IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Jim and Adrian on Park Road
• Hizzoner doesn't own an iPod, or so he says
• Mid-blink poster

Good morning sweet readers! OMG, it happened again: LL gave birth to a second column, taking a crack at what Kwame Brown's ginormous debt means for the council chairman race. New tidbits: Besides the boats and the cars, Kwame also bought (and sold) a Harley and has some D.C. parking ticket issues. Perhaps less surprising: Marion Barry also has his own credit card problems. Here's some more news for ya:

Does the Madness Ever Stop?: The timing of Errol Arthur's resignation from the city's Board of Elections and Ethics couldn't have been much worse (except maybe Sept. 13). The Post's Timkita Crawart (get it?) report on a burgeoning brouhaha over who will take Arthur's place. "With Mayor Adrian M. Fenty facing council Chairman Vincent C. Gray in this year's Democratic mayoral primary, the selection of board members is quickly becoming entangled in election year politics. Administration officials said the mayor may have to make emergency interim appointments to the board if he and the council, which is on summer recess, are unable to agree on nominees. If that occurs, Fenty will have unilaterally seated a majority of the board charged with overseeing an election in which he is a candidate. 'I don't think that is correct,' Gray said. 'To not have the legislative body involved in something of this enormity is highly questionable.' Fearful that having a powerless board could make it difficult, if not impossible, to certify a winner or oversee a recount, council members are vowing to return from recess to deal with the vacancies. In recent days, council members Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) and David A. Catania (I-At Large) have reached out to the administration to head off a showdown." The Post's editorial board asks all parties involved to play nice: "It was irresponsible of the council to recess for the summer without taking action on this matter. But we would urge Mr. Fenty, given his self-interest in the coming election, not to use his authority to make an emergency appointment."

AFTER THE JUMP: Lotto contracts; blowback for Orange; Ward 4 skirmish...

You Say Sinclair Skinner, I Say Lottery Contract: The Times' Jeffery Anderson has more on the fracas over the awarding of the city's lottery contract, which led Attorney General Peter Nickles to ask the city's inspector general to investigate, essentially, Vincent Gray's role.  "Mr. Nickles said the council chairman allowed, among other things, a substantial portion of the contract to be handed to a 'complete unknown.' He said he has no explanation of why an international gambling company that delivers state-of-the-art systems to lottery organizations worldwide felt compelled to team with an inexperienced firm that had questionable credentials." Gray said Nickles is motivated by "petty political retaliation."

Irony, Thy Name is the Council Chairman Race: It seems Kwame Brown's debts are causing headaches for his opponent, Vincent Orange. First, news breaks from WBJ's Michael Neibauer that two business groups who have endorsed Brown rebuffed the Orange campaign's overtures to rescind their endorsements after Brown's personal debt problems came to light. Now comes word from the Post's Ann Marimow that Orange campaign "finance chairman George Lowe, who cited the 'negative tenor of this campaign,' has become the second person from the campaign to jump ship. Linda Mercado Greene, who was Orange's spokeswoman, resigned from the campaign last month because of her personal history with Orange's chief Democratic rival, council member Kwame Brown. In an e-mail to Orange and other top advisers last week, Lowe wrote that he has 'given this a significant amount of thought... and continue to arrive at the same conclusion and that is that I no longer feel comfortable with the negative tenor of this campaign and will not be a part of such.'" The one glimmer of what LL supposes is good news for Orange: The Board of Trade left open the door to dropping its endorsement of Brown if more bad news comes out. (Uh, that's bad news for Brown, as opposed to still more bad news for Orange.)

War on the Homefront: The Georgetown Dish's Molly Redden has a wrap up of last night's mayoral forum in Ward 4, Fenty's home turf.  "It may be a bad sign for Fenty, then, that mayoral hopeful Sulaimon Brown's enthusiastic recommendation that Fenty 'and his cronies' serve jail time for alleged corruption garnered boisterous applause—more than Fenty's own closing statement did."

Summer Jobs Program Problems Now Less Bad: The Post's Stephanie Lee reports that there are fewer payday "glitches" with the 18,000 youths on the city's payroll for the summer. "In contrast with previous years, the majority of the more than 18,000 youths working in businesses, nonprofit organizations and city agencies across the District were paid in full and on time, said John A. Stokes, a spokesman for the Department of Parks and Recreation. Yet some employees were not paid correctly, city officials said. According to City Council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large), more than 120 employees of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's Conservation Corps, a program dedicated to cleaning up trash and graffiti in the city, were not paid on time. Mafara Hobson, a spokeswoman for Fenty (D), said that 24 Conservation Corps supervisors claimed on Wednesday that they had pay issues. Stokes said city officials are investigating the complaints of 74 employees, of more than 18,400 total participants, who said they were not paid correctly." Umm, a few weeks ago the city was saying the program totaled 22,000 participants.  Did 4,000 kids quit? LL will look into it and report. (Or better yet, Stokes, if you're reading this, what's the deal?)

What!? Bogus Police Stats: LL missed this yesterday from WTOP's Mark Seagraves. "The union representing the District's 3,600 police officers is calling for an investigation into how the police department reports crime statistics after comments made by Chief Cathy Lanier on WTOP." The Examiner's Freeman Klopott has more: Sexual assaults across the District spiked nearly 50 percent in the first five months of 2010 over the same period last year, according to internal police documents obtained by The Washington Examiner. From Jan. 1 to June 8 there were 82 sexual assaults in the city, up from 56 during the same period in 2009, the documents show. But Chief Cathy Lanier told The Examiner that the document is a 'preliminary report to be used in conjunction with and read within the context of all the reports and totality of the data available to us.' The statistics, she said, are subject to change 'for a variety of reasons, including late reporting, reclassification of some offenses, and discovery that some offenses are unfounded.' Lanier said when all classifications of sexual assaults are accounted for, including misdemeanors, there has been more than a 3 percent decrease when compared with last year. She did not elaborate when pressed to provide specific data showing the decline in sexual assaults."

$1 million for landscaping a library!? [WBJ]

Fenty Schedule: 3:30 Justice Park Affordable Housing Announcement, 1421 Euclid Street NW

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• New DYRS chief and fire investigators
• D.C. unemployment drops—a little
• Some people shouldn't own pets

Good morning sweet readers! LL is on high alert today; his mother-in-law is coming to town. Just everybody stay calm, okay?! The news:

Investigate This: The Washington Times' Jeffery Anderson wins the morning with this report about Attorney General Peter Nickles asking the city's inspector general to investigate how a "firm with questionable credentials and limited experience took a majority share in the city's $38 million lottery contract. Citing recent reports in The Washington Times, Mr. Nickles pointed to contracting irregularities, including the addition of local firm Veterans Services Corp. (VSC) to the lottery pact after the city awarded it to Greek gambling giant Intralot. ... Mr. Nickles indirectly attacked D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, saying that the council 'failed to hold a hearing on any of the proposal packages' submitted by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty after a previous contract award to Intralot. Mr. Gray and others thought a local firm that partnered with Intralot was too close to Mr. Fenty. VSC, Intralot's eventual local partner, is headed by a man with ties to several council members, including Mr. Gray." Anderson has raised plenty of questions about the contract in recent weeks; be sure and check out the related articles linked on the right sidebar. Nickles has been saying since June that he's looking into the contracts, which seemed somewhat questionable given his political loyalties, so passing it off to the IG is probably a good move. Fenty brought up the Times' lottery contract work last week during a debate with Gray, as a counterpunch to Gray's charges of cronyism in the Fenty administration.

AFTER THE JUMP: Fenty vs. Post; Sucker job; Bad Speech...

Fenty and the Post: The Post has posted a video of an interview between the mayor and editorial writer Jo-Ann Armao, where Fenty again takes the blame for not getting word out about his good deeds (umm, sound familiar?).  Fenty stresses that he's doing a good job, which is noticable in part by how unnoticeable D.C.'s problems are compared to the past, when "you could see a glaring problem in D.C. government—from trash pick up, to potholes to road repairs to schools being broken down—anywhere you drive in the city." If he gets a next term, Fenty said he'd continue to focus on education, "infuse energy" into fixing public housing, and work with the guvs in Maryland and Virginia on Metro. Not in the 9-minute interview, probably much to the Gray camp's consternation: Any talk of those pesky park contracts.

Wanted, Sucker for Thankless Job: The D.C. Board of Elections & Ethics is hiring after Chairman Errol Arthur quit, reports Freeman Klopott of the Examiner. "The timing of his leaving the board couldn't be worse. Arthur's last day will be Aug. 2, just weeks before the primary that will likely determine the District's next mayor. The three-member board has been running with only two members since February 2009, and if a replacement can't be found quickly, there won't be a board in place to verify the primary votes. In other words, it'll be as if the primary never happened, officials said." (Since LL is new to the beat anyway, why not just start the whole thing over in September?)

Watch What You Say, Not How You Drive: Metro has suspended a veteran employee after she made offensive remarks at a graduation class for bus drivers, reports Kytja Weir in the Examiner. "Ora Crutchfield made statements against elderly people, young black men and Asians during the April 30 graduation ceremony, according to a Metro investigative report obtained by The Washington Examiner. Such events are typically attended by graduates' friends and family members — of all ages and backgrounds."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!: "Mobile speed cameras were posted to a dozen new sites last week, mostly in Southeast Washington, in a move critics say puts the District on track to net $41 million from tickets," reports Kafia Hosh in the Post.

Jonetta sure does hate the D.C. Council [Examiner]

Area unemployment falls; could it be all those top secret dudes? [WBJ]

Does anyone ride these things? [WTOP]

Mayor's schedule: Kelsey Temple, 10:45 a.m.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Kwame Brown vs. unpaid traffic tickets
• Tommy Wells is disappointed
• Ron Moten's news conference: the video

Good morning sweet readers! LL is pumped to have survived his first earthquake this morning. Nice try, Mother Earth, but not this time! Wonder how long of a rest the "political earthquake" metaphors will get after this? Don't worry, the ground isn't shaking anymore here at LL Daily HQ—come right in!

Cashquake! Debtquake! Still more earthquake headlines! ...

Mudquake!: WaPo's Nikita Stewart and Tim Craig do nice job of filtering out all of yesterday's craziness and getting to the point, that the sharp elbowed debate on Jonetta Rose Barras' show on WPFW signaled "a campaign likely to be soiled by mudslinging in its final eight weeks." Gray on Fenty: "Gray called the Fenty administration's transfer of city funds to the D.C. Housing Authority to award the contracts 'surreptitious, clandestine and circuitous.' The rerouting bypassed the council, which must authorize contracts exceeding $1 million. Gray, who began his campaign in March with a promise to return integrity and accountability to the mayor's office, peppered his responses Thursday by frequently using the word 'cronyism.' 'If you are a fraternity brother or someone associated with the mayor, you will get a contract,' he said. Fenty on Gray: "But Fenty aggressively offset Gray's attacks by talking about probes that have targeted the council chairman, stopping just short of calling Gray a hypocrite. He pointed to the installation of a fence at Gray's home, which the city has ordered taken down or shortened because it was built without permits. Fenty wrongly said the fence was built by a contractor that had business before the council. Though developer William C. Smith & Co. helped with other repairs at Gray's home, the Office of Campaign Finance found no violation of law. The campaign finance office also cleared Gray in using his council stationery to solicit contributions for the local Democratic Party, but Fenty raised the controversy during the debate."

Motenquake!: WCP had a front-row seat to Peaceoholics founder Ron Moten show yesterday. If you haven't already, check out the videos of the plot's rising action, climax, and denouement. (Thanks, seventh grade English teacher whose name LL doesn't remember!) The Examiner's Freeman Klopott caught up with Moten after the show and has more: "Peaceoholics received $277,000 from city agencies in 2006—the year Fenty was elected, records show. Three years later, Peaceoholics took in at least $5.1 million from the city. But Moten told The Washington Examiner on Thursday that he's not friends with Fenty. 'He's never been to my house, I've never been to his house,' Moten said. 'We don't go out to eat.'  Ron Moten: one day you call the man Jesus, the next, you say he's not even your friend? What?!

Cashquake!: WBJ's Michael Neibauer gets an excused absence from the Moten-o-rama, as he was looking at lobbyists' disclosure filings: "District government leaders were vigorously lobbied in the first six months of the year by the usual power brokers who earned millions of dollars fighting for the policy interests of the beverage, pharmaceutical, insurance, retail and building industries. Among the major players are D.C. lawyer David Wilmot and firms McGuire Woods LLP, Oldaker, Belair & Wittie LLP and Holland & Knight LLP, which count more than 60 clients between them, according to reports filed with the Office of Campaign Finance by the July 12 deadline."

Debtquake!: Chairman hopeful Vincent Orange has started bashing his opponent, At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown, over Brown being sued for more than $50,000 in credit card debt, NBC 4's Tom Sherwood reports. Orange also has problems with Brown owning a 42-foot boat called "Bulletproof."

Narrow Victory in Same-Sex MarriageQuake!: The D.C. Court of Appeals upholds same-sex marriages in the District yesterday, reports Keith Alexander in the Post. "The judges further stated that the [D.C.] Council 'was not obliged to allow initiatives that would have the effect of authorizing discrimination prohibited by the Human Rights Act to be put to voters, and then to repeal them, or to wait for them to be challenged as having been improper subjects of initiative, should they be approved by voters.'" Opponents said they plan to appeal to the Supreme Court.

BarryQuake!: The Washington Times' Deborah Simmons goes for a ride in Ward 8 with Mayor-for-Life Marion S. Barry Jr. and discovers Barry has big plans for next term: "'One of the ironies of losing my [housing] committee chairmanship is the time it's giving me to develop strategy,' Mr. Barry says. "When budget oversight begins, Ward 8 is going to be refocused and reorganized. I can't get every need into the budget. My job is to have leadership and empower the people.' He then makes a promise as much to himself as to Ward 8 residents. 'Next year will be different,' he says. 'They're going to be sick of us [at City Hall], but we're not going away.'

OTHER NEWS:

Wal-Mart Fight Preview: The Post's Mike DeBonis, tackling a subject already nicely handled by City Paper's own Lydia DePillis's column this week, previews the fight over Walmart's attempt to build a store in Northeast Washington. "The game plan for unions, who have long been stalwart foes of the mega-retailer's labor practices, will remain much the same this time. ... But the seduction might be less superficial in a city hurting from near-record unemployment. The District needs the jobs, even at near-minimum wages, and residents tend to appreciate the prices."

DYRS Worker Shot: A summer youth employment worker was shot in the hand while on the job yesterday in Northwest Washington. WTOP reports: "Councilmember Michael A. Brown, who chairs the committee that oversees the SYEP, says it is not clear if there were any supervisors from the jobs program around when the shooting happened, or if the teen was part of the program being held at the rec center. D.C. Police are still investigating the incident. Brown says the beleaguered program could avoid incidents like the shooting if D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty would focus on quality or quantity."

Big Ol' Drug Bust [News 8]

Jaffe's take on an ousted English teacher [Examiner]

On Kojo: At-Large Councilmember Michael Brown.

On Newstalk: Neibauer talks about whether District construction projects and whether they are producing jobs for residents.

Mayor and Council: No public schedules.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Harry Thomas v. Student Loan Debt
• Go-Go loses one more venue
• Who speaks for the trees?

Good morning sweet readers! LL gave birth to his first column today. Thesis statement: "One of the first things apparent to a new reporter in the Wilson Building is how spectacularly dysfunctional Mayor Adrian Fenty’s press shop is." 'Nuff said. Pick up the paper.

AFTER THE JUMP: Test Scores; Where's Adrian; Uncle Sam Pays the Rent...

Dear Lord, Please Veto This Bill, Amen: Fenty ally Ron Moten is back in the news after getting national attention for comparing Fenty to Jesus. Moten called on the Post's Tim Craig to denounce the D.C. Council's approval of a bill that "would make it a local crime to pay someone to vote. ... The bill, sponsored by council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), enshrines in the local code the federal prohibitions against paying someone to vote or register to vote, or accepting payment to vote or register to vote. It also makes it a local crime to use a false name to register to vote. Violators could be fined as much as $10,000 and face five years in prison. 'Now the District is going to have a parallel law to the federal law," Cheh said. "We do this in a lot of areas because it provides a backstop.' But Moten reached out to the D.C. Wire today to say he wants Fenty to veto the legislation. Moten worries that the council, led by Fenty rival Vincent C. Gray (D), is trying to quash the mayor's go-go concerts, which are designed to get low-income African American residents registered to vote. At the concerts, the Fenty campaign encourages participants to register to vote in exchange for entrance, free food and T-shirts featuring the mayor pictured with go-go artists."  The Gray campaign couldn't resist blasting a response: “It's beyond disappointing that one of the mayor's top campaign cronies would oppose a measure to stop vote-buying. But I'm not surprised. The mayor and his cronies have had no problem bringing pay to play politics to city government. Now it looks like they want to bring it to the voting booth,” said campaign spokeswoman Traci Hughes. LL, like a sucker, has been voting his whole life for free.

Fail-o-lizer 5000: The Examiner's Freeman Klopott covered yesterday's hearing on MPD's faulty breath analyzers, and reports that the District is now facing nearly $1 million in civil suits from a dozen drivers who say their civil rights were violated. "The 12 drivers were among 400 who were convicted of driving while intoxicated in the District since October 2008, when city officials say police Officer Kelvin King inaccurately calibrated three of the police department's 13 Intoxylizer 5000s. An outside contractor discovered the improper adjustments on Feb. 4, 2010, officials said during a D.C. Council hearing on Wednesday. Since then, the District has replaced the 15-year-old Intoxylizer 5000s with a newer version that's deemed more accurate."

Let's Not Freak Out Here, People: A WaPo editorial attempts to administer some balm to the this week's news of dipping test scores for D.C. elementary school students. "District schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee knows better than anyone the value of data, so she's not discounting this year's disappointing dip in elementary math and reading scores. 'We have to own this and figure out how to move forward' she said in a forthright admission of the need to redouble efforts. But, by the same token, Ms. Rhee is right to note and celebrate — the undeniable improvement of the public schools in the past three years. Despite the latest results, the larger trend in achievement is upward." (Please note: most of what LL says is a "forthright admission of the need to redouble efforts.") D.C. Watch's Gary Imhoff called out the Post even before they wrote their editorial.  Says Imhoff: "Within a day or two I expect to see a Washington Post editorial contradicting all its previous editorials that claimed that small gains on the standardized test scores proved Rhee’s genius, admonishing readers that standardized text don’t prove anything, and that they should not pay any attention to them." Gee, it's almost like the Post editorial board has some kind of well-known soft spot for Rhee!

Whither Adrian?: In a piece called "Mayor Fenty plays hide-and-seek with voters," the Washington Times' Deborah Simmons has more on Fenty's recent no shows to candidate forums. "Mr. Fenty was a no-show for at least three public forums in the past week and a half, including the most recent debate on Tuesday night at Israel Baptist Church in Northeast. Whatever the reason for his absences, the mayor has offered no explanation and voters are starting to notice." The Georgetown Dish airs a note of concern from the Citizens Association of Georgetown that Fenty won't come to their upcoming forum. Uh dude, you might wanna, like, I don't know, go to these things.

Uncle Sam Saves the Day: WBJ's Jeff Clabaugh reports that commercial real estate vacancy rates in the District are falling, largely thanks to the federal government that "continues to propel the District's recovery."

Educated Doesn't Equal Smart: The Washington region is the best-educated region in the entire universe, Daniel de Vise reports for WaPo. Money quote: "'To put it crudely, Washington, D.C., is parasitic on the rest of the country,' said Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at the University of Southern California. 'Most of those people were educated somewhere else.'" Yes, like zombies (and LL's editors), D.C. feeds on brains.

Anger at Pepco [News8]

Wanted: Grocery Ambassador [WBJ]

More on D.C.'s Statues in Congress [WAMU]

More Toilets for the Mall [WTOP]

MPD Back in Mosque Controversy [Examiner]

A Look At D.C.'s Newest Pediatric ER [NBC4]

NTSB Confirms Meeting on Last Summer's Metro crash [Post]

Premature affirmation [Capital Land]

Fenty dissing charter schools? [D.C. Schools Insider]

DON'T MISS: Fenty and Gray on Jonetta Rose Barras's radio show. 11 a.m. to noon, 89.3 FM or WPFW.org. (Or, if you work at City Paper, just downstairs.) Leo Alexander is on at 10 a.m.

Mayor's schedule: Nada.

Council's schedule: Nothing.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• City Paper exclusive on MPD's go-go report.
• Wanted: One mayor for mayoral forum
• Sweeperscam now even more expensive

Good morning sweet readers! Did anyone manage to watch all 27 hours of the D.C. Council session yesterday? If you missed any, LL TiVo-ed it and is having a viewing party this weekend at the parking lot of RFK Stadium. (Just pretend you're at the old 'HFS-tival!) On with the news:

2+2=5?: The foundation of Mayor Adrian Fenty's re-election campaign is the progress made in D.C.'s schools, right? Duh. So yesterday's news that new standardized test scores show a four to five point drop for elementary school students probably wasn't exactly what Hizzoner wanted to hear. Both the Post's Bill Turque, and the Examiner's Leah Fabel said the results come at an "inopportune" time for Fenty (teacher, someone is copying my use of the word inopportune!) Turque: "The elementary-school decline also represents a blow for [Chancellor Michelle] Rhee, who has made test score growth an integral part of the cultural change in schools she has pursued since becoming chancellor in 2007. Handpicked principals have established academic 'war rooms' to chart the progress of each student, tailoring instruction to address weaknesses that emerge on interim tests. Through winter and spring, schools are fully mobilized to prepare for the April tests in grades 3 through 8 and in grade 10. Field trips are canceled, and classes spend more time on test preparation. Selected schools offer 'Saturday academies' to help students. And this year's scores for the first time will determine half of the annual evaluation of some D.C. teachers. Last week, Rhee confirmed that she intended to expand standardized testing to cover all grades." Fabel: "[Fenty] appeared somewhat perplexed when asked by a parent why his office doesn't do more to communicate the school system's results. 'I grew up in D.C. when people, all they did was talk and talk. I like to do,' he said. 'People can look around and see the progress.' Not that it was all bad news, scores for middle and high school students rose, and overall 'officials said the three-year record of double-digit growth in secondary schools' test scores — an average gain of 14 percentage points in the reading pass rate and 17 points in the math rate — surpasses the norm for big urban school districts.'" Freeman Klopott has more on what the "mixed bag" of test results mean for Fenty in the Examiner.

AFTER THE JUMP: Trolley cars and hospitals; Immunity!; Mendelson and Stein...

A Little Ditty, About Two Guys Running For Mayor: WaPo's Tim Craig and Nikita Stewart tag-team the current state of the mayoral race two months out and air some criticism of both campaigns. Here's the low down on Fenty: "But the campaign has at times appeared rudderless, and sources close to the campaign say Fenty has been reluctant to heed advice and slow to grasp that he faces a far different election than he did in 2006 (not a fresh-faced council member known for his constituent service, but an incumbent mayor defending his record). For instance, Fenty overruled campaign advisers who urged him to hold off on the TV ads until a more comprehensive strategy was put together, two sources close to the mayor said. And Fenty's style has hampered his ability to build and nurture an electoral coalition. Despite his business-friendly agenda, Fenty lost the D.C. Chamber of Commerce endorsement to Gray." And on Gray: "The more immediate concern of those who support Gray—known for relishing the details of governing—is that he is too slow to make some campaign decisions. A dozen advisers helped Gray develop the education plan he rolled out two weeks ago, for instance. Before it was released, however, Gray and his staff vetted it before nearly 100 government officials, teachers, school administrators, labor leaders, parents and other stake-holders, campaign sources said. Gray is using a similar formula in developing proposals on crime, economic development and job creation and fiscal responsibility." LL regularly consults with nearly 100 people when deciding what to have for lunch. The consensus today: bacon. Unless the polling comes back and suggests empanadas.

Council Roundup: WaPo's Ann Marimow catches us up with two issues. Trolley Cars: "The D.C. Council made way for the first leg of a 37-mile trolley system Tuesday, passing legislation to allow the use of overhead wires along Benning Road and H Street NE. The debate over the use of the electrical wires for streetcars has centered on whether the lines violate a long-standing ban intended to preserve the appearance of the federal city. The temporary legislation approved unanimously Tuesday specifically prohibits overhead wires around the National Mall and creates a public process for determining whether the wires can be used in other parts of the city." And the hospital: "With some reservations, the council also gave final approval Tuesday to the creation of a nonprofit to run United Medical Center, the city's only hospital east of the Anacostia River."

Loophole!: WAMU's Patrick Madden reports on a big old campaign finance loophole that allows corporations to give lots more than the $2k limit to their candidate. "Some of the names sound generic: Acme Atlantic Leasing Company LLC or Gotham Investors LLC. Others sound a little more specific: Round Hill Investors LLC or FGV Investors LLC. There are 11 companies in all. They all gave the $2,000 maximum to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s campaign and all are listed at the same address: the 8th floor at 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard in Rockville, Maryland. That turns out to be the headquarters for Lerner Enterprises, the area's largest real estate developer. Tax records show the resident agent for most of them is a vice president at the company." LL notes that the same practice has been going on for years in Maryland. Possibly involving some of the same companies!

File Under Gross: A MetroAccess driver has been accused of sexually assaulting a disabled rider while transporting her home from adult day care in at least the third sexual assault case involving the agency's paratransit service so far this year, according to the Examiner's resident sex assault expert, Kytja Weir.

Where does he keep his immunity idol?: Clinton LaSuere's lawsuit against Fenty, alleging he stiffed him on $5,000 in unpaid campaign work for Fenty's Ward 4 successor, Muriel Bowser, was denied yesterday, Keith Alexander of the Post reports. "At a hearing Tuesday, Judge Michael J. McCarthy did not rule on the merits of LeSueur's claim. Rather, in dismissing the case, he cited a District law that provides immunity for elected officials." LL would like to point out that he also has immunity. From chicken pox!

Gerty for Mendo: The city's gay activists vote to support At-Large Councilman Phil Mendelson over challenger Clark Ray, Mike DeBonis reports. "Incumbent Phil Mendelson offered a simple pitch: 'I delivered the marriage equality bill,' he said in his opening remarks, a statement that hinted at years of legislative efforts that laid the groundwork for last year's climactic marriage vote. Challenger Clark Ray, the former city parks and recreation director, has had to sell gay activists on a different proposition—I'd be just as good on the issues, and, hey, I'm also gay."

You Kids Driving Me Crazy: Jonetta Rose Barras says in the Examiner that the D.C. Council needs parental control.

"Chat with Ward One School Board Candidate, Patrick Mara" [Examiner]

Prison Guards for Gray [Post]

Pierre L'Enfant, Frederick Douglas Statues to the capitol? [Post]

Mayor's schedule: Ribbon cutting at United Medical Center's New Pediatric ER unit, 10:45

Council hearings: Breathalyzer problems, election reform

Hello, sweet readers, and welcome to the first Loose Lips Daily of the Alan Suderman era. LL is eager to drag you along with him through the wonderful world of D.C. politics, and trusts you'll soon enough be asking yourself, "DeBonis who?"

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• D.C. Council rants, Peter Nickles swims
• Air conditioning still a problem at D.C. General homeless shelter
• Building industry throwing down for unopposed Mary Cheh

How about that Paul the Octopus oracle, who correctly predicted eight out of eight World Cup games, including Spain becoming champs yesterday. LL has an idea: Let's pass the hat and pay for Paul to predict the winner of this year's mayoral race so the rest of us can relax until September? No? Okay, let's get to it then.

Trouble on the Home Front: The Post's Nikita Stewart takes the pulse of Mayor Adrian Fenty's home turf, Ward 4, and finds discontentment a'bloomin'. Stewarts talks to Ethel Delaney Lee, the "matriarch of modern Ward 4 politics," who has thrown her support behind D.C. Councilman Vince Gray, after feeling ignored by Fenty. "The cellphone that I had for him, someone always answered for him," said Delaney Lee, 84, of North Portal Estates. "I wrote a letter... I never heard a word. Now, the mayor says he never received the letter and says he wishes he had." Money grafs: "Nowhere does Fenty have more to lose than in Ward 4. Conventional wisdom and political tarot readers have wards 5, 7 and 8 potentially in Gray's column. Fenty would win wards 1, 2 and 3. They would split Ward 6. That clears they way for the mayor's former epicenter of popularity to become the battleground in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary." ... "The ward's word-of-mouth work helped Fenty become mayor almost four years ago. This time, it's hurting him. Former Fenty supporters who back Gray recount personal insults and lament laid-off or transferred city employees. The mayor's supporters apologize for their candidate."

AFTER THE JUMP:Vincent Gray fundraiser in Georgetown; Nickles fights back; school's in!

Show Me the Money: A Post editorial gives Gray a slight tap on the hiney for having an education platform that is so ambitious "that it is hard to discern what are his priorities and, more significant, how he would pay for them." The Posties give credit to Gray for his focus on charter schools but take him to task for past meddling and unilateral actions as council chairman. "Most disappointing is the absence of any detail on what his proposals would cost or how—other than a vague promise of savings in special education—he would pay for them. It's easy to promise comprehensive pre-natal-to-toddler programs for families with special-needs children, more resources for charter schools or a doubling of school guidance counselors. Coming up with money, particularly in these tough fiscal times, is an entirely different matter."

Shut Your Hole and Know Your Role: The Examiner's Jonetta Rose Barras takes the D.C. Council to task for their meddlesome ways, affirming Nickles' assessment that they act like "mini-mayors." Barras singles out At-Large Councilman Michael Brown for proposing legislation that would mandate field trips for public school students. "Rather than just gripe about the problem, I offer this cure for the mini-mayor-micromanaging syndrome: less time in the John A. Wilson Building. After all, the job of council member is, by law, part-time—except for the chairman. Many legislatures hold clearly defined legislative sessions—sometimes spanning just 90 or 120 days. The city could follow suit. If there was an emergency, the chairman could call a special meeting." LL doesn’t need an octopus to predict the odds of that happening.

Anger Makes the Money Flow: The Georgetown Dish's Molly Redden covered Gray's Georgetown fundraiser Friday. Redden's take: Even among many of the avid Gray supporters at the ornate reception hall of the City Tavern Club, there were bitter feelings about Fenty that were as strong as the feelings for the man of the hour. There can't be any doubt any more—this election seems more and more like a referendum on Fenty's (un)likableness. Admirable as he may be for his "maturity" and "character"—words many used to describe him—Gray, it seems, scores extra points simply because he isn't his despised opponent.

'Cause I Say So: Nickles has fired back against the complaint Robert Vinson Brannum filed against schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Refresher from The Examiner's Leah Fabel: "The complaint was filed with the city's Office of Campaign Finance in June by Robert Vinson Brannum, a reliable Rhee antagonist and president of the D.C. Federation of Civic Associations. It charges that Rhee violated city law and standards of conduct when she "solicited or accepted private funding to support certain provisions of" the school system's contract, passed in late June by the D.C. Council. The $1.4 billion contract, which is partially funded by nearly $65 million in private donations from four foundations, grants teachers a 22 percent salary raise through 2012, retroactive to 2007. It also lays the foundation for teachers to be paid large bonuses depending on their successes in the classroom. The Office of Campaign Finance deemed Brannum's complaint worrisome enough to open an investigation in early June." Nickles called the complaint "baseless." Bill Turque reports that Rhee told the District's Office of Campaign Finance on Friday that she gained nothing financially from the private foundations that are underwriting part of the new teachers contract, nor did she have anything to do with a provision allowing donors to reconsider their support if DCPS leadership changed hands.

School's In: The Post's Stephanie Lee checks in with the District's new community college. The Community College of the District of Columbia, which split from UDC, has seen its enrollment jump from 960 in the fall to 2,335. Lee reports that the CCDC's growth is part of a national trend. "CCDC is starting as two-year colleges are enjoying a kind of renaissance. In the Washington region in the 2009-10 academic year, community college enrollment increased by 12,000 students, or 10 percent. Students are signing up in record numbers nationwide, though budget cuts make it impossible to accommodate them all."

Can Somebody Tell Me What the Crime is Here?: "The 19-year-old man suspected of impersonating a Metro driver and crashing a Route B2 bus carrying five adults and a baby before fleeing the scene initially drove so well that passenger Thomasena Thompson still thought he was a real Metro driver Sunday evening. "If he wasn't a driver for real," Thompson said, "he's been watching somebody for a real long time." William Jackson, the suspect, was polite and knew the bus's exact route, Thompson said. He stopped at Washington Hospital Center and even left the bus idling for her as she ran to it from the McDonald's she had stopped at after transferring from the X2 Friday afternoon." [Post]

It's Getting Hot in Here: The Examiner's Freeman Klopott reports that Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh has introduced emergency legislation "that would prevent power and gas companies from shutting off residents' utilities during extreme heat."

We Bought a Hospital: "The city now owns United Medical Center, the only hospital serving residents east of the Anacostia River, after bidding $20 million for the beleaguered facility at a five-minute foreclosure auction Friday that drew no other bidders." [Post] And Fenty named five to the hospital's board. [WBJ]

I'm Going to Disneyland! WBJ's Michael Neibauer finds that "rarely do D.C. staffers miss an opportunity to travel well."

Spare a Dime?: D.C. Wire reports that the fiscal note on a law making it a crime "for city employees to engage in politicking or electioneering while on duty or dressed in a city uniform or driving a taxpayer funded vehicle" would cost upwards of $100,000 in fiscal year 2011. CFO Natwar Gandhi said the city can't afford the price tag.

D.C. Council Schedule: 2 p.m. roundtable to discuss Peaceoholics' construction project at 1300 Congress St. SE

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Vincent Gray Calls For AG Peter Nickles To Resign," "Watch: The Marion Barry Wrestling Move," "Why Didn't Adrian Fenty Get A Ticket?," "Harry Thomas Jr.: Speeding Ticket Scofflaw?"

Good Morning. During the last few weeks, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, Attorney General Peter Nickles, and even the mayor's summer jobs program have popped up as campaign issues. They are the subjects of editorials, debate, overly angry LL Daily columns, and tons of comments from our awesome, loyal readers. But maybe this substitute LL is missing something. This Sub LL just hasn't heard enough talk about the District's economy. Yeah, we all care about Spike's new pizza place. But his new pizza joint or the new Chipotle in Columbia Heights aren't stories that tell the full picture of the District. It's only half that picture. The other half? The other half doesn't draw comments, is rarely seen or heard from in the mainstream media. I'm talking about the more than 10 percent who are unemployed. Or the many who are under-employed. Or those of us who live paycheck to paycheck. On July 7, all the homeless shelters were at or very near capacity. The D.C. General emergency shelter held 131 families and 227 children. I recently spoke to a father who told me he and his family were stuck living in their car because they couldn't get into D.C. General.

Mayor Adrian Fenty would much rather talk about a minor traffic violation. WaPo's Mike DeBonis reported yesterday morning that Fenty had been pulled over in Chinatown for failing to signal a right turn. Is this newsworthy? Sure. But what was so telling about it was that Fenty actually addressed his violation with the press: "'It was a mistake. It was a hundred percent my fault,' he said, calling the police officer who pulled him over 'one of our best officers.'" I think that's one of the mayor's better apologies and longer press statements we've had in a while.

What Fenty's administration doesn't want to talk about? Jobs. Specifically, the city's auditors findings that his administration did not enforce the living-wage law and local hiring requirements. On May 18, D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols issued a 24-page report [PDF] on her findings. Here's what our new LL, Alan Suderman, reported in the Examiner:

"The District failed to enforce its own law requiring local hires for taxpayer funded developments, costing residents hundreds of jobs and potentially $14 million in lost wages, a new city audit has found.

The city's First Source program requires developers working on city-funded projects to fill 51 percent of newly created jobs with District residents. But a review of 16 projects started under the guidance of two now-defunct, quasi-independent agencies shows that only four projects met that threshold.

The projects that did have the required number of District residents include the DC USA retail complex in Columbia Heights and the Mandarin Oriental hotel by the Tidal Basin.

Developers can get a waiver for the 51 percent requirement if they show that there was a "good faith" effort to find residents with the needed skills. But Department of Employment Services, which is tasked with implementing the First Source Program, said they have no record that the agency ever tried to determine whether good faith efforts were made.

D.C. Auditor Deborah Nichols said a rough estimation puts the number of potential jobs lost to nonresidents at 361, and the potential wages lost at $14 million. Nichols said the figures show the "type of economic fortune that could have occurred for the District and its residents had District agency officials and developers been more committed to [First Source] laws and procedures."

Nichols found that Mayor Adrian Fenty's office had essentially ignored the city's Living Wage Act of 2006, which requires city contractors to pay workers at least $12.10 an hour.

Nichols also noted that Fenty's administration, including Attorney General Peter Nickles, refused to allow her access to all the documents she requested for the audit."

Inevitably, the D.C. Council wanted a hearing on the matter. The hearing was yesterday. Guess how that turned out?

No one from Fenty's administration bothered to show up. WaPo's Ann Marimow reports on the administration no-show: "Council members Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) and Michael Brown (I-At Large), who presided over the hearing, expressed frustration that Fenty's administration has not made the employment measures a priority. There was no one at the hearing Thursday to defend the administration's position, only the missive from the attorney general. An aide to the council's Economic Development Committee said the panel had confirmed participation from the Department of Employment Services and the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. But two hours into the hearing, there was no sign of an administration representative. [Auditor Deborah] Nichols said she was surprised that no one from the deputy mayor's office had appeared. She said she was told that their team was too busy to meet in late June because they were preparing for Thursday's hearing. Brown called the absence 'unacceptable.'"

Instead of actual Fenty officials answering questions, the D.C. Councilmembers got a letter from AG Peter Nickles saying the District was in compliance.

Housing Complex's Lydia DePillis covered the hearing as well. This wasn't the first instance of the Fenty administration stonewalling the auditor's investigation into the living-wage law. At the hearing, Nichols told the D.C. Council:

“This administration doesn’t even consider itself subject to philosophical standards, practices, that you would expect them to have, that you see in national government, local, state governments throughout the country,” Nichols said. “It’s just not the same mentality.”

In Tim Craig's WaPo piece on the oddly personal feud between Gray and the AG, the city auditor summed up the problem with Peter Nickles as good as anyone: "Deborah K. Nichols, told a council committee that Nickles has made it more difficult for her office to assess the performance of the government because he interferes with the flow of information from the administration. 'Everybody has to have a system of checks and balances. When you are the check and the balance, there's a conflict,' said Nichols, who has worked in the auditor's office since 1982. 'When you are the spokesperson, the attorney general and the investigator, there's a conflict.'"

We thought we elected our own Cory Booker. Now we know the only thing they have in common is that they're both bald. Can you imagine Fenty living in James Creek or Barry Farm? Instead, we got a mayor who zips around in a Smart car and really loves sports. Where was he headed when he got his little traffic warning? He wasn't racing off to a senior center or an ANC meeting or a church basement. He was off to his cushy seats at a Washington Kastles team-tennis game.

This is my last LL Daily and possibly my worst (where's the aggregation?). It's everything my anonymous readers hated—whiny, bias-seeming, etc. Oh well. I will be getting back to doing some reporting for Washington City Paper where I will be covering the social-services beat. So you'll probably be seeing stories about homeless services, affordable housing, and a lot of other stuff that may or may not turn into campaign issues.

Anyway. Here are a few quick links:

Kwame Brown is in some serious trouble (Tom Sherwood)

D.C. Streetcars loose $25 million grant (The Examiner).

One mayoral candidate drops out and throws support to Gray (D.C. Wire)

Catania takes a really tough stance on truancy (WaPo).

We're really buying a hospital? (DeBonis)

Double shooting in Southeast (NC8)

Adams Morgan apts. to be converted to condos (WBJ)

Amtrak adds Richmond-to-D.C. service (WTOP)

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE:

10 a.m.Remarks
Georgia Commons Topping Off
Location:3910 Georgia Ave. NW

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE:

1 p.m. Roundtable on: The Settlement Agreement with Banneker Ventures, LLC [that's going to be fun]
Location: John A. Wilson Building, Room 500

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"So Was Anyone Arrested For illegal Fireworks?," "The Piledriver, the Sleeper Hold, the Marion Barry?," "IG: Top Execs At Disability Providers Overpaid," "Councilmembers Ask CFO Not To Pay Banneker Settlement"

Good morning, everyone. It's about that time in the mayoral race when columnists begin to do a little assessment of the candidates, and a lot of theorizing. In this case, WaPo's Robert McCartney wants to know why Mayor Adrian Fenty is doing so poorly in his bid for re-election. Insiders from both Fenty's camp and Vincent Gray's camp suggest that the mayor is behind in the polls. There's a reason for the declining supporters, McCartney writes: "Much is explained by Fenty's disdain for long-standing rituals about how a mayor interacts with the public. In particular, he hates face-to-face meetings with groups of constituents pushing one agenda or another. Although he loves going door-to-door to talk to voters, a refrain heard everywhere is, 'He won't sit down with us.' The city's top union leadership, grouped in the Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO, hasn't met with Fenty since early 2007. The group includes 40,000 District voters. On the business side, Barbara Lang, president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, hasn't talked to the mayor since a 10-minute meeting soon after he took office. Religious leaders complain that he won't come to church anniversary celebrations or the funerals of prominent pastors. Fenty is the first mayor in memory to decline such routine courtesies. Even if he rejects the advice, can't he at least hear what people have to say? 'One thing that Adrian hasn't really learned, in the District there's a lot of ceremony. People expect you to go through certain protocols, a certain dance, and then make a decision,' said a prominent D.C. politician who has endorsed Fenty and spoke on condition of anonymity to be free to criticize him."

AFTER THE JUMP— Sexual assaults are on the rise, the D.C. Jail achieves a dubious milestone, more DYRS problems, Gray fusses over a 2002 traffic ticket, and more!Maybe Fenty needs to bring back the weekly press conference. Just sayin'. And, well, stories related to Fenty's frat-brother contracts do not help. It's not just that Fenty screws up funerals by showing up late and won't meet with civic leaders. It's the feeling that there's always something he's hiding, that there's too many days without public events, that there's some process he's skipping, that the schools may be improving by a percentage point, but what about everything else? And then there's always Peter Nickles. No one voted for him. But we see him a lot more than we do Fenty.

The Fenty administration's rush to reward Banneker Ventures with a settlement, the Examiner's Freeman Klopott reports could limit the city's options in other important ways regarding those fishy parks-and-rec contracts: "The $550,000 settlement agreement between the District and Banneker Ventures prevents the city from reclaiming millions in previous payments and makes it impossible for the District to sue the company if investigators determine the contract was obtained through fraud. The July 1 settlement reached by D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles and Omar Karim, a longtime friend of Mayor Adrian Fenty, ended a Banneker claim that the city owed the company $2.3 million on the parks and recreation contract. The D.C. Council expects to receive an independent investigator's conclusions on the contract next week. Late last year, the council canceled the Banneker contract after it determined the Fenty administration had circumvented a law requiring the council to vote on contracts exceeding $1 million. On Wednesday, D.C. Council members Mary Cheh, Harry Thomas and Phil Mendelson sent a letter to Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi requesting that he not issue payments on the settlement because it's still under investigation by the council. 'It's extraordinarily irregular and questionable to settle this without first settling all of the issues against Banneker and on top of that determining first whether Banneker should be paying us,' Cheh said. The settlement requires Banneker to pay its subcontractors a total of about $285,000, allowing the company to keep $265,000 on top of the $2.5 million it already received in a controversial Christmas Eve payment." More coverage via WBJ.

SEXUAL ASSAULTS: WTOP's Mark Segraves reports that sexual assaults are on the rise: "Cases of sexual assault are up in D.C., with some neighborhoods increasing at a double digit rate, according to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.Lanier spoke about the increase on WTOP's Ask the Chief program, and cautioned about jumping to any conclusions about a threat to public safety. 'You can't just look at numbers and not do any analysis and use that as something to scare people with,' Lanier says. Lanier says many of the sexual assaults are not random and many of the victims know their attacker. The Seventh District, east of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, has seen the biggest increase. Of the 14 most recent sexual assaults in the area, nine were domestic in nature." Scary Graphs: Some fear the spike in sexual assaults is worse than Lanier is saying. Sources tell WTOP internal police memos show serious sexual assaults in the Seventh District are up by 325 percent for the first 6 months of 2010. Lanier would not comment on the document because she did not have it with her. On the Metropolitan Police Department's website, where crime statistics are published, it shows that sex crimes are down across the District by 18 percent." More coverage via The Sexist.

DYRS: Joshua Hopkins, the Capitol Hill intern killed over the weekend, was under DYRS supervision, reports the Examiner's Bill Myers: "You may have read that Hopkins was trying to rebuild his life and how he had 'overcome a lot of obstacles.' Here’s what that means: In 2008, Hopkins was arrested for destruction of property, a source familiar with his background told The Washington Examiner. He was sentenced to the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services until he turned 21. He is now at least the fifth DYRS ward to have been killed while under the agency’s 'supervision' since the beginning of the year. (Another nine DYRS kids have been accused of murder themselves.)"

GRAY VS. 2002 TRAFFIC TICKET: WaPo's Mike DeBonis and Michael Laris report out Vincent Gray's mini drama behind his failure to take care of a 2002 traffic violation in Maryland: "The ticket was issued by a Maryland state trooper shortly after 11 a.m. Dec. 29, 2002 — a Sunday — on the inner loop of the Capital Beltway south of Ardwick Ardmore Road, not far from FedEx Field. Campaign spokeswoman Traci Hughes said Gray was on his way to a Washington Redskins game when he attempted to get around a traffic jam by driving on the right shoulder. Gray was among several drivers stopped and cited for the maneuver, she said. The Washington Post could not confirm Wednesday whether other motorists had been stopped. At the time of the citation, Gray was not in public office but was serving as executive director of Covenant House Washington, a nonprofit organization serving homeless youths. In 2004, he won a council seat representing Ward 7 as a Democrat. Two years later, he was elected council chairman. The ticket remained active through both elections. 'He thought he had paid the ticket,' Hughes said Wednesday, adding that Gray takes 'full responsibility' for the offense. The outstanding citation was discovered in the course of 'due diligence' research for his campaign, she said."

KWAME WINS CHAMBER ENDORSEMENT: Kwame Brown won a big endorsement in his effort to become D.C. Council Chairman. WaPo's Ann Marimow reports: "In the race to replace Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, council member Kwame Brown (D-At Large) picked up another endorsement this week from the local business community. The D.C. Chamber gave its blessing to Brown's candidacy after interviews with Brown and former Ward 5 council member Vincent Orange. 'Both candidates have exhibited impressive records of service, but in the end we felt that council member Brown will be more effective in working with the business community and moving legislation that encourages small businesses, growth and development,' said Gilbert E. DeLorme, chairman of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce PAC.The chamber's endorsement was somewhat surprising because Orange was until recently a Pepco vice president and because of his friendship with D.C. Chamber of Commerce president Barbara Lang, with whom he has had a long working relationship. Lang's operation is technically separate from the chamber's PAC, which made the decision after casting secret ballots."

RHEE AND THE HATCH ACT: WaPo's Bill Turque wonders if D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee violated the Hatch Act with her comments last week suggesting that she'd stick around if her boss won another term: "The Hatch Act, the federal law that regulates political activity by District employees, says they 'may not use their official authority or influence to interfere with the result of an election.' In a series of interviews last week Rhee seemed to be doing precisely that, staking out her support for the mayor and characterizing the D.C. Council chairman as a conventional politician too concerned with public opinion. 'I think that the differences between Mayor Fenty and the chairman in how they would approach this effort are very, very clear,' she told me. 'In fact, in some cases I don't think you can get more stark in terms of those differences, And I think the mayor has also made it clear that I am a part of his vision and his plan.' She told Newsweek that Gray is 'very process-oriented and wants less turmoil. That's one way to go about things, but if procedure and harmony are his priorities, I'm not his girl.'" AG Peter Nickles tells Turque that Rhee did not violate the Hatch Act. Then again, you don't see other agency heads speaking out for either candidate.

U STREET MESS: WTOP reports on the greasy scene: "The phrase, 'D.C. stinks,' took on a new meaning Wednesday as U Street and neighboring roads become a greasy mess that smelled like vomit. The problems with the greasy mess started in the 5 a.m. hour when used restaurant oil began dribbling out of a truck along the road. Drivers inadvertently spread the goo to side streets and alleys. Pedestrians and cyclists were also slipping and sliding on the slick spots. Police had to close some roads – including U Street and 14th Street – and shut down some areas to pedestrian traffic while the mess was cleaned up. Metro buses also had to be rerouted off of U Street. All of the roads have since reopened. Street sweepers will be tackling the area at midnight. Two 3,000-gallon flushers -loaded with a water-soluble degreaser – will spray the solution on U Street and 7th Street to the east, 16th Street to the west, V Street to the north and Rhode Island Avenue to the south."

D.C. JAIL DEATHS: The Examiner's Emily Babay reports that inmate deaths are double the national average: "From 2000 to 2007, the mortality rate was 315 deaths per 100,000 inmates in the District, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics data released Wednesday. Nationally, the average mortality rate was 145 deaths per 100,000 inmates. Inmates in large jails like D.C.'s were most likely to die from illness or natural causes, said Margaret Noonan, a BJS statistician and the study's author. That's not surprising, said Deborah Golden, a staff attorney with the D.C. Prisoners Project, because the District has higher-than-average rates of heart disease, AIDS and cancer in general. Incarceration can make such conditions worse, said Tracy Velazquez, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute. 'People cycle in and out and are exposed to infectious diseases more often,' she said. Both nationwide and in the District, jail deaths are on the decline."

SOUTHEAST TALK SHOW: Becomes a hit on YouTube (NC8).

TRANSIT COSTS UP: Costs are outpacing revenues (The Examiner).

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE:

10:45 a.m. Remarks
Fairlawn Estates Ribbon Cutting
22nd Street and T Street, SE

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: D.C. auditor's report on the the living wage, and hiring of local workers (huge Fenty Fail). Youth and mental health is discussed at a roundtable, and more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Councilmembers To Nickles: WTF,"Poll Shows Fenty Beating Gray In Ward One," "Thieves Loot Argonaut," "Runaway Horse Dashed Through Cap Hill"

Good morning. D.C. Council Chairman and Mayoral candidate Vincent Gray didn't let the Monday break go to waste. He held a Q & A with prominent local bloggers at Ben's Chili Bowl (points off for cliche setting). Gray took questions from DCist, Borderstan, We Love DC, Greater Greater Washington, and The District Curmudgeon; the bloggers covered everything from the streetcar flip-flop and education reform to small business regulations and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier. The bloggers walked away impressed by Gray's—what else?—penchant for detail and his ability to admit when he screwed up (streetcar flip-flop). But let's just get to the news that warms this substitute LL's heart: IF ELECTED, GRAY HAS PROMISED TO BRING BACK THE WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE.

DCist's Martin Austermuhle reports: "On education, Gray spoke proudly of his ambitious plan to create a comprehensive birth-through-24 system. He pledged to be more transparent and hold weekly press conferences — something Fenty has been strongly criticized for. He agreed that the District's Summer Youth Employment Program — which 'has been about a numbers game' — needed reform, as did the District's Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services. He promised that economic development would be one of the things he tackled in his first year, using regulatory reform to improve the "Byzantine system" currently faced by the District's small businesses. And yes, Gray emphasized that he was in favor of streetcars, though he did worry that not enough planning had been done before tracks were laid down on H Street NE. When asked about the budget kerfuffle which saw funding for streetcars stripped from the city's budget and then restored, Gray admitted that 'it was a misunderstanding.' 'I'm really sorry that it happened,' he added."

More coverage via Borderstan. Greater Greater Washington's Dave Stroup summed up his impression of Gray: "Any skilled candidate will provide thoughtful and compelling answers at a session such as this. The real questions are always in the nitty-gritty. There's no doubt that Vincent Gray loves the District and wants to see things change for the better. This campaign will be won or lost on Gray's ability to convince District voters that he can make these things happen. The wisest thing Gray said on Monday was that this campaign will not come down to who has the most money. Fenty has a large war chest, and a record of results. He also has vulnerabilities. This will be an extremely close race, and it will be interesting to see whether the idealistic campaign plan of Vincent Gray can weather the long, hot DC summer."

AFTER THE JUMP—Fenty friend fails and yet still succeeds, D.C. Council pissed at Peter Nickles (again), Mary J. Blige may be enrolling at Howard University, and much, much more!

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED: The Examiner's Bill Myers breaks some news on the Parks-and-Rec-Fenty-Frat-Bro narrative with today's must read: "A D.C. board issued an engineering license to a co-founder of a company with ties to Mayor Adrian Fenty even though the man has never passed the professional exam, The Washington Examiner has learned. Abdullahi Barrow has emerged as a key figure in the ongoing investigation into millions of dollars' worth of parks contracts awarded to companies owned by the mayor's friends and fraternity brothers. One of them, Sinclair Skinner, has said publicly that he relied on Barrow's expertise to win public parks contracts for Liberty Engineering and Design, a company founded by Skinner and Barrow. But Barrow failed his engineer's exam seven times since 2002, sources said and documents obtained by [The Examiner] show. In 2008, the Fenty-appointed Board of Professional Engineers unanimously granted Barrow the professional license because of his 'eminence' in the field, board spokesman Clive Cooks said. There are three ways to obtain a professional engineer's license in the District: passing the exam, having already obtained a license in another state, or for eminence. The board rarely issues eminence licenses, Cooks said. Since 2005, only four have been given out — including Barrow's, Cooks said. Barrow's lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, said any suggestion that Barrow wasn't qualified as an engineer was 'nonsense.'"

Of course, Fenty may also have his own fence problem. Myers goes on to report: "Barrow was deposed last month. Sources familiar with his testimony said that Barrow, like Skinner, had trouble recalling basic details about his company, including its first client and the last name of a third man, 'Chris,' who initially started the business with Skinner and Barrow. Barrow said, however, that yet another company co-founded by him and his wife was paid by Liberty Engineering, the sources said. The company, Providence Construction, has also been given a contract to build a fence for the city's real estate agency, sources said."

MORE PARKS AND WRECK: WaPo's Mike DeBonis reports that several D.C. Councilmembers are ticked off at Attorney General Peter Nickles, for paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to one Rec Center developer/Fenty pal: "D.C. Council members aren't taking well the news that the city reached a $550,000 settlement last week with Banneker Ventures, the company overseeing Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's controversial parks construction. Democrats Mary Cheh (Ward 3), Phil Mendelson (At Large) and Harry Thomas Jr. (Ward 5) have jointly taken exception to the settlement — in particular, the decision by Attorney General Peter Nickles to sign an agreement while the council's investigation of the parks contracts is ongoing. 'Your decision to settle at this particular time appears to be poor judgment and motivated by something other than the best interests of the District of Columbia,' the members wrote in a letter to Nickles delivered today. It goes on to suggest that the agreement was signed 'for no other reason than to bring this matter rapidly to a close.' Cheh was still more explicit about said motivations in an interview this afternoon: 'To make something that's problematic for the mayor go away.' She said the move was of a 'similar nature' to when the Housing Authority cut a check for $2.5 million to Banneker on Christmas Eve — when no one on the D.C. Council, which was already investigating the matter, could have stopped it." Nickles tells DeBonis that everything was above board. Of the councilmembers' complaint: "They really don't know what they're talking about." More coverage via Washington City Paper's new Loose Lips columnist Alan Suderman, and WBJ.

JONETTA ROSE BARRAS: The Examiner columnist thinks Gray's education plan reads too much like Fenty's education plan (which she likes). Still, she argues that the plan "lacks freshness and innovation." Barras concludes: "Undoubtedly, Gray and his campaign have deliberately exploited the reality that most voters aren't intimate with the details of education reform. But those who have closely followed such events won't find any substantial difference between Gray and Fenty's plan — except the council chairman offered his with a warm smile and the promise of tons of town hall meetings. There's one more thing: Fenty has been implementing his plan for the past three years."

POLLING: D.C. Wire's Tim Craig digs into the numbers behind the Graham campaign poll showing Fenty with a slight edge over Gray among Ward One voters: "According to the poll, the incumbent mayor leads Gray in Ward 1 by a margin of 43 percent to 37 percent. Despite that narrow lead, many observers believe Fenty needs a much greater margin in Ward 1 on Election Day to overcome Gray's expected advantage in communities in Northeast and Southeast Washington. Ward 1, the city's most diverse, is home to many of the new District residents that the Fenty campaign has been heavily courting. On July 4, a few hours before the fireworks, Fenty was spotted campaigning door-to-door in Mount Pleasant. In his successful 2006 campaign, Fenty won 61 percent of the vote in Ward 1, his best showing outside of his home base of Ward 4. Still, Graham's poll demonstrates that Gray still faces a challenge in becoming better known. Only three out of four Ward 1 residents recognize Gray's name, compared with the nearly 100 percent who knew Fenty's. And with 18 percent of Ward 1 residents undecided, there is still a path for Fenty to match his 2006 numbers in Ward 1."

HIV-AIDS: Amanda Hess writing over at WCP's The Sexist tries to figure out what Vincent Gray means when he says he won't "over promise" on this issue: "Is Gray suggesting that the District couldn’t deliver on its promises to its last HIV/AIDS director? A recent op-ed in the Washington Blade posits that Hader received 'little support' from the District, and that her 'hands were tied' by a 'local government that lacked the funds and the vision to realize the full potential of a more integrated, multi-agency approach needed to address this public health emergency.' It’s certainly going to be difficult to sugarcoat D.C.’s HIV/AIDS crisis for potential candidates. Without promises of additional resources, will the District be able to snag a director that’s nearly as effective as Hader?"

METRO MESS: The Examiner's Kytja Weir reports that the cheaper SmarTrip Cards will be ready in late August: "The agency is planning to drop the price of the cards from $5 to $2.50 to encourage riders to use the reusable plastic cards. But the change isn't slated to occur until Aug. 29, according to a Metro report. Consider this the latest confusing fare change at Metro. The transit agency boosted fares on June 27 but plans to increase other aspects of fares — including charging 25 cents extra per rail trip for users of paper fare cards — starting Aug. 1. But it won't reduce the cost of the SmarTrip cards until just before Labor Day. Other SmarTrip card changes are expected this fall. So riders may want to do some calculations as to what makes the most sense: buy the plastic fare cards before Aug. 1 if planning to take more than 10 rail trips before the end of the month? Or wait until the price drops? Bus riders already pay a 20-cent differential when they pay cash instead of using a SmarTrip card — and they lose out on the transfer discount when switching from bus to bus or train to bus if they pay cash. So buying a SmarTrip card now makes sense for frequent riders."

CITY POOLS: The District is extending pool and library hours, reports NC8: "District officials say they want to ensure residents have a place to get out of the heat. One of the places they recommend are public libraries. a location on m street was open until 9 Tuesday night and people stayed inside until the doors closed trying to cool off."

MARY J. BLIGE: NC8 reports that the singer may be enrolling at Howard University: A well-known singer could be packing more into her busy schedule to get a college degree from a well-known D.C. university. Mary J. Blige may have eight multi platinum records, nine Grammys and several number one hits. Now she's after her college diploma. 'I got accepted into Howard University for the class of 2014!! Cheers...' said Blige. That candid comment caught on stage for Good Morning America Friday is causing a big buzz on Howard University's campus in Northwest D.C." University officials refused to comment on whether Blige has enrolled. Doesn't this sound like a reality-show premise?

WE HAVE A DEAL: On the convention center hotel.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: Confirmations of funeral boardmembers and public service commission, rent-control roundtable discussion at 11 a.m., hearing on Community Service Block Grants at 2 p.m.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Young ANC Candidate: Eliminate Curfew," "Coming Soon: New Loose Lips," "Man Who Helped Save Metro Passenger Speaks Out," "Lawsuit Filed As WTU Election Fiasco Gets Personal," "Candidates Swarm Stinky Palisades Parade," "Photo: Fireworks Over Park View"

Good afternoon. Hope you are enjoying your lunch and avoiding this heat. Michelle Rhee's suggestion last week that she may not stick around if Vincent Gray beats her boss has provoked a lot of debate. The WaPo editorial board thinks much of this election should focus on Rhee: "EVEN AS D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee suggested she might not be able to continue her work if Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) is voted out of office, she insisted the race is not about her. The key, she said, is 'the two gentlemen who are running and what their kind of stances are about education reform.' She is both right and wrong. Clearly, voters must decide whether, on the all-important issue of education, Mr. Fenty or D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) is the better choice. That decision, though, is inextricably linked to a judgment about Ms. Rhee....Mr. Gray rightly argues that reform doesn't depend upon one person. But the past three years have shown two men with a very different sense of urgency about reform. Voters who believe the D.C. schools have turned an irreversible corner may opt for Mr. Gray's slower, consensus-building style. Those who believe Ms. Rhee has made epic progress in positioning the schools for change but think there is still work to be done, will have reason to give Mr. Fenty their vote."

Meanwhile, WaPo's Jay Mathews thinks Rhee made a mistake in stepping into the political arena; and that Gray needs to realize how important Rhee actually is to school reform: "Suggesting she might leave if D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray beats Fenty, as she has in recent days, is turning her back, at least in part, on those children. Rhee has vowed to focus on the problems of students, not adults. Until now she had been true to her word. That has led many adults whose advice she has ignored and prerogatives she has overridden to wish she would go find some other school district to save. Saying she would leave if Gray is elected is good news to those people. It is bad for the principals she has appointed, the teachers who share her commitment to raising achievement and the parents who are beginning to see the teamwork, creativity and persistence in regular city public schools that they have found in many charter schools. In Gray's plan 'for ensuring a quality education for all children,' released last week, he has not committed himself to keeping Rhee. That is smart politically. He does not want to alienate her supporters or detractors. I like his plan. It is full of good intentions and reminders of how he supported mayoral control of the schools and the hiring of Rhee, although she is to my mind the most unconventional and stress-inducing administrator ever put in charge of an important American school district. But there is something lacking in Gray's plan that indicates either he doesn't care, or doesn't understand, how important his decision about Rhee will be. He gives no hint of what a disaster for public education it would be to lose this chancellor."

This substitute LL thinks all this Rhee talk is good for Fenty. But would like to hear Fenty talk about the difficult decisions he made to reform the schools–like closing 20-some schools, the teacher firings, etc.  Still, plenty of room for debate in the comments.

AFTER THE JUMP—Metro mess, Riddick Bowe's sad life in Fort Washington, Wal-Mart might be coming to D.C., Jim Graham leads in Ward One Council race, and much, much more!

BIGGEST BOX: WaPo's Jonathan O'Connell reports that Wal-Mart is inching closer to dominating our lives: "Fresh off a deal with the City of Chicago that will allow Wal-Mart Stores to open more than a dozen locations there, the mega-retailer is closing in on an agreement to open its first store in D.C. Wal-Mart is negotiating to open a store on New York Avenue NE near the intersection of Bladensburg Road, on a parcel owned by a family in the taxicab business, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The chain, which has expressed interest in opening a store in the city for years as part of its expansion into major urban markets, has not yet signed a lease but is expected to by this fall, the sources said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by the companies to discuss the details. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., agreed to a deal with the Chicago City Council on June 30 that gives it the green light to open its second store there by 2012 and two dozen or more stores in the city in coming years. Spokesman Steven Restivo said the agreement exhibits the company's interest in building outlets in urban areas. 'Wal-Mart does not have any new projects to announce in the [the District], but we continue to evaluate opportunities that would allow us to create jobs and provide affordable groceries to D.C. residents,' he said."

METRO MESS: 100 Metro cars have pulled over door problems. WaPo's Ann Scott Tyson and Martin Weil report: "Metro officials averted a potential nightmare before July Fourth crowds arrived in Washington when they discovered that the doors on dozens of rail cars could — under the right circumstances — open while in movement, according to the agency's operations chief. Simulations determined that an electrical short on the 4000 series cars could cause the door motor to energize and run "until it opens the door all the way" and then force the train to brake, operations chief Dave Kubicek said. The agency announced just before midnight Saturday that it was removing all 100 of the 4000 series rail cars from service as a safety precaution to check and repair the doors. Kubicek said 60 or 70 of the cars have been deployed each day, so Metro will have to run fewer eight-car trains and more six-car trains while attempting to maintain its current rail schedule. We could be short some cars,' he said. 'On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we might not see all the equipment we should see.'"

Meanwhile, a man was killed after being struck by an Orange line train over the weekend.

ECONOMY DOWN, RENTS UP: The Examiner's David Sherfinski reports rents are up in the D.C. area: "The cost of renting an apartment in the Washington area climbed 3.6 percent in the last year — greater than the rate of inflation — according to a report from a real estate consulting firm. Homes lingering on the market and renters with well-paying jobs contributed to people moving into high-end apartments at one of the strongest rates in the nation, the report said. And as demand rises, so, too, do prices. The area's average rent was about $1,600. From a development perspective, the 3.6 percent increase is 'definitely a good thing,' said Grant Montgomery, vice president of Delta Associates, which released the report. Older, less pricey apartments are also filling up, an early indicator that job growth has resumed but that renters are adjusting to a "new normal" in the down economy, the report said. With the local economy still in a nascent recovery, people are more value-conscious, Montgomery said.... The rent increase outpaced the inflation rate of 2.2 percent in the 12-month period ending in April. And renting in the area is certainly no bargain; rent in the District averaged more than $2,137." Then again...this story has like one source—the VP behind the study. Would have liked to have heard from others in the social services community, DHS, etc. on the impact of higher rents.

WARD ONE RACE: According to a Jim Graham campaign press release, the Ward One councilmember has a more than healthy lead over his opponents Bryan Weaver and Jeff Smith, and Adrian Fenty is besting Vincent Gray in the ward:

"D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham’s reelection is supported by 68 percent of likely Democratic voters, according to a recent poll. Graham’s two opponents, both in single-digits, split 15 percent of the vote. 17 percent are undecided.

In addition to his very strong reelection position, 77 percent view Graham favorably and 71 percent rate his job performance as excellent/good.

"More than anything, these poll numbers tell me that our accomplishments over the past 12 years are making a big difference," Graham said. “We all know there’s more to be done, but we are on the right path and have the support of people from across the ward.”

Graham’s strong reelection, favorability and job approval numbers extend across the cultural diversity and neighborhoods of Ward One.

In the race for Mayor the leading candidates are running neck-and-neck. 43 percent of likely Democratic voters support Adrian Fenty and 37 percent support Vince Gray. 18 percent are undecided. Leo Alexander received 2 percent.

The poll of 300 likely Democratic Primary voters residing in Ward One was conducted June 28 through July 1, 2010 by the well-regarded Lake Research Partners, a national public opinion and political strategy research firm founded by Celinda Lake in 1995. http://www.lakeresearch.com/."

JULY 4 TRAGEDY: Man killed during July 4 holiday prep. NC8 reports: "A man helping neighbors set up for a community party in the 3000 block of Nelson Place in Southeast D.C. was gunned down. Now, police are searching for the shooting suspects while neighbors are mourning the murder of a friend. On Nelson Place in Southeast, 66-year-old retired D.C. Protective Services officer John Pernell was the "mayor" of the block. He would fix a kid's bike, take you to the grocery store, and advise and mentor both young and old. The father of three and grandfather of two never said no when someone was in need. 'They just don't know what they did when they killed him. They took our angel away,' said Wanda McMillion."

D.C. WATER: The Examiner's Freeman Klopott reports that D.C. Water is dealing with some folks posing as D.C. Water employees: "D.C. Water is warning its customers to be on the lookout for scammers who pose as utility workers to gain access to customers' homes and then burglarize them. The scammers give an excuse to get inside the home and then take items while the resident is distracted or case the house and come back later, officials said." More coverage via NC8.

SOBERRIDE: WTOP via The AP reports that nearly 400 people used the SoberRide service on July 4: "The SoberRide program operated by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program provided 389 rides between 10 p.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday. That's a 17 percent increase over the last July Fourth."

ROOF FIRE: Displaces 18 residents in NW (NC8).

HEAT-RELATED: Pepco is dealing with power outages today. WUSA9 reports: "Some Pepco customers may have a hard time finding relief from the sweltering heat thanks to power outages in the area Tuesday morning. Bob Hainey, spokesperson for Pepco, says workers have located approximately 300 feet of bad secondary cable located underground in the 700 block of 12th Street in Northeast. Hainey says Pepco crews are pulling out the cable now and plan to install new cable in order to restore power to residential customers by noon. According to Hainey, approximately 3 dozen customers affected."

KEEP COOL: Here's info on local cooling centers.

RIDDICK BOWE: Now teaches at LA Boxing Gyms.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: Parks and Rec roundtable, Housing Finance Board confirmation hearing, DDOE Christophe Tulou confirmation, and health hearing this afternoon.

Actually, this LL is already at the Wilson Building—joining us Tuesday will be Alan Suderman, who covers District government for the Examiner. He previously covered Montgomery County, where he dug up dirt on a tuition assistance program and possible conflicts of interest in a biotech tax credit. Suderman's also written about the Montana legislature for the Associated Press and about Sarah Palin for the Juneau Empire (back before she quit the Alaska government).

No doubt, he'll introduce himself here shortly after he starts. But those of you in city politics, consider yourself warned: This weekend is your last chance to do anything stupid without LL on the job. (And in fact, he'll be at the Palisades parade on Sunday—so look for him there.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

INTRODUCING: The Fenty Chicken.

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

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

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

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

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

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

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

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"No Last Call For SoberRide, After All," "Not Guilty! Judge Exonerates Defendants In Robert Wone Case," "Watch Fenty Dance To Go-Go," "World Cup Roundup," "Community Service Soon Over For Arenas"

Good Morning. Another summer, another round of problems with Mayor Adrian Fenty's Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). This time, the Examiner's Alan Suderman reports it may become a campaign issue: "The Summer Youth Employment Program got off to a rocky start this week when up to 800 kids found out on the opening day of the program that the city hadn't lined them up jobs, some adult supervisors hadn't passed a mandatory background check, and there was an investigation started into whether some program participants stole a cell phone from their new place of work. This comes on the heels of two bad years for the program, and Fenty's main rival in the upcoming mayoral contest, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, said the problems go to the 'heart' of what's wrong with the mayor's leadership style. 'We know that there's been chronic problems associated with it, so there's every reason to think that people will be interested in the issue and there will be questions raised about it,' Gray told The Washington Examiner on Tuesday. Fenty has made expanding the summer jobs program one his goals. The program has grown from 8,000 participants to 22,000 under his administration, and he boasted to WPGC that the District has the biggest summer program in the country and 'maybe in the entire world.' 'Have we eliminated all the kinks? No, but ... you're not going to get to a perfect system by just leaving it in the position we found it,' Fenty said. 'We're ramping up, we're working hard.'"

NC8 interviews kids about the state of the SYEP. Fenty should be glad they can't vote in the primary: "Youth are asking the D.C. Summer Employment Program where to go, where they will be reassigned and what's going on. Those questions are heard almost every year. 'It's my third year doing it and every year it's getting worse and worse,' said Dhemeer Gore. For the second time Tuesday Dhemeer Gore was at Gallaudet trying to resolve exactly where to go for his summer job. Like every other participant in the program he will get paid $8.25 an hour. Gore shared, 'First, they told me to go here, then there, then somewhere else, then to come here today.' He claims he got the wrong work address, which is something the staff corrected Tuesday. He says getting a simple location shouldn't have been so complicated. It was at the hospital. 'Yes, the hospital. Exactly,' said Gore. Another teen didn't get the wrong address, but was told his job wasn't part of the program. So he went to another location and had the same results. Even Tuesday, it's back to square one." More coverage via DCist.

At a recent hearing on SYEP issues, Councilmember Marion Barry, the Dean of Summer Jobs, admitted that it took his administration four to five years to get the program perfected. But Barry added: "Then two years ago, our program was the best in the nation became the worst in the nation." Barry has his reasons to hate on the program; Fenty pulled a number on him in 2008 after Barry started complaining about problems within the SYEP. Last May, Barry vowed to hold weekly hearings on the summer jobs program. Unfortunately, Barry was consumed with a little problem of his own making. Councilmember Michael Brown, who took over from Barry oversight over summer jobs, has vowed to hold regular hearings on SYEP.

AFTER THE JUMP—Fenty responds to domestic-violence rumors, Jonetta Rose Barras pens nominee for laziest column of the year, D.C. Council approves starting nonprofit to take over United Medical Center, and much, much more!

UNITED MEDICAL CENTER: The D.C. Council approved the creation of a nonprofit to take over the Southeast hospital. WaPo's Tim Craig reports: "After months of wrangling between the city and Specialty Hospitals of America, the hospital's owner, Attorney General Peter Nickles plans to auction the Southeast Washington hospital on the steps of the John A. Wilson Building on July 9. Nickles has accused Specialty, a for-profit company that took over the hospital then known as Greater Southeast in 2007, of defaulting on its loan agreements with the city. Officials do not expect any bidders, and Nickles and council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) have drawn up plans to convert the long-troubled hospital into a quasi-city-managed facility until a new owner is found. 'The District believes it's in its best interest to foreclose to protect the District's substantial investment,' Catania said, noting that the city has spent more than $70 million on the facility over the past three years. 'I believe, and this council believes, we have a special obligation to continue the operation of a de facto safety-net hospital in the District.' Attorneys for Specialty will be in court July 6 to try to block the foreclosure. Company Chairman Jim Rappaport predicted that city officials would fail in the hospital business if they wrestle control. Rappaport noted that the city-run D.C. General Hospital closed in 2001 after myriad problems. 'The District of Columbia did such a great job with D.C. General, I am surprised at the process they are undertaking,' Rappaport said. 'They can't run it well because they haven't run it well. . . . It's a very complicated process to run and manage a hospital.' Under the emergency legislation moved by Catania on Tuesday and approved by a vote of 12 to 1, the city wants to create a 14-member board to oversee the Not-for-Profit Hospital Corp. The corporation 'would receive the land, improvements on the land, equipment, and other assets of United Medical Center' and 'operate and take all actions to ensure the continued operation of the hospital.'" More coverage via WBJ.

STREETCARS: The D.C. Council paved the way for overhead wires along the H Street Corridor/Benning Road. WBJ's Michael Neibauer reports: "The legislation repeals a pair of 120-year-old federal laws barring overhead lines in historic Washington, generally bounded by Georgetown to the west, Florida Avenue to the north and the Anacostia River. They are poorly written, 'ancient statutes' that no longer apply, [Councilmember Jim] Graham says. The Home Rule Act, adopted by Congress in 1973, bars the council from enacting any law or repealing an act of Congress that concerns federal property, changes the organization or jurisdiction of the D.C. courts, imposes a tax on a non-resident, or permits a building taller than existing-height restrictions. It makes no mention of overhead wires, so some D.C. lawyers conclude that those statutes can be repealed by the local government. The emergency bill needs to be implemented immediately, council members say, to ease any skittishness on the part of the Federal Transit Administration on the overhead wire issue. The FTA is deciding now whether to provide $25 million for the H Street streetcar line. The District is dueling with the National Capital Planning Commission on aerial wires. NCPC Chairman L. Preston Bryant of Virginia last week asked the Federal Transit Administration to withhold the $25 million grant until the overhead wire issue is resolved." More coverage via the Examiner.

THE REASON JONETTA ROSE BARRAS NEEDS AN EDITOR: The Examiner columnist decides to do NO REPORTING in her attempt to takedown At-Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson. She writes: "What is Mendelson's strange magnetism? Most people, who follow local politics and council antics, often talk about Mendelson's indisputable affection for minutiae and nitpicking. A political ad in the 2006 campaign turned that negative into a positive, asserting his attention to detail makes him a conscientious and thorough legislator. It's true, Mendelson is dedicated to the fine print — even when none exists. But his weakness isn't that fixation. It's the fact that his political and public policy arcs are late 20th Century. Often he's an obstacle to change." Barras goes on to site his opposition to the mayor's silly anti-gang legislation [which wanted to bring gangs in to civil court], and his investigation into that donated fire truck. Oh yeah, he's also a big friend of unions. I guess the unions really loved his grilling of the Fire Chief about overtime abuses. And  shouldn't Mendo question AG Peter Nickles re: that fishy fire truck deal? And didn't Mendo help lead the D.C. Council's passage of a same-sex marriage bill? Then again, this is a columnist who isn't afraid to be homophobic. If Barras had actually gone out and watched Mendelson campaign, she'd realize why he keeps on winning. Sure, he's a total wonk. But he's also a truly gifted campaigner who actually doesn't sound like he's full of empty rhetoric when he's out greeting citizens. He actually remembers their names, and can talk eloquently about their concerns. And guess what? Residents respond to that.

HILL EAST: The District is set to take over the Hill East property. WBJ's Michael Neibauer reports: "The District now has the $5.8 million it needs to close the books on a 12-acre land buy that will finally allow the federal government to transfer its Hill East property to D.C.’s control. The congressionally-approved transfer of the 67-acre Reservation 13, also known as Hill East, could not go forward until the District provided 12 acres to the Architect of the Capitol for use as a mail-sorting facility. That condition has hung up the deal, and the much-hyped Hill East redevelopment, for four years. The property is roughly the size of Howard University’s campus. After years of fruitless searches for a location in D.C., the architect and the District recently settled on a site adjacent to the Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility at Suitland Parkway and Interstate 495. The District agreed to buy the plot from Jackson Shaw/Andrews LP and immediately turn it over to the federal government. Closing is scheduled for Wednesday. The money only came available Tuesday, after some last-minute wrangling that nearly scuttled the deal."

TEACHERS CONTRACT: D.C. Council signs off on deal that was years in the making.

FENTY RESPONDS TO THOSE RUMORS: Amazing. A reporter brings up those rumors concerning marital strife—including domestic violence. WaPo's Nikita Stewart reports Fenty telling WPGC: "It borders on libel and slander, to be perfectly honest with you. Every time something is raised, I send it right to my attorney because none of it is true."

D.C.'s CHILDREN: are still overweight.

FENTY VS. GRAY: The two main candidates for mayor receive endorsements from Big Business.

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS: Is there a more messed-up street than 14th Street NW in Columbia Heights? It's a total disaster zone, and traffic nightmare. NC8 reports that residents are fed up with it.

MANUTE BOL: Eulogized at Washington National Cathedral.

BP SPILL: Maryland prepares for slight chance the Gulf oil spill will reach its shores.

NE DOUBLE HOMICIDE: The Metropolitan Police Department have charged a suspect in the murders.

ABDUCTED GIRL: Is found in New York.

VINYL DIPLOMACY: Russian Prez sends two envoys to Som Records for a little vinyl shopping.

WATCH: Peter Rosenstein's interview on NC8's NewsTalk.

ROBERT WONE: Conspiracy trial ends in not-guilty verdicts for all three defendants. But you already knew that.

FIREWORKS: WTOP offers a list of places to see 'em. NBC4's Tom Sherwood has "your fireworks game plan."

CLARIFICATION: Yesterday, LL credited Councilmember Phil Mendelson with proposing legislation aimed at fixing DYRS  by making certain juvenile cases open to the public. Councilmember Tommy Wells actually introduced the legislation aimed at reforming juvenile confidentiality rules last year. A hearing was held in November but the law remained stuck in Mendelson's Judiciary Committee. Mendelson pushed forward an amended version of Wells' bill.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE: A Committee on Human Services roundtable, Parks and Rec business, Judiciary committee addresses ambulance chasers, and more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events.

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

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Bryan Weaver Snags Latino Caucus Endorsement," "Adrian Fenty Is Bustin' Loose"

Good Morning. LL has tons of mayoral campaign items. But first, WaPo's editorial board drops a masterful editorial on Vincent Gray's tenure as DHS Director under then-Mayor Sharon Pratt. It's a must read for anyone who a) Didn't live in the District in the bad old early '90s; and b) feels like they need a straight-forward, clear-eyed assessment of what Gray accomplished or didn't accomplish when he ran a big city agency. WaPo writes:

"Mr. Gray's campaign provided us with an eight-page document detailing his accomplishments at the department. He expanded early childhood programs, developing a plan to immunize children and reduce infant deaths. Outreach and education efforts initiated by Mr. Gray helped to lower infant mortality from a rate of 20 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 16.1 in 1995. (The rate was 13.1 in 2007, the most recent year with confirmed data.) He helped engineer a partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a new approach to helping the homeless. He was unafraid of advocating for needed but controversial programs to combat AIDS such as condom distribution in schools and clean needle exchanges. Likewise, he refused to let racial politics derail the appointment of able Health Commissioner Mohammad N. Akhter, opposed by some because he wasn't black or from the District.

Nonetheless, the campaign document provides an incomplete, if not distorted, picture. It boasts about his closing the Cedar Knoll youth facility without mentioning that Congress forced the shutdown. It claims credit for a decision to place nurses in D.C. public schools, which came only after the city was held in contempt for failing to do so. Mr. Gray closed the city's notorious Forest Haven mental asylum, but that accomplishment would be tarnished by subsequent abuses that occurred in the community settings that replaced it. Overall, the early '90s proved to be a period in which the city was either unable or unwilling to administer its own social programs. From juvenile justice to foster care to treatment of the mentally ill, the city was in a free fall that the Dixon (and, after her marriage, Kelly) administration proved inept at stopping or even slowing."

There's so much more. Just click on the link. LL will just quote WaPo's final line: "It's hard to take issue with an assessment of his record as one of heartfelt labor, minimal progress and major setbacks."

OK. Now that the history lesson is over with, can we get on to the real issues? What would a Gray administration set as priorities for the next four years? What would another Fenty term look like? Would Peter Nickles still be playing Fenty's Dick Cheney? WaPo's Tim Craig reports that both candidates seem content on rehashing and litigating the past; neither candidate has so far been willing to offer detailed proposals on how they intend to deal with the bloated budget, the tax burden on the middle class, or the still-not-so-great school system. In other words, where are those four-color pamphlets with the bullet-point plans to make our streets safer and our kids book smart? Craig reports: "Officials with both campaigns said they are refining their messages to offer more specifics in coming weeks. But political strategists said Fenty and Gray face different obstacles as they seek to develop a message and persona that would offer more insight about how they would govern to an already agitated electorate. Gray, who remains relatively unknown to the broader electorate, needs to distinguish himself from Fenty on the issues while crafting a narrative that threads a thicket of competing interests to avoid divisions between voters in different parts of the city, some say. Fenty, who has been fighting perceptions that he is distant and arrogant, might have to acknowledge concerns about his personality, perhaps even make a public mea culpa, and then do a better job of explaining his governing style, observers said. And because many think Fenty benefited from policies and projects that originated with former mayor Anthony A. Williams, some observers said he needs to convince voters that he has a plan for leading a city expected to face tough spending choices."

AFTER THE JUMP—Barry's old drug connection donates thousands to Fenty campaign, Fenty vs. Gray: the Battle of the Go-Go Bands, Metro screws up fare hike, new AIDS cases decline, and much, much more!

NEW D.C. AIDS CASES IN DECLINE: WUSA9 via the AP reports the encouraging news: "HIV testing is up and new AIDS cases are down in Washington D.C. That's according to a new report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The HIV/AIDS rate in the nation's capital is nearly 10 times the national rate. But the report shows that the number of newly diagnosed AIDS cases decreased from 164 cases per 100,000 people in 2004 to 107 in 2008."

THE '80S ARE ALSO BACK: Both major mayoral candidates are finding themselves battling over which go-go bands and musicians will support them. WaPo's Nikita Stewart has a breakdown—with the edge maybe going to Gray since Chuck Brown attended a fundraiser for the challenger. Anyway, Fenty held a go-go show this weekend. Stewart reports: "The price of admission is a voter registration form. No one under 18 is allowed without a parent. And a team of security clad in black is checking bags. After registering, guests get a green fentyreelect.com wristband. Fenty friends Sinclair Skinner, Keith Lomax and Ron Moten, all involved in controversies over the past year, are in attendance. And the basketball court is filling up with people ready to hear Subtle Thoughts, Junkyard Band and EU featuring Sugar Bear."

HISPANIC STUDENTS BEAT PEERS IN TESTING: The Examiner's Leah Fabel reports: "Among eighth-graders, Hispanic students' math scores jumped by 15 points between 2007 and 2009 on the math portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Black students saw gains of about 4 percentage points, and other racial groups were too small to be recorded accurately. Among fourth-graders, Hispanic students saw seven-point math gains since 2007, and 21 points since 2003. Their black peers saw gains of about 3 points since 2007, and 10 points since 2003. DCPS was among the only districts in the nation to see statistically significant gains among both racial groups. The NAEP, also called the Nation's Report Card, is given every two years and is the only identical measure used in districts throughout the United States. In districts like DCPS, the test is used as a measure of how well reform-minded superintendents like Michelle Rhee are succeeding. Reading scores among all racial groups saw little change between 2007 and 2009, but substantial progress since 2003, according to NAEP data. Again, Hispanic students sped ahead of their peers, gaining 19 points since 2003 while black students gained about 11 points."

METER RELIEF: You won't have to keep feeding the meter after dark on some District streets, WaPo's Nikita Stewart reports: "Just in time for the summer campaign season, the District has lifted new parking meter rules that required motorists to feed meters while trying to enjoying a night on the town. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who proposed requiring the fees to generate revenue, has heard complaints on the campaign trail. He said in an earlier interview that he would revisit the issue. On Friday, the D.C. Department of Transportation announced that many commercial areas would no longer require feeding the meters from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m."

JONETTA ROSE BARRAS: Spotlights the Ward 6 Council race between incumbent Tommy Wells and challenger Kelvin Robinson: "Residents I spoke with had mixed reactions to both candidates. One person had never heard of either — although Wells has been in office for three years. Ronald Drake, citing his encounter with the incumbent over an issue involving representation of special education students, called Wells a 'wimp and a wannabe' and accused Wells of seeing himself as 'part of the establishment and the bureaucracy,' not as a representative of the people and their needs. Adam Clampitt, who knows both candidates, disagreed. He said Wells has been 'great on the issues' and 'very responsive to citizens.' Truth be told, none of this may matter. Residents and media have focused mostly on the mayoral race — although there also are competitive and interesting contests in Wards 1, 5 and, yes, 6. 'This is a really hard environment for anyone running down ticket,' Wells said. That makes it tough for Wells but even tougher for Robinson, who, like other challengers in the council races, is unlikely likely to receive much attention."

COLBY KING: Writes about Nardyne Jefferies, whose 16-year-old daughter was killed in the March 30 drive-by, as she launches a quest for answers re: DYRS.

JAY MATHEWS: Thinks more kids should enroll in summer school: "Summer learning loss has been shown to be a likely cause of low achievement in cities such as Washington. Karl L. Alexander of Johns Hopkins University found that by ninth grade, accumulated learning loss for low-income children accounted for two-thirds of the achievement gap between them and higher-income children who had summer learning opportunities, such as trips to the library and museums."

METRO MESS: A software problem caused a delay in the new fare hikes for some. WaPo's Lisa Rein reports: "A software glitch on the first day of Metro's higher fares allowed riders using paper fare cards at 34 stations to enter for the old fare Sunday. Metro technicians discovered the problem early in the morning, said Reggie Woodruff, a Metro spokesman. The last fare gate was fixed by 2 p.m., when all stations were charging the higher fare. SmarTrip cards were charged the correct fare throughout the day. Woodruff said it was unclear why the software, recently added to fare gates in the 34 stations to upgrade the transit agency's fare collection system, failed to charge the higher amount. 'We anticipated that there might be glitches,' he said. 'With all the programming we did for so many stations, it was bound to happen.'" More fare hike coverage via WTOP, DCist.

MERCHANT OUTREACH: NC8 reports that Fenty and D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier hit NE with a little outreach: "DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier say it's time for the violence to stop. They visited a store on 5th St., NE, Friday, where a father and son were killed by thieves Wednesday afternoon. Customers came from all around today expressing sadness and outrage over the murders of Ming-Kun Chih, 59, and his son, Li-Jen Chih, 32....Mayor Fenty and Chief Lanier went door to door among merchants trying to assure them that police will do more. And they.both emphasized the importance of surveillance cameras inside businesses. In a similar shooting of a father and son in another Northeast store last week, police arrested two men, one Wednesday and the other Thursday. In that crime, the son, Prabjhot Singh, was killed. Police have announced that the team that investigated that shooting will now be assigned to investigate the double murder of the Chihs."

FENTY BOOED: Again.

WEEKEND CRIME: Three people are killed this weekend in the District, reports NBC4.

PROF. MARTIN GINSBURG: Supreme Court Justice's husband passes away, reports NC8. More coverage via WaPo.

PEDESTRIAN STRUCK BY CAB ON MALL: The injuries are serious, reports NC8. More coverage via DCist.

OUTSIDE: It's still hot. More coverage via WTOP.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE: No public events today.

D.C. COUNCIL'S SCHEDULE:

1 p.m. Committee on Housing and Workforce Development (Hearing)
B18-0734 the "Subsidized Nonprofit Rental Unit Tax Exemption Amendment Act of 2010"
Location: John A. Wilson Building, Room 412

2 p.m. Public Works and Transportation (Round Table)
PR18-999, the "Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Capital Funding Agreement Emergency Approval Resolution of 2010"
Location: John A. Wilson Building, Room 500