We Can Still Vote: Today marks the 51st anniversary of the official ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave the District three electoral votes and the right to cast ballots for president. Of course, we’re still waiting on the right to cast ballots for any other meaningful federal office. Worth noting: Virginia, our dear neighbors to the south and west, never ratified the amendment. And Arkansas flat-out rejected it. In protest, we say Arkansas Avenue NW ought to be renamed. +1
New Post Management: We devote maybe more energy than is entirely reasonable to poking the Washington Post from time to time, but it’s only because we love reading it. (Well, mostly because.) Which is a lesson that its new managing editor, John Temple, will soon learn, we hope. Temple, the former editor and publisher of the now-closed Rocky Mountain News in Denver, comes to 15th and L streets NW via Honolulu, where he ran an online news site founded by one of the guys behind eBay. From one managing editor to another: Welcome, John. Now hire some more copy editors! +1
Putting the “Mega” in MegaMillions: The jackpot for tomorrow’s MegaMillions drawing has soared to more than $500 million, and the D.C. Lottery is so excited about it, officials are issuing press releases that are barely in English. “The cash option of $389.8 million also breaks the previous record, and players are literally and anecdotally engaged in playing,” one statement today read; the agency even printed up commemorative tickets. How did the pot get so big? No one’s won since Jan. 27. Which means the odds of winning it all this time are minuscule; more people playing, after all, means more competition. But $1 is a pretty cheap way to dream about suddenly vaulting into the 1 percent, so we’re off to buy a ticket. +1
No Respect: The talk of the sports media today was whether a college basketball team—admittedly, a very good one with several future NBA lottery picks that’s in the Final Four—could beat one particular pro team. That pro team? Our hometown Washington Wizards. Yes, the consensus is, the Wizards would win. But even asking the question is pretty insulting. -1
Yesterday’s Needle rating: 55 Today’s score: +3 Today’s Needle rating: 58