this week, it plans to name a special counsel, on a pro bono basis, to do the same kind of extensive, rigorous inquiry of those contracts that special counsel Robert S. Bennett did of Barry. "At the end of the day, we ought to be able to feel like we have had as thorough an investigation of the DPR contracts as we did of ourselves," Gray said.'

Trinity University President Patricia McGuire on her blog: 'Marion Barry should now do the right thing and resign from the DC Council. Over the years, his actions not only tarnished his once-golden reputation as a civil rights champion, they also damaged the reputation of the city, undermining DC's ability to gain full political rights. Barry's misdeeds have continued to stoke the twisted view that citizens of this city cannot govern themselves.'

CLICK---Nate Beeler's Examiner cartoon: 'How do you solve a problem like Marion?'

***

Do check out Chris Lewis's WCP cover feature this week on the demographic and cultural split over the preferable moniker for the city's easternmost environs: 'The residents of Wards 7 and 8 have long used a simple term to describe where they live. "East of the river" is the refrain, a way of explaining one's position vis-à-vis one of the city's principal fault lines—the Anacostia River. These neighborhoods have a lot of great architecture, ever-growing commercial amenities, some fab views of the city, and easy access to downtown. Yet there's a constituency of folks who don't like what "east of the river" connotes, and they've created an organization in part to address the matter. Members of "River East Emerging Leaders"—note the lower-case, hipoisie-appeasing acronym "r.e.e.l."—have a new name for the place they call home. For these people, it's "River East." ...In the District at-large, "River East" may be catching on. The Examiner and the blog "Greater Greater Washington" have both already used the term to refer to the region, as has 2010 mayoral candidate Leo Alexander. But back in Wards 7 and 8, many residents shudder at the notion of "rebranding."'

Jonetta Rose Barras, in a snappy Examiner column, says the council that regularly accuses the Fenty administration of being 'lawless' is guilty of hypocrisy. Exhibit A: Jim Graham 'took to task the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs for using what he called a "totally ambiguous general building code" to issue six tickets---$500 each' for not clearing snow from sidewalks. Exhibit B: Tommy Wells and Kwame Brown's attempt to rescind President's Day snow emergency parking tickets. 'It's election year. Everyone's reading polls and analyzing favorability ratings. I get that. But, the council, which creates local laws, shouldn't attempt to undermine those local laws because it receives telephone calls from irate citizens or business owners, who might be voters or campaign donors....There already is the perception that D.C. is fast becoming a lawless municipality, where elected officials and their agents do whatever they want, whenever they want. Fixing tickets from inside the council chamber would have only underscored that impression.'

ATTENTION HARRY THOMAS---The Obama administration has declared the District eligible for emergency aid to pay for the original, December snowpocalypse. Reports WaPo: 'The federal funds are expected to cover 75 percent of the amount spent by the District for eligible expenditures...The statement said the city and some nonprofit organizations can collect federal funds for tasks such as snow assistance and repair of facilities damaged during the Dec. 18-20 storm. The money can also be used to pay for "protective measures, including snow assistance" during a 48-hour period around the storm.'

AP's Jessica Gresko covers Congress's new hands-off attitude toward D.C.: 'Congress still must OK the D.C. budget and it can veto laws the City Council passes, though that's rare. And despite some optimism early in Obama's administration, [Eleanor Holmes Norton] still can't vote on the House floor, though she can introduce bills and vote in committees. But cracks in congressional control have started to appear. For the first time in recent memory, Congress didn't attach any restrictions, called "riders," when it approved the city's budget in December....And though Congress could have killed a gay marriage bill passed by the D.C. Council, federal lawmakers allowed it to become law without weighing in.'

FEMS is reviewing its handling of a case where a 2-year-old with breathing problems wasn't immediately hospitalized and later died. Theola Labbé-DeBose reports in WaPo: 'Emergency responders went to the 800 block of Southern Avenue SE shortly before 5 a.m. on Feb. 10, department spokesman Pete Piringer said. Paramedics arrived minutes later, and the toddler was evaluated but not taken to a hospital....About nine hours later, a 911 call was received from the same address for a child with breathing problems. The child was taken to Children's National Medical Center, where she died the next day....Several emergency workers who responded to the call have been placed on administrative leave while the review is underway.' Other news outlets---WUSA-TV, NC8, WTTG-TV---identify the girl as Stephanie Stephens. Also WTOP.

Dorothy Brizill has exhaustive coverage of the People's Counsel nomination saga in themail this week. Vicky Beasley has been disapproved by the council, but now what? The council voted 11-1 (with Muriel Bowser opposing) to allow Betty Noel to continue serving in the post after her scheduled March 10 departure pending the appointment of a replacement, but word is Fenty intends to appoint an acting replacement. The question: Will Fenty sign the bill, or will another legal standoff ensue? Also: Activist Pete Tucker details how Beasley's confirmation was derailed.

Examiner's Bill Myers covers tax break worth $5M passed Tuesday by the council: 'Without dissent, the council approved an emergency measure that grants a tax abatement to Steuart Investment Co., owner of the lot at the corner of Third and H Streets Northeast. The tax break is designed to help the Chevy Chase developer build a high-rise building with shopping, restaurants and apartments or condos....In the fall, Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi warned the council against the legislation because the city---facing nine-figure budget gaps---can't afford it. The legislation was championed by [Wells], who represents H Street. The Steuart development, he said, "is the linchpin to the revitalization of H Street." "H Street, since the riots of 40 years ago, has been a street noted by chaos, disorder, drug sales," Wells told The Examiner. "The street is really rebounding, but it takes investment and city help."'

Washington Hospital Center fires eight more employees for no-showing during the February blizzards, Theresa Vargas reports in WaPo, though three of 16 previous fired were taken back on. 'Hospital President Harrison J. Rider III announced in a letter to staff members Wednesday---just days after he acknowledged the first round of firings---that after a review of employees who did not make it in during the record-breaking snowstorms that hit the region between Feb. 5 and Feb. 11, it was concluded that 15 nurses and six members of the support staff should be terminated....Representatives of the nurses' union, Nurses United of the National Capital Region, said they remain "mystified" over the firings. At least two of the terminated nurses had more than 30 years experience at the hospital.' WaPo letter-writers, meanwhile, are up in arms. Also WTTG-TV.

WaPo's Bill Turque follows up his blog post on Hardy MS with a full B-section story.

ALSO---Turque reports that D.C. health data doesn't meet standards for a major CDC school health report. 'It turns out that the response rate for the District survey, overseen by OSSE...last February and March, was just 36 percent---far below the 60 percent required by the CDC....When properly collected, the survey results---which track trends in violence, sexually transmitted diseases, drug and tobacco use and other risky behaviors---are used by local officials and non-profit agencies to make policy and target resources. OSSE's poor performance means that the District will be working off data collected in 2006 (for the 2007 survey) until 2012, when information collected in 2011 is available.'

Mary Cheh takes issue with WBJ reporter Jonathan O'Connell's conflation of her apparent conflict of interest with Barry's much more serious actual wrongdoing: 'Cheh correctly points out that she has not been found to have broken any ethical or conflict of interest rules, not to mention any laws, and there is no reason to think she will benefit financially from the development deal. She found the mention alongside Barry unfair, saying, "It's a cheesy linkage and a misleading linkage of me to the allegations of Mr. Barry."'

SURPRISE---Poll of about 100 D.C. Chamber of Commerce members finds that about half 'say the February snowstorms that hit Washington had a significant to disastrous negative impact on their business,' WBJ reports. 'There was no shortage of blaming the city's response to the snowstorms in the Chamber's poll either. Nearly 30 percent of those members polled rated their level of satisfaction with the District's snow removal operation as complete dissatisfaction, ,while 50 percent said they were at least moderately dissatisfied. Only 2 percent said they were completely satisfied.'

D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute implores the council to look a revenue-raising when balancing the FY2011 budget: 'There has been a lot of talk from the Mayor and Council about needing to examine our expenditures closely for savings....DC's leaders haven't given the same level of scrutiny on the revenue side. Now would be a good time to take a serious look at the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes lost each year by the District from credits, deductions and exemptions from taxes. Many of these have been on the books for decades, with no one checking to see if they are still effective or needed.'

ALSO---A FY2011 budget forum is set for March 8 at the Sumner School featuring CFO, DCFPI, and council reps.

DCmud notes that the mixed-use project slated for 14th and W Streets NW---a redevelopment of the Anthony Bowen YMCA---is stalled indefinitely. LL, whose pad is a half-block away, looks forward to walking past a vacant lot for the foreseeable future.

Legal Times on the latest Robert Wone case filings. WMRW? notes that defense is claiming two of the three defendants weren't properly Mirandized, raising the possibility that subsequent questioning is inadmissible.

National Catholic Register covers Archdiocese of Washington employee benefits saga---complete with lots of scare quotes around 'marriage'!

Woman is sexually assaulted Sunday morning in Burleith home; Georgetown students worry, NC8 reports, though WTTG-TV says the victim wasn't a student. This, they add, was not the 'Cuddler.'

Police say they've solved a 2007 Adams Morgan murder, but the suspect has long since fled the country.

DDOT puts the kibosh on reversible lanes on 15th Street NW between K and Massachusetts.

Is Emergency No Parking system unconstitutional? Yes, says libertarian!

Sweet AdMo parking deal.

Howard Theater marquee damaged by wind.

Speaking of libertarians, here's a libertarian perspective on DCRA. It ain't pretty: 'If you think you're state is bureaucratic, try working in D.C. It is really a government among governments.'

Race to the Top finalists to be announced today.

Gilbert speaks.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Human Services agency performance oversight hearing on Children and Youth Investment Trust Corp., JAWB 412; Committee on Health agency performance oversight hearing on Department of Health Care Finance, JAWB 500; Committee on Government Operations and the Environment agency performance oversight hearing on Office of Employee Appeals and Department of Human Resources, JAWB 120; 2 p.m.: Committee on Human Services hearing on B18-547 ('Adoption Reform Amendment Act of 2009'), JAWB 500.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10 a.m.: remarks, National Cherry Blossom Festival opening press conference, Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'D.C. Council Votes to Censure Marion Barry'; 'The Bennett Supplemental Report, For Your Perusal'; 'Catania Moves to Cap Health Insurance Rate Hikes'; 'The D.C. Council, In Peeps'; 'Council Set to Censure Barry, Strip Committee Chair'; and tweets galore!

Morning all. Marion Barry scheduled his annual State of the Ward address weeks before anyone knew when exactly attorney Robert S. Bennett would deliver his scathing report or when the D.C. Council would respond to it, yet the speech would come just hours Barry's colleagues handed him unprecedented sanctions. So perhaps it was appropriate that the event took place at a church, because a higher power couldn't have set it up any better for Barry. At least 200 supporters gathered in the pews at Matthews Memorial Baptist, first to listen to Pastor Matthew Hudson, who before anointing Barry with oil said: 'Don't you think you can be the councilman of east of the river Ward 8 and not get in trouble. Let me tell you, the position is trouble.' Then Barry rose and gave a largely unscripted speech, taking a page out of Whitney Houston's greatest hits at one point: 'They may take my committee chair, but they can't take my dignity.' How'd the crowd take it? Fabulously, of course, but one upstanding Ward 8'er, Eugene DeWitt Kinlow, rendered a different opinion on Facebook: 'Just leaving Marion Barry's State of Ward 8 event. What a tremendous waste of time.'

AFTER THE JUMP---Complete Barry aggregation; WaPo editorial praises Gray; in other legislative business; SCOTUS won't stop gay marriages, couple line up at Moultrie; free pizza, cupcakes for couples; Metro taps ex-New Jersey Transit chief for interim GM; Mendo, Thomas pick up early labor endorsements; Hardy MS parents lay into Rhee

MORE BARRY---Coverage of the council proceedings from Examiner, WTOP, WAMU-FM, WRC-TV, NC8, WUSA-TV, and WTTG-TV. And WAMU-FM, NC8, and WUSA-TV covered Barry's speech.

GETTING PERSONAL---The lede to WaPo's A1 story, by Nikita Stewart and Jonathan Mummolo: 'D.C. Council member Marion Barry, at times slumped in his seat, pleaded with fellow Democrat Muriel Bowser, reminding her that he had known her since she was 7 years old. He appealed to Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, recalling their 35-year friendship, filled with intimate conversations. Once the city's most powerful politician, Barry dropped his usual defiant tone in Tuesday's council meeting, where he was reduced to calling on longtime friends to save what's left of his stature. "You don't want to be known as the person who took Mr. Barry's due process away from him," Barry told Gray. "You're too good a person. I know you better than that. I love you. You're my friend. You got caught up."...After the council meeting, Gray (D) was reflective and said in an interview that he did not mind Barry's mention of their longtime friendship. "You were looking at a man who's given 40 years of service to the city. He wanted to make the best case he could," Gray said. "He was appealing to everything he possibly could."...Bowser (Ward 4) said she had heard Barry tell the story of meeting her as a child before, but she was stunned that he shared the recollection on the dais Tuesday. "I was very perplexed. . . . I don't know. I don't know what to say," she said in an interview. "I feel very sad about it, but I think the process was fair."'

THE GRAY LADY---Ian Urbina's NYT piece: 'In another twist in a long and troubled career, Councilman Marion S. Barry Jr., the former mayor of Washington, was unanimously censured and stripped of his committee chairmanship by his Council colleagues on Tuesday in response to corruption accusations. The Council also formally recommended that federal prosecutors investigate the accusations. The decision comes after a Washington lawyer, hired by the Council, concluded that Mr. Barry had misused public money and violated city conflict-of-interest laws by securing a $15,000 contract for an on-again, off-again girlfriend.' Urbina notes that Barry's 74th birthday is Saturday

CLICK---Today's WaPo A1

The WaPo editorial board praises the council for '[s]tanding up to Mr. Barry.' Barry, it writes, 'tried every tack as he sought to persuade his colleagues on the D.C. Council not to sanction him. He said he had broken no laws, claimed he was being treated unfairly, attacked the investigators and---in a final, emotional appeal---cited the history he shares with many on the dais. It was clear, though, that his council colleagues finally had had enough....The somber mood befitted the seriousness of the situation and was in keeping with the sure leadership displayed by Mr. Gray as he steered the council through uncharted waters. Mr. Gray recruited a top-notch investigator, gave him complete autonomy and had the resolve to follow through....[F]or all Mr. Barry's protestations about being railroaded, there were 11 other council members taking a stand that no matter how popular you are or what you think you have contributed, there are consequences for wrongdoing. At last, Mr. Barry came face to face with them.'

WaPo's Courtland Milloy atones for Monday's column with a look at Barry in his dotage: '[H]is winded and rambling defense of indefensible behavior made it painfully obvious that the war has taken a toll. At 73, Barry should be enjoying life as a wise elder, not appearing to have failed once again to turn hindsight into insight, let alone foresight.' In a interview, Milloy questioned Barry on women: 'Love is very fleeting with me and I don't know why...Whenever I get that feeling---I call it my emotional buy-in---I want to hold on to it so badly. The next thing I know my judgment is clouded. I'm seeing things that aren't there and not seeing things that should be obvious. And just like that, it's gone.' Adds Milloy, 'You got the impression that Barry still fancied himself as the mayor---"Emotionally, it's lonely at the top, very lonely," he said at one point---and that he had somehow mistaken [Donna Watts-Brighthaupt] for a first lady.'

Examiner's Harry Jaffe offers some rare praise for Gray: 'It was not easy for Gray; it took guts, preparation and organization. He had to enforce a unanimous vote against Marion Barry, the most popular political figure in D.C. history. And he got it....Gray's demonstration of resolve and command of the council do not bode well for Fenty. Having stared down Barry, he is empowered. No doubt there will be more calls for Gray to challenge Fenty for mayor, but the city would be better off if Gray stayed put and ran a legislature that kept the mayor in check, whoever that might be.'

A little context from WBJ's Jonathan O'Connell: 'Barry is not the only council member to muddle himself recently in conflicts of interest when doing city business. Some may recall that Councilman Harry Thomas Jr., of Ward 5, drew an investigation from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance last year after allowing a member of his staff to testify in support of zoning changes for an EYA project, even though his staffer also heads a nonprofit, the Ward 5 Business Council, that Thomas founded and that looks to both his earmarks and EYA for funding. Councilwoman Mary Cheh of Ward 3, meanwhile, held a roundtable — and voted twice — in support of legislation offering city property and incentives for a $193 million project to build two office buildings and a new fire station in Southwest last year. One of the equity partners in the deal is The Strategy Group of D.C, headed by Claire Bloch, who is none other than one of Cheh's top campaign aides from 2006.'

ALSO---Georgetown Metropolitan passes on some Jack Evans comments at the ANC 5E 2E meeting Monday: 'I hate to say this about one of my colleagues, but every time Marion Barry does crazy things it feeds right into Congress' view that he could be elected mayor again and "God forbid if they had control over their affairs what could happen then?" I was talking with Northrop Grumman about relocating and his name came up, and that's a problem.' Former WaPo reporter Allan Lengel, now proprietor of TickleTheWire.com. says it's time for Barry to go.

IN OTHER LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS---The council voted to reject a billboard deal with Clear Channel that would allow massive, movable signs to be placed on downtown buildings (check this VotH article for much excellent background). Also approved was emergency legislation allowing hotels to make exceptions to the smoking ban for yearly special events. The initial vote failed, but Evans swung the votes of Barry and Yvette Alexander on reconsideration. Smokefree DC is not pleased. A David Catania-sponsored bill to cap health insurance rates passed despite last-minute lobbying. Parks reprogramming survives after flood of e-mails. Millicent Williams is confirmed as HSEMA chief; Vicky Beasley is not confirmed as People's Counsel.

***

Gay couples started lining up at the Moultrie Courthouse shortly after 6 a.m. this morning to be among the first to apply for marriage licenses on this, the first day of legal same-sex marriages in the District. 'Scores' are expected, WaPo writes, and AP reports that at least 50 couples were in line as of 8:30. The first, per AP: 'Sinjoyla Townsend, 41, and her partner of 12 years, Angelisa Young, 47, claimed the first spot in line just after 6 a.m. They are already domestic partners in the city, so they are converting that partnership into a marriage license. "It's like waking up Christmas morning," Young said. "It's really like a dream come true."' Also WRC-TV, NC8, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

A last-ditch appeal by opposition forces failed, when Chief Justice John Roberts declined to stay the law's implementation. Robert Barnes reports in WaPo that Roberts wisely let the local courts do their job: 'Roberts said that the issue is still being considered by the D.C. Court of Appeals and that it is not the time for the Supreme Court to get involved. "It has been the practice of the Court to defer to the decisions of the courts of the District of Columbia on matters of exclusively local concern," Roberts wrote...."[T]he D.C. Court of Appeals will have the chance to consider the relevant legal questions on their merits, and petitioners will have the right to challenge any adverse decision through a petition for certiorari in this Court at the appropriate time."' Also Legal Times, DC Agenda, AP, Metro Weekly, Jurist.

ALSO---U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly tosses another gay marriage case for lack of standing, Legal Times reports. WTTG-TV covers the boon to the local marriage industry. AP's Jessica Gresko looks at the role of the black church in pro-SSM advocacy. If you're in line, David Catania would like to hand you a cupcake. Free pizza to the first same-sex couple to bring their license to Pete's Apizza.

The onset of legal gay marriage has some couples pondering how to proceed, Michael Laris reports in WaPo: 'As couples consider this first chance in the District to get licenses and, after a three-day waiting period, get married, many are trying to figure out how official recognition might fit with their years or decades of personal commitment. Many are focused on the ritual and ceremony, or rushing relatives into town, or the legal fine print. Some are thinking about how to make it in and out of the courthouse with dignity but without drawing klieg lights to their careers. Others are balking, pulled between the pride they might feel and frustration with their employers in the federal government who, by law, would continue to withhold crucial federal health and retirement benefits to their partners even after they were legally married.'

'DO NOT underestimate the significance of this day,' writes the WaPo editorial board, referring, of course, to the day that same-sex marriages became legal in the District of Columbia. 'It is a day of celebration for the gays and lesbians who have pushed for recognition of their relationships. It is also a day to mark the progress society has made....That [local politicians] held together despite vocal opposition and court challenges from many quarters speaks to their commitment to fairness and equality for all of their constituents....[W]e believe that the tide of history is moving...toward a recognition that gays and lesbians, no less than heterosexuals, are entitled to sanctify their love in marriage, and that society will be better off when that right is universally extended. Those seeking to exercise that right in the District are expected to overwhelm the system Wednesday. The media will tell and retell their stories. Over time, though, it is our hope and expectation that gays and lesbians marrying the one they love will be unremarkable as a spectacle and normal as a rite.'

Catholic Archbishop Donald Wuerl tells WaPo that Catholic Charities' decision to 'avoid offering benefits to same-sex spouses of its workers is justifiable under Catholic teaching as long as the employees are paid a just wage. "The Catholic Church teaches to pay a just wage. The compensation package you use to pay that just wage isn't defined by the church," Wuerl said during an interview with Washington Post writers and editors. "Employers have the right to frame compensation packages. . . . At the end of the day, Catholic Charities is here serving the needy, after the law has passed, in complete conformity with the law."...Wuerl said Tuesday that he was pained by perceptions that the church was threatening to walk away from services for the poor. He and his supporters say the council was to blame for not creating legal exemptions for faith-based social service groups.' Also: HuffPo picks up the story.

TODAY---WCP's Amanda Hess will be at the courthouse today; follow her at The Sexist and @TheSexist. WaPo is doing some Twitter tracking.

***

Metro has identified an interim general manager: Richard Sarles, former chief of New Jersey Transit, is expected to be tapped by the WMATA board on Thursday for a term that could extend to a year. Ann Scott Tyson and Lena Sun report in WaPo: 'If voted in by the board, Sarles would lead the troubled agency as it faces crucial safety and budgetary issues....Sarles would have to navigate complex politics, lobbying local jurisdictions and facing an unprecedented push from Congress and the Obama administration for increased federal oversight....[Chair Peter Benjamin] said board members recruited Sarles because he had two key characteristics they wanted in an interim general manager: "Somebody who knows transit well and can step right in and do the job, and somebody who will not be a caretaker, who will be an assertive and aggressive leader of the organization because we have a lot of issues we have to tackle, starting with safety."' Benjamin tells Examiner that Sarles is a 'top-level executive' who would be 'very heavily focused on safety.' He is not, at this time, a candidate for the permanent job, Benjamin says. Also WTOP.

SARLES' RECORD---From WaPo: 'From 2007 until January, Sarles headed New Jersey Transit, which has 11,000 employees and a combined capital and operating budget of nearly $3 billion a year...Sarles retired from that position after a new governor took office in New Jersey, appointing a new transit executive. But Sarles remains an employee of New Jersey Transit. Sarles previously headed the agency's capital program for five years, and spent 20 years at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He has an engineering degree from Cooper Union and a business degree from Rutgers University. Sarles gained a solid reputation after pushing through the start of construction on the $8.7 billion Hudson River tunnel in 2009, to increase commuter train traffic to and from New York. He was also known for keeping fares constant despite the loss of more than $60 million in state funding last year, cutting costs and staff instead.'

ALSO---The board 'appointed Jack Requa, Metro's former acting general manager, to head Metrobus...Requa was Metrobus chief when [John Catoe] became general manager in 2007. But after three Metrobus accidents that year, which resulted in four pedestrian deaths in a span just greater than a month, Requa was moved from bus chief to another executive position overseeing operations support.' Also WBJ.

Phil Mendelson, Harry Thomas Jr. win early labor endorsements---among the first major endorsements of DCision 2010. Says Metro Labor Council President Jos Williams: 'Labor has candidates in Ward 5 and the At-Large D.C. City Council race in the September Democratic Primary....No one else need apply. I cannot think of any two elected officials in our jurisdiction who deserves our support more than Harry and Phil. Against all odds they have defended workers---union and non-union alike---without regard to retaliation from the Fenty administration. These are two warriors for working families in the District of Columbia.'

SWDC blog passes on reports that the Southeastern University campus has been sold to GS Graduate School, with an official announcement to come next month. Blogger wants to know: What happened to the $1.5M the city sent to SEU for renovations shortly before its demise? 'Where did the money go? What kind of a plan created infrastructure that requires an engineering study (not an interior decorator) and may be better off demolished? Where was the oversight and where is the accountability?'

WaPo biz maven Steven Pearlstein explains why it's a bad idea for local governments to pony up for Northrop Grumman: 'These testosterone-filled contests are never really about money so much as pride and ego and political bragging rights. By the time the competition ends, the benefits from winning have been pretty much bargained away and everyone comes off looking rather silly....For the District, which is looking at a $200 million budget shortfall next year, getting into this bidding war is particularly loony. Virginia and Maryland officials can argue at least that the winner of the headquarters sweepstakes would collect income taxes on all those highly compensated executives, even if they commute home elsewhere. That's the way the tax system works in most places, but not in the District...[I]t would take decades for the District to recoup the $24.5 million that the mayor and D.C. Council have offered Northrop over the next 10 years. District officials are also kidding themselves if they think the accountants, engineers and retired generals who run the defense industry are going to give serious consideration to moving their headquarters to the still largely vacant neighborhood near the new baseball stadium. These are not hip, young, urban pioneers we're talking about---and in any case, they're likely to be Dodger fans.'

NEW IN WASHINGTONIAN---'Adrian Fenty: His Own Worst Enemy?' by Harry Jaffe. From online excerpt: 'I introduce myself and tell them the mayor is about to arrive. I ask what they think of Fenty. "Speaking as a person of color," one says, "I don't think he's doing a lot of things he should be doing."...The nation's capital is in the midst of sometimes wrenching change, but Fenty doesn't deserve all the blame—or the credit. DC has added 30,000 new residents in the last decade, 10,000 in the past year. Many are white; many are moving into traditionally black neighborhoods. The Thomas Crenshaws see themselves on the losing end. African-Americans behind deli counters, in law offices, at bus stops, in community meetings, and inside Langston Bar & Grille offer the same assessment. "He has no special affinity for black folks," says Antonio Roberson, who owns the bar. "He's a little too vanilla right now."'

WaPo's Bill Turque covers a contentious meeting of parents at Hardy MS: 'There are early signs that the lingering feud over Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's decision to replace [principal Patrick Pope] may be driving away the very families she sought to attract with the leadership change: those in the "feeder" elementary schools in Northwest D.C....[A]ccording to school data, applications filed with the school for admission to the sixth grade---the school's entry level---have declined sharply: from 162 at this time last year to 30 as of Monday morning. More striking is the number of applications they said have been received from the approximately 150 fifth grade families families at its official feeder schools, Hyde-Addison, Key, Stoddert and Eaton: zero. Last year about 35 percent of fifth graders from the feeders entered Hardy, most of the rest opting for Deal, Washington Latin charter school or other charters or parochial schools.' Turque interviews feeder parents who say that, indeed, the turmoil has kept them away. WTTG-TV has video of the meeting.

New public school code of student conduct is examined by WAMU-FM's Kavitha Cardoza: 'Some education advocates say this will help students, especially those in charter schools, understand their rights. Victor Reinoso, deputy mayor for education, says these regulations will spell out a minimum standard of expectations. "With so many charters and even with D.C. public schools over the years, individual schools got to different places," he says.'

Registration begins for summer jobs program, DCist notes: 'The D.C. Council took care of their Marion Barry problem earlier this afternoon, so now it's time to turn our eyes toward something else that always has the possibility to be a debacle for the city: the start of the Summer Youth Employment Program season.' No word if Hizzoner plans to stick to the council-mandated $20M, six-week program or find the money for more.

Examiner's Barbara Hollingsworth covers UDC foster care symposium, calls for less government intervention in parenting. 'Law students of University of the District of Columbia professor Matthew Fraidin...discovered that 40 percent of the District children taken into foster care could be returned to their families within a week; 60 percent within three months. "That's more than enough time to do enormous emotional damage," said Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform, at an eye-opening, soul-searing symposium on foster care at UDC. "It's almost certain that you never needed to tear that family apart in the first place."'

The vacant-property tax rate 'clearly isn't working and D.C.'s vacant-property tax is up for debate once again,' Tierney Plumb reports in WBJ. So Muriel Bowser and Jack Evans 'have introduced separate bills and are working together on a set of proposed amendments....Under the old Class 3 approach, the vacant rate was $5 per $100 of assessed value. A new Class 4 tax rate of $10 per $100 assessed could also be added, which would cover blighted properties only. Exemptions could also be reinstated, to cover vacant properties that are being renovated or sold.'

More on potentially faulty drunk-driving prosecutions: A defense attorney explains to WAMU-FM's Jonathan Wilson just what could happen. 'Jason Kalafat...says the attorney general-the office tasked with prosecuting these violations-needs to throw out Driving While Impaired charges because they rely specifically on the Breathalyzer score. That still leaves Driving Under the Influence-a similar law that takes into consideration field sobriety tests and details from the arresting officer, like slurred speech and bloodshot eyes...."In the District of Columbia, if you're Breathalyzer score reaches .2 or above, the stature requires a mandatory jail time under the statute," he says. "Because of the errors with the machines, the attorney general's office is not able to pursue that mandatory jail time."'

MPD is looking to make greater use of reserve officers, WaPo's Clarence Williams reports. 'The plan is called the Reserve Corps Focused Initiative. Officially scheduled to begin March 19, it will spread dozens of part-time, volunteer officers into districts across the city, said Cmdr. Richard Southby, head of the Reserve Corps. "We'll have an increased police presence throughout all the districts," said Southby, an Australian native who has volunteered as a D.C. police officer for 20 years.' Weekend party districts are prime territory for deployments.

Roll Call: 'About 300 black police officers are hoping to file a class action lawsuit against the Capitol Police, more than eight years after they originally filed individual discrimination lawsuits against the department....The cases have been dragging on since 2001, when former Capitol Police Lt. Sharon Blackmon-Malloy initiated the lawsuit in her capacity as president of the U.S. Capitol Black Police Association. Blackmon-Malloy's claim — along with that of the other officers — is that the department has a long history of discriminating against black officers, with superiors creating a hostile working environment and denying promotions to qualified black officers.'

Did you know? Bishop Harry Jackson's Hope Christian Church has started holding Sunday morning services at E Street Cinema downtown, Lou Chibbaro Jr. reports at DC Agenda, and that has some gay activists seething. 'Landmark Theaters, owners of E Street Cinema, told DC Agenda that it could not "refuse service" to the church and was obligated in this instance to rent space to Hope Christian Church....Timothy Daniels, a gay D.C. resident, has called the statement unacceptable and created a Facebook group promoting the boycott of E Street Cinema....But Rick Rosendall, vice president of the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, said it would be a mistake to boycott or penalize E Street Cinema for renting space to Jackson's church. He noted that he and other activists would likely speak out against a boycott. "The E Street Cinema is a public accommodation and cannot discriminate on the basis of religion," Rosendall said. "The same Human Rights Act that protects us protects Bishop Jackson and his followers."'

Second arrest is made in January murder of gay man Gordon Rivers, Chibbaro reports. 'Police identified the second suspect as 22-year-old Anthony Hager of Temple Hills, Md., and said he was arrested Feb. 25. It follows the Jan. 28 arrest of 17-year-old William Wren, who was charged as an adult. The killing, on the 2600 block of Naylor Road SE, appears to be the result of a botched robbert, police say.

Latest Robert Wone case filings from WKRW? Defense contends semen found on corpse was result of natural postmortem processes, not foul play.

Pedestrian struck and killed early Tuesday on 9th Street at Brentwood Parkway.

Public Service Commission approves Pepco rate hike, effective before month's end. (See PSC press release [PDF].)

Fenty to VeloNation on Giro: 'It's a tremendous opportunity for the country as well as the District to show the world what we have to offer.'

Yet more on the snow melter.

Kwame Brown pays visit to fellow camping out for Haiti relief.

Fire last night at BlackSalt restaurant in Palisades.

Robert Bobb's now pulling in $425K in Detroit.

The last Trover shop will close.

DCRA's Mike Rupert: Another Gov 2.0 Hero!

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs agency performance oversight hearing on Office of the People's Counsel, Public Service Commission, and Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking, JAWB 500; Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary agency performance oversight hearing on Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission, Judicial Nomination Commission, Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure, District of Columbia National Guard, Office of Victim Services, Justice Grants Administration, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, Criminal Justice Coordination Council, and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, JAWB 412.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10:30 a.m.: remarks, modernization unveiling, North Michigan Park Recreation Center, 1333 Emerson St. NE.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'Action on Marion Barry Could Be Delayed, Gray Says'; 'Bennett: Barry Didn’t Challenge the Facts'; 'What Should Happen To Marion Barry? A Survey of Ward 8 ANC Commissioners'; 'Ron Moten, Aspiring Media Mogul'; and tweets galore!

Morning all. This afternoon, sources indicate, the D.C. Council will, in an unprecedented move against one of its own, vote to censure Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry, strip him of his committee chair and his seat on the finance and revenue panel, and recommend that federal prosecutors investigate his misdeeds. This would mean that Chairman Vincent C. Gray and fellow legislators are throwing the book at Barry---a thin paperback, given, but still about the strongest sanctions available to them. Nikita Stewart writes in WaPo that the actions 'could severely reduce [Barry's] authority and extend his legal troubles,' and Bruce Johnson reports at WUSA-TV that they are being pursued in spite of Barry's last-minute protestations to Gray. Barry's excuses also didn't work on investigator Robert S. Bennett, who noted in his supplemental report released yesterday that Barry told him nothing 'that alters the conclusion that Mr. Barry's conduct not only created an appearance of impropriety, but was in fact improper.' (Also WTOP, WRC-TV.) But after it's all over, Barry will traipse back to Ward 8, where he will be greeted by an adoring crowd, and he will deliver his State of the Ward address. The beat goes on.

AFTER THE JUMP---WaPo wants to know if Fred Cooke's getting paid; in post-gay marriage D.C., Catholic Charities decides not to offer employment benefits to spouses; council offers free pass for snow-parking scofflaws; Wone defendants want separate trials; Michelle Rhee's 'fire in the belly'

WHITHER BARRY'S COMMITTEE?---WaPo: 'The resolution is expected to include approval of Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) as the new chairman of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development, now headed by Barry, council sources said....Brown, a freshman with the least seniority, does not chair a standing committee...."Clearly, he has a historical perspective I don't have," Brown said of Barry. "The thing about politics is you never know what's going to happen until you get on the dais." Brown, who said he would consider "bringing one or two people" from Barry's staff "for transitional purposes and continuity," served as interim chairman while Barry recovered from a kidney transplant in February 2009.'

The WaPo editorial board, meanwhile, calls out Barry's consigliere, Fred Cooke, and demands to know whether he's getting paid for his oft-needed services. '[G]iven Mr. Cooke's role as a lobbyist seeking to influence legislation, more information should be provided....Neither Mr. Barry nor Mr. Cooke would answer our inquiries as to whether Mr. Cooke is being paid for his services and, if so, how much....The public has a legitimate interest in knowing whether Mr. Cooke is being fairly compensated for his services (he told us his normal rate is $350 to $450 an hour). Mr. Barry's financial hardships have received widespread publicity; his council salary has been subjected to garnishment to settle tax debts. D.C. law requires council members to disclose annually all gifts with an aggregate value of $100 or more received from any entity transacting any business with the District. Mr. Barry has filed five statements with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance, and none of them lists any gifts....The high-profile role that Mr. Cooke plays in city politics makes disclosure all the more important.'

The Archdiocese of Washington has come up with a solution to their gay-marriage 'problem'---that is, how to provide employment benefits to spouses of married employees without having to recognize same-sex couplings yet still enter into contracts with the D.C. government. That solution, as first reported by WCP's Amanda Hess, is to simply not cover any spouses at all come tomorrow (though previously covered spouses will be grandfathered in). Writes Catholic Charities CEO Ed Orzechowski in an employee memo: 'We sincerely regret that we have to make this change, but it is necessary to allow Catholic Charities to continue to provide essential services to the clients we serve in partnership with the District of Columbia while remaining consistent with the tenets of our religious faith.' Also WaPo, which quotes Orzechowski: 'We do not anticipate any further changes whatsoever....Taking the action we have on foster care and spousal we feel has addressed everything the new law requires of us.'

Hey look! A selective exemption to the smoking ban benefiting big hotels and the hoity-toity dinners held there. Michael Neibauer reports in Examiner: 'Legislation authored by Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans would provide an exemption "once a year for one day for the purposes of hosting a special event which permits cigar smoking." Any hotel with banquet space for at least 500 could apply, and hotel employees must be allowed to opt out of working the event without penalty.' Immediately benefiting from legislation expected to be adopted today: The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, 'a social organization for the area's Irish upper crust' of which Evans is a member.

Speaking of selective exemptions, Tommy Wells and Kwame Brown are looking to nix snow emergency parking tickets handed out on President's Day, Feb. 15, because of 'poor notice.' In other words, ignorance of the law is now an excuse. Blackstone rolls in his grave.

Gay marriage opponents make last-ditch appeal to Supreme Court to stay D.C. weddings. It's unclear on what grounds SCOTUS might intervene; same-sex couples can apply for licenses starting Wednesday. WaPo notes the preparations underway at the Moultrie Courthouse for an expected rush of couples, including the hiring of staff. 'Also tweaked: the final pronouncement of "husband and wife." Now judges will proclaim, "I now pronounce you legally married," unless the marrying couple suggests something different.' Also NC8, WRC-TV. Looking for someone who's not a court employee to do your wedding? Try this guy.

ALSO---Hopefully, this isn't won't jinx anything. 'How We Won,' by Rick Rosendall: 'The seeds of this victory trace back to 1975, when Cade Ware, Frank Kameny, and Craig Howell of the Gay Activists Alliance (as it was then called) gave the first testimony before the D.C. Council in favor of same-sex marriage. In 1978 -- responding to Anita Bryant’s successful anti-gay campaign in Dade County, Florida the previous year -- Jim Zais, Mayo Lee, and Bill Boggan launched a successful effort to bar D.C. ballot measures in which people would vote on other people’s rights. Our long journey to equality included everything from Human Rights Act protections to sodomy law repeal. But it was not just policy victories that brought us here. Gay folk of all colors and backgrounds have deep roots in Washington. We have helped build and enrich our communities. Our opponents underestimated the strength of those roots, crying "Let the people vote!" as if the people had not elected our overwhelmingly pro-gay legislature.'

The three men facing charges in Robert Wone's death have asked Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz for separate trials, Keith Alexander reports in WaPo. 'In the filings by their attorneys, the men said they wanted separate trials because police interrogated each man separately and, as a result, they said they have the right to be tried separately.' Hearing will come March 12.

More city AIDS funding problems reported by WaPo: 'The District's troubled HIV/AIDS Administration is scrambling to correct dozens of billing and record-keeping deficiencies discovered at Washington area medical clinics that draw federal AIDS funding. Federal monitors found last summer that some of the programs did not appear to be tracking fundamental information about AIDS patients, such as lab tests, medications and infection levels. Monitors also said in their report that clinics might have paid their bills by improperly tapping federal funds set aside for low-income AIDS patients without insurance. If the lapses are not corrected, monitors could ask for the federal money back.'

City renews lease on Penn Branch service center---a move 'that will keep a D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles office in the shopping plaza for the next 10 years and provide the revenue needed for the owners to begin a more than $5 million rehab of the property,' Jonathan O'Connell reports in WBJ. 'David Stern, principal of developer ICG Properties, said the city had agreed to a 10-year, 30,000-square-foot lease for the center’s office space. “It’s fully done. It’s just out for signatures right now,” Stern said.' Best part: No tax breaks! Meanwhile, UDC is set to lease space at 801 North Capitol Street for community college classrooms.

ALSO---Radio One might still move to D.C., just not to the planned Shaw development they were expected to anchor. Says company statement: 'Radio One believes that there are more cost-effective options for our corporate headquarters, especially given the decline in rents and widespread availability of commercial real estate. With numerous opportunities in all local jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia, Radio One is confident it can achieve its goals of relocating the company’s operations, including the operations of TV One, to an office building with reasonable occupancy costs, easy access for employees and ample parking.'

Michelle Rhee is 'fearless and has the fire in the belly,' says former SecEd Margaret Spellings to the WaPo editorial board, via Bill Turque on his blog. She added: 'If [Fenty]'s re-elected, I think she's here to stay and coming on.' Spellings, Turque notes, 'is a long-time Rhee booster who supported her appointment as chancellor while in the Bush cabinet. Last year, Fenty chose a Spellings lieutenant, former assistant secretary of education Kerri Briggs, to become D.C. State Superintendent of Education.'

Delivery driver, 46, is robbed and stabbed on 200 block of 15th Street SE in East Hill, NC8 reports. 'Employees at the Gourmet Express at 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue in Southeast blocks away from U.S. Capitol confirm the victim is one of their drivers. They told us his family lives in New York and that he is still in the hospital. According to the police report, someone called for a delivery at 213 15th Street. When the driver arrived, two men attacked him and robbed him of $1,100 cash and stabbed him. Two witnesses, who would not speak with us on camera, said the suspects ran away. The delivery driver stumbled into the street and collapsed.'

March 20 will be Polite Day in the District of Columbia, thanks to Harry Thomas Jr.'s ace legislating, Joseph Weber reports in WaTimes: 'Mr. Thomas...will rely first on churchgoers in his district to spread the word about Polite Day and hopes the message will reach community groups, then blossom across the city to include public servants and politicians. "Were going to try to be the beacon of hope and bring the rest of the city together," he said. "That's why I did a citywide resolution."'

The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute rallies against a pair of tax-break bills slated to be considered at today's council meeting. One benefits OTO Development, a company associated with Blockbuster Video mogul Wayne Huizenga. '[A]t a time when city leaders are telling us to tighten our belts more than a few notches, and threatening to trim programs that help youngsters and our most vulnerable residents, should hotel and shopping mall investors like Huizenga be moved up to first in line for DC taxpayer dollars?'

WaPo's Petula Dvorak chronicles homeless District teens' visit to the White House: 'Kristina Richbow, 17, was stunned by all the space the Obama girls must have for their things. She's about to lose most of her possessions. Baby pictures, yearbooks, stuffed animals -- everything Kristina couldn't fit under her cot at the homeless shelter was placed in a storage unit when her family lost its home in a foreclosure....She was one of 15 teens from a District shelter who went to the White House for a day-long field trip that included bowling a few sets on the president's lanes and nibbling on crab cakes at the Occidental Grill next to the Willard hotel. I thought it might be cruel, taking kids whose families are homeless to the grandest home of all. But it turned out to be an uplifting, poignant day.'

Do check out Kavitha Cardoza's WAMU-FM series on teen pregnancy in the District. Part 1: 'In Washington, D.C., in 2007, the last year for which statistics are available for Washington, 1,075 babies were born to teenagers here. A baby is difficult for any new mother. For these teenagers it can be overwhelming. And although dropping out of high school will probably lead to a bleak future, many of these young mothers do exactly that.'

Washington Teacher's Candi Peterson reacts to DCPS communications chief's solicitation of council testimony. She'd prefer it if you'd told everyone regardless of their feelings about the chancellor, thank you very much. ALSO: Peterson passes on the story of an anonymous teacher reportedly forced out through IMPACT.

Metro puts kibosh on Fort Totten raccoons.

WashCycle looks at how snow response can improve for cyclists.

Gales School RFP deadline extended again.

Handy guide: 'How to Move in D.C.'

Ex-Ward 8 council candidate Charles Wilson gets 3-Minute Interviewed by Examiner.

AMERICAblog's Heroes of the Month are 'The DC City Council and Mayor Fenty' thanks to their gay marriage leadership: 'To this outside observer, the story of DC is the story of promises kept. Progress there has seemed steady and unwavering, and it has calmed the nerves of activists throughout the country (although it may not have been so calming for John and Joe). DC’s plan was methodical, politically astute and focused on the long term.'

DDOT's John Lisle: A 'Gov 2.0 Hero'! Awesome!

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: 28th legislative meeting, JAWB 500.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10:30 a.m.: remarks, opening of registration for 2010 Summer Youth Employment Program, Allen House, 3760 Minnesota Ave. NE.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'Map of D.C. Property Assessments'; 'DCPS Announces Snow Make-Up Days'; 'Gay Couples: Prepare to Get Hitched!'; and tweets galore!

Morning all. How will the D.C. Council deal with one of its own? That is a question that will begin to be answered this morning, as Chairman Vincent C. Gray takes reporters' questions on his response to the Bennett Report. WUSA-TV's Bruce Johnson is already reporting that Marion Barry will face what will likely be unanimous votes to censure him, strip his committee chairmanship, remove him from the finance committee, and refer the case for criminal prosecution. The pundits are weighing in, too: Jonetta Rose Barras demands strong action: 'The peripatetic politician should be kept away -- off the council dais, out of the John A. Wilson Building and away from other government facilities. He has demonstrated a propensity to abuse the electorate repeatedly and indiscriminately.' WaPo columnist Courtland Milloy, however, subjects Barry today to the same chickenshit moral equivocation that's shielded him from consequences for years: 'Barry has been steadfast in raising the issues of poverty and joblessness. And the hearings that he has held on those issues frequently highlight an immorality far greater than what he has been accused of....If Barry did take a kickback from his girlfriend, they say, it didn't result in somebody's death. So why should he face censure when those who stole [city AIDS money] got away clean?' Fine, Courtland, but can you name a single thing Barry's done in his legislative career to address that 'immorality' besides pay it lip service?

AFTER THE JUMP---WaPo front-pages the Fenty racial divide; DDOT chief calls for new mega-snow plan; hundreds of DUI cases at risk due to faulty equipment; appeals court refuses to stop gay marriages; Washington Hospital Center fires employees who didn't show during snow; judge orders Skinner to appear before council

MORE JONETTA---'How many times have residents heard Barry's mea maxima culpas?...After his crack cocaine arrest he took to the pulpit of Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast, confessing an addiction to alcohol, prescription drugs and sex. Later, congregants from that church organized a caravan of cars and buses that traveled to the federal prison in Pennsylvania to bring Barry home -- as if he were a returning hero. In his last term as mayor, when he reportedly relapsed, Union Temple once again came to Barry's rescue, serving as backdrop for yet another quasi-apology....Last week, Barry apologized, again -- at Union Temple Church, again. Aren't the folks there tired of being used?'

ANOTHER DEFENDER---Jerome G. Miller, the federal receiver who ran the city child welfare system from 1995 to 1997, steps up in a WaPo op-ed to defend Barry from the 'unctuous prattling' of the media and his colleagues. Because some 'freewheeling conversations, arguments and debates' he had with Barry in weekly meetings about child welfare 'had nothing to do with "deals," political or otherwise,' the mayor-for-life, Miller concludes, is a swell guy. 'I found the mayor always well-informed on the issues, articulate and deeply committed to making the kinds of changes the situation clearly demanded. Frankly, in retrospect he was greatly more helpful than most in the passing parade of mentors, monitors, faux child advocates and "class-action" principals (talk about "self-aggrandizement"!), so many of them ready to relieve the District of hundreds of thousands of dollars in their continuing quest to ensure that no basic reform ever occurred.' Duly noted. Nowhere does he address Barry's actual misdoings, past or present---citing only his empty empathy that's too rarely translated in any sort of action to improve the lot of his constituency. A weak defense, but perhaps the best that can be mustered.

THE MECHANICS---Courtesy of Dorothy Brizill and Gary Imhoff in themail: 'It’s bigger than Barry....In order to hold a vote of censure, the council will first have to amend its rules of organization and procedure...to give itself the right to censure a member, and that will require it to formulate general requirements and conditions for censure. In formulating those requirements and conditions, the council must not tailor them just to fit Councilmember Barry or the specifics of his case. It has to write them with enough generality that they will fit misconduct and improprieties, personal or financial, by any of its members....That will put many of them at risk for their actions regarding earmarks and personal service contracts that up to now been commonplace.' LL thinks what's more likely is that the council drafts no guidelines, at least before tomorrow, and subjects Barry to a 'sense of the council'-type wrist-slapping.

The Fenty racial divide is exposed on WaPo A1 this morning by Ann Marimow and Jennifer Agiesta: 'While the mayor's approval rating has dropped throughout the city, nowhere are his numbers more troubling than in predominantly black wards 7 and 8. The divide between how whites and blacks view Fenty has much to do with the gap between expectation and experience, and the view among many African Americans that the mayor is insensitive to their needs and more aligned with the wave of gentrifiers who are diluting the District's longstanding black majority. Many African Americans expected that their political and emotional chemistry with Fenty during his 2006 campaign would carry over to his governing. But the relationship has eroded over a string of events during his tenure, leading many blacks to conclude that Fenty is out of touch, that he does not understand their concerns. They point to the selection of few black Cabinet members, bad relations with city unions, the high rate of unemployment east of the Anacostia River and his public snub of poet Maya Angelou.' Among the disaffected: Former police chief Ike Fulwood, who 'thought that Fenty, the son of a black man and a white woman, would pull together newcomers and longtime residents like him. "The city is now more divided than ever before. That's the biggest disappointment."' Also weighing in are Kevin Chavous, Bernard Demczuk, and Lawrence Guyot, who notes that unions 'have been targeted for destruction in a very systematic way that cuts into the whole history of how blacks have advanced.' See infographic, too.

ADRIAN VS. TONY---'The negative sentiment toward Fenty also stems in part from expectations that as a young black man and a native Washingtonian, he understood the city and its people in a way that his bow-tied predecessor, Anthony A. Williams, a child of Los Angeles, did not....Like Fenty, former mayor Williams struggled to overcome the perception that he was indifferent to residents east of the Anacostia even as he initiated development in Ward 8, such as a $27 million arts and recreation center and thousands of apartments, many for low-income families. There were different expectations for Williams, though, a fiscal manager who never came across as a grass-roots populist.'

FENTY RESPONSE---'Fenty made it clear in a brief interview that he did not want to discuss racial politics or the implications of the city's changing population....Fenty pointed to the city's nearly $80 million investment to shore up United Medical Center in Ward 8 and a $5.9 million grant for the hospital to serve uninsured residents. His office provided a 95-page compilation of news releases and charts, highlighting the administration's support for projects in wards 7 and 8. Among them: the funding and preservation of more than 3,175 units of affordable housing since he took office; $187 million to overhaul 57 schools; plans to open four more libraries; and the rebuilding of three recreation centers.'

The first official examination of the city's response to Snowpocalypse 2010 came Friday in front of Jim Graham's transportation and public works committee. There, Nikita Stewart reports in WaPo, DDOT Director Gabe Klein told councilmembers that '[W]e need...a different plan. A contingency plan. A major storm plan.' But planning alone would not have fixed the lack of suitable equipment: 'The city has a supply of plows that were too large to squeeze through streets crammed by snow and ill-parked vehicles, he said. "There were, unfortunately, instances of plows hitting cars," Klein said....The city owns fewer than 10 small heavy-duty plows, Klein said, and contracted 56 more to help with snow removal. In the future, the city might want to prohibit cars from parking on both sides of a residential street, Klein said, adding that it would have to weigh limiting parking against snow removal.' WRC-TV and Examiner focus on uncleared sidewalks; the latter notes that Klein pledged 'the purchase of a new truck that will suck and melt the snow.' (You mean, like the snow melter that the District already has? The one spotted in action by a WRC-TV viewer last week at the old convention center parking lot?) Also WTTG-TV, DCist, and TheCityFix.com, which had probably the most detailed write-up.

PLOW-IT-YOURSELF?---From WaPo: 'Kathy Henderson, a former Ward 5 advisory neighborhood commissioner, praised the city's overall performance but said there should have been a plan for staffing during the storm. Henderson said she hated to wake up a driver asleep in his plow to tell him to get to a certain missed block "after your catnap." She said residents who have been certified or trained to operate such equipment, including her, should be identified for emergencies. "I'd be willing to plow some streets," she said.'

Hundreds of drunk-driving prosecutions could be imperiled by faulty police equipment, as first reported by WRC-TV's Pat Collins and subsequently picked up by Examiner, WaPo, NC8, WTTG-TV, WTOP, WAMU-FM. As many as eight of 10 Intoxilyzer 5000 machines used by MPD may have been miscalibrated or otherwise malfunctioning, an internal audit found; pending DUI/DWI cases have already been withdrawn from the courts, and cases dating back to October 2008 may now be in question. OAG is investigating; Cathy Lanier says, 'It's disappointing in some sense but I'm happy we caught it and happy we caught it when we did.' Says defense attorney David Benowitz: 'I think this is going to open up a flood gate of appeals motions for new trials. There are people convicted who did jail time on what appeared to be flawed scores.' Another attorney, Stephen Mercer, is calling for an independent review of the matter. The Intoxilyzer brand has been subject to questions before, notes DUIattorney.com.

INSIDE MPD---'Some police officers told The Examiner that that top brass kept them in the dark about the machines' accuracy problems even while drunk driving cases were routinely being dropped. On Thursday night, after The Examiner began making inquiries into the matter, a top police official sent out a copy of the Fenty administration's statement on the matter. Police union Chair Kris Baumann said Attorney General Peter Nickles and Fenty have "basically given drunk drivers in this city a free pass." "They need to understand the severity and the magnitude of the problem," Baumann said.'

D.C. Court of Appeals refuses to stay the District's gay marriage law pending appeal from pro-referendum forces. Which means, barring unlikely congressional intervention, gay couples can start applying for marriage licenses on Wednesday. Also WaTimes.

WaPo Sunday A1, above the fold: Washington Hospital Center, Theresa Vargas reports, 'has fired 11 nurses and five support staff members who failed to make it to work during the back-to-back snowstorms that paralyzed the region earlier this month. Dozens of staff members at [WHC] face internal investigations, union representatives say, and it is unclear how many employees will lose their jobs. On Friday, the nurses union, Nurses United of the National Capital Region, filed a class-action grievance with the hospital. "I see it as so unfair and uncaring," said Shirley Ricks, a 57-year-old nurse who has spent her entire career at the hospital. "That's it. You call in one day in the biggest snowstorm in history and you're out. No ifs, ands or buts about it. . . . You go from getting a salary every two weeks to nothing. It's scary."...Geri Lee said she received two pieces of mail this month that represent the highest and lowest moments of her 31-year nursing career. One was a thank-you card from a woman who credits Lee with saving her son's life. The other was a letter of termination from the hospital that informed Lee she was fired for "gross misconduct." Lee said she showed up at the hospital for her Feb. 11 shift prepared to stay the night. But when her shift ended Friday morning, she said she didn't see a need to stay because the snow hadn't started falling. She went home to Silver Spring. The next day, Lee, 54, said she tried for an hour and half to get out of her neighborhood before calling the hospital to say she could not make it in. That night, she was placed on indefinite suspension. Six days later, she received a termination letter.'

WHC STATEMENT---E-mailed to employees: 'Sadly, we did experience some issue with associates who did not show the same commitment as most of their co-workers to the community, our patients and their fellow associates. They are the few who turned away from their scheduled shifts and who tried -- and are still trying -- to turn the focus on themselves rather than the thousands of Washington Hospital Center workers who fulfilled their commitment to their patients and colleagues, and made it to work.'

New property assessments are released: The city tax base has dropped about six percent from last year (before appeals) with commercial property accounting for the bulk of the decline. East-of-the-river communities were hit hardest, due to high rates of foreclosures, OTR says. Only a small handful of neighborhoods, all in Wards 2 and 3, saw a rise in residential assessments. (LL has the geographic breakdown, complete with map.) Stewart notes in WaPo that the assessment dips may actually translate into higher tax bills for 'about 22,000 homeowners [who] have benefited from tax-relief programs, including a homestead deduction and a senior citizen tax break....The D.C. Council approved legislation last year that requires homeowners to pay on at least 40 percent of a property's assessed value. That will lead to [a] $345 average increase.' But the real threat to your tax bill in fiscal 2011 is going to be the tax rate, not the assessments; a residential property tax hike is going to be on the table to close the gaping 2011 budget hole. Also Examiner.

The genesis of the city's current overspending woes is examined by Examiner's Michael Neibauer. To wit, the Fenty administration's struggle to implement wildly ambitious FY2010 revenue and spending targets: '"There were promised initiatives that were going to save millions of dollars, and halfway through the fiscal year they haven't done squat," said at-large Councilman Phil Mendelson....In the case of traffic fines, for example, the timetable to expand automated traffic enforcement has been delayed to the end of the fiscal year...In the adopted $5.4 billion fiscal 2010 budget, traffic fines were projected to generate $108 million, but Gandhi revised that figure down by $18 million....Also in the adopted budget, the contract for inmate health care at the D.C. Jail was to be restructured to better reflect a lower average daily population, saving $2.1 million. But no changes were made and the Department of Corrections now expects to spend $29.7 million on inmate care, roughly $10 million more than its budget.'

Also from Neibauer: 'The Public Service Commission has directed Verizon, AT&T and other providers of local exchange service to stop the practice of DNP -- disconnection of basic, regulated local telephone service for failing to pay for a non-regulated service such as long distance, or in some cases wireless. DNP, the commission concluded in its order, is "unreasonable and contrary to the public interest. ... If a customer is making payment sufficient to keep its local service account current, including any taxes and fees, then local service should not be disconnected."' Says Verizon: 'This move only benefits those customers who chose to game the system by not paying their bills, knowing that they will get a free ride.'

Calling them a 'political addiction,' the WaPo editorial board calls on the D.C. Council to end earmarks for once and for all. 'No earmarks were included in this year's budget because of the Barry controversy and tight finances, but it's clear that there is still an appetite on the council to be able to steer funds to favored groups. [Yvette Alexander], for instance, insisted that the needs of her ward couldn't be met if not for the work of some nonprofits. Without question, many of the grants benefit legitimate groups that do worthy work, but the earmark process, as spelled out in the Bennett report, is troubling. Most originate from informal connections with council members. There is no competitive process, no uniform application procedure and precious little oversight. Most troubling is that there is no incentive for council members to oppose, or even scrutinize, another's earmarks because of an "I'll support yours, you support mine" mentality....It's clear [that] band-aid reforms can't fix a system that is beyond repair.'

A D.C. Council subpoena is in fact worth a damn, it turns out: Sinclair Skinner has been ordered to appear before the council parks-contracting investigation committee on March 24, Nikita Stewart reports at D.C. Wire, after Superior Court Senior Judge Stephen F. Eilperin 'found that Skinner has avoided appearance despite "numerous formal and informal efforts" by the council to get him to testify.' He faces $5,000+ in fines if he doesn't show.

What happens to the Radio One headquarters deal without its principal partner? Kwame Brown has an idea, Jonathan O'Connell reports in WBJ: Use the precious city debt now earmarked for the Shaw project to finance a Costco deal. '[W]ith Radio One pulling out, Brown proposes moving the TIF into the Costco deal, with developer Trammell Crow Co. and Fort Lincoln Realty Co. Inc. The city's debt limit would not likely be affected. "There is some money there — some savings there — that can be transferred over without messing with the debt cap and can be transferred to Costco," Brown said.' Still, DMPED and Jack Evans both want to give the Shaw developers more time.

Will Metro make David Gunn's findings public? The former Metro GM and transit veteran 'is tasked with giving Metro leaders guidance as the agency grapples with deadly safety concerns, dropping ridership and a major budget crisis in the midst of a leadership vacuum,' Kytja Weir reports in Examiner. But Gunn will give his report to the WMATA board behind closed doors. Says chair Peter Benjamin: 'We want to get the unvarnished truth....He's got to be able to say stuff about individuals and the agency that have legal and personnel implications that shouldn't be public.' But transit advocates, including Sierra Club and GGW, want as much to be made public as possible.

ALSO---Metro has reversed its decision to fire Art in Transit director. 'Michael McBride, who oversees Metro's Art in Transit program, was among 46 employees laid off Feb. 18,' Weir reports. 'But e-mails flew among board members last week once they learned that McBride, head of the two-person art program, was among the cuts.' And Metro will spend $3.4M on safety upgrades for old rail cars---rollback protection (long ago ordered by NTSB) and new door safety systems.

Keith Alexander notes in WaPo that Superior Court Room C-10---aka arraignment court---will be undergoing renovations for about a year, which means that defendants' initial appearances will moved to the much smaller Room 201. This raises security concerns: '[A] greater number of family members and friends of victims and defendants will be spilling into the hallway outside the courtroom, which is already crowded with individuals waiting outside other courtrooms that handle drug-abuse cases and child-support hearings.' More security will be posted. Also, a single magistrate, Karen Howze, will now oversee the courtroom, rather than a rotation.

Legal Times' Jordan Weissman totals up all the attorney fee requests made by MPD officials' private lawyers in the Pershing Park cases. The tally: $1.53M and counting. Assistant Chief Peter Newsham 'has been represented since the beginning of the case by Deso & Buckley partner Robert Deso. In billing requests dating back to Oct. 2003, the firm has received $767,000 in fees and costs....Former police chief [Charles Ramsey], who plaintiffs have alleged was in fact responsible for round-up order, has been represented individually in the case since 2005 by Vinson & Elkins partner Mark Tuohey. For work dating back to December 2006, the firm has received $764,000.'

Harry Jaffe looks at the new downtown D.C.---young, rich, and bustling. '[W]hat were empty streets running through vacant office buildings are now bustling with people hitting clubs, eating at fine restaurants or taking in a game or a show at the Verizon Center. The downtown transformation didn't just happen. It took people like Terry Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations to advocate, jostle and change the way the city was growing....In 1985, from his offices in the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Lynch started to lobby for the "living downtown." In 1990 he argued before the D.C. Zoning Commission that the city should designate a 100-square-block area east of 15th Street NW, as a mix of office, retail, arts and housing. With the support of then zoning commission Chairman Tersh Boasberg, he changed the zoning regulations. Then Abe Pollin built his arena on Seventh Street, a block south of Chinatown. Restaurants opened. Movie theaters. Clubs. Shops. More apartments and condominiums.' All they need now is a supermarket.

WaPo education columnist Jay Mathews weighs in again on the IMPACT teacher evaluation system instituted by DCPS. 'I have written four columns so far pointing out what appear to be weaknesses, including dubious benchmarks of good teaching and inadequate training. But I am also getting a sense that many teachers like the new system. It is far from ideal, but it is also the best evaluation system they have ever participated in, they say....The evaluation system could fail for many reasons. What happens to teachers who don't meet the standards will be crucial. But many smart people like what they see so far. Columnists and union presidents, along with everyone else, ought to wait for results from the classroom before we make up our minds.'

Telling remark from POTUS, doing introductions at a Sunday event: 'A champion on behalf of D.C. statehood — or at least voting rights — Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton. (Applause.)'

WaPo's Ovetta Wiggins on the Brookland ArtSpace Lofts, affordable housing for artists now under development: 'The project will involve razing Brookland Studios, the warehouse where artists rent work space, and constructing a four-story building with 41 housing units and underground parking....Heidi Kurtze, director of property development for Artspace Projects, said the nonprofit organization has been working with the District on the project since 2006...."The Fenty administration truly believes that the arts is an engine for economic growth," Kurtze said. The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development is providing $10.4 million in stimulus funding and $1 million in 9 percent low-income housing tax credits on the 57,000-square-foot project.'

AARP studies local seniors who are part of 'aging-in-place' networks: 'In some graying neighborhoods, residents have banded together and paid a yearly fee for social activities and access to a network of volunteers, or vetted contractors who can help them with tasks such as rides and computer help....The AARP chose to study the District because, except for San Francisco, the region has more of these villages than any other area in the country: about 15 operating or in development in the District, Maryland and Virginia.'

Best comment yet on Metro control board threat, from WaPo reader: 'I can't imagine why, but four members of the U.S. Senate charging the Metro board with "institutional failure" brings to mind pots and kettles.' Also in WaPo letter: 'The $7.4 million that the D.C. Council wants to give to Northrop Grumman would be better invested in a competitive grant program to assist local entrepreneurs whose business ideas will serve the community in innovative and sustainable ways.'

Marquis Wade, 20, was gunned down Saturday night on the 300 block of Parkland Place SE, where Wade lived. No details yet from police.

These guys robbed the Florida Avenue Burger King last Tuesday.

Two construction workers tumble 30 feet off scaffold at the Georgetown Safeway site Friday morning. Paul Duggan reports for WaPo: 'The men, who are brothers, suffered “serious but not life-threatening injuries” shortly after 9 a.m. when the wind gust shook the scaffolding and the two lost their balance, Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer said....Piringer said the men, whose names and ages were not immediately available, plunged into a ditch and were briefly trapped before being extricated by firefighters. Some debris and equipment for the scaffolding fell on top of them, Piringer said. He said they were taken in ambulances to a hospital.'

Also Friday: 'Twenty-nine students at the private Lab School in Northwest Washington were taken to hospitals Friday morning, most of them for precautionary reasons, after someone apparently discharged a canister of pepper spray in the campus’ high school building,' WaPo reports.

Northeast church whose roof collapsed in snow has copper pipes looted.

DCPS snow make-up days announced: LL has 'em, and if you don't trust LL, try WaPo.

Teacher-blogger Guy Brandenburg fails to see any correlation between test-score performance and DCPS principal replacements. 'In my blog entries over the past few months, I have shown how lots and lots of Rhee’s claims are totally at variance with reality. I am beginning to think that there is something dangerously wrong with the mentality of Michelle Rhee. She has told SO MANY LIES, and in such a bold and utterly confident manner, that it’s really scary. (And the mass media has fallen for almost all of them, without researching the truth behind any of them.)'

John Kelly on parking meter hikes: 'I don't think 7 1/2 minutes has been so expensive since Eliot Spitzer decided to order room service. Well, what can you do? If you gotta park, you gotta park. And at least we can rest easy knowing that the money is going to a good cause: Marion Barry's girlfriends.' Also: If you're curious about Poona Court NW...

Bloggers react to Gabe Klein WaPo profile---pro and con. (A WaPo letter writer goes so far as to accuse Klein of 'hypocrisy' for driving a car once in a while.) ALSO---Reaction to the DDOT 'action agenda' from WashCycle, Richard Layman.

Cold case: Barbara Jean Dreher has been missing since Aug. 12, 1984.

The D.C. Council's war on dry cleaners.

Pepco profits sink.

U Street audio tour now available.

'The Forgotten Washington Race War of 1919'

As of yesterday, you're paying more for your Metro rides.

This February was 'one of the snowiest and one of the coldest in the city's weather history,' WaPo says. No kidding. The final DCA snow total was 32 inches.

Dr. Frederick C. Green, public-health advocate who pushed District leaders to recognize the dangers of lead paint, is dead at 89.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---9 a.m.: Committee on Government Operations and the Environment agency performance oversight hearing on Office of the Secretary, Office of Partnerships and Grants, District Department of the Environment, Contract Appeals Board, and Executive Office of the Mayor, JAWB 500; 10 a.m.: press briefing, JAWB 412; 11 a.m.: Committee on Economic Development agency performance oversight hearing on Washington Convention Center and Sports Authority, Destination DC, and Boxing and Wrestling Commission, JAWB 412; 1 p.m: Subcommittee on Taxicabs roundtable on PR18-662 ('District of Columbia Taxicab Commission Paul Cohn Confirmation Resolution of 2009'), PR18-663 ('District of Columbia Taxicab Commission I.Raj Pahwa Confirmation Resolution of 2009') and PR18-664 ('District of Columbia Taxicab Commission Ralph Burns Confirmation Resolution of 2009'), JAWB 120.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---No public events scheduled.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'City Property Assessments Drop by 6 Percent'; 'D.C. Property Assessments By Neighborhood'; 'D.C. Repubs Find Typo in Bag Bill'; 'University High: A Lesson in How Not to Start a Charter School'; 'Is Det. Michael Baylor's Snowball Case Still Pending?'; and tweets galore!

TUNE IN---LL will be appearing today on The Politics Hour With Kojo Nnamdi, 12 p.m. on WAMU-FM, 88.5.

Morning all. Reaction to Marion Barry's woes continues to roll in. Both WJLA-TV and WTTG-TV did pieces yesterday on increasing doubts among Barry's constituency regarding his leadership. Says one resident, Earl Hawkins, 'It's just too many things are coming up one after the other. It just kind of looks bad for us over here.' Barbershop owner Ronald Shepard says, 'I don't feel like it would be bad to have some new blood in, you can't always get a pass from the past.' Last night, the executive committee of the Ward 8 Democrats met at Players Lounge to determine what response, if any, the Bennett Report's findings demands. The group's president, Jacque Patterson, tells LL this morning that no consensus has yet been reached. "It's a very contentious issue," he says. The Advoc8te, FWIW, is not pleased with the Dems' leadership thus far.

AFTER THE JUMP---Why Barry should stay; new assessments show 6 percent drop in tax base; Metro makes mid-level managers at-will in safety move; new recycling regs would mandate plastic/cardboard separation; Radio One pulls out from Shaw development deal; Giro looks like a go

And now for the counter-intuitive take, from Harry Jaffe, who has 'Ten reasons to keep Marion Barry in office.' Here's a few of the best: 'Barry still often comes off as the smartest, most well-versed, quickest member of the city council....Barry's institutional memory is deeper and wider than anyone's now in the government. Having used and abused the system for decades, he knows how it works....Barry is often the only city council member who will advocate for poor folks....Democracy is an imperfect process, but voters have elected Barry time after time....He makes some of his colleagues look good, in comparison....Barry is good copy.' Good piece from Jaffe.

CHECK IT OUT---Examiner cartoon by Nate Beeler

ATTENTION LANDED GENTRY---Property tax assessments are being mailed today, and aggregate data has been released. Citywide, assessed value is down 6 percent, with commercial property driving most of the dip. City property tax chief Richie McKeithen appeared on WTTG-TV this morning to talk about the new numbers; check City Desk today for updates.

On WRC-TV yesterday morning, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty again got grilled on snow. He didn't make any apologies for his snippiness on last week's appearance. Asked to give himself a grade for his administration's snow response, he declined: "That's the job of people every election cycle."

At yesterday's WMATA board meeting, directors voted to move 160 mid-level Metro managers to 'at-will' employment status 'in what officials described as an effort to improve safety at the troubled transit agency,' Ann Scott Tyson reports in WaPo. Previously only 75 top managers (out of 10,000 total employees) could be fired without cause. A Metro statement said the move 'is meant to increase accountability across all levels of management and supervision for the safety of employees and riders. Also at the meeting: Examiner notes that details on the imminent fare increases were nailed down---they start Sunday morning---and incoming chair Peter Benjamin offered introductory remarks: 'We need to change how we handle safety at Metro....Certainly safety involves making sure we replace equipment and rehabilitate facilities so that they do not slip into disrepair. Safety involves introducing better technology. Safety involves establishing the right procedures and making sure that people follow them. Safety involves training... and retraining. Safety involves signage and communication. But most important, safety involves people: establishing a culture of safety and an attitude of attention to safety. This, in turn, requires that not only our customers, but also our employees feel valued, respected, and listened to.' Also WBJ.

NTSB DAY 3---The final day of testimony on the causes of and fixes for the June 22 Red Line crash 'included pointed questions about safety lapses at Metro and testimony about oversight of subway and light-rail systems across the country,' Tyson writes. 'NTSB investigators and Metro officials heard from a panel of experts on "high-reliability organizations" that emphasized the need for an organizational culture that allows managers to learn from frontline employees what the problems are and how to fix them. "You don't know what's going on until [employees] tell you what's going on," said Rick Hartley, principal engineer for B&W Pantex, which handles security for the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile. "It's kind of scary." Union officials said, however, that Metro's culture has focused more on punishing mistakes than on learning from workers.' WUSA-TV looks at victim family reaction; WAMU-FM looks at what's next; a report isn't expected until June at the earliest.

ALSO---WTTG-TV reports that the WMATA board 'is apparently close to choosing an interim general manager to run the troubled transit system. A source familiar with the process has disclosed that the board interviewed its two leading candidates for the job on Thursday morning.' GGW says WMATA is close to agreeing to join Google Transit. And Ohio resident, 74, is suing for $2 million after 'one of the transit agency's busses ran over her foot' last February.

Proposed city recycling regs would require all city property owners to sort out all plastic and cardboard, Michael Neibauer reports in Examiner. 'The revised rules also quadruple in some cases the fines for commercial property owners who repeatedly fail to properly recycle. Penalties for homeowners, generally $25, are not slated to change. The amended regulations are an attempt to broaden the District's recycling collections and to discourage repeat commercial violations by holding down penalties for the first and second offenses, but hitting violators hard for subsequent wrongs....The revised regulations target businesses, the most prolific trash producers, for more rigorous enforcement.' Fines could run as high as $1,500.

Tom Sherwood reports at WRC-TV that an event planner is hoping to break the Guinness world record for largest mass gay wedding in the Andrew Mellon Auditorium on March 20. Planners hope to get 400 couples to participate.

FedEx delivers huge load of marijuana to Capitol Hill couple, Paul Duggan reports on WaPo A1: 'What happened to Eric Anderson and Melanie Sloan in their Capitol Hill townhouse Monday night occurs quite often in the city. So to D.C. police, it was fairly routine. As for Anderson and Sloan, though...well, imagine their surprise.' Inside a cardboard box, another cardboard box, a Styrofoam box, foam insulation, plastic wrap, duct tape, more plastic wrap, and a layer of coffee grounds was 33 pounds of weed, worth about $120K. Yes, this is also what happen to Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo and his wife last year. Sloan, a federal prosecutor, 'said the Berwyn Heights fiasco sprang to her mind the instant her husband told her about the coffee grounds. "Before he even looked in to see what kind of drugs they were, I called 911," she said. "I told them exactly what was going on. I'm like, I don't want them coming through my door with guns drawn, because I love my dog."' Columnist Petula Dvorak covers the exact same story, adding: 'Sloan waited for police, who took pictures of the mound of weed and jokingly inquired why she called them instead of having a party. Maybe everyone's getting a bit more relaxed about pot.'

WHY IT HAPPENS---'Inspector Brian Bray of the D.C. police Narcotics and Special Investigations Division said he wasn't at all surprised by the couple's discovery. Suppose you're a marijuana dealer in the District. You buy, say, 165 pounds of pot from a distant wholesaler, and you want it shipped to the city. You stake out a bunch of addresses at random and choose five houses whose occupants normally aren't home during the day. Then you arrange for five 33-pound FedEx boxes to be delivered to those addresses, with no signatures required. With the tracking numbers, you can follow the shipments on a computer and be waiting outside when each arrives. Except sometimes---for instance, on a Monday not long after a city has been snowbound---traffic is horrendous, and FedEx drivers get caught in it. A shipment you're waiting for doesn't arrive until evening, after the residents have returned from work.'

Lanham-based Radio One has backed out of a deal to anchor a development project above the Shaw Metro station, 'dealing a major blow to an already long-delayed mixed-used project backed by the city,' Jonathan O'Connell writes in WBJ. 'Radio One would have been the anchor tenant in Broadcast Center One, a project that was slated to bring 103,000 square feet of office space, close to 25,000 square feet of retail, 180 apartments for rent (45 of which would be reserved as affordable housing) and a 195-spot underground parking garage to the northeast corner of Seventh and S streets NW....The development team, comprising D.C.-based companies Four Points LLC, Ellis Development Group and the Jarvis Co., said the development...would still take place.' And DMPED says $23M in city financing will stay in place for now. Radio One's profitability had taken a hit in recent years, and now the pressure's on to land the United Negro College Fund as a tenant. A hearing on a possible incentive deal is set for next week. Says Jack Evans, 'It leaves everything a little bit uncertain right now.' Also WaPo, which quotes Jim Graham: 'To be told at the 11th hour that they would not be coming was quite a setback....This was a very significant turn of events.'

ALSO---The city has dropped plans to build a new Anacostia headquarters for DDOT, O'Connell reports, and will seek leased space instead. The building would have been next to the Anacostia Gateway property at MLK Avenue and Good Hope Road SE, which now houses the Department of Housing and Community Development. But complicating matters is that the 'D.C. Council used fiscal 2010 capital funds that had been set aside to build the second phase, Gateway II, for other uses, including the purchase of three clubhouses from the Greater Washington Boys and Girls Clubs.'

WBJ PRINT EDITION---O'Connell covers the PLA/First Source bill introduced by Michael Brown and Harry Thomas Jr.: 'The Brown-Thomas bill is particularly alarming to businesses, because last year, Brown replaced the council's only Republican, Carol Schwartz, after the D.C. Chamber of Commerce campaigned against her....[Brett McMahon of Miller and Long] accused Brown of putting politics first. "The idea of putting anything in the way of anyone's attempt to scratch out a living at this time is recognition that Mr. Brown will put whatever his political ambitions are ahead of real opportunities to create jobs and infrastructure in the city," he said.' And Tierney Plumb runs down the spate of convention center hotel lawsuits: 'Lawsuits are common in major municipal or government projects, but legal experts say this dispute has turned particularly nasty, even for a town full of attorneys. And they say the case could still go either way....There has been some talk of a settlement between JBG and Marriott, according to sources familiar with the talks, but no deal appears imminent. And so the suits go on.'

More on the status of the Giro d'Italia: 'Negotiations,' Examiner reports, 'are coming down the stretch. "We are working toward finalizing a deal that would work for everybody," lawyer Mark Sommers told The Examiner. Later Thursday, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and other main players in the project met at the Italian Embassy to discuss the planning process and rally support from sponsors. The District would become the first city outside Europe to host a portion of the Giro. How close is the deal to being done? "We're on the cusp," said Fenty.' WBJ quotes WCSA chief Greg O'Dell, who 'says projections on what the economic impact would be on the area have not been finalized yet, but says they would be "pretty substantial."' Invitees---and potential sponsors---at the embassy recpetion included Verizon, Marriott, and Ted Leonsis. Also CyclingNews.com, WaPo, DCist.

Retired U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson makes the case in WaPo op-ed for bringing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's terrorism trial to the Prettyman courthouse: 'KSM's crimes were committed against the entire nation, and it is fitting that the nation's capital should host his trial....The U.S. District Court in Washington has 15 able and experienced trial judges available for the case. I am sure my former colleagues on the court would not appreciate the extra work the KSM trial would require, but they have all become intimately familiar in recent years with the problems of the administration of justice in the age of terrorism. Moreover, most of them have tried high-profile, protracted and complex criminal cases, some of them capital cases. They have distinguished themselves and their court and are a credit to the image of American justice....The Justice Department has been rumored to be concerned with an alleged reluctance of D.C. juries to impose the death penalty, but no prosecution should ever be undertaken for the primary purpose of putting the defendant to death. The goal is a fair trial. Obtain the conviction, and the penalty will take care of itself.'

More from WaPo's Clarence Williams on MPD awards night: 'The event brought officers in dress blue uniforms across the stage of The Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation (The ARC) to recognize thousands of arrests, undercover investigations and crime reductions in some of the city's most violent areas....Among those recognized were several units, including the 7th District vice unit, which logged more than 1,700 arrests for weapons, drug and prostitution offenses in far Southeast, officials said. The 5th District Street Crimes Unit from Northeast was honored as the "Crime Suppression Team of the Year," and credited with about 9,300 arrests, including 1,100 warrant arrests....Police Service Area 706, a patrol assignment in the 7th District were awarded the PSA of the year for the city, and recognized for establishing community policing partnerships with residents, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and business owners....A few miles north in the 6th District, Cmdr. Robert Contee accepted the Crime Reduction Award as his patrol district bested six others for overall lowering of crime....The final award of the night was given to Cmdr. Lamar Greene of the 5th District as Commander of the Year. The 5th also won Best Performing District.'

ALSO---Lanier spoke Wednesday at a meeting of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association to talk police technology.

Full D.C. Court of Appeals will hear case on a 'key question about Washington's local consumer protection law,' Legal Times reports. 'Exactly who can use it to bring a lawsuit? Lawyers for AOL and several major telephone companies are attempting to reverse two recent rulings by the court, in which it concluded that the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act allows individuals to act as private attorneys general and sue corporations on behalf of the public interest, whether or not they themselves have been injured....In their petition for rehearing, AOL's lawyers from McGuireWoods, including partner John Wilburn, argued that by allowing "private attorneys general" to bring consumer protection suits, the appeals court was inviting a flood of litigation.'

DCmud writes up DDOT's Gabe Klein after blogger sitdown: 'By 2012 DDOT aims to more than double the bicycle road share, add 250 car-share vehicles, increase Circulator ridership by 47 percent, add six more "performance" parking districts and have 2.75 miles of operating streetcar lines. Yes, he went there: operating streetcars. Klein described an agency embracing a culture shift, one that focuses on sustainability, safety and open communication.' Klein talked streetcars and new parking meters, noting of the latter, 'Since their inception, 52% of patrons started using credit cards, and in the study area DDOT has seen a 30% increase in parking revenue. Klein said of the pilot, "revenues are up, people seem to love it" but that he was not ready to say it was a definite success until he knew more about the machines' reliability.'

ALSO---DDOT's launched a Web site redesign and the District Transportation Access Portal, a dashboard-style site with data on the capital projects pipeline. DCist has a look. And GGW notes new online system for emergency no parking permits.

More on budget-balancing from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute. 'Taking a balanced approach that involves both revenues and budget cuts makes sense. But there are questions about where the surplus funds come from, and the way the agency cuts were made is questionable. DC's budget includes too many small, specialized funds. Taking unspent funds from them may make sense, but it is really important to know which funds these monies are being pulled from.' Pulling $3M from overstressed DHS: not a good idea.

Teacher-blogger Guy Brandenburg challenges the Michelle Rhee record: 'I have done a little bit of analysis to see whether the schools where Rhee fired or replaced the principals actually did better on the DC-CAS than the schools where the principals were not replaced....What I found is that both groups of schools included ones where the scores went up a lot from SY 2007-8 to SY 2008-9, and both groups of schools had members where the scores dropped about as much. To me, using Rhee's own yardstick, it's hard to find any big difference between the two groups of schools.'

Another teacher-blogger is left with a good impression after a Rhee school visit: '[M]y biggest concern is...that she may not last, especially with Mayor Fenty's popularity so low right now. The last thing a struggling urban district needs is frequent complete leadership overhauls every few years, and that very well may happen soon. These kids need high standards, but they also need consistency.'

AP: 'D.C. fire officials say a teenager on a skateboard who grabbed a hook-and-ladder truck that was leaving a fire scene was run over by the apparatus....Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer says the truck was leaving the scene of a small kitchen fire when a 14-year-old male on a skateboard grabbed the truck to be pulled. The youth fell and the truck ran over his foot.' Injuries are not life-threatening.

Jaffe on WaPo 'pundit,' Rhee ex Kevin Huffman: 'Beyond their shared commitment to education reform—he's a top official at Teach for America—Huffman says Rhee's views don't influence his columns: "She has no idea what I'm going to write from week to week."...He usually speaks with Rhee at least once a day about their children. He has a steady girlfriend; Rhee is engaged to Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. Will Huffman write about DC schools? "I will resist the urge," he says.'

Tom Sherwood's Notebook---on Hizzoner's infamous WRC-TV snow interview, the Bennett Report, and same-sex marriage.

Christian conservatives make last-ditch appeal to Congress to stop D.C. gay marriage.

Daily Caller picks up on cigarette tax backfire.

The case against statehood, as presented in suburbanite's WaPo letter.

Someone really doesn't like Yvette Alexander.

White powder clears Prettyman mailroom.

Local bank profits: Up!

Sofitel goes to Bethesda company in $95M deal.

U Street visitor center opens today.

It's windy out there. About 5,500 Pepco customers are without power. Downed power lines may have caused a Palisades house fire.

Adrian Fenty is a PILF.

TOMORROW---Eleanor Holmes Norton's annual tax fair, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Washington Convention Center.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---Committee on Public Works and Transportation agency performance oversight hearing on District Department of Transportation, in conjunction with hearing on B18-596 ('Winter Sidewalk Safety Amendment Act of 2009'), JAWB 500; 11 a.m.: Committee on Economic Development agency performance oversight hearing on Office of Motion Picture and Television Development and Commission on Arts and Humanities, JAWB 412; 12 p.m.: Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary roundtable on option-year contract review, JAWB 120.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---No public events scheduled.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'D.C. Cigarette Tax Hike Fail'; 'City Revenues Adjusted Downward…Again'; 'D.C. Court Rules Against Cops In Discrimination Case'; 'Anthony Motley Responds to Bennett Report Findings'; 'Anthony Motley Wants His Car Back From Marion Barry'; and tweets galore!

IN LL WEEKLY---Fiscal Therapy: Ho wthe District's fiscal woes stand to affect DCision 2010.

Morning all. The WaPo editorial board says that the 'best apology Marion Barry could make' would be to step down from his council seat. 'Even if the council invokes the toughest sanctions available to it---and we think it should---it won't be enough to make up for what Mr. Barry's repeated misbehavior has cost the very people he professes to serve. It frankly is disgusting to hear Mr. Barry talk, as he did Tuesday, about the needs of his resource-poor community when his main agenda has been his own welfare. He seems not to recognize the connection between the deprivations of Ward 8 and his lack of effective leadership. If Mr. Barry were really sorry, he would realize it is time for him to make way for someone who can deliver.' LL's question: Could WaPo have played into Barry's persecution complex any more neatly? Meanwhile, Informer covers the reaction among Ward 8 Dems. Some (Mary Cuthbert, Sandy Allen) stand by their man, but Phil Pannell nails it: 'I am sick and tired of being an unwilling member of our Ward 8 city councilman's reality show.'

AFTER THE JUMP---Revenue projections go down some more; Day 2 of NTSB hearings airs questions about signal systems; council panel disapproves People's Counsel nominee; stolen car sat abandoned in downtown traffic for a week; DCPS rallies support for hearing

ADDS DAVID CATANIA---'How much longer do we have to hear a 73-year-old man discuss his lack of judgment?'

Key Barry associate Anthony Motley held a press conference yesterday to address the Bennett Report's findings that he mismanaged earmarked funds and engaged in other questionable endeavors. Motley also announced that he'd be stepping down as chief executive of the JOBS Coalition. 'The JOBS Coalition's board accepted Motley's resignation and is seeking outside counsel to help with a probe of the matter, said Carol Randolph, a board member and communications adviser,' Nikita Stewart writes in WaPo. 'The board was not aware of the earmark from Barry until after the grant arrived and raised concerns last year, Randolph said. "We are doing our own internal investigation," she said.' Also, LL notes: He wants his car back from Barry.

City revenue projections are again adjusted downward. For FY2010, CFO Natwar M. Gandhi is now estimating $17.7 million less in revenue. So what was a projected $223 million budget gap is now $240 million. And for the upcoming fiscal year, the revenue projection is down by $49.4 million from December estimates, meaning a $556 million problem is now a $605 million problem. Why? Well, hiking cigarette taxes had something to do with it. By raising rates over Maryland's, legislators drove buyers away, leading to cig-tax revenues dipping below FY09 levels. Also WaPo, Examiner, WBJ, which notes big hits from BRPAA appeals.

Day 2 of the NTSB Metro crash hearings: WaPo ledes on A1 with news that 'Metro's decision to mix different brands of signaling equipment---despite a warning from one of the manufacturers---could have caused the June crash that killed nine people, a senior engineer with the company said.' The warning came in a September 2004 letter from the company, Alstom, to numerous transit systems. It is of course a self-serving suggestion for Alstom, which wants (a) to dissuade Metro from using other manufacturers' parts and (b) wiggle its way out of crash liability claims. Still, there is a 'specific risk associated with using non-Alstom equipment...it would require boosting the power level of the device. That, in turn, could increase the potential for a signal malfunction that could prevent the system from detecting a train on the tracks, causing a crash,' the Alstom engineer testifed. And Metro engineers backed up his concern. Examiner also ledes with signal system concerns. Also AP, NC8, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

ALSO---'The Post reported in September that internal Metro documents showed the decision [to sandwich 1000-series cars inside trains] had been a public relations move. Metro officials said their decision was justified by an 11-year-old outside study involving a different kind of train and posted a detailed "correction" to The Post article on the agency's Web site. In sworn testimony Wednesday, Metro engineer Mike Hiller said he disagreed with Metro's use of that study. "I could not conclusively agree that this information would support a decision on engineering to place a car into the center" of a series of rail cars, Hiller said. NTSB investigator Rick Downs asked, "Would that be a fair paper to utilize to rebut that point?" "No," Hiller responded. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein apologized to The Post after the testimony and retracted the rebuttal.'

OVERSIGHT CONFLICT---From WAMU-FM: 'Robert Sumwalt noted the D.C. Department of Transportation appoints one of the [Tri-State Oversight Commission] members. At the same time, the city administrator, a superior to the D-DOT chief, sits on Metro's board. "I think it's important that the oversight agency is completely independent and autonomous. And not influenced or has no appearance of conflict of interest or being influenced by outside sources. That's the way NTSB was set up when Congress pulled us out of the department of transportation in 1974. An independent agency needs to be independent," says Sumwalt.'

WaPo's Robert McCartney raises a 'macabre question: How many more people will die before Metro and the Washington region get serious about instilling an effective culture of safety in the transit system?.... I have reservations about whether [Peter Benjamin] and the rest of the board have enough political influence and will to drive through a rapid, major transformation of a large, troubled institution that also happens to be broke. Apart from the recent addition of two federal appointees, the board is dominated by pretty much the same combination of middle-ranking politicians and transportation experts who've been on it for some time. They have good intentions and, in some cases, a lot of expertise. But they've been delivering inadequate results, and the job ahead might be too big for them.' He calls on D.C, Va., Md. chief execs to 'either ensure that the current board does what's needed, and quickly, or intervene to have a new team installed.'

D.C. Council panel moves unanimously to disapprove Fenty People's Counsel appointee. Dorothy Brizill writes in themail: 'The [Committee of Public Services and Consumer Affairs] action marks a dramatic reversal of fortune for Patton and Boggs attorney [Vicky Beasley], whose mentor is Fenty pal and Patton and Boggs partner Matthew Cutts. As a loyal Fenty supporter, [Muriel Bowser] initially tried to fast track the nomination by convening a confirmation hearing on November 20, 2009, just three days after it was referred to her committee. When community concerns arose regarding Beasley's personality and her lack of qualifications for the position, however, Bowser was unable to secure the votes in her committee to approve Beasley's nomination.' The full council will take up the disapproval Tuesday.

Jonetta Rose Barras in Examiner column examines Fenty spending $600K on Ward 3 dog park: 'Quick, get the straitjacket. The chief executive and his folks have lost their ever-loving minds. The District has a current deficit of more than $200 million, which is likely to rise as revenues further decrease. In 2011, the problem mushrooms to more than a half-billion dollars....With such fiscal woes, can the city really afford to build any dog parks?...[T]he mayor and Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh have decided to ignore the majority. Instead, they have chosen to respond to the demands of a few vocal, influential and highly organized individuals who support dog parks — safety concerns and city finances be damned.'

Gay marriage ballot initiative proponents have taken their case to the D.C. Court of Appeals, hoping to get a stay that will prevent said marriages from being grantd come March 3. WaPo notes they are 'running out of time.'

MEANWHILE---Maryland AG opinion recognizes out-of-state gay marriages in Maryland. Per WaPo: 'With [Doug Gansler]'s decision, Maryland in effect joins the District and a handful of states including New York that recognize same-sex marriages performed in four New England states and Iowa....The attorney general's opinion unleashed a torrent of emotions from both gay rights advocates and those opposed to same-sex marriage, adding a potentially explosive issue to election-year politics in Maryland. It is likely to be quickly challenged in court, Gansler acknowledged.' Also note that Catania attended an Annapolis gay-marriage rally on Monday.

WaPo's Lisa Rein profiles DDOT chief Gabe Klein 'Rather than promoting driving, as he did previously as an executive for Zipcar, the car-sharing pioneer, Klein has been working to get vehicles off the road....Klein is selling an urban lifestyle that depends less than ever on cars and more on trains, buses, bicycles and walking. He is following the credo of like-minded transportation planners in Portland, Seattle and New York that public transit can revive ailing cities.' Cue whining from AAA. 'At 39, he is 15 years younger than some of his top deputies. But that might make the high-metabolism transportation czar a good fit in a city trying to attract people like him...."There's a lot of things that go into making a city an attractive place to live," Klein said. "You have schools, public safety and high-quality transportation. People are realizing that what we had in our old cities is actually more sustainable than what we have now." Klein drives his own Smart Car two or three times a week, calling the silver two-seater a "lazy asset." He prefers to walk the eight blocks to the office from his condo in Columbia Heights or ride one of his five bikes, which include a Vespa scooter. He's geek and hippie rolled into one, bag over his shoulder, BlackBerry glued to his ear, wearing rumpled shirts and less-than-perfectly tailored corduroy suits. The laid-back sartorial style and get-things-done metabolism come from a childhood on a yoga commune in Charlottesville and an entrepreneur father who owned a bike store and sold a form of electric tape he had found in Japan.'

WOW---This courtesy of WaPo's Mary Pat Flaherty: 'For more than a week, the silver Mercury Grand Marquis sat abandoned in a traffic lane of 15th Street NW near the intersection with M Street. Yet for a big sedan resting unattended in the nation's capital less than a mile from the White House and directly outside the building housing the Embassy of Djibouti it did not seem to be attracting keen official attention.' Turns out the car had been reported stolen and, while the car was repeatedly ticketed, no one moved to tow it away. Until Flaherty started asking questions at DPW and MPD.

The political implications of the Northrop Grumman move are weighed by WaPo's Rosalind S. Helderman and Aaron C. Davis. 'Top company officials have also flirted with the District and met with [Fenty] before Christmas. They have made clear that Northrop won't be a cheap date, saying that tax incentives will factor into their decision, which they expect to make in the next few weeks. The Los Angeles-based company is so emboldened because it has what every political leader in the United States wants: hundreds of high-paying jobs. That means that the publicity surrounding the move has raised the stakes considerably for McDonnell, O'Malley and Fenty, turning what probably would have been a quiet competition into a test of personal reputations that will hand one elected leader a political triumph and the others an open defeat....A surprise win by Fenty would give him a lift in his bid for reelection at a time when his popularity is slipping. And it's possible that all three could come out losers---if they offer too much and create the perception of giving a sweetheart deal to wealthy executives while their jurisdictions are cash-strapped.' The stakes are higher, though, for 'jobs governor' Bob McDonnell.

NOT SO FAST THERE---No official announcement regarding the Giro d'Italia is forthcoming, VeloNation reports. '"Tomorrow's reception will include Mayor Fenty, Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata and Giro organizer Angelo Zomegnan, and Washington Convention and Sports Authority CEO Greg Odell, but we will not be making an official announcement about the race coming to Washington DC at that time," explained [Mark Sommers]. He detailed that the purpose of the gathering tomorrow will be to provide an update on the working group's efforts to bring this mega-event to the United States and introduce it to potential sponsors. He further reiterated that both sides were "committed to making this happen".'

MPD's Officer of the Year is Alex Varvounis of 3D, who played a key role in arresting the killer of Deborah Brown, the bystander struck by a stray bullet in Columbia Heights last September. Reports WTTG-TV: 'The officer has gone from driving a tow truck to helping solve one of last year's most brutal crimes. "He is the ideal community policing officer. The officer was able to identify the suspect. He knows his beat. He knows good people and the bad people. He helped close this case in a matter of days. It doesn't get better than that," said Chief [Cathy Lanier].'

Federal appeals court rules against group of six black MPD officers who alleged that Lt. Robert Atcheson 'insulted them "frequently and profanely, gave them unduly harsh performance evaluations, and denied them equipment, overtime, and promotions" because of their race' and that 'the department knew of Atcheson's alleged violations and did not take disciplinary action,' Legal Times reports. 'Senior Judge A. Raymond Randolph, writing for the panel, held that the officers did not "set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial," and that the department's conduct did not violate any contractual obligation between the officers and the city.'

The DCPS performance oversight hearing is a-coming, and 825 is getting its ducks in a row. Schools communications chief Peggy O'Brien has issued a call for pro-DCPS witnesses to testify, Bill Turque reports on the WaPo Schools Insider blog. From her e-mail: 'I am reaching out to you because you have expressed your support of DCPS reforms at some point during the past year, either to the Chancellor or to me directly---and we are coming up to a time when expressions of support would be most helpful....The District of Columbia deserves a more complete picture of the school reform efforts underway. Your testimony can help provide that.'

Washington Convention Center and Sports Authority is making a play for Nats Park to host NHL's Winter Classic. Reports WBJ: 'The New England Hockey Journal, citing sources, recently reported that D.C. is a favorite to host the game. "We've been interested in attracting the Winter Classic for two years," said Erik Moses, senior vice president of the [WCSA]. Moses said he first contacted the league and the Washington Capitals after the second Winter Classic was held at Wrigley Field in Chicago on New Year's Day 2009.' But is D.C. too warm?

More from WaPo on troubles at Fort Dupont ice rink---it 'could be forced to temporarily close if the foundation that runs it cannot come up with $250,000 by May. The ice arena, the only indoor rink in the District, may have to shut down this summer, substantially cut back on its programs or raise fees to fill the gap in its annual $895,000 budget left when the D.C. Council cut all earmarks from the city's fiscal 2011 budget.'

At council oversight hearing, planning chief Harriet Tregoning says her office will embark on two-year land-use assessment for areas surrounding planned streetcar lines. Jonathan O'Connell reports at WBJ. The study will 'consider what land uses, ownership patterns and transit options would line the tracks on either side of the proposed routes. Tregoning said the city will also consider how using overhead wires to power the cars would affect the historic character and views in the central part of the city, where wires are not permitted. She said new technology could minimize the visual effect of wires and possibly replace them with battery power in some areas.'

Corcoran's finance director, David Dorsey, 'was found naked on the balcony of his residence in the 2300 block of 17th Street NW,' Rend Smith reports at City Desk. 'Homicide detectives are looking into the case, but it's not clear if Dorsey was a victim of foul play, as police are waiting on the results of an autopsy.'

Natasha Leann Davis, 25, of Hope Mills, N.C., died yesterday from injuries suffered in Saturday crash on North Capitol Street.

Metro drill this morning 'simulated gunfire between two shooters in the [Friendship Heights] station that resulted in multiple "passengers" injured or killed. Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) patrol officers and special response team members responded to the "incident," along with the police, fire and emergency medical services personnel from the District of Columbia and Montgomery County, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.'

Still few answers in gay man's killing in Ward 8.

FOX 5 SCOOP---People sue the District.

Screen on the Green needs to be saved...again.

Accused credit-card skimmer flees authorities.

D.C. GOP adds two gay members; DC Agenda covers.

Speaking tonight at Maryland anti-illegal-immigrant forum: mayor candidate Leo Alexander.

Columbia Heights gets farmers market starting June 5.

White House Easter Egg Roll lottery is open.

NC8 notes weather-damaged trees in Rock Creek Park.

CoStar sales rise, but profits take a hit.

Eleanor Holmes Norton to Toyota CEO: Is my Camry Hybrid going to be recalled?

Vote here and help a Mount Pleasant clinic get a new dental machine (via John Kelly).

Cheh's got a new Web site!

Eric C. Rubin, ace retail real-estate broker, is dead at 44. 'Mr. Rubin, a principal and founding member of the Madison Retail Group, established in 1999, was known for representing the 901 New York Avenue office building, the Cady's Alley home-furnishings and design shopping area, and the Jefferson at Penn Quarter mixed-use development. He also helped major retailers expand in the District, including Lululemon Athletica, Ann Taylor, Williams-Sonoma and Brooks Brothers. He was working on a redevelopment project involving the Howard University Town Center before he died.'

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Housing and Workforce Development agency performance oversight hearing on D.C. Housing Authority, D.C. Housing Finance Agency, and Office of Ex-Offender Affairs, JAWB 500; Committee on Libraries, Parks and Recreation agency performance oversight hearing on D.C. Public Library, JAWB 412; 2:30 p.m.: Committee on Government Operations and the Environment meeting on B18-572 ('Disposition of Property Formerly Designated as Federal Reservations 129, 130, and 299 Approval Act of 2010') and B18-580 ('Energy Efficiency Financing Act of 2009'), JAWB 120; 3 p.m.: Committee on Economic Development hearing on B18-572 ('Disposition of Property Formerly Designated as Federal Reservations 129, 130, and 299 Approval Act of 2010'), JAWB 120.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---3:45 p.m.: remarks, DDOT transportation action plan launch, 2720 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---'Erik Wemple to Leave City Paper, Will Edit Startup Local News Site'; 'Meet the District's Useless Snow Melter'; 'Marion Barry: 'I Should Have Known Better''; 'Michael Brown All But Declares Mayoral Candidacy'; and tweets galore!

Greetings all. In the sanctuary of Union Temple Baptist Church yesterday, Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry made a rare apology, for a 'violation of law of good sense and law of cound judgment'---but not for a violation of law. That, he maintains, never occurred. Barry, however, declined to publicly detail his response to Robert S. Bennett's scathing report, beyond admitting that giving a contract to girlfriend Donna Watts 'didn't look good.' It's hard to tell how sincere the apology was. WUSA-TV's Bruce Johnson reported yesterday that the apology wasn't Barry's idea---that he was counseled by close associates to show contrition and scolded by his council colleagues for embarrassing them and the institution. But what real consequences will they muster? Also WaPo, Examiner, WTOP, NC8, WRC-TV, WUSA-TV.

AFTER THE JUMP---NTSB hearings kick off; grumbles about tight leash at medical pot hearing; West Elm location shuts down; Giro d'Italia start is a go; ABC calls Deanwood 'one of the worst neighborhoods in the country'

NTSB hearings on the June 22 Red Line crash got underway yesterday. Here's WaPo's lede for Day 1: 'Metro received at least two signs before June's fatal crash that its automatic crash-avoidance system might be fundamentally flawed....In 2005 and again in early 2009, Metro trains came perilously close to colliding, records show. On Tuesday, a Metro official testified that the same malfunction connects the near-misses with the June crash. "All three incidents have something in common. All three were failures of the automatic train protection system," said Harry Heilmann, Metro's assistant chief engineer, who headed the investigation into the incidents. "They were all failures of the fail-safe system."' Examiner's Kytja Weir leads with tough questions about Metro's safety culture, and the paper's Michael Neibauer covers the numerous infrastructure problems revealed by the crash, as well as the chilling experience of Brian Brooks, operator of Train 214, struck from behind. Also NC8, WRC-TV, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

MORE WAPO---'Tuesday was a long day for Metro officials, who were questioned repeatedly about their commitment to safety. The safety board has not taken an official position on the cause of the crash, but the hearing made clear that investigators are examining broad lapses in oversight by Metro and monitoring agencies....NTSB hearing Chairman Robert Sumwalt, who posed some of the toughest questions, asked why Metro's governing board lists oversight of funding and expansion among its core duties in the agency's official procedures but does not include safety. "Why was safety . . . not in there?" Sumwalt asked new Metro board Chair Peter Benjamin.'

Medical marijuana hearing draws complaints from advocates that the proposed pot rules are too strict. Alana Goodman reports in Examiner on a few claims: Steph Sherer of Americans for Safe Access 'argued that allowing patients to receive marijuana prescriptions solely from their primary physician was unrealistic, because many chronically ill patients see multiple doctors....Steve D'Angelo, director of a California marijuana dispensary, told council members that the people most qualified to dispense marijuana often have drug convictions and they should not be barred from working in dispensaries. Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn said marijuana treatment should not be limited to specific illnesses, because it would disqualify many individuals who need the care. In reply, said David Catania, 'What we are trying to play defense against were the pot docs if you were that sprung up all over California who would write recommendations for the pain associated with wearing high heels and that's a true story.' Added original initiative co-sponsor Wayne Turner, 'We're so close and yet we can see it all disappear and it will disappear if Congress steps in and says no, you can't do that.' WaPo notes that questions of where and how pot will be grown is still TBD. Also DCist, NC8, WUSA-TV, WTTG-TV.

So long West Elm: The upscale furniture retailer will be leaving its spot in Doug Jemal's Woodies Building after failing to meet sales targets, WBJ first reported. Moving into the space will be Forever 21, a trendy clothier that had already planned to move into the building and now has decided to take the vacated West Elm space. 'The store arrived at the tail end of the housing boom, and anticipated demand failed to materialize as housing prices plummeted and the recession gripped the region,' Ylan Q. Mui reports in WaPo. Says Norman Jemal, 'The sun isn't setting; the sun is rising....We're going from one retailer to another that will do 30 or 40 times the amount of business.' The West Elm deal was backed by a $4.9M city TIF, and Jemal tells WBJ 'he is working to get the TIF transferred to the Forever 21 store, and wasn't sure if the change would require legislation.'

The nomination of Millicent Williams as D.C.'s emergency management chief passes the D.C. Council's public safety and judicary committee despite concerns about her experience and lack of a security clearance, Nikita Stewart reports in WaPo. 'Some council members had initial concerns, but [Phil Mendelson], who is known as a Fenty critic, said they were swayed by Williams's enthusiasm and the overwhelming support she drew at her confirmation hearing. Former D.C. emergency management directors Peter LaPorte and Barbara Childs-Pair, Darnell's predecessor, spoke on her behalf, saying she has good management and people skills necessary for the job.'

ALSO---'On another Fenty nominee, [Muriel Bowser] has not yet been able to rally support for Vicky L. Beasley to head the Office of the People's Counsel, the independent agency that represents utility consumers....Beasley said in an e-mail Tuesday, "I believe the process may discourage qualified candidates to seek to serve at the local level despite all of the talent located in our nation's capital."' A committee vote on a disapproval resolution is set for this morning.

A D.C. start for the 2012 Giro d'Italia looks to be a go: 'An announcement regarding a Washington, DC start to the 2012 Giro d'Italia is imminent, according to reports in the Italian press,' writes Cycling News. 'The 2012 Giro d'Italia Working Group, headed by Mark Sommers and g4 Productions, has been working on the details of the proposed stages with the support of DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, a triathlete and avid cycling fan....The race is proposed to begin with a prologue, which would take place among the city's most iconic features including the Memorial Bridge which fittingly has two large statues donated to the country by the Italians after World War II. It would also pass by the famed Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington monuments, the National Mall and the US Capitol. A second stage would stay within the city for a circuit that finishes on Pennsylvania Avenue, and there have been discussions about having an additional two or three stages on the east coast before the race would head back overseas to Italy.' VeloNation reports that an announcement could come tomorrow. Only question: Will Fenty be mayor when it happens?

OUTRAGE---Yvette Alexander wants an apology from ABC-TV for referring to Deanwood as 'one of the worst neighborhoods in the country' on a recent episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

DOH releases report on preventable causes of death in the District. Per D.C. Wire: 'The leading cause of death, representing 1,367 of 5,168 deaths of District residents in 2007, was heart disease followed by cancer (1,159), cerebrovascular disease (200), accidents (200) and HIV/AIDS (188), according to the report.' And those preventable deadly behaviors? 'Tobacco...Poor diet and physical inactivity...Microbial (infectious) agents...Alcohol consumption...Firearms...Medical errors...Toxic agents...Sexual behavior...Illicit drugs...Motor vehicles...Uninsurance.' The report in full.

NYT covers Northrop Grumman headquarters move, writing that it 'has set off a feverish competition among local governments to land the company....With the real estate consulting firm CB Richard Ellis, the company has focused on five locations in Virginia, three in Maryland and two in the District of Columbia that would provide 150,000 to 200,000 square feet, according to several people involved in the site search who were not authorized to speak publicly about it. It intends to make a final selection as early as next month....[R]egional rivalries have surfaced. "Would you rather be in downtown Washington or Crystal City?" in Virginia, [Jack Evans] said. "Bethesda is just a hike. The bottom line is they want to be close to the Pentagon, Capitol and White House. It's almost like a no-brainer."'

Harry Jaffe pays tribute to outgoing PCSB chair Tom Nida: 'As Mayor Adrian Fenty took over the public schools and dissolved the school board, Nida's board thrived. It absorbed schools chartered by the old school board, monitored existing charters and authorized new ones. He and his board members and staff accomplished this with scant bureaucracy. "We held people accountable," he says. If schools failed to perform, he closed them down....Nida expects to pay more attention to his real job, banking. He's also starting a nonprofit that he hopes will serve as a guide to chartering boards nationwide.'

DC Agenda's Lou Chibbaro Jr. previews courthouse-wedding plans for local gay couples: 'Due to a mandatory three-business-day waiting period, jubilant same-sex couples — some of whom have been in relationships for more than 20 years — won't be able to marry until March 9 at the earliest. That's when the D.C. Superior Court's Marriage Bureau completes the processing of their marriage licenses....[The Campaign for All D.C. Families] and other local LGBT organizations were still finalizing plans this week for a celebration linked to a possible joint appearance by same-sex couples at the courthouse on the morning of the March 3 to fill out their applications for a marriage license. "We have at least a half-dozen couples expected at the courthouse," said Cathy Renna of Renna Communications, an LGBT-oriented public relations firm that's coordinating plans for celebrating the start of the marriage law.'

OFFICIAL---Barring act of God, you startr applying for a same-sex marriage license on March 3.

WaPo's Bill Turque identifies more problems with the charter application submitted by University High PCS, which proposes to occupy part of the International Graduate University on Capitol Hill. For one thing, UDC disavows any association with the effort, and looks like they've plagiarized on their application, too. Shades of Victor Reinoso, says Turque.

ALSO---Uberchef Alice Waters met with Michelle Rhee to talk school gardens, Slow Cook reports. And DCPS did a fab live chat yesterday on the out-of-boundary transfer process.

Eric Price, former DMPED under Tony Williams, has left Jim Abdo's employ, O'Connell reports in WBJ. He's 'returned to the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, where he was chief investment officer and director of housing production before joining up with the city in 1999. The HIT, as it is called, is a mutual fund that invests union pension money into a range of labor-friendly companies and industries.' No word from Price on the reason for his departure.

Funding cuts threaten 'Kids on Ice' program at Fort Dupont, Courtland Milloy reports in WaPo. 'Ironically, at the same time those passions for ice skating are increasing, funding for the Kids on Ice program is on the decline. Because of a drop in charitable contributions, as well as cuts in financial support from the D.C. government, Cox says, the Fort Dupont Ice Arena will face a $200,000 budget shortfall when the organization's next fiscal year begins in April.'

Raccoons, fed by Metro employees, thrive inside Fort Totten station. Last Thursday, WaPo reports, 'A man...yelled to the Metro employee that it wasn't right for the animals to be there. He did have a point. Animals are strictly prohibited from Metro trains and stations. But the Metro employee, clad in an orange safety vest, responded, "They have more right to be here than you do!" Wilson said.'

D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute on the budget hole: 'This is where the mayor and council, as well as DC residents, need to consider our priorities and make tactical decisions. During a recession, government resources shrink due to declining tax revenue at the same time demand for some programs and services increases. Greater scrutiny will be needed in the upcoming budget round to make sure we authorize a level of services that we can afford —and raise revenues if needed to fund the services we want.'

DDOT's done hauling snow, WTOP reports.

Pizzeria defies city order, stays open.

Metro holding security drill tonight at Friendship Heights station.

Early-morning D.C. accident ties up traffic all the way down I-95 to Prince William County.

Why the way National Merit Scholarships are awarded is unfair to D.C. kids.

Sculpture project coming to New York Avenue, west of Mount Vernon Square.

Lots more Big Law profit reports at Legal Times.

WaPo profits are way up. Thanks, Kaplan!

Clark Ray will be meeting and greeting Sunday at Big Chair Coffee.

LeRoy W. Tillman Jr., AP metro reporter who later became a spokesperson for Washington Hospital Center, is dead at 54. 'From 1985 to 1998, when Mr. Tillman was assigned to the metro desk in the Washington bureau of AP, he chronicled some of the biggest stories in the District, including the political death and resurrection of Mayor Marion Barry, the tenure of Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly and such breaking news stories as the death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias. Mr. Tillman had hundreds of bylines during his career at AP, but his greatest contribution was anchoring a news desk that was responsible for typing out broadcast and print reports for news and sports. He also maintained the local daybook, a listing of the hundreds of events that take place in the Washington area.'

SIGH---Could be more snow tonight, five inches or more.

D.C. COUNCIL TODAY---10 a.m.: Committee on Aging and Community Affairs agency performance oversight hearing on Office on Aging, Commission on Aging, Commission of Human Rights, and Office of Community Affairs, JAWB 412; Committee on Finance and Revenue meeting (scheduled), JAWB 120; 11:30 a.m.: Committee of the Whole agency performance oversight hearing on Office of Planning and Office of Zoning, JAWB 500; Committee of the Whole hearing on PR18-689 ('Bellevue Small Area Action Plan Approval Resolution of 2010'), JAWB 500; 12 p.m.: Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs meeting on B18-402 ('Certified Capital Companies Improvement Amendment Act of 2010'), PR18-579 ('People's Counsel Vicky Beaslely Confirmation Disapproval Resolution of 2010'), PR18-665 ('Billboard Blight Removal Disapproval Resolution of 2010'), and PR18-674 ('Board of Real Estate Shari M. Barton Confirmation Resolution Approval Resolution of 2010'), JAWB 120; 3 p.m.: Committee of the Whole hearing on B18-511 ('Office of Zoning Independence Amendment Act of 2010'), JAWB 500; Committee on Housing and Workforce Development roundtable on PR18-596 ('Executive Director of the Office on Ex-Offender Affairs Mr. Herman D. Odom, Jr., Confirmation Resolution of 2009'), JAWB 123.

ADRIAN FENTY TODAY---10:45 a.m.: remarks, Petworth Library renovations announcement, 4200 Kansas Ave. NW; 2 p.m.: remarks, autism wing ribbon-cutting, Cardozo Senior High School, 1200 Clifton St. NW.