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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Gray Pays City $300 For Reckless Fence Building
How Do You Say “Failed Mountain Climber” in Swahili?
Good morning sweet readers! It’s Thursday already, which means it’s column day. This week’s dead-tree edition takes a look at the four Republican ward candidates and whether they’re part of a bigger scheme to help Pat Mara get elected down the road. And check out Rend Smith‘s piece on the MPD’s weird strategy of trying to keep the names of beefing gangs secret. Also, are you ready to have your mind blown by a new Metro map? Read LDP‘s piece and find out. News time:
What Is Up With Rhee?: The Wall Street Journal has a brief chat with Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who throws water on the idea of being New Jersey’s next schools boss (though she doesn’t deny she was offered) and throws a curve ball by saying she’s looking for another local chancellor type job.”‘I want to go where I will have the most impact, and to me the most radical changes can happen at the local level,’ Ms. Rhee said in an interview. ‘That’s why I am strongly considering possibilities in other districts.’ But she said she is also considering job opportunities at the state and national levels.” Notes Bill Turque: “Rhee has consistently said that the D.C. schools job would be her first and last local superintendency. So, either she was misquoted, or she’s had a change of heart.” The Examiner looks closer at whether a New Jersey move would work for Rhee.
AFTER THE JUMP: More On Reuben Charles; More on Anti-Abortion Ad Lady; Evans Hits Breaks on Tax Breaks;
More On Reuben: Dorothy Brizill and Gary Imhoff take another look at Reuben Charles, Almost Mayor Vince Gray‘s current de facto campaign manager and rumored future chief of staff. LL wrote about Charles a couple of weeks ago. Brizill has more on his background: “Charles’ meteoric ascendance and sudden prominence has shocked many Gray supporters and raised concerns among campaign workers, who have had questions about Charles’ professional background, campaign experience, and knowledge of the District. … When Dorothy asked questions about Charles to two members of Gray’s finance committee, they issued a formal challenge to her to look into Charles’ background for herself. One of the first things that she learned was that Charles is not a registered voter in the District of Columbia, although he claims that he has resided in DC since 2007. He is also not a member of the DC Bar or the Missouri Bar, although he graduated from Washington University Law School in St. Louis. An explanation for Charles’ not registering to vote is that he is not a United States citizen. Although he moved to the United States when he was fifteen years old and is now forty-one, although he became a permanent US resident in 2000, he has not become a naturalized citizen. Traci Hughes, Gray’s campaign press secretary, relayed to Dorothy Charles’ statement that he was a naturalized citizen, but then Hughes read Charles’ resume, which said that he is “awaiting appointment for citizenship interview. … Prior to joining the Gray campaign, Charles worked as a contractor who performed work for several District agencies, including the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the DC Public Library, and also for WMATA.”
Evans Hits Breaks on Shiloh Break: Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans has withdrawn a bill that would give Shiloh Baptist Church a $100k tax break for doing renovations on its property on 9th St NW, DCist and WBJ report. “‘The neighborhood message board exploded in anger a week ago, shortly after the Washington Business Journal ran a quick blog post on the bill. Evans proposed reclassifying five vacant 9th Street properties from Class 3 vacant to Class 1 residential, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2009, cutting Shiloh’s tax tab by more than $100,000. ‘The purpose of the legislation is to explore the idea of having monies owed by Shiloh put into escrow and used to renovate the properties rather than paying the money to the District Government,’ Evans told neighbors Tuesday. ‘If Shiloh does not renovate the properties in a time period to be determined, the monies would go to the District. I was approached by the leadership of Shiloh about this issue last year.’ But neighbors demanded that Shiloh pay what’s due. According to Evans, the tab currently totals $281,165.
DCGOP spurns Anti-Abortion Norton Challenger: The Times’ Deborah Simmons spills not a small amount of ink on Missy Reilly Smith, the GOP candidate for delegate who is paying for graphic anti-abortion ads to run on local TV. “The staunch pro-lifer, running a long-shot campaign against longtime Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat, is trying to wake up the city’s lethargic GOP and push the abortion issue to the front of the party’s agenda with new, graphic ads airing this week. … Mrs. Smith said her critics have miscast her as a one-issue candidate because of her uncompromising stands against abortion, which she called ‘murder,’ and homosexuality, which she called an ‘abomination.’ Fellow Republicans are simply refusing to pay heed to America’s Judeo-Christian morals and ‘Republican principles,’ she said. Mrs. Smith’s platform rests on many of the issues highlighted by the tea party movement—limited government, support for the military, school vouchers and ‘pro-family’ values.” TBD’s Amanda Hess explains why airing pictures of aborted fetus is counterproductive to Smith’s cause.
No federal grants for streetcars, bikes. Life continues.
Report found security problems at DPW facility six months before DPW worker was killed there last week.
If the city pays you too much, you better pay it back, or you’ll get sued.
As a new biker, LL now cares about things like this.
DC cops on pace to issues record number of distracted driving tickets because so many people won’t hang up and drive.
Donate to foster kids.
Fenty: No public schedule
Council: Hearing on procurement reform at 2 p.m.