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You may have a tough meeting ahead today, but hopefully it isn’t being led by the District’s own Michael Scott, city administrator Allen Lew. In a meeting with Department of the Environment employees shortly after their boss was axed, Lew joked about coming from the Attila the Hun school of management and being asked to manage through fear.
LEADING THE MORNING NEWS:
- After renovation, Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool fills with algae. [Post]
- Vince Gray wants better background checks in Natwar Gandhi‘s office. [Examiner]
- Nats would need about one-eighth of playoff game spectators to take Metro to break even on late night service. [Examiner]
- Rob people in Chinatown, get 24 years in prison. [Post]
RECENT CITY PAPER STORIES TO HELP YOU MAKE SENSE OF YOUR DAY:
Photos of the Day: Baseball.
Payrolled: The mystery of what exactly happened on the Michael Brown re-election campaign deepens. Brown says his employees weren’t paying themselves off the books, despite what his ex-treasurer’s lawyer says. But if that’s the case, why didn’t Brown notice that none of his employees’ salaries were disclosed in campaign filings?
Puppy-Killer Confesses: The man who killed a Trinidad puppy in June by dropping a brick on its head has pleaded guilty to the crime.
Seeing Green: More tree cover can correlate to more affluent neighborhoods, but that’s not always the case in the District.
Cell Death: Earlier this month, both the E Street and Bethesda Row theaters ditched print film and went all digital. While cheaper digital film means more movies can be made, a certain kind of movie experience is being lost, too.
Overlooked Edibles: With $6 pizzas and $4 Italian beers, restaurant Posto’s new happy hour is a bafflingly well-kept secret.
LOOSE LIPS, by Loose Lips columnist Alan Suderman. (tips? lips@washingtoncitypaper.com )
- Allen Lew tries to give pep talk to Department of the Environment, fails. [Times]
- Vince Gray to Nat Gandhi: You may wanna tighten up your background checks. [Examiner]
- Michael Brown didn’t pay his go-to campaign aide for more than a year, according to campaign records. [Post]
- Jeff Thompson‘s lawyers in closed court yesterday [@mikescarella]
- Pols not getting free Nats tickets to playoff games. [Post]
- Gray has secret plans to send pro-D.C. message to the nation during presidential inauguration. [WAMU]
- Greyhound bus station closes. [Post]
- District not producing many quality home-grown pols, says Harry Jaffe. [Examiner]
- UDC problems are plenty. [NBC4]
- Jim Graham in favor of deregulating taxi industry. [Post]
HOUSING COMPLEX, by Housing Complex columnist Aaron Wiener. (tips? awiener@washingtoncitypaper.com )
- Mayor Gray and Wells Fargo will announce a homebuyer assistance program today. [DailyFinance]
- Anthony Williams says change is OK. [GGW]
- Hill East residential building plans turn into retail and offices. [UrbanTurf]
- Gray goes green. [DCist]
- Bloomingdale residents tackle flooding. [WJLA]
- In Logan Circle, a former garage is worth $895k. [UrbanTurf]
- The vacant lot at 8th and P NW gets condominiumized. [PoP]
- The Washington Monument renovator will be announced today. [WJLA]
- Rhode Island Row nabs Chipotle and Sprint, among others. [DCmud]
- D.C. is structurally incapable of hipness. [Atlantic Wire]
- Alex Baca strongly disagrees. [@alexbaca]
ARTS LINKS, by Ally Schweitzer (tips? artsdesk@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- During one of her concerts at Verizon Center, Madonna referred to President Barack Obama as a “black Muslim.” Er. [Post]
- Dog mural in Arlington deemed too promotional to be art. [WJLA]
- Mood Lounge loses its liquor license. [DCist]
- See Signature’s Best Little Whorehouse in Texas for cheap(er)! [Post]
- National Harbor launches a shuttle service. [Washington Business Journal]
- Comedian Lewis Black on D.C. audiences: “They’re great …. They’re smart, they’re bright, and they get it, because all of this stuff is right there in their faces the whole time. It’s why I don’t live there.” [Washingtonian]
FOOD LINKS, by Jessica Sidman (tips? hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com)
- Seven items to survive a global bacon shortage [HuffPost]
- Mike Isabella will participate in Top Chef restaurant in New York. [Washingtonian]
- Washington’s most iconic dining rooms [Eater]
- Granville Moore’s chef Toddy Folkman was a collegiate cheerleader. [The Plate]
- Six must-try fast casual spots [Zagat]
- Mintwood Place chef Cedric Maupillier‘s favorite cookbooks [Eat the District]
- Leek American Bistro coming to Ballston. [ARLnow]
- There’s a tree swing inside the revamped Firefly. [Urban Daddy]