On Feb. 26, 1986, then-Mayor Marion Barry held a special meeting of more than 100 D.C. government employees, to announce a new list of "10 or 15 words" that would be in every press release issued by the D.C. government. The list consisted of words designed to cast city officials (including Barry) in a more "favorable" light. Some of the words included "competence, compassion, effective, efficient."

In explaining the new directive, Barry noted that the D.C. press corps had been harsh toward him and the city, and he hoped these new press release directives would help counter the problem. As Washington City Paper reported in the March 7, 1986, issue of Loose Lips:

Barry also said he intensely dislikes reporters because they all think of themselves as investigative reporters and tend to distort stories to make him look bad. To counter his negative press, Barry told the assembled, "I always say good things about myself. Enough people say bad things about me. I tell the truth, but I embellish it."

Barry also ordered the assembled employees to never apologize for his tardiness, saying, "don’t ever apologize for the mayor being late." When someone noted Barry’s tardiness at an embassy party a few nights before the meeting, Barry joked: "I may be late this year, but next year I’m not coming at all."

The LL blog will be a lot like the LL column and e-mail: you'll find news and commentary on D.C. government and politics (and, every now and then, Maryland and Virginia) and the people behind the scenes. We'll also be debuting some new recurring features on the LL blog and here on City Desk soon. While City Paper's political news will move over to the Loose Lips blog, you can still expect to find good stories about life in the District here on City Desk—and of course, plenty of illuminating photos by Darrow Montgomery and other photographers.

Feel free to leave us your thoughts on the changes, either in the comments on the blog or by e-mailing me at mmadden(AT)washingtoncitypaper.com. Enjoy!

(The video should start just before the Marion Barry move, but if not, look for it around the 9:30 mark.)

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.

According to the Web site WestGeorgiaWrestlingFans.com, amateur wrestling duo Jon and Trey Williams, aka “The Washington Bullets,” used the “Marion Barry” this last weekend to defeat two female opponents, Sunshine and Pandora.

Here’s an excerpt from a write-up of the match:

“Jon kicked Sunshine out of the ring then ducked Pandora’s clothesline allowing him to pull her into a a backcracker, and Trey finished off the Marion Barry combination with a diamond cutter for the pinfall.”

When queried by LL about the Marion Barry, a very helpful “Mike” at the Web site said the term “is a reference to moves that two wrestlers made when pinning their opponents. Two guys teamed up on a girl. It is not a common reference.” LL could not ascertain whether the wrestlers came up with the name, or whether the good folks who chronicle wrestling in western Georgia just decided to use it on their own, without consulting the Williams. And we're not sure how Barry got tagged with a two-on-one reference, either. Barry has had plenty of problems with the ladyfolk, but a twofer?

Here's a glimpse of the Washington Bullets:

“Mike” has promised to forward LL’s questions about the provenance of the name to a more expert source. Stay tuned!

The Post’s Nikita Stewart won the weekend with the big scoop that the District had agreed to pay Banneker, which is owned by Fenty buddy Omar Karim, $550,000 out of an original $2.3 million contract to renovate and build new parks and rec centers. The council canceled the contracts last year, amid an uproar that Fenty had bypassed them to give business to his fraternity brothers.

An outside investigator hired by the council to look into the contracts is set to release his findings shortly.

Attorney General Peter Nickles told the Post the city agreed to the settlement because Banneker “had threatened to sue” the architects and engineer subcontractors over “intellectual property” issues having to do with blueprints and designs.

Naturally, the fact that the outside investigation was imminent had nothing to do with the timing. Nickles tells Loose Lips the settlement was the result of months of work by a "team of experts" to try and get the city out of a legal mess the council had created when it killed the contracts.

But Councilmembers Phil Mendelson, Mary Cheh, and Harry Thomas Jr. said the settlement  doesn’t pass the smell test and told Nickles in a letter Tuesday that his actions may be “motivated by something other than the best interests of the District of Columbia.”

“The decision to pay this vendor prior to the conclusion of an investigation, prior to all the facts being known, for contracts that were not properly approved, and for work that may have been overcharged, is contrary to your duty to place the interests of the District of Columbia paramount to all else,” the councilmembers wrote.

Cheh told LL the timing of the settlement was “quite peculiar,” given that she’d introduced legislation last Tuesday that would have prevented any payments while the matter was still under investigation.

Nickles had no time for such suggestions, calling them politically motivated "baloney" or "spanakopita." (It's a Greek spinach pie; don't ask.) And if it makes any difference to the councilmembers, Nickles says he didn't tell Fenty about the settlement either.

The poll, commissioned and released by Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham’s campaign, pegged Hizzoner’s support among likely Democratic voters in the ward at 43 percent compared to 37 percent for Gray. Dark horse candidate Leo Alexander pulled down 2 percent, while 18 percent of the 300 voters polled said they hadn’t yet made up their minds.

One political consultant—who isn't working for either campaign but wanted anonymity because, well, D.C. can be a small town—spins the numbers as good for Gray. After all, Fenty grew up in Ward 1 and is almost universally known there, but still isn’t reaching the 50 percent benchmark that makes incumbents sleep better at night. Gray, on the other hand, has room to move upwards. (Then again, it's hard to win an election with only 37 percent of the vote.)

Graham, if you’re wondering, pulled down 68 percent of likely voters while his two competitors, Jeff Smith and Bryan Weaver split 15 percent with 17 percent undecided.

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.)

Did anyone hear all that noise on City Desk from about 8:40 this morning to about 2:48 in the afternoon? No? Well, that's the sound of Loose Lips columnist Mike DeBonis leaving the paper. We'll miss Mike. You can read his final column here, in which he surrenders the initials "LL."

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Fenty, Gandhi, and Gray are all here. Fenty and Gray shared a quick hug. Now small talk.

MPD 'fully funded' for 4069 cops

'The budget today will be changed by the council,' says Fenty. Quips Gray, 'not necessarily'

$11B in total spending, but 2.7 percent cut in local funds. 'More with less' says Fenty.

Fenty: 'In key areas services will improve'

$22.7M for summer jobs in 2011

Neil Albert now talking. 'We started out with a huge gap.' $5.27B spent in local funds
Catanis, Bowser, Evans, Nickles, M Brown, Mendo, Wells, and budget chief Merav Bushlin also at table.

Per student funding formula rises to $8945 in 11

UDC subsidy 'fully' funded at $62M–FY10 level

FEMS seeing 4 percent hike; $7M for E911–expect another tax hike, Phil

$26.25 for Housing First, goal is 956 individuals in HF by Oct 2011

$7.23M to DYRS for 'detention alternatives'

$7.4M for emergency rental assistance

Fenty proposes 10 week summer jobs program; council cut to six weeks this year

$9.8M to expand HPAP–uses $6.5M in stim funds

Marion Barry saunters in 17 mins late

$2.6M in revenue anticipated from bag fee, $4.1M total for river cleanup

DDOT projects for 11: se/sw freeway repaving, ny ave bridge replacement, Dupont streetscape

Headline: Fenty wants to freeze automatic pay increases

Proposed merger of Employee Appeals, PERB and Admin Hearings to save $1.9

City is caneling $500K mpd pager contract. 'Yes there are still pagers,' says Albert

Employee parking subsidies are being cut at 10 agencies, saving $10M

Albert says Fenty budget plans to spend $97M in fund balance. Do we have that much left???

385 jobs cut

Parking meter rates up from $.75 per hour to $1; RPPs would go from $15 to $25

'Debt restructuring' to save $97M. Means refinancing the mortgage to lower payments now. Pay more later!

Total spending cuts are $34M

Now question time. Catania sees addl savings from healthcare reform, reducing Alliance rolls

Attn charter school folks: Facilities allowance is set at $2,800

Office of Partnerships and Grants would disappear, rolled into city admin's office

'I think theres probably a small group of things we don't agree on,' says Fenty. Let's talk about what we DO agree on!

Hazardous waste collections would go from weekly to monthly under Fenty plan.

Barry makes good point: much is spent on summer jobs for kids, but not much for adult training

City real estate dept to create 'Energy Maanagement Unit' to reduce city energy use

'Renegotiating contracts with District's 10 largest vendors'. No estimate of savings.

Barry wraps up speechifying. Now Graham. 'I kind of hate to follow that' he says.

Graham wants to know about Metro subsidy, whether there will be addl funds to prevent service cuts.

Says Md felching on capital money helps dc out 'but it doesn't redound to the benefit of the system'

Graham says he will work in committee to up Metro subsidy

Now Evans. Wants to know about 5 year financial plan. That's our jack!

Evans says every time he goes to eat, restaurant owners complain to him about parking fees

'We ought to take a look at what we're doing'. Is OK with rise, but conc w timing

Evans wants to know if $22M is enough for 10 wk SYEP. 'Depends on how the program's structured' says bushlin.

WaPo pwn! Early report that Tenant Advocate would be cut is false says Albert.

$100M in fund balance spending is a big issue.

Wells asks if teacher raises are funded. Albert simply notes rise in per student formula.

As far as FTE cuts, Albert won't say how many of 385 are vacant vs. now filled.

Yvette presses Albert on what he's doing to make realistic projections, to prevent overspending.

Cheh just arriving.

Gray pressing on special ed tuition costs, Fenty budget adds about $30M.

No mention of local funding for vouchers, for the record.

Nickles is optimistic that DC will have special ed transport in its control by June.

Gray: How do we increase DCPS and transportation etc., and still cut local funds by almost 3 percent.

Some debate over whether UDC subsidy is 'fully funded'.

Gray: 'you read this budget and it sounds like everythings great, and everything is not great.'

'We're talking about some very significant changes and I'm trying to understand what they are.'

Gray hammering on increases to education funding. Interesting perspective for a mayoral candidate.

Fenty declines to say where exactly the big cuts are being made. Says read the budget books (forthcoming).

Gandhi has certified the budget.

Barry botches the figure illustrating gap bw median white and black incomes. Says whites avg '108 million' a year.

Big laughs! Harry thomas says, 'I'm moving in w Jack!'

Fenty to Barry: 'Don't interrupt.'

He then gives Barry the talk-to-the-hand.

Fenty tells Barry, in essence: You want more money for UDC? You find it.

Barry asks Bushlin what her name is.

Keep in mind that all Barry can do this year is talk. Without a committee, can't move money himself

Last question from Gray: pre K funding? Fenty says it's there

Last last question: on disparity b/w dcps and charter per student funding. Gray wants to know if addressed

Fenty expects to raise $28M from increased traffic fines

Now outside for presser

Save Our Safety Net protests, standing in front of cameras. Fenty talks right over them.

Big fight possible over new $25M tax on hospitals' net patient revenue. Bob Malson from Hosp assn is here

$16.1M in various fee increases

There is indeed a 911 fee proposal. Would hit every phone bill in city

$3.1M anticipated from fees for steel plates on roadways

$920K from addl fee on business licenses and public space permits

$750K in revenue from 'assessments' (read:tax) on title insurance producers

$750K hike in health dept fees

'Its a difficult year and there will be difficult choices' says evans

Catania estimates that 20 to 25K DC residents will get soon better health care thanks to #hcr. Much cheaper for city too

Perhaps most embarrasing correx ever: when LL wrote 'felching' earlier he meant 'welching'

Ahem. LL is informed by @pecksniffiana that 'welching' is also inappropriate, offensive to Welshmen. Apologies.

David Alprin had his anti-Dan Snyder artwork, or whatever you want to call the above paper plate thingee, confiscated at the gates of FedExField two weeks ago.

Alprin's a longtime Skins season ticketholder and was one of many fans who wanted to make a statement about the state of the franchise.

He'd stayed up late the night before the Tampa Bay game crafting dozens and dozens of his statement-makers. But then Snyder's jack-booted thugs, in the form of the yellow-jacketed FedExField security staff, threw Alprin's civil-disobedient plates in the garbage before letting him in the stadium.

But while Snyder killed the message, he didn't kill the messenger. And Alprin's going back for more of the same this weekend.

"I'm thinking about going stealth and bringing in pens, markers, etc.,  and making signs in the stadium either on paper we bring or the back of the drink caddies," he says.

He won't be alone.

More on the Prague Spring of Redskins fans to come.

***

(AFTER THE JUMP: Another installment of BogusHogetteGate? Really? Michelle Rhee thinks she's god? Really? Coat-tailing on Mike DeBonis' genius? Really? Melanie Oudin's coming to town with her mom, dad AND coach? Really? Snyder comes out on top in something? No way! Way?)

In case you missed any of the several dozen installments of BogusHogetteGate™ that have appeared in Cheap Seats Daily lately, here's a reprise, just to throw a bone to the inferiority complex ravaged print version.

The keeper for me is that along with being an unsanctioned Hogette who goes by Stephette Hogette, Brooklynite Steve Rasnikov is also a rapper who relies on his, um, flow to land the ladies at Redskins tailgates. The guy's a hoot, whether he knows it or not.

All the clowns in this circus will be at FedExField on Sunday.

Here's hoping it gets uglier!

***

Back to real news: In case you missed it: Amazin' Mike DeBonis' latest and greatest find proves that Michelle Rhee not only runs the city, she runs the media, too.

We all already suspected she ran everything, right? The megalomania in the email DeBonis uncovered from the schools Chancellor — yeah, even Rhee's title is obnoxious — meshes with her behavior throughout my limited and 100-percent-frustrating dealings with DC Public Schools.

Several weeks ago I was trying to deal with Rhee's office about her handling of last year's Dunbar/Fort Hill racial incident.

It had been about a year since Dunbar coach Craig Jefferies pulled his team off the field immediately after Dunbar was hit with three consecutive unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, which, based on visual evidence, all seem justified.

Afterwards, Jefferies said he took the drastic action not because of the ref's calls, but because players from host Fort Hill were using racial taunts, including the "N-word," on his team.

Suddenly, Dunbar/Fort Hill became a national story.

But while officials from Fort Hill and Allegany County, Md., cooperated in investigations from local, state and even federal agencies, Rhee's office impeded all investigations into Jefferies charges. Rhee ignored a request from the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, the group which governs high school sports in the state, to assist in its investigation of Jefferies’ allegations. MPSSAA had no choice but to award the game to Fort Hill as a forfeit.

Rhee also ignored a request from the U.S. Department of Justice for a written report on Dunbar's side of the story.

Rhee's refusal to cooperate with anybody in any way crushed the investigation: Because only one side, the Fort Hill side, was telling its story, the Department of Justice never released a written report that it told all parties it would be releasing.

With no report, everybody looks bad: The Fort Hill kids are left officially unexonerated, and Jefferies and the Dunbar coaches were left hanging with nobody and nothing to back up their side.

Rhee refused all recent requests from Washington City Paper to discuss any aspect of the Dunbar/Fort Hill situation, including her complete lack of cooperation with the federal government in what was, again, a national story.

She does talk to the press occasionally, of course. A cover story about Rhee from some journal called "Education Next" was linked on City Desk after DeBonis' gem. The story had a quote from Rhee as she was asked "to name her most significant achievement in her two years in Washington."

“We have begun—begun—begun—to establish a culture of accountability,” Rhee said.

The kids from Dunbar and Fort Hill know otherwise, Chancellor.

***

A little run in a major, and she's a star: Melanie Oudin, the macho/cute Georgian teen who upset three seeds in the latest U.S. Open, has just been announced as a headliner at this year's BCF Tennis Challenge, a long-running charity event founded more than 20 years ago by local girl made good Pam Shriver. The tourney is Dec. 9 at the First Mariner Arena in Baltimore.

Wonder if Melanie will bring her mom? Dad? Coach?

I feel dirty. But, heck, she's a star now. This is what we write about stars.

Tickets are now on sale.

***

Via DCRTV: A new round of numbers in the feud between WTEM and WJFK comes out, and for the first time Dan Snyder's sportstalker is on top: The latest Portable People Meter ratings, which counts the entire audience over 12 years old, have WTEM in 18th place in the market, and rival WJFK in 19th. WJFK would say, "Hey, we only count 25-54 year old males and we're doing fabulously with those guys!" To which I'd counter: "Absolutely! But can you let Dan Snyder win just one teensy little thing while the papers are saying everything else the guy's touched has gone to hell?"

The gripping part comes when the Rocha, a dog handler, describes in extensive detail just what his superiors did to torment him:

Once, the abuse was an all-day event; a training scenario turned into an excuse to humiliate me. Normally we ran the dogs through practice situations — an earthquake, a bomb or a fight — that we might encounter in our work. That day, in a classroom at an American school in Bahrain, with posters of the Founding Fathers lining the walls, the scenario happened to be me. I was the decoy, and I had to do just what Chief Petty Officer Michael Toussaint ordered.

In one corner of the classroom was a long sofa, turned away from the door. When you walked into the room, it appeared that one man was sitting on it, alone. But I was there too — the chief had decided that I would be down on my hands and knees, simulating oral sex. A kennel support staff member and I were supposed to pretend that we were in our bedroom and that the dogs were catching us having sex. Over and over, with each of the 32 dogs, I was forced to enact this scenario.

Unreal. As if you needed any more evidence that don't ask, don't tell is a fiasco. And though Rocha's misery may be the most common way in which the policy's scourge manifested itself, there are others as well, as Rocha points out. He recounts how commanders who received allegations of man-on-woman sexual abuse used don't ask, don't tell to get their men out of trouble. It went this way: "'You weren't sexually assaulted by a male in my unit. I hear you're a lesbian.' After all, homosexuals have no rights in our military. You can't sexually assault someone who doesn't exist."

Humane, huh?

On other fronts, if you're going to read the Food Issue of this weekend's New York Time Magazine, try the piece on British chef and good-food evangelist Jamie Oliver, but skip about 1,000 words in, and get to the good part about his trying to bring healthier eating habits to Huntington, W. Va. Pretty good stuff. There's an eatery in town that makes a 15-pound burger.

What else? Oh yes, the retrocast, which called for glorious temperatures and just about perfect early-autumn weather here in the mid-Atlantic.

Where do you go for the latest on taxi-scandal news? Well, you're already there. Check out Loose Lips columnist Mike DeBonis's latest on the story behind the story. He's got an interview with East Coast taxi mogul Solomon Bekele, and it says quite a lot about where D.C. fits in with national cab trends. As of this writing, there are three comments on this post. Rockin'!

Apparently the Washington Times has decided that seven years marks the appropriate anniversary to do a monster look-back at the sniper shootings in the area. This undertaking runs through seven page clicks on the Times Web site, which is about seven too many for my interest in rehashing the most hashed episode in the history of Washington-region crime. Plus there's the typo that allegedly—at least according to the comments—first appeared at the top of the story: "7 Lears Later"

At a little after 9 p.m., Councilmember Marion Barry spokesperson Natalie Williams began another hastily scheduled press conference in front of the Wilson Building by thanking the U.S. Attorney's Office for dropping the stalking charge against the councilmember. Prosecutors had announced three hours earlier that they would not press on with the stalking case. "Our hearts are full tonight with thanks," Williams said. "We are grateful that the U.S. Attorney's Office has seen fit to not charge Mr. Barry."

Barry had been charged with stalking Donna Watts-Brighthaupt over the July 4 weekend. The arrest had since provoked a series of press conferences and embarrassing disclosures concerning Barry's troubled relationship with Watts-Brighthaupt. The disclosures included bizarre hotel fights and audio tapes showing how obsessed Barry had become with his ex-girlfriend. Yet to be clarified is how Barry came to secure lucrative contract work for Watts-Brighthaupt. 

Williams stated that Barry would answer questions about the the payments tomorrow. She also said that they would be able to provide the documents (contracts, e-mails, etc.) proving that the councilmember had acted properly. She insisted that the nothing Barry had done was illegal. 

After Williams finished reading from her prepared text, she took a few questions from reporters. The first question concerned the audio tapes. 

"This is over," Williams declared. But it wasn't. She went on to argue that the tapes only proved that Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt were in a romantic relationship. 

Williams later added that "Barry is not disappointed" by his behavior heard and referenced on the audio tapes. She refused to address Barry's actions at the Democratic National Convention when he kicked Watts-Brighthaupt out of his hotel room after she claims she refused to give him a blowjob. "They're two adults," she'd only say.

As to how Watts-Brighthaupt got the contract work from Barry's office, Williams isn't quite clear on all the details. She says she doesn't know if the ex-girlfriend even went through any interview process. "I have no idea how that transpired," she admitted. 

Earlier this evening, City Desk interviewed Watts-Brighthaupt on the U.S. Attorney's Office decision. 

*photos by Darrow Montgomery.

This morning, LL was all over Fenty's announced District gov job cuts. Our aggressive political scribe reported: "Of the remaining 776 employees the mayor is proposing to lay off, 250 are in DCPS—mostly teachers aides and support staff, Tangherlini says." This may not seem like scary news, but it is.

I know what your thinking: teachers aides and support staff seem like easy cuts. What the hell do teacher aides do? What does support staff mean? Let me guess what they do: they help handle over-crowded classrooms, offer tutoring, lesson planning and generally help teachers get through the day. I'm not sure about support staff. But it could mean social workers, guidance counselors, secretaries, and librarians.

Do we really want to cut funding for these jobs? These cuts are coming on the heels of all those school closures last year. Catania made the argument today on the Politics Hour that enrollment is down at DCPS and that more and more kids are going into charter schools. But for every successful charter school, there are stories like City Lights Public Charter which recently had to close its doors before the school year even finished.

It seems like every other week, Colbert King is documenting another screwup with juveniles at DYRS (that few officials care about). If Fenty chooses to make these cuts at DCPS, the safety net for kids will get that much weaker. Do we really want to layoff social workers? Do we really want to cut school personnel that much more? I have met some of these school-based social workers and nobody works harder than they do. Nobody.

Which department should feel some hurt? I think DCPS should be saved from cuts as well as the DMV. Everything else should be on the table.

5:16 p.m. Update: Dena Iverson, press secretary for DCPS, writes in an e-mail: "I just wanted to make a quick but I think important clarification to your post on City Desk about the DCPS reduction of 250 positions.  The reduction in positions is so that we can align staff to lower enrollment.  We expect that the change in the number of staff will happen though staff retirement and attrition." That must be a lot of teacher aids that are retiring.

*photo of Fenty by Darrow Montgomery.

Update: How to Use the Inaugural Bike Valet

Yesterday, Loose Lips Daily linked to San Francisco Bike Blog– which thinks the Washington Area Bicycle Association should bring its bike valet service to Inauguration 2009.

"Who wants to get hands-runneth-over by security guards just so you can stand on a packed [Metro] platform with dudes in blue, carrying big, automatic weapons? Not me. People need to be able to go by bike, and they need a place to put their bikes when they arrive. The local cycling organization knows how to do bike valet parking – they should offer it at the inauguration."

Turns out WABA has a Thursday meeting with DDOT to discuss doing exactly that.

If all goes well at the meeting, says WABA staffer Henry Mesias, the organization will set up a bike valet station towards the south of the Capitol and just outside the inauguration's hard-security-perimeter.