About three hours into today’s D.C. Council hearing over two taxicab laws—the modernization act, and a bill that would add wheelchair-accessible cabs to the fleet—it occurred to me that the reason drivers are seen as such a powerful bloc is because they share one interest: Being the underdogs.
Whether it’s by the councilmembers, the hotel association, [...]
Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh's online taxi survey garnered more than 4,000 responses, Mike DeBonis reports in the Post. Naturally, it skews toward the young and Internet-savvy (and two-thirds of the respondents say they hail a cab at least weekly), but the results aren't surprising: "93 percent of respondents favored requiring all taxis to accept credit [...]
City Paper alum Mike DeBonis has some suggested New Year's resolutions for local newsmakers at the Post. Worth noting is the one for the city's cab drivers, since fare increases and taxi modernization are sure to get quite a bit of ink next year:
City taxi drivers: Hire an accountant. A new taxicab industry reform proposal backed [...]
At the Post, Tim Craig and Mike DeBonis note that some cab drivers aren't terribly jazzed about the proposed changes—higher fares, newer cabs, credit card machines—to the taxicab system. A group crashed yesterday's press conference about the plan to protest:
[Ward 3 councilmember Mary] Cheh, chairman of the transportation committee, said the public, including drivers, would have [...]
Why are gas prices so high at the infamous Watergate Exxon? The District’s gas king, Joe Mamo, turned out for a D.C. Council hearing Friday toting a slide show aimed at answering that question—or at least deflecting allegations that his company, Capitol Petroleum Group, is to blame.
On June 12, when the Watergate station was peddling [...]
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier is earning about $20,000 more than everyone thought.
As City Paper reported in April, the city's top cop got a 5 percent raise this year that brought her $219,755 salary to $230,743. That seemed like a choice paycheck, considering her boss, Mayor Vince Gray, makes just 86 percent of that haul.
But now [...]
The robber barons are back!
Or at least, the specter of them was back this morning, as a group of ExxonMobil station operators, led by their lobbyist Bruce Bereano, called on city officials today to free them—and District drivers—from gas mogul Joe Mamo, whom the operators and their lobbyist accused of price gouging.
“You have absolutely no competition [...]
Millions and Millions: A month ago, Mayor Vince Gray’s team released their new, terrifying estimate of the budget gap facing the District in fiscal 2012: $600 million. But today, chief financial officer Natwar Gandhi declared the actual shortfall will be $312 million. The difference, apparently, is due to higher than expected tax revenue from commercial properties; [...]
One City Under a Logo: An iconic image or logo can set the tone for how the world sees your brand. That's what Madison Avenue marketers tell corporate clients every day; it's also, apparently, what Mayor Vince Gray deeply believes. How else to explain the news that the District is printing up new stationary, business [...]
As mad as some of you might be after Pepco’s recent missteps restoring power following the Jan. 26 thundersnow event, don’t worry: some members of the D.C. Council would like you to know they are even more angry.
Speaking at public hearing of the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs late Friday afternoon, several councilmembers [...]
Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Ward 3 is currently undergoing major renovations, and when the modernization of the school's Tenleytown campus is complete in fall 2011, it will be quite an impressive place for students to learn.
How do I know that? Because D.C. Public Schools have put together a fun virtual video tour of [...]
Metro riders aren't the only ones scared by Friday night's incident on the Green and Yellow lines—with elections fast approaching, some politicians are trying to figure out if the brawl carries some risk for themselves, too.
The incident involved as many as 70 teens and young adults underground on Metro. The Associated Press notes that no [...]
The Issue: A decade after residents of the McLean Gardens residential community started lobbying for a dog park on Newark Street, construction has finally begun. But can the new dog park and the established, strictly pet-free community garden co-exist in the same place?
The gardeners have had a history of problems with some dog owners who, [...]
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:
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: [...]
