IHOP, Irving Street NW, November 23

"DC plan for homeless families is to provide apts. $1,500 per.Should there be limit on number of fams hsd from other states? NY Times says no"

"Overflow for homeless families is DC Gen. 135 fams now at capacity. Should DC provide unlimited capacity for other states. NY Times says yes"

More tweets after the jump!

Wells goes on to tweet:

"Fams and individs in DC have right to shelter during cold. Surrounding states do not. % of fams in DC shelters from Md has tripled.

To bal our budget we must cut foster care, pub ed, disability pymnts, juv justice, TANF, pub safety and raise taxes to get to 175 mil

Mont co and PG co have a residency req. for shelter. We shld hse when freezing but not provide apt and shld return to home state when safe.

NY Times recommends DC expand shelter capacity if needed and dun Congress for the cost. Good luck with that.

CFO said no cost savings b/c of current waitlist for homeless services. DC residents should have dibs, no?"

But instead of focusing on the city's dwindling shelters and the poor conditions at D.C. General, the city's emergency family shelter, it chose to take a non-stand on Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells' residency-requirement proposal:

"The District is right to want to do something about surrounding jurisdictions that take advantage of its safety net by directing their needy residents to cross the border. At the same time, it needs to be careful that new rules don't create insurmountable barriers for those it wants to help.

We are glad that Mr. Wells pulled back on plans to push the legislation through as emergency legislation. More needs to be learned about the scope of this problem. Advocates for the homeless have legitimate concerns about the ability of people, with complex problems and troubled lives, to meet bureaucratic requirements. There are also constitutional concerns that need to be addressed concerning residency and equal treatment. Mr. Wells says that he is confident a workable solution can be found."

Wow. A public hearing is scheduled for Nov. 8 on Wells' bill. One question that still needs to be sorted out: Do we trust the city's claim that 10 percent of the 180 families seeking emergency shelter this past summer were from non-District residents? And if the number is true, so what? How are District officials preparing for the sure-to-be crowded shelter system come winter?

Late October census data shows shelters are at or near capacity. At D.C. General, there are already 132 families and 217 children.

Weaver still probably has a long way to go. Yes, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce decided not to back Graham, either—but they went with Jeff Smith, another challenger. Still, the video's worth watching again, no matter who winds up winning the election:

Graham campaign poo-bah Chuck Thies had this reaction via e-mail:

"Not surprising at all. What has the Chamber of Commerce ever done for Ward One?  They represent downtown business interests. Maybe Jeff Smith should move downtown.  He really doesn't seem to like living in Ward One."

You'd think Graham's close ties to the taxicab industry would have put him over the top. Zing! OK, that was a cheap shot. Apologies.

("Some people say I spend too much time responding to my constituents," of course, is the political ad equivalent of answering that dreaded, "What are your biggest faults?" job interview question by saying you work too hard.)

But what a difference four years can make. Here's one of the new ads, featuring Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans—who uses the same construction in his first line:

We've gone from some people saying Fenty "spends too much time responding to [his] constituents" to the some people saying Fenty is, essentially, a jerk.

Some people, it appears from the ads, were a lot nicer four years ago!

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—"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

D.C. Council Chairman and mayoral candidate Vincent Gray has called on Attorney General Peter Nickles to resign. While there's zero chance that Fenty's right-hand man will be taking Gray's advice, it's about time the attorney general became a campaign issue.Nickles is one of the mayor's biggest liabilities. He has managed to earn the wrath of several federal court judges and the disdain of the average citizen and reporter who's just trying get a FOIA request fulfilled. He's also pissed off a number of D.C. Councilmembers with his eye-roll-inducing explanations for the fire-truck giveaway, the mayor's shady contracts with his frat brothers, and the destruction of evidence and discovery abuses in the Pershing Park case. Not to mention the recent settlement with Banneker Ventures while the D.C. Council continued to investigate the Fenty cronies.

Gray's press release is sharp. It reads:

"'Two years ago, I voted to confirm Peter Nickles as Attorney General, with a belief and trust that he would put the interests of the people first, as required by D.C. law.  There is no question about the fact that the Attorney General’s client is the District of Columbia, not the Mayor.  That’s what the Office of the General Counsel to the Mayor is for.  The Attorney General is supposed to be the people’s lawyer.

Unfortunately, it’s become increasingly clear that Peter Nickles not only sees himself as the Mayor’s lawyer, but also as the Mayor’s political hatchet man, and enabler of the Mayor’s cronyism.  His politicization of the office is inappropriate at best, and illegal at worst.  And by protecting the Mayor’s cronies, he has put the interest of the Mayor squarely ahead of the interest of his actual client.  He has betrayed the public trust too many times to be an effective public advocate.  Mayor Fenty should relieve him of his duties immediately.'"

Gray's call for Nickles to go will be the easiest decision his campaign will ever have to make.

2:20 p.m. Update: Bruce DePuyt tweets Nickles react. Guess what? He ain't quitting: "Peter Nickles tells NC8 Vince Gray 'must have had heat stroke or something.' Dismisses demand for his ouster as a 'stunt.'"

Here's the rest of the press release:

"Gray’s comments come after a series of events in which Nickles inappropriately politicized his role and facilitated the Mayor’s cronyism.

• Nickles has politicized the Attorney General’s office in recent media interviews in which he has inappropriately (and perhaps illegally) inserted himself into political campaigns.

• Nickles entered into a $550,000 settlement with Banneker Ventures, despite an ongoing city investigation into Banneker for potentially defrauding the public.

• Nickles has presided over a record number of improperly denied Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

• In 2009, he inappropriately hampered a D.C. Council investigation into the donation of a fire truck and ambulance to the Dominican Republic, by interfering with subpoenas issued for two city employees."

*file photo by Darrow Montgomery.

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.

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.

Mayoral hopeful Vincent Gray released his education plan today which places heavy emphasis on transparency, citizen involvement, and giving charter schools more respect (but have they earned it?). On the Michelle Rhee front: He endorses a strong chancellor, but stops short of endorsing Rhee's top-down style. Embedded in all the lofty rhetoric, there's a few good digs at Mayor Fenty. The best one: Gray vows to "put an immediate end to management by ribbon-cutting and sound bites." You can read the full report here. (Hat Tip: Bill Turque)

*file photo by Darrow Montgomery.

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.