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A deliberative roundup of one city’s local politics. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com. And get LL Daily sent straight to your inbox every morning!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Certified Disaster So, Exactly When Did Kwame Ask for A Navigator?
Good afternoon sweet readers! It’s Thursday, the day before Friday, and Washington City Paper is giving away the fruits of its labor. Do not miss this week’s cover story by Rend Smith which begs the question: Why is a MPD vice squad putting guns in the faces of possible music copyright violators? Also this week, LL looks at how former Mayor Adrian Fenty‘s fraternity brothers Omar Karim and Sinclair Skinner are alleged in the D.C. Council’s Trout report to have misused a minority-contracting program for their own benefit.
Marion’s Wheels: Pity the poor photographers over at The Washington Post. They keep getting assigned to take pictures of councilmember’s cars. This time, it’s Marion Barry‘s Jaguar, which, surprise!, isn’t registered with the DMV and has “inactive” license plates Barry’s old car. What this means: Barry probably hasn’t paid excise taxes on his ride. Barry says it’s his dealer’s fault. It’s a Barry-heavy news cycle today. The former mayor-for-life also went on NPR to talk Census results. Says Barry: “White people… are displacing African American renters, gentrifying the city. I’m not afraid to speak up and say that’s something we have got to deal with.” And Barry also addressed a group of taxi drivers who were protesting a proposed taxi medallion system that Barry supports. “”Many of you are not from America,” WTOP’s Mark Segraves reports Barry saying. “We do things differently here.”
AFTER THE JUMP: Catania and Biddle; Ron Brown’s Legacy; Rhee’s Comments…
Isn’t Sekou Biddle the Truancy Guy?: On the one year anniversary of the South Capitol shootings, Councilmember David Catania “is introducing an ambitious, comprehensive bill that’s meant to prevent youth violence by cracking down on truancy and requiring mental health screening for the District’s children starting in preschool,” reports the Examiner. “Catania said the shooting and the persistence of a mother who lost her child that day inspired him to develop the legislation, which, if passed, will link the city’s patchwork of youth mental health programs and tighten policies on students who skip school.” And… Catania endorsed at-large councilmember Sekou Biddle in next month’s special election. Will the endorsement help Biddle get some of the establishment stink off of him? (Check out whose names are not on Biddle’s news release.)
Dad’s Shoes: The Post’s Style section remembers former Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown and looks at Councilmember Michael A. Brown’s efforts to live up to his father’s legacy. “Since the commerce secretary’s death, Michael Brown has often had to be a vessel for the grief and expectations of others, while finding his own way forward without his father’s guidance. And the journey has, at times, tripped him up.”
Me and My Big Mouth: The Post’s Jay Mathews must be one lousy reporter, at least if former schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is to be believed. Rhee called up Mathews and told him that her previous comments that USA Today, which did an investigation into possible cheating on standardized testing under Rhee’s watch, is an enemy of school reform were “stupid” and she thinks “cheating might have occurred in the District and that she is glad her successor, Acting Chancellor Kaya Henderson, ordered a new investigation.” Or so Mathews would have you believe. Rhee’s spokeswoman, Mafara Hobson, tells Politico that Mathews got it wrong: “In an interview earlier today with The Washington Post, Michelle Rhee said that she could not be absolutely positive that cheating had not occurred simply because she was not and could not have been in every single classroom at the time. The reporter’s paraphrasing of what she said leaves out this important point, and is an inaccurate reading of what she intended to say. Anyone who tries to interpret this as meaning anything else would be wrong.” Why does this story sound familiar?
In Other News: First Lady Michelle Obama visits Ballou High School. House passes voucher bill. Lottery lawsuit moves forward.
Gray sked: Getting booed at opening day.
Council sked: 6 p.m. roundtable on Henderson’s appointment. Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, 2616 Martin Luther King Jr., Ave., SE
At-Large forum: 8 p.m. St. Columba’s Episcopal Church. 4201 Albermarle St. NW.