Dead Groundhogs See No Shadows: The little town of Punxsatawney, Pa., has a nice racket going with its Groundhog Day celebrations. So now the District is trying to get in on the act, too. Today marked the inaugural D.C. Groundhog Day festivities, complete with Potomac Phil, a stuffed, dead groundhog. Officials determined (perhaps by consulting a Ouija board?) that Phil had seen his shadow this morning, which means six more weeks of winter. But considering "winter" in 2012 means 70 degree days, who's complaining? +2

Too Fast, Too Foxhall: A speed camera on Foxhall Road NW recently irritated chef Geoff Tracy, owner of various D.C.-area restaurants and husband of CBS News's Norah O'Donnell. So Tracy did what comes naturally to a socially-connected chef: He emailed everyone in his restaurants' customer database with a map showing where he got a ticket and hired a guy to hold a sign warning drivers. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier says Tracy's efforts haven't done much: The camera doled out 31,000 tickets in two months. -1

No Reelection For You: There must be something in the water in the District that makes it hard for incumbent politicians to manage the relatively basic task of qualifying for the ballot. First Tony Williams had to run a write-in campaign for his second term as mayor, and now Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander faces the prospect of getting booted from April's Democratic primary over allegedly bogus signatures. The Board of Elections and Ethics will rule by Monday on the fate of Alexander's campaign. -1

Snow's Last Stand?: The winter, as noted above, has been pretty mild. But there's a possibility that a snowstorm set to ravage Denver soon could leave us with some bona fide winter weather this weekend. Chances are still good no snow will fall—but it's never too early to start stockpiling bread, milk, toilet paper, and clips of Pat Collins just in case! -1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 37 Today's score: -1 Today's Needle rating: 36

Yes, Actually, It Is Hot Enough For Me: Leave town. Now. That's the only reasonable advice for how to deal with the early heat wave that's suffocating the region today—it is, after all, still only spring. The high temperature at National Airport was 102 degrees, tying a record first set in 1874, and combined with last summer's ridiculous heat, makes this the first back-to-back years with three-digit temperatures in June since 1933-34. We had a joke to make here, but we went outside a few hours ago, and our brains are still recovering. -4

We Don't Need No Water: No matter how well the city trains its firefighters, no matter how quickly they respond to calls, and no matter how well people in a burning building remember their "stop, drop, and roll" elementary school-era instructions, there's one essential component to dealing with any fire: water. This year, unlike in past years, there should be enough of it if it's needed. Fire hydrants and underground pipes like the ones that failed in blazes at the Georgetown Library in 2007 and Peggy Cafritz Cooper's house in 2009 are now in good shape, officials say. The city set a goal of having not more than 1 percent of hydrants out of service at any one time; as of June 1, the total was .41 percent. Which is good news for everyone except the people who live on whatever block the hydrant's busted on. +2

Crimefighters-R-Us: Constituent service is the lifeblood of local politics. Here in the District, Yvette Alexander really means it, apparently. The Ward 7 D.C. Council member helped catch a guy who'd stolen a Kindle near Freedom Plaza Wednesday, then yelled at the unlucky thief as Fox 5's cameras rolled. Phil Mendelson, who chairs the public safety committee, better watch out; Alexander has hands-on experience now. +2

Two If By Sea: Driving during rush hour is bad for blood pressure; taking Metro means unexplained delays and rising fares. How about getting to work by boat? Evidently, that won't work either; American River Taxi, which launched a Southwest waterfront-to-Georgetown route in April, has shut its morning service down. The ride was $8, and took 30 minutes, making it both more expensive and slower than other, non-riparian forms of public transit. Then again, maybe it'd be worth it to be able to respond to emails on the way to work with a simple, "I'm on a boat." -1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 57 Today's score: -1 Today's Needle rating: 56

With the first vote on the city’s new redistricted ward map set for Thursday, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells and his supporters brought bullhorns to Lincoln Park last night to protest the proposed 17th Street dividing line that would send the eastern edge of Capitol Hill into Ward 7.

As Housing Complex's Lydia DePillis has pointed out, the Ward 6 residents up for grabs are tying themselves into knots to keep the current boundaries intact. At last night’s rally, they summoned the specter of Kingman Park—absorbed by Ward 7 during the District's last redistricting a decade ago—to warn that nearby Rosedale could fall into the hands of an unresponsive councilmember, though none of the speakers referred to Ward 7's Yvette Alexander by name.

“It’s not working, because I’m not across the bridge, I’m over here,” said Hannah Lewis, a volunteer at the Rosedale Recreation Center who lives in Kingman Park and wants her neighborhood moved back into Ward 6. She waved a "Save Kingman Park" sign during Wells' speech in front of Eastern High School, following a march along East Capitol Street.

With chants like "don't gerrymand, we're in command," some protesters complained that there's no way Wards 7 and 8 can represent their interests.

"The folks across the river, they have a whole other set of issues and a whole other set of things going on, and we’re going to be such a small percentage of their constituency that they’re really not going to care," said Patrick Crowley, a former board chairman at Congressional Cemetery.

Wells called the proposed dividing line—17th Street SE at Barney Circle to 17th Street NE at Benning Road—"dumb," but all of the territorial goodwill for Kingman Park and Hill East presents a problem: If Ward 6 takes Kingman Park back, the population imbalance across wards will get worse, not better. When pressed for his solution, Wells pointed to his fellow council members for ideas.

“Is Ward 5 part of the solution?” he asked. “Is Ward 2 really part of the solution? There are other wards that border Wards 7 and 8 that are just untouched.”

Some Rosedale residents were convinced that if the council sends the neighborhood to Ward 7, the neighborhood’s black voting base would be left behind.

“My community will lose a voice and will lose resources once we become Ward 7,” said Sondra Phillips-Gilbert. Before the council sets its sights on bigger goals, she complained, the city needs to focus on drawing fair boundaries that won’t split up neighborhoods.

“How can you ask for statehood when you’re busy disenfranchising and gerrymandering communities?” she asked.

Photos by Nick DeSantis

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 did not mince words about their feelings toward Pepco.

Mary Cheh of Ward 3, a member of the committee, said Pepco had no reason to fear the fines she wants to impose on it, as "Pepco itself is doing quite well."

"They're doing really nicely, thank you, while we sit in the dark," Cheh said. "It’s an understatement to say that we have woefully inadequate service in the District of Columbia."

Cheh also said she had trouble believing Pepco’s claim that D.C.’s tree canopy was a huge obstacle that hindered the utility's ability to restore power. "Pepco tries to make the trees responsible," she said. "The trees are not primarily responsible for the outages."

But even if the trees were a huge factor, Cheh noted Pepco has yet to use up all the funds it has to prune D.C.'s trees. Nevertheless, Cheh said, Pepco has complained to the city about difficulties with the tree canopy.

"Talk about hypocrisy," said Cheh, who did not reserve her vitriol for just Pepco. She also singled out the D.C. Public Service Commission, which she likened to a "fat little puppy."

"The Public Service Commission has failed us," she said. "The chief sheriff has to be the Public Service Commission...both entities—Pepco and the Public Service Commission—need a push in the right direction."

To her credit, the committee’s chairwoman, Ward 7's Yvette Alexander avoided going off into extended speeches about her displeasure with Pepco. Instead, she focused on asking questions of the members of the public who showed up to testify.

Similarly, Ward 4's Muriel Bowser said she had come to the hearing only to listen to what her fellow residents had to say. "I just wanted to join you and thank you for calling this hearing," she said, in lieu of an opening statement. "All of us are concerned about improving reliability for our residents."

Ward 5's Harry Thomas Jr. also showed up, ostensibly to listen to the public as well.

"While I’m not a member of your committee, Chairwoman Alexander, this is an issue which is very important to me," he explained. "We want to make sure our utilities are doing the right job.... we need to figure out what obstacles we can remove to expedite our services."

Although Thomas started his remarks by saying “I’m here to listen,” he went on to argue the city needs to change the way it deals with events like the January snow event.

"We need a coordinated effort that I have always been saying needed to exist," Thomas said. "We need to solve this problem once and for all."

While it did take some time to get power fully restored following the storm, Thomas did note that his post-storm calls with the utility were returned promptly. "I got responses that were expeditious in a personal manner," he said. "But the citizens didn’t see this."

Thomas then ended his remarks, and began taking notes on each public witness’ testimony. At one point, he expressed his surprise at the number of witnesses who showed up to testify. "I bet many of you would rather be at happy hour.”

Photo by William F. Zeman

In another move to boost liquidity: Lawmakers will allow D.C. liquor stores to open for business on July 4, a Sunday, when such beloved neighborhood institutions are normally closed. Naturally, not everyone supports the holiday exemption to the rule. The Post quotes Councilmember Yvette Alexander griping, "the Jack Daniels and the firecrackers – that's not a good mix."

WTOP reports from the BP fill-up station at 7605 Georgia Avenue NW, where owner Shahzad Aslam claims to have lost 40 percent of gasoline sales since the oil spill fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico. "[Even though it's] a BP gas station, BP is not directly involved," Shahzad tells WTOP. Still, protesters have picketed his pumps, "apparently unaware their efforts were doing more damage to a local business owner and his employees than an international oil giant."

In other news: WUSA-TV reports that police have identified a fatal shooting victim found in Fort Dupont Park on June 9 as 43-year-old Don Diego Jones of Temple Hills, an opera singer with the National Orchestra. Police have also arrested a Southeast D.C. man in connection to a triple shooting in Shaw last week, according to the Post.

Expect afternoon thunderstorms in the "strong to severe" range, with the "main threats being damaging winds and perhaps large hail," say forecasters with WJLA-TV. Sunshine returns tomorrow.

Video by DCWASAPublicAffairs/YouTube

Doxie McCoy, communications director for Council Chairman Vincent Gray, emailed this week in response to City Paper's cover story, "How the Gun Lobby Shot Down D.C.'s Congressional Vote," to point out that Councilmember Michael A. Brown no longer chairs the statehood committee. In fact, she noted, the committee has ceased to exist. Instead, those issues now fall under the purview of Councilmember Yvette Alexander's Committee on Aging and Community Affairs.

Council chose to fold the committee when Brown was given the reigns to Marion Barry's old Housing and Workforce Development Committee in the aftermath of Barry's censure for alleged conflict-of-interest abuses. With Barry on the outs because of ethics issues, McCoy explained, there weren't enough councilmembers to keep the committee functioning as a stand-alone entity.

She describes the move as a "procedural change" but insists that council's efforts to promote D.C. statehood and congressional voting rights will not suffer as a result.

“The council’s focus and the council's intent to raise awareness of statehood has not lessened at all,” says McCoy. “It is the Chairman’s belief that with the funding the Council restored, the statehood/voting rights work can still be done and will not suffer,” McCoy adds via email.

“Statehood and self-determination is certainly at the top of my agenda,” says Brown, the former statehood committee's former chairman. “But I know there are a lot of people that are disappointed that there is not a stand-alone committee.”

Brown says he’d like to see the committee return in another session of the Council. “Just because there may not be a committee per se, doesn’t mean folks are not fighting for this every day.”

Asked about the former committee's legacy, Brown says, “We clearly kept the issue on the forefront. Not having a committee may harm that, but the Committee on Aging and Community affairs can still host those kind of hearings related to statehood. I think people would love to see the progress, though, of a stand-alone committee.”

The biggest challenge to the statehood and voting rights movement isn’t the abolition of the committee in the Council, according to Brown. Rather, it's Mayor Adrian Fenty’s FY2011 budget proposal that almost gutted the whole statehood budget line item.

“I was very disappointed that the Mayor’s budget didn’t include any money for statehood activities,” Brown says. “I think that says a lot about where the Mayor’s priorities are.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—"Suspect: I Watched Project Runway During Wone Murder," "Budget Vote: Seniors Stage Protest," "Budget Silver Lining: Another Million For Bruce Monroe, Etc.," "Jim Graham Campaign Sign Scandal!"

BUDGET CLUSTERF**K 2010: Unfortunately, yesterday wasn't dominated by thought-provoking answers on how the District government could restore funds to services that address its most vulnerable residents. Yesterday was all about streetcar drama. It began at midnight with Gray's decision to cut streetcar funds. He argued that the cuts would have gone a long way toward closing the budget gap. Then....all hell broke loose. Here's a timeline:

*At Noon: D.C. Wire reported that the D.C. Council voted to strip funding for the streetcar project: "The D.C. Council Wednesday approved stripping funds designated to bring streetcar service back to the city in an effort to close a $550 million budget gap. The vote effectively delays the launch of the streetcars. The council still must vote on the change when it votes on the full budget later today. The council voted to take $49 million for street car system and distribute it among other projects. Gabe Klein, director of the District Department of Transportation, was lobbying furiously to save the funds from being redistributed. 'It will essentially kill the program,' he said. 'If they kill it, basically, it goes on ice.'"

*At 1:10 p.m.: Council Chairman Vincent Gray released a statement affirming the decision to kill streetcar funding: "I am firmly committed to a new streetcar system in the District. But we owe it ourselves to have a well thought out planning process. We can't afford the mayor's approach of 'build now and plan later', which only results in poor outcomes and much higher costs in the end."

Here's more from the Gray statement:

“But we owe it to ourselves to have a well thought out planning process. We can’t afford to adopt the Mayor’s approach of “build now and plan later,” which only results in poor outcomes and much higher costs in the end. Comprehensive planning, transportation and engineering work needs to be done, and the Council has allocated $5 million to complete the planning process necessary to give us the most efficient use of our dollars. I have every intention of moving forward with streetcars however, we need to use some of the dollars for more immediate projects, like renovation of middle schools.

This approach, which was passed today by the Council by a vote of 11-2 in the Committee of the Whole, will allow for better collaboration and cooperation with residents, business owners, and other stakeholders, and result in a much better streetcar system in the end.”

D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells' streetcar defense—and the back and forth—hit Twitter:

"I believe this will kill this project for another generation" — Tommy Wells.

Tommy Wells: "Are you aware we may lose $100-197M in stimulus funding?" Gray: "Yes."

*At 3:10 p.m.: WaPo's Nikita Stewart reports that streetcar funding may be resurrected: "Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) is expected to announce Wednesday that the city has found enough money to restore funding for street car service in the District. Earlier Wednesday, the council approved taking $49 million from the streetcars to use to balance city's budget and help fund other projects. That vote effectively delayed the launch of the streetcars by two years."

*At 3:35: D.C. Wire's Nikita Stewart reports that the streetcar project has been saved. "Gray spokeswoman Doxie McCoy said $10 million would be made available immediately to purchase streetcars in fiscal 2011. Another $37 million would be place in reserve pending an operations and funding proposal from Mayor Adrian Fenty. The council would then have to approve the proposal. The decision to restore funding came just hours after the council decided to pull money from the streetcars to fund other services. But within moments of the decision, the council was inundated with calls."

*At 8:22 p.m.: Gray Spokesperson Doxie McCoy sent out an e-mail declaring that the press had gotten it all wrong about the Council Chairman killing streetcars. The statement is as wonky and deliberative as you can imagine. It's also amazingly lame damage control [strong use of bold and Ital all McCoy's]:

"Streetcars were never dead. Earlier today, the Chairman got the Council to slow them down to allow proper planning, which is still required after the vote on the Fiscal year 10 and 11 budgets today. Since the statement below from earlier this afternoon, during the break between the Committee of the Whole and the legislative session, Gray consulted with the CFO’s office to look for alternatives to move forward given plans on H Street and Benning Road, NE already underway. And here is what they came up with: identified $10M in capital funds to be borrowed in FY to purchase three cars for H and Benning that had been in the works….plus $37M in capital funding to be borrowed. However, the $37 M will not be released until the executive presents a planning and financing plan to the Council for approval. In real dollars, the District will have to pay $4 M in FY 10 and 11 to cover the debt created by the borrowing and the CFO says that amount is available in the debt service reserves fund and will not affect any other projects or programs."

I can't wait to see Gray debate his waffling on streetcars. The Council Chairman makes a good point, one echoed by policy wonks—that the street car project may need a more rigorous plan. Still, he had given zero indication—at least publicly—that streetcar funds were on the chopping block. He just looked silly slaughtering the streetcar funds at the last minute. Did yesterday's scene remind you of Linda Cropp's waffling on baseball? First she was for it. Then she was against it. Then who the hell remembers?

AFTER THE JUMP—More streetcars, more budget winners and losers.

STREETCAR FALLOUT: WaPo's Tim Craig and Nikita Stewart provide excellent coverage of yesterday's fight over streetcars. D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray needs to position himself as the champion of those left out of Fenty's dog-park love, rec center ribbon cuttings, and well, improving schools and decreases in crime. But he also can't alienate the yuppies and/or nostalgic old-timers who embraced streetcars. Craig and Stewart write:

"After a backlash from at least one member of Congress and hundreds of residents who jammed government phone lines, community e-mail groups and Gray's Web site — the late-night maneuver had been scrapped. By midday Wednesday, Gray was back at the council dais, telling his colleagues that he and city finance officials had found $50 million to keep the streetcar program on track.

The saga of the streetcars is emblematic of one of the central tensions between the campaigns of Gray and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) as well as the voters they're targeting. Fenty has been criticized for favoring newcomers over more established Washingtonians and for using scarce resources to build dog parks, recreation centers and streetcar lines instead of bolstering more traditional social services.

Gray has sought to capitalize on that sentiment by establishing himself as a champion of those who feel left out, but he must do so without turning off voters who value the new services.

In the days leading up to Wednesday's budget vote, Gray had sought to navigate political land mines surrounding proposals to establish a soda tax, increase taxes on the wealthy and restore millions in proposed cuts to social service programs.

Touting himself as the candidate in the September Democratic primary who can unite the city, Gray tried to fashion an election-year budget that would keep him from making enemies in a city often divided by class and race."

Gray did himself no favors by appearing to be a little too cute with the budget. He waited till the 11th hour to cut the streetcar funding. And he never provided a real alternative to the proposed tax increase on the city's wealthy elites. Instead, he looked like he was playing politics. More streetcar coverage via The Examiner, NC8, WBJ.

TAX PLAN FAILS: Despite Save Our Safety Net's Wilson Building protest this morning (NBC4), the D.C. Council ruled out a tax increase on the District's top wage earners as a way to restore funds to social services. The Examiner reports: "The D.C. Council voted down a proposed tax increase for residents making more than $350,000 a year Wednesday while initially approving next fiscal year's budget, which expands sales taxes to soda drinks but avoids raising parking meter fees to as much as $3 an hour. The income tax increase, proposed by Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, would have raised the income taxes for wealthy residents from 8.5 percent to 8.9 percent. The measure, which failed 8-5, received vocal support from a number of social service groups present at the council hearing. Graham said the measure would raise $77 million over four years and would be 'paid for by those who can most afford to pay this.' The extra revenue would have been used to pay for services such as assistance for the disabled and grandparents raising children. Mayor Adrian Fenty proposed a number of cuts to social services as part of his effort to bridge a more than $500 million budget gap. But opponents of the tax increase said it would lead to the 4,000 residents who would be hit with the tax to simply change their primary residences to their second homes in more tax-friendly states."

In a WBJ story on the taxes, Councilmember Yvette Alexander explains why she voted against the tax increase: “Let’s be fair. You can’t just depend on the resources of a few for the masses. You just can’t do that.” A real profile in courage. And a complete misreading of the tax-increase proposal. The proposal would have actually leveled the playing field since the tax rate currently places too much burden on middle-class and lower-middle-class earners. More coverage via DCist, D.C. Wire, WJLA.

The D.C. Council may have settled on something more sensible—and something all residents could get behind—the commuter tax. Too bad it will never happen. WBJ's Michael Neibauer writes: "The budget also includes a tax on the incomes of D.C. government employees who live outside the city and are paid with local revenues. If enacted, the tax would generate upward of $105 million, said Councilman Harry Thomas Jr., D-Ward 5. But because the Home Rule Charter bars the District from taxing the incomes of people who work in D.C. but live elsewhere, the change will require Congressional approval — and that’s very unlikely."

SODA TAX: Who's sick of the soda tax? It passed.

MAYOR'S SCHEDULE:
4 p.m. Remarks: Demolition for new Minn Ave/Benning Road Development
Location: 4004 Minnesota Avenue NE

All this is to say: this issue has been old news for some time. Even Alexander's allegation is old—it happened last week, an eternity for a big city government. And yet we get this really lame response from Fenty spokesperson Mafara Hobson. WaPo paraphrased Hobson saying: "The administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) is looking into the incident."

Really?

What they mean to say is this: We're not looking into this incident. In fact, we are hoping this incident will go away and that reporters never bring it up again. And if they do bring it up again, we will tell them no comment, that the investigation is ongoing.

When it became known that an inmate had been wrongly released from the D.C. Jail recently, city officials issued an anonymous statement that falsely blamed D.C. Superior Court staff for the screwup. I e-mailed Hobson to find out if "city officials" was actually Hobson and if she wanted to add to her statement in anyway. I never got a response from the mayor's spokesperson. Maybe she thought the issue would just go away.

Must Reads:

The Washington Teacher questions a pro-Rhee add in WaPo by the Federal City Council. Amazing.

Prince of Petworth reports that Bloomingdale is getting a neighborhood bar.

According to new D.C. Police data [PDF], there has been a total of 36 hate crimes committed in the District  as of September 30. That's about the same for 2008 and 2007's totals of 38.

By far, the majority of hate crimes have revolved around sexual orientation. As of Sept. 30, there have been 31 such crimes reported. There could be many more. As WTOP's Mark Segraves pointed out on his must-listen Ask The Chief segment, sometimes officers do not report hate crimes as hate crimes. [In a recent hate-crime incident I did some reporting on, D.C. cops did not report it as a hate crime].

On the WTOP segment, Police Chief Cathy Lanier did admit that since the report was issued, sexual-orientation based hate crimes have jumped to 35.

Numbers can be debated. But one number can not: the rise in sexual orientation hate crimes in Wards 7 and 8 [police districts 6 and 7].

In 2008, 13 percent of sexual orientation hate crimes took place in these wards. So far in 2009, the number jumped to 32 percent.

On a side note, only two councilmembers—Yvette Alexander and Marion Barry—voted against the gay marriage bill. Who do they represent? Wards 7 and 8.

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

In this week's column, LL spun a scenario whereby the D.C. Council might approve a same-sex-marriage referendum. That best-case hypothetical situation for gay-marriage opponents, LL wrote, would be if "Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr., on the hot seat with an election a year off, convinces Chairman Vincent C. Gray and at-largers Michael Brown and Kwame Brown to join him, Yvette Alexander, and Marion Barry."

Not so fast! Gloria Murry Ford, a staffer for Michael Brown, called LL yesterday to protest mightily that her boss would never ever consider compromising on such a key civil-rights issue. Not even in some harebrained hypothetical scenario! Never!

Duly noted. And, it should be said that Kwame Brown is signed on as a co-sponsor of the marriage bill, and Gray is not only a co-sponsor, but offered strongly pro-marriage-equality comments in a Washington Times interview earlier this week.

So that leaves Alexander, Barry, and Thomas.

The Post reported Barry is "keeping an open mind" on the marriage bill. (Yeah, right.) Thomas has been waffling for a while. And then there's Alexander, who spoke to LL today.

Don't count on her vote, David Catania.

"I stand where the president stands, that the definition of marriage is a union between a man and a woman," she says, leaning heavily on the Obama civil-union crutch. She adds: "We give them just about everything that they would get [with marriage] with a domestic partnership."

And don't think any of those fancy terms is going to change her mind: "The word "marriage equality" for me doesn't make sensd. Marriage is between a man and a woman," she says. "How more equal do they want it?"

As for it being a human rights issue, Alexander thinks not. After all, she chairs the council's committee on again and community affairs, which has oversight over human rights matters. The bill isn't going to her committee, she points out, but solely to Phil Mendelson's judiciary committee. "No one can argue that it's a human rights issue if it's not going through human rights [committee]," she says, adding to her concerns that "I don't see how Congress is going to approve it."

As for a ballot initiative: "I think that would be the ideal situation."

Alexander says that Catania, the bill's sponsor, called her yesterday to ask whether she would support the bill. She was having lunch with Barry at the time. "When David asked me...he really didn't expect that I was going to cosponsor, but he gave me the courtesy of calling and asking."

And, no, she doesn't expect Barry to support the bill, either.

In our running poll of the D.C. Council's Judiciary Committee members regarding AG Peter Nickles' conduct, we finally reached Councilmember Yvette Alexander.

Nickles has come under fire recently for his office's conduct in a Pershing Park civil suit. District evidence has either been destroyed or lost and discovery continues to be a problem in that case. The discovery process has dragged on for years. The U.S. District Court judge in the case slammed the OAG, ordered Nickles to submit a sworn statement explaining his office's actions, and called on the D.C. Council to investigate the OAG's handling of the case. The issues before Nickles include one very false affidavit.

So far Councilmember Mary Cheh has called for Nickles to resign. Yesterday, Councilmember Phil Mendelson joined Cheh in pushing for Nickles to rejoin the private sector.  Councilmember Jack Evans still fully supports Nickles.

Alexander says she is reserving judgment on Nickles for the time being. She would like to see the council take up the matter. "I wouldn't have a problem with requesting an investigation," she tells City Desk. "You are innocent until proven guilty. I would want to know what happened with the evidence."

If there was purposeful or criminal mishandling of evidence, Alexander says, then Nickles should be ousted.

Alexander says that Nickles still hasn't accepted his role as the attorney general. "I have not seen the distinction in his role as the general counsel and attorney general," she explains. "It troubles me. That was one of my concerns during the confirmation."

*photo courtesy of Alexander's awesome website.

D.C. Wire's Marion Barry coverage leads the Post's site this a.m., wherein Councilmember David Catania "steps to the plate" (Barry loves that phrase) on the issue of granting and then yanking public contracts from his former ladyfriend. "These are public funds," he says. "There needs to be an accounting." Barry's spokesperson promises the good councilmember will actually answer some questions on that front today. Other Council react: Chairman Vincent Gray avoided the matter, issuing some boilerplate about how he's worked to increase the Council's ethics. Barry's across-the-river compadre's remarks were reserved for the kicker. Yvette Alexander: "The nine lives of Marion Barry, except I think he has maybe 11 lives." And, thanks, WaPo for giving City Paper credit on the voicemail tapes! The TV did the same last night, although funnily News Channel 8 cut off the last part of our cover image.

Speaking of: Get yours today! As the Sexist points out, they won't last long. Even Gawker thinks this week's cover is a thing of beauty, and they almost never say anything nice.

Only in D.C.: The anti Real World DC blog nerds out on the chances of former castmembers running for Congress and otherwise entering politics. Personally, I stopped paying attention after Puck. Why does this town care about these people? It's plain weird.

Borderstan's seeing the glass-half-full on stolen bikes: Registered ones are nine times more likely to be returned. (As a glass-half-empty blogger, I would point out that 9X0 still = 0. But, hey, give it a shot.)

The train's out of the barn now: Metro riders with video cams (i.e., every one of them) are going German Youth on operators. First, there was the texting-while-driving incident. Now we have a Fox 5 "Exclusive": a sleepy operator. The operators' union response to growing complaints from squished and pissed-off Red-Line riders? It's yesterday's news, but worth repeating: "At least you're alive."

You know you can't get enough. Pandacam is streaming live today on Butterstick's fourth birthday with the requisite "cake" made out of bamboo, beets, and other delicious-to-pandas ingredients. Happy birthday, Tai Shan!

(Pride Parade photo by LL Mike DeBonis.)

In the Wynn Las Vegas' Alsace Room:

Law firm Arent Fox (new employer of Tony Williams, as it happens) is hosting the signature event for local politicos at this year's Vegas confab.

Question is, how many "other District of Columbia officials" will show at an event headlined by Adrian Fenty? With council resentment inflamed by tickets, travel, and what have you—and the chance for a repeat of last year's Vegas conflict, when Fenty's people scheduled meetings separate from councilmembers—things could get, um, interesting. LL had heard late last week that Yvette Alexander had been the only councilmember to RSVP. For LL's sake, he hopes everyone shows up: Nothing like clashing personalities, booze, and a small room far away from home to create LL-caliber drama.

He'll be taking party reports.

To be fair, councilmember did not start the trend. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's budget proposal, LL was first to report, divvied up the NIF money into places seemingly not in keeping with the fund's original purpose of stimulating development in 12 target areas. Rather, Fenty wanted to money to go for capital improvements at a pair of Ward 2 nonprofits and a passel of arts grants—not to mention a hefty subsidy for the DCUSA parking garage.

Brown proposed dropping most of those directives and putting $10 million of the fund toward competitively bid grants in keeping with the NIF's original intent. But his colleagues had other ideas: Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans started by proposing to restore much of the mayor's proposed earmarks (most of which benefited Ward 2, unsurprisingly). So did Ward 4's Muriel Bowser. Then Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry got in on the action. And Ward 7's Yvette Alexander. Brown was the lone vote against each addition.

Barry tells LL: "I believe in earmarks...as long as there's accountability and transparency."

LL has gotten his hands on the list. He's still plowing his way through the earmarks contained in Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham's committee budget report. Will update with that soon. But this should be enough to get you started.

From mayoral proposal (totaling $2.9 million, via Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans):

• Rachael’s Women’s Center: $350,000
• D.C. Center: $500,000
• Bread for the City: $250,000
• D.C. Central Kitchen: $250,000
• CityDance: $250,000
• D.C. Jewish Community Center: $250,000
• Duke Ellington Jazz Festival: $250,000
• Kennedy Center: $250,000
• Washington National Opera: $250,000
• Washington Performing Arts Society: $250,000
• Dakshina Dance Company: $75,000

From Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser:

• Riggs Road reconstruction project: $2.1 million

From Councilmember Marion Barry (totaling $2.695 million):

• UNIFEST: $100,000
• Sasha Bruce Youthwork Inc.: $300,000
• Woodland Tigers Youth Sports: $100,000
• Jobs Coalition: $50,000
• Institute for the Prevention & Eradication of Violence: $50,000
• C.H.O.I.C.E. Inc., $100,000
• Concerned Citizens on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Inc.: $100,000
• Calvin Woodland Sr. Foundation: $100,000
• Behavior Environmental Academic Program (BEAP): $75,000
• Alliance of Concerned Men: $100,000
• ROOT Inc.: $100,000. Melvin Deal: $250,000
• the Parklands Community Center: $100,000
• Cultural Tourism D.C.: $100,000 ("for expanding the Anacostia Initiative, which will focus on education and leadership for Wards 7 and 8 youth, and build upon the African American Heritage Trail")
• Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce: $100,000
• Greater Washington Urban League: $100,000
• Ward 8 Clean and Sober Inc.: $75,000
• Ward 8 Clean & Green Inc.: $75,000
• Ward 8 Youth Leadership Council Inc.: $75,000
• Ward 8 Business Council: $100,000
• DC VOICE: $100,000
• Byte Back: $50,000
• Turning the Page: $100,000
• Cabel Foundation Inc: $45,000
• Byte Back: $50,000
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington: $300,000 ("for programming at Anacostia High School")

From Councilmember Yvette M. Alexander (totaling $1.8 million):

• East River Family Strengthening Collaborative: $100,000
• National Kidney Foundation: $100,000
• Marshall Heights Community Development Corporation: $100,000
• Ward 7 Arts Collaborative: $100,000
• Lifepieces to Masterpieces: $100,000
• Northeast Performing Arts Group: $50,000
• Ward 7 Business and Professional Association: $100,000 ("on the condition that a new Executive Director and Board of Directors are appointed")
• GreenSpace: $200,000
• Groundwork Anacostia DC: $50,000
• Fort Dupont Kids on Ice: $250,000
• East of the River Boys & Girls Steel Band: $50,000
• Washington East Foundation: $50,000
• Ward 7 Education Initiative: $50,000
• Lifting As We Climb Foundation Inc.: $50,000
• African American Music Association: $100,000
• Keeley's Boxing: $100,000
• Set Point, Inc.: $50,000
• Champs: $50,000
• Fiesta DC: $50,000 ("through the D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities")
• Latino Economic Development Corporation: $150,000
• Educational Organization for United Latin Americans: $50,000

Yvette Alexander is the Ward 7 councilmember.

Favorite Restaurant: "I have to say, the best place in Ward 7 is MoRuss Seafood on Minnesota Avenue." MoRuss, owned by a pair of former chefs from Ruth's Chris Steak House, is in the Twining neighborhood. Her go-to dish? "Blackened salmon. They know when the Ward 7 councilmember comes in, they get the blackened salmon going." Get the cabbage and mashed sweet potatoes on the side, she says. (2902 Minnesota Ave. SE, 202-583-2722)

Power Lunch Location: "Denny's (at East Capitol Street and Benning Road)! I get the waffle slam. And they have turkey sausage."

Trusted Political Caterer: Fat Face BBQ, on East Capitol Street

Quick Wilson Building Nosh: "I like either Corner Bakery or Au Bon Pain." At the latter, she says, she goes for the Southwestern Corn Chowder.

Beverage of Choice: Alexander's a Starbucks girl. She picks up a "grande extra-hot 200-degree skim caramel macchiato" at the 8th and Pennsylvania SE location on her way in to work. Why so picky about temperature? "When you make the mixed drinks, it gets cool."

Council Breakfast Story: Before monthly legislative meetings, councilmembers take turns catering a buffet-style breakfast for their colleagues. Usually it's a pretty standard affair, with eggs, potatoes, bacon, coffee. Not so for the first breakfast Alexander hosted: "We had linen tablecloths, fresh-cut flowers, jazz music, waffles to order, omelets to order," she says. That spread, courtesy of event planner George Worrell was to celebrate a double event: Alexander's first council breakfast and her birthday.