I Love the 90s: The 90 bus line's stops in Adams Morgan have been rerouted to accommodate the 18th Street streetscape construction, and some residents are none too happy. Writes one, on the Adams Morgan email list, "Who the hell at metro is in charge of putting up signs telling us the 90 busses have been detoured? Considering more people in Adams Morgan take the bus than own a car, you'd think somebody (hint hint ANC and councilmembers) would be on top of this. Count me as cranky when I saw my bus drive down Columbia instead of down 18th where I was standing." Though the complaint might be warranted, another list member feels that the ire was directed to the wrong parties: "You'd think the "someone" to be on top of this would the rider of the 90 busses.  A simple phone call would probably get you the answers you're looking for.  What the hell does the ANC or the councilmember have to do with it?  Yet another example of the ANC used as the whipping dog of the community.  Grrr, back atcha."

Hine Times, Pt. II: EMMCA has a vastly detailed explanation of community requests for the Hine School project, as well as the summarization of comments from Councilmember Tommy Wells regarding "why it is difficult to reduce massing – and the complex set of economic relationships between amenities and a profitable real estate venture." The Hine School redevelopment has become a touchy subject, and a commenter offers a possible reason why: "buried in the article is an important fact that does not get enough attention: because of the inability of Stanton/Eastbanc to recruit or retain tenants, this project has become MUCH MORE residential than originally projected. the burden of this revision has fallen upon 8th st. neighbors. people removed from this discussion are wondering why they are being so vocal (read: difficult). but the project has indeed changed in ways that are totally unfavorable to them."

Must Love Dogs: The Bloomingdale Blog reports that a pet store, reportedly called GreenPaws, is seeking to open in the neighborhood. Though a few commenters seem pleased by the potential of a storefront being filled, one commenter notes, "I have mixed feelings about this store. While I think it's wonderful that there might be some alternative pet food options close by, and even though I could certainly benefit from the convenience of having grooming and walking services in Bloomingdale, I'm concerned that this will be another business catering to the wealthier residents, and that it will offer prices beyond what many of us in the neighborhood can afford."

Takoma Park Problems: Spring is in the air, so what better to do than shore up one's flower beds? But, it seems like good soil can be hard to find. Writes one member of the Takoma Park email list, "I got my soil tested and it has slightly elevated lead levels (111 ppm). I would like to buy other soil to mix in with my soil – does anyone know of a good place that will deliver good soil?"

It was an interesting choice for a man who had grown up under heavy law-enforcement scrutiny. He'd spent more time sitting before a jury as a defendant than he probably ever did in school. He almost always walked away a free man. Most famously, he'd been tried for the same murder four times; every time, the jury hung. I wrote a particularly overly poetic cover story on Moore after the fourth hung jury. (No editor should ever tell me to "go epic.") His last case, a federal drug and conspiracy case, he beat in 2006. I popped in during the opening statements and saw Moore again at the defendants' table. He looked old, maybe even tired.

During our curbside reunion, Moore said he was also working on a documentary about his life. I assumed he wanted to set the record straight; he particularly hated the hype around him. He didn't like being celebrated as a thug or killer that got over. He saw himself as a victim of injustice and police overreaching. He gave me his number. He wanted help with his documentary.

So it was a little shocking to see the words "Teflon Defendant" appear on A1 of the Washington Post this weekend.

This time Moore had been stopped in Takoma Park for allegedly drinking in public. After he was caught, police claim they found a whole lot of cocaine. Later, officers found in Moore's apartment a gallon of liquid PCP, a loaded Smith & Wesson, a semi-automatic, and $44,000. Like every other arrest, Moore appears to be in some serious hot water.

Of course, as soon as I finished reading the Post story, I already started thinking up Moore's defense. For one: I don't think Moore drinks. It seems implausible that Moore would be walking around with a bottle of booze. He always styled himself as not your average alleged criminal. He always made sure to dress well. He is a strict vegetarian or vegan. He seemed good with his kids. He saw intoxicants as distractions, or worse.

In the Post piece, Moore's attorney assured that his client would be vindicated. I don't doubt it.

The piece notes that Kahn's venture won't be quite as easy as just, say, selling drugs: The city's legal-pot regs are strict, the neighbors are wary, and the competition could include some of well-funded players who've built up fortunes in better-established medical-marijuana markets like California.

Shott also pored through the lengthy rules proposed last week by the Adrian Fenty administration, which spell out everything from where dispensaries may be located to just what information must be included on the prescription pot labels. Below, our illustrator's best guess as to what those regulated labels will look like when actually affixed to your prescription:

So who's ready for more snow?

Thankfully, there is "Dan." Dan has written up a series of etiquette tips that have been posted on various neighborhood listservs. I found these in the Takoma DC listserv.

"Neighbors,

As someone that was raised in a cold-weather climate (Michigan) and endured many long winters there, I wanted to share with you some commonly accepted points of etiquette that people should be reminded of (feel free to add or reject as you see fit, this is just my experience):

1. If a neighbor helps a neighbor shovel, payment is not required (unless agreed to in advance), but an offer of food/drink is.

2. Any shoveling assistance that is provided without requesting payment in advance is presumed to be offered free of charge (see etiquette 1 for how the recipient should respond).

3. If someone has taken the time to shovel a parking space and a "place holder" is left (i.e. a chair, cone, etc.) respect their effort and keep looking. Conversely, an unmarked parking spot should be considered free for the taking.

4. If two cars meet on a street that is too narrow for them to pass side by side, the car that can more easily get out of the way should do so (into a parking spot, cleared driveway, etc), but the car that was given the right of way should pass, and wait to ensure the car that gave the right of way can continue. If it cannot, you should stop to help them. EXCEPTION: Should the cars meet on a snowy/icy hill, the downhill car ALWAYS gives the right of way, since it is easier to back down a hill than up it. If the hill is narrow but otherwise clear, then the normal etiquette applies.

5. A capable pedestrian that sees a stuck vehicle should stop and offer to help.

6. If you are driving and see a stuck vehicle and can safely stop to help, you should.

7. Do not park/leave your car where it will be an obstruction to the road."

Feel free to add to Dan's tips in the comments.

Cappuccino photo by Jazzbobrown, Creative Commons Attribution License

Today is the one-month anniversary of Mi Little Bistro, a Wi-Fi establishment that has livened up a long-vacant storefront on Cedar Street NW, a few doors away from the Takoma Metro station.

It opened about the same time The Culture Shop next door transformed into the Cedar Crossing Tavern & Wine Bar amid neighborhood fanfare and Listserv accolades. The bistro’s arrival was a much different, unheralded matter. So, with four-weeks gone, it is still struggling to fill its tables with customers for coffee and pastries, soup and sandwiches, Peruvian chicken and other light fare served from breakfast through dinnertime. Times are hard. The nearby Savory Café, a longtime Takoma Park, Md., institution, closed last month and so has another café across the street from the Metro stop.

Despite the rough start, the place is slowly building a following, particularly among those in search of wireless fidelity. While most of these cyber squatters fall into the category of good (or at least paying) customers, there was this one guy recently who apparently broke the unspoken rule governing the café/patron relationship and crossed the line separating the digital nomad from the Wi-Fi loafer.

“He walked in, took off his backpack, pulled out a laptop and a pack with his lunch and started eating,” says Lady Rodriguez, who owns the new café with her husband Ramón and son Edwin.

“We thought it was very rude,” she says.

The family was so taken aback that they are still not sure what they should have done, Mrs. Rodriguez says.

“We are so new at this, we didn’t know how to handle this. How would you handle that?”

"9NEWS NOW has confirmed there are nine dead from the collision, and officials say there are 67 people injured. The Fire Department Chief said that up to six of those people sustained life-threatening injuries, another 14 have less threatening injuries and more than 50 people have what officials call 'walking injuries.'"

WTOP confirms nine dead.

The New York Times has President Obama's statement on the crash:

“Michelle and I were saddened by the terrible accident in Northeast Washington, D.C., today. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy. I want to thank the brave first responders who arrived immediately to save lives. My staff has been in touch with Mayor Fenty’s office and will continue to monitor the situation.”

As of midnight, both the Times and the Washington Post have yet to report on the increased fatalities.

WJLA now confirms that nine passengers have died. Its source: Metro.

"The official death toll rose to nine from six about 11:30 p.m., Metro confirmed.

Crews will remain on the scene overnight, using cutting tools and the jaws of life to disentangle and separate the twisted cars which were ripped open and smashed together by the force of the collision."

Just after midnight, City Desk contacted D.C. Fire Department Deputy Chief Kenneth Crosswhite who says he called the command post regarding the death toll. He says the death toll is still listed at six. "They are still at six," Crosswhite says. "I don't know where they are coming up with that number."

Are they still going through the crash? Crosswhite says rescue workers are still going through the crash site. "They are still going through the process just verifying and checking out the train, making sure their are no patients now. I don't know where they're at. I was on the track, looked at the crash site."

Crosswhite was at the scene earlier, he says one of the big problems was the huge hill that lead to the tracks: "Gaining access to the injured to the scene there, the topography of the land is not the best. They had to cut the fence away, and use a ladder to make steps....They searched the area around to make sure nobody wandered along the track bed. They checked the area out."

That area included the nearby woods. Crosswhite says he ended up being tasked to drive the ambulance to transport two of the injured to a waiting helicopter.

"I had to drive the ambulance carrying the two [most severely injured] to the helicopter, to the land site at New Hampshire and Peabody." There was nobody at that moment available to drive the ambulance, he explains.

"When was the last time I drove an ambulance? Wow. Wow. Probably 10-15 years ago," Crosswhite. "I can drive them. I can even drive a ladder truck and a fire engine. They were very severely injured. The original landing site was on the bridge."