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

"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?"

Bloomingdale (for now) has left Bloomingdale. In a moving post, blogger writes:

"Well, i looked, but there was nothing in my price range in the neighborhood. working for a non-profit doesn't allow one to afford the prices in this part of the city if you want a rowhouse (not condo). so, i looked far-and-wide for a place that fell into my price range. in the end, i bought a house in trinidad.

i've been in trinidad for two months now. i love it. this house is amazing, the neighbors are friendly (as friendly as bloomingdale, i dare say!), and i'm still a short bike ride downtown to work. it's been interesting learning the minute details of a whole new part of town."

It's hard to imagine Bloomingdale having a better blogger. The upside: Trinidad needs a good local reporter to tell us what's what.

And Now, Anacostia has a full rundown of fotoweek events east of the river.

Borderstan discovers a new place for hipsters to get their haircut.

Greater Greater Washington posts a reader's letter complaining that no one turns their headlights on in Arlington. Really? And reports on the possibility of Riggs Place adding a dreaded speed bump. The blogger writes:

"Would a speed hump even fix the problem? It's not like through traffic uses Riggs, since it doesn't go anywhere. It would be helpful to understand who is speeding there, and why. When I lived a block from there, the only time I would drive on that block was to try to park.

If the high-speed traffic is people circling for parking, a speed hump won't deter them. They may well just speed down the road until they reach the speed hump, slow down to traverse it, then speed up again, since drivers looking for parking are often in a hurry to get the car parked or to find that elusive space before someone else does."

Please check out the cool new blog Left for LeDroit.

And let's give handclaps to Congress Heights on the Rise for their big scoop: Marion Barry is following in the footsteps of some Baldwins, MC Hammer, and Flavor Flav and getting into the reality show racket. He's filming a reality show pilot.

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.

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."

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?

What I don't get is why this had to be passed via emergency legislation. Barry's problems date to the beginning of the summer,  Bennett's subpoenas are only now starting to fly. Why not let the investigation run its course and then pass a comprehensive ethics code with real penalties?

As it stands now, the council passed an ethics code without any teeth. There are zero penalities for I don't know....hiring your girlfriend or funneling money to nonprofits controlled by your cronies.

This code and the passing of this code feels like grandstanding.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

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!

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.

LL asked if the RWLC was targeted because it is run by Barry's wife.

Said Nickles, "Not as far as I know."

As for the future of the RWLC at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, Nickles says it's out of his hands. "What may happen after they take steps to make up for this issue...I have no knowledge," he says.

In other words, this is now a political decision for Fenty: Oust Barry, who exerts suzerainty over a piece of District-owned-and-maintained property; or keep Barry, who runs a valuable and successful education program there; or forge some compromise. Initial signs are that Cora Barry will not be long for her center.

Earlier this week, RWLC's lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, said he'd filed the necessary papers and paid the necessary fees to bring the group into compliance.

Bolden also argued in a letter that the District breached a 2006 lease agreement by not giving RWLC to fix any corporate registration problems.

Nickles isn't going to buy that argument; as far as he's concerned, that document is null and void. Because the corporate registration had lapsed, he says, "in the eyes of the law, there's no standing to enter into the lease."

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.

Williams' immediate response to my Bowen question: "All of our interviews are focused now around Barry's legacy."

When I made it clear that I really just wanted some clarification on the Bowen matter, Williams simply hung up on me.

"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).

Another snippet from the interview: Barry concedes that, when he is dead and gone, the Vista Hotel - the site of his notorious arrest for drug possession in 1990 - will probably feature prominently in his obit.

“It will probably be at the top if it’s written by other people who don’t know me,” he tells Core.

On the eve of the Monday night broadcast on HBO of the documentary The Nine Lives of Marion Barry - reviewed in June by City Paper - Core also asks Barry why he thinks people say he has nine lives.

Says Barry: "Well, because I'm an overcomer. You knock me down, I fall down on my back, I look up, get up and go up. And I've had a lot of challenges in my life. Business challenges as well as personal challenges. And I keep standing."

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.

It all feels like work you give an intern. Or something Barry should have delegated to his constituent services office or an elected ANC commissioner or a staffer at the Ward 8 Business Council. This does not feel like $50,000 work you give to a woman who votes in Ohio.

At the time of Bowen's work, poverty in the District was a very real problem, one that hadn't changed since the last recession. According to the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, the gap between high-wage and low-wage workers had reached an all-time high in 2007 and poverty levels were at their highest in more than a decade.

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.

NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT: D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier doesn't get why the press---and maybe a few readers---are concerned over how the police handled Mayor Fenty's fender bender. "I think there has been a lot of things made out of nothing here," Lanier tells WJLA. Nothing? WaPo has more from Lanier on the accident. Key quote: "'[Fenty] stayed on the scene. The [mayor's] children that were on the scene, were taken from the scene, but he stayed on the scene while the other driver didn't,' Lanier said. 'There are no procedures that were not followed. We thought that it was important to get the report taken and then file the supplemental report when we got the information. The important thing was to take the report, and it was taken, The photos were not taken because the other driver left the scene. The mayor stayed on the scene. He could have left because it was a minor fender-bender -- if this was anybody else, they could have exchange information and left the scene.'

MORE TROUBLE FOR PETER NICKLES: The Examiner's Bill Myers is reporting that there's a big conflict brewing betweeen AG Nickles and City Auditor Deborah Nichols. Key graphs: "City Auditor Deborah Nichols says she wants a look at the last few years of books of the Anacostia Waterfront Commission and the National Capital Revitalization Corp. but that Nickles is invoking attorney-client privilege to prevent access to important records. 'It's quite clear that the [Attorney General's Office] is inexplicably attempting to subvert the auditor's authority,' Nichols wrote in a July 2 letter obtained by The Examiner. Nichols called the attorney general's conduct 'unconscionable and unacceptable.'" Nickles says his actions were "appropriate." Myers goes on to explain why Nichols is so interested: "According to a source familiar with Nichols' audit, she also is asking questions about tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees the revitalization corporation paid to Michelle Fenty in 2006 as Mayor Adrian Fenty, then a D.C. councilman, campaigned for the mayor's office. The mayor's wife focuses her practice on global technology transactions and does not appear to have a background in community development." Meanwhile, Harry Jaffe compares the problems in the Pershing Park case to Watergate.

CAFRITZ FIRE: Today, Mayor Fenty plans on announcing the preliminary findings in the city's investigation into the hydrant problems surrounding the Peggy Cooper Cafritz house fire. WaPo reports that WASA has written a letters to City Administrator Neil O. Albert in an apparent attempt to push some of the blame on the Fire Department. Fenty is expected to hold a news conference today near the Cafritz home. WUSA reports that the Fire Department is already taking measures---measures that were recommended in 2007---to prevent such hydrant issues from happening again.

BUDGET TALK: Elissa Silverman and Liz Williams get all ProPublica on the District as they report out what happened to the city's federal stimulus money in the Hill Rag. They find that without the fed's help the District would be in total budget meltdown mode: "The stimulus is helping DC in two key ways. Plummeting tax revenues combined with increased demands for health care and other human services have created gaping holes in state and local government budgets everywhere. The District is no exception. About a quarter of DC’s budget gap this year and next will be plugged by various pots of money made available from the stimulus. Without that critical influx of dollars, the city would have had to make even deeper spending cuts that would have led to more job losses and slowed down our economic recovery."

CRIME BILL: WaPo reports that Mayor Fenty signed the emergency crime bill (minus the tricky anti-gang initiative). Fenty and Lanier praised the bill's new anti-loitering provisions, etc. Fenty still played the spoilsport: the bill's author Councilmember Phil Mendelson did not attend the bill signing photo op. He was not invited. Wondering why? Mendo did not support the anti-gang initiative.

FENTY'S SCHEDULE:
9:00 a.m. Remarks
Chain Bridge Fire Report
Location: 3022 Chain Bridge Road, NW

10:00 a.m. Remarks
Summer School Graduation
Location: Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place, NW
Ballroom AB Level III

11:45 a.m. Remarks
Potomac Avenue Triangle Park Groundbreaking
Location: Intersection of Potomac Avenue, 13th, and I Streets, SE

1:30 p.m. Remarks
Marvin Gaye Park Groundbreaking
Location: Intersection of Division Avenue and Foote Street, NE

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.

PERSHING PARK: WaPo's editorial board gently nudges AG Peter Nickles to get to explain the problems in a Pershing Park case languishing in U.S. District Court. Last week, a federal judge slammed the OAG's inadequate response to discovery and promised painful sanctions. By our count, this is the third time a federal judge has recently taken OAG to task. Judges have rebuked Nickles and Co. in the CFSA case as well as a Special Ed attorney case. This case stems from the September 27, 2002 mass arrests in Pershing Park. Key newsy graph: "Mr. Nickles told us that he is taking the judge's admonition to heart. He has blamed the city's inability to properly manage records during discovery on a chronic lack of resources, but he said he is reserving judgment on exactly what went wrong in this case until he knows all the facts. It's encouraging that he enlisted former federal judge Stanley Sporkin, who is offering his considerable expertise on a pro bono basis, to advise him." The editorial board suggests Fenty settle the case, and if the the problems aren't cleared up by Nickles, it states that the court should get involved---not the D.C. Council. The editorial states that the D.C. Council isn't fit to investigate since many have already "prejudged the outcome."

HYDRANTS: The Examiner's Jonetta Rose Barras believes Peggy Cooper Cafritz and her neighbors should sue over the faulty hydrants. It's the only way to get some straight answers on the matter.  Key graph: "What's there to investigate about the fire that destroyed the home of former D.C. Board of Education President Peggy Cooper Cafritz on Chain Bridge Road? Either fire hydrants worked or they didn't. Either the water pressure was adequate or it wasn't. It's just that simple. But the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority and fire department are doing the butt-covering dance."

D.C. BUDGET: The DC Fiscal Policy Institute provides a great overview on the District budget and the D.C. Council's moves to make up for the revenue shortfalls. Key graph: "On the positive side, the Council saved programs crucial to the city’s safety net from the chopping block and avoided even deeper funding cuts by raising revenue. Yet some of the tax increases are regressive, meaning they will have a greater financial impact on moderate and low income DC residents."

WHEN SNAKES ATTACK: WJLA/News Channel 8 are reporting that two Southeast residents have been bitten by poisonous copperhead snakes! Key graph: "Forty-eight-year-old Angela Bradford was walking her dog last week when something brushed against her shoe. She bent down to see what it was, and a snake bit her finger. Bradford took a picture of the snake with her cell phone, and doctors determined it was a copperhead. She underwent anti-venom therapy."

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.

Delonta Brighthaupt basically accused the councilmember of using taxpayer funds to keep Watts-Brighthaupt around. In the days before Barry's July 4 stalking arrest, Watts-Brighthaupt had rejected another Barry contract offer.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.