The man whom we all have critiqued
Was in the news twice when it leaked
I'm sorry 'bout mama
But live tee-vee drama?
My int'rest could not be more piqued

The ante is upped on the feud
'Bout loopholes the bill should include
The bishops are wary
That if gays can marry
They'll have to comply or be sued

Unclear if he quit or got sacked
But Wepman now has his bags packed
The count under Rhee
Has risen to three
Can anyone work there intact?

The lane is now open for biking
But not quite to everyone's liking
To bike contraflow
Is causing some woe
And street markings...well...they are striking

So speaking of gear-heads and grease
Hizzoner says now he will cease
In future, while training
The man is refraining
From hauling 'round District police

Harry Potter and the Urban School Nightmare expresses early burnout with blogging and possibly teaching! They write:

"Don't know if it's because of Impact (don't think so) or the forever stalled contract negotiations (maybe) or my administration (YES!!!), but I just feel really de-motivated. One thing I can say is that it's definitely not the kids. My kids this year are doing really well, and I've somehow managed to build a really positive culture in my classes. They try hard, and for the most part they're learning a lot. But damn if I'm just not satisfied.

It's getting to the point where I'm thinking about what else I could be doing, and trying to figure out if I want to stay teaching (or at least teaching at my school) next year. On the one hand, I don't like falling into the stereotype of Teach for America teachers who sweep in on a wave of idealism and then leave after we've worked that glassy-eyed naivete out of our system. But on the other hand, do I really want to continue working in a place where I feel unvalued, unengaged, and unhappy?"

Read More "Our Morning Roundup: Teacher Burnout!" »

It hasn't been the best of years for Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry. He's had some health problems. He had a terrible 4th of July. He triggered a D.C. Council investigation into his ethics in steering a contract to a girlfriend.

But things'll take a turn for the better tomorrow, when the longtime D.C. pol receives a fine distinction from the District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA). At a ceremony on Thursday at Gallaudet University, Barry will receive DCPCA's 2009 Distinguished Public Official Award. In the words of DCPCA, the recognition celebrates Barry's "many years as a visionary and resilient leader, deeply committed to this city and to eradicating poverty, promoting employment and neighborhood development, and improving the health and quality of life of all DC residents..."

The other headliner awardee is Alice M. Rivlin, the Brookings Institution scholar and former D.C. financial control board big shot who has been steady and strong in advocating for the District's interests over the past decade. She'll be getting DCPCA's 2009 Champion of Change Award.

Six days after entering Howard University Hospital for what's been reported as a case of dehydration, Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry was discharged today. At one point, he had been admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit.

His spokesperson, Natalie Williams, released a statement:

Councilmember Barry says he is feeling much better and is following his medical treatment plan. "I would like to first thank God for giving me the strength to rise above. By his grace, and the wonderful work of my doctors and the staff at Howard University Hospital, I am able to address my health issues more effectively. Nearly 8 months after receiving a new kidney, I am feeling very well and I am ready to get back to work. I thank the residents of the District for their love, concern, and many prayers."

The Washington Post is reporting that Councilmember Marion Barry went to Howard University Hospital at 3 a.m. He apparently was suffering from "dehydration."

Kudos to Barry. He now joins an exclusive club of celebrity dehydration  sufferers which include such awesome b-listers as Kelly Rowland, Dennis Hopper, and Nicole Richie.

Barry's hospitalization means he will miss today's D.C. Council meeting in which Councilmember David Catania will introduce a bill that would legalize gay marriage.

WaPo's D.C. Wire posted that the D.C. Council has passed a new ethics code via emergency legislation. Tim Craig writes:

The proposal, for example, states that council members need to uphold "unusually high standards of honesty, integrity, impartiality" and that the "avoidance of misconduct and conflicts of interest on the part of council members is indispensable." Some of those standards were already scattered through out city code, but Gray concluded the ethical policies dealing with the council were confusing and too dispersed.

In the Post account, Councilmember Marion Barry praises the ethics code as a big step forward and cites Chairman Gray for his "progressive thinking."

So the code must be full of loopholes?

Read More "Why Did The D.C. Council Have To Pass An Ethics Code Now?" »

Yesterday a story with "Fucking" in its headline rocketed to the top of the Google News front page. This earned Google four complaints.

Two months ago City Paper ran the words "Suck Your Dick" on the front cover. The image went up online the day before and elicited nary a peep, but when the issue hit stands, woo boy. We got so many complaints we had to to divide up a list of angry callers to phone back. Also, it got us on Fox, which redacted the headline to "'You Put Me Out in Denver 'Cause I Wouldn't (blank) (blank) (blank)'." (Since when is "Your" a standards and practices issue?)

Google News has a reach Washington City Paper couldn't even dream of approximating. It is, however, consumed one person at a time, not displayed on a newsstand kids could conceivably walk by and ask their parents about. This possibility, though no specific instance of this happening, motivated many of our angriest letter-writers. Someone got so angry that s/he swore publicly her/himself!

Great lunch read for everyone: Matt Labash's lengthy profile of Marion Barry in this week's Weekly Standard. (Yes, the Weekly Standard).

Barry admitted Labash into his inner life, a courtesy not extended to Washington City Paper, including a tour of the mayor-for-life's home, featuring a look at his bedroom urinal. Oh, and Barry shows Labash his nipple. Read it!

This week's Loose Lips column delves into the background behind Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's move to evict Cora Masters Barry and her Recreation Wish List Committee from the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center---a beautiful eight-year old facility in Congress Heights.

Some questions remain unanswered: For one, why did this happen in the first place? When the story initially broke, Attorney General Peter Nickles explained that the city discovered that RWLC's corporate registration had lapsed through "random checks of nonprofit organizations that do business with the city."

LL finally connected yesterday with Nickles to ask him about the origin of the probe. He says the random check was part of a Fenty administration effort to review city arrangements with nonprofit organizations in the wake of misconduct allegations against Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry.

So, it seems that Cora Barry's current problems were collateral damage from her estranged husband's nonprofit woes.

Read More "Did Marion Barry Get His Wife Evicted From Her Tennis Center?" »

I guess I didn't get the memo.

Apparently, this is not the time to ask Councilmember Marion Barry or his staff about Sharon Bowen. Barry paid Bowen $50,000 to work on poverty issues in 2007 and 2008. Bowen was another Barry girlfriend.

Why not today? HBO is premiering a documentary on Barry's life. It's either that or he's dead. When asked about Bowen's supposed organizing of a poverty summit, Barry's spokesperson Natalie Williams made it clear that the press should be focusing on more important things---like legacies.

Read More "Today Is Not The Day To Talk About Barry’s Fishy Contracts" »

"I want to be judged on the totality of my life," Marion Barry will tell WDCW-TV's DC50 in an interview.

"Weekend News with Chris Core" will feature a sit-down with the Ward 8 Councilman and Mayor-for-Life in two half-hour segments. The first runs tonight at 6:30 p.m. (with a repeat at 10 a.m. tomorrow). The second will air next Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (also with a repeat at 10 the next morning).

Read More "Barry: “I Want To Be Judged On the Totality of My Life”" »

In reporting out our story on Sharon Bowen, a woman linked professionally and personally to Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry, it was difficult to figure out what she exactly did for the residents of the District.

Between spring 2007 and spring 2008, Barry had awarded her $50,000 in taxpayer-funded contracts. From our sources, we kept hearing two things: Bowen was a "class act" and Barry's girlfriend. None of our sources could talk with deep knowledge about her actual work. All city records have to show for it are invoices written by Bowen and the Barry-approved personal services contracts.

We are just supposed to know that Bowen worked in the areas of poverty reduction (specifically on organizing a Poverty Summit), working with the Ward 8 Business Council, and to "ensure that the vision of Councilmember Marion Barry is fulfilled."  Does this seem like $50,000 worth of work?

When asked about Bowen's work, Ward 8 Business Council Executive Director James Bunn admitted it wasn't rocket science. He said Bowen essentially went door-to-door to identify Ward 8 businesses. If she made a report on her findings, he didn't see one.

Read More "Councilmember Barry: What Did Sharon Bowen Actually Do?" »

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT---"Barry, Staff Critical Of Ex-Girlfriend's Work", ""Pershing Park: Another Piece Of Evidence Goes Missing; One Cop Speaks Out," "Complaint No. 09-109484: Fenty's Traffic Accident Report," "More On The Fenty Accident Report."

Morning all. Let's get to it. FOIAs are starting to come back regarding Barry's suspicious contract work. WaPo provides a sweet overview of Barry's contracts. The upshot: Barry spent way more than his fellow councilmembers on contract work and the results of that work are ambiguous. It's like he operated a temp agency out of his office. WaPo writes: "Newly released documents show that from fiscal 2007 to 2009, Barry's office spent more than $252,000 on outside contracts, eclipsing the second-biggest spender, Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), whose office spent $45,000....Barry (D-Ward 8) paid for a variety of consulting services, media relations assistance and temporary workers. Some of the work appears to have little connection to city business. One consultant hired to address poverty in Ward 8 lived in Ohio." WaPo also published a piece on the saga between Barry, his ex-girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt and Delonta Brighthaupt. This time the story is told via e-mails between Barry, his ex and her ex-husband. What you need to know: If you are a councilmember or are thinking about becoming a councilmember, do not hire your girlfriend. It should be noted that days before Barry was arrested on stalking charges, Watts-Brighthaupt had rejected the councilmember's latest contract offer.

CAR ACCIDENT CHRONICLES PART ONE: This past Sunday's fender bender is becoming a minor controversy for Mayor Fenty. WaPo notes that the police report not only contradicts Fenty and Co.'s public accounting of the crash but appears to show D.C. Police officers violating their own procedures. Weirdest detail: the report was taken by a member of Fenty's security detail and not a regular beat cop. Key graph: "Spokeswoman Mafara Hobson wrote in an e-mail Sunday that 'a vehicle ran a stop sign and pulled out in front of the Mayor's vehicle, causing a collision.' But the accident report indicates that Fenty's Lincoln Navigator was the "striking vehicle" in the crash with the Nissan Pathfinder, driven by James Utt Jr., 19." We have the police report/collector's item.

CAR ACCIDENT CHRONICLES PART TWO: News crews, Fenty and others were about to start a press conference at Penn and Alabama Avenues SE when two cars collided in a bad accident. Citizens and politicos rushed to the scene to help. NBC4 has footage, interviews with one of the drivers and a shocked looking Fenty. WJLA has more: "Fire officials say the two-car crash occurred around 4 p.m. when witnesses and people passing by became first responders. After the crash, people ran to a smoldering Cadillac and battled to get the two people trapped and injured inside to safety away from the vehicle." WaPo has an account as well; the mayor's press conference was canceled. Fox5 was there, too.

PRIVATE SECURITY LOSES DISTRICT CONTRACT: The Examiner's Michael Neibauer reports that Fenty is moving to cut out Hawk One from city contracts. Hawk One security guards are the ubiquitous greeters/wanders at various government buildings and public schools. Hawk One has lost one city contract and is expected to be out as the school security force as well. Key graphs: "The company has fared poorly since winning the job in 2005, District officials say. Employees in government buildings are poorly supervised, inadequately trained and armed, and ineffective at checking people, city officials say. In the schools, Hawk One personnel have struggled to contain violence and have a history of fraternizing with students. 'Their performance was just not up to standards,' one city leader said. 'They did themselves in.'"

AFTER THE JUMP---Jonetta on the hydrant problem, the WaPo editorial board weighs in on Pershing Park, and some serious fiscal policy.

Read More "The Marion Barry Temp Agency: Loose Lips Daily" »

The Washington Post has uncovered more of the twists and turns from the love-hate triangle between Councilmember Marion Barry, his ex-girlfriend Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, and her ex-husband Delonta Brighthaupt. The newspaper has obtained e-mails from Barry and his staff that were critical of Watts-Brighthaupt's contract work. The Post writes:

"Barry's complaints included Watts-Brighthaupt's spelling, grammar, tendency to fall behind schedule and failure to be available during business hours. The e-mails appear to confirm that Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt traveled together to Las Vegas and Memphis. Though the city paid for Barry's airfare, the government did not foot the bill for Watts-Brighthaupt, and did not pay for a $736 spa visit at the Paris hotel during their May trip to Las Vegas, travel records show."

In early January, Delonta Brighthaupt stepped into the contract issue with Barry.

Read More "Barry, Staff Critical of Ex-Girlfriend’s Work" »