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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—-“Is D.C. House Vote Constitutional? That’s Not for Jason Chaffetz to Decide“
Morning all. WTOP’s Mark Segraves feels President Barack Obama, despite our adulation, has been dissing the District. The last straw? Saying we need to be “flinty.” “Chicago native and WTOP political analyst Mark Plotkin agrees. ‘What does he know about Chicago?’ Plotkin asked of the President. ‘He grew up in Hawaii.'” Relatedly, why.i.hate.dc offers some flintiness-improvement ideas, and Slate points out: Hey, DCPS didnt close! How’s that for flinty!
CFSA COURT BATTLE HEATS—-Child advocate group asks judge to hold District in contempt of court for filing CFSA reform plan without court monitor’s approval. “If the court agrees, it could mean a full federal takeover of the city’s Child and Family Services Agency. For now, the agency has a lower level of outside oversight: a court-appointed monitor who checks on the city’s progress and files regular reports.” AWW—-No new Peter Nickles quotes! Here’s the press release from Children’s Rights, which filed the motion.
Harry Jaffe profiles Officer Jeremy Bank, who locked up a bad dude suspected in two murders. For his troubles, he got a PD-750—-“a black mark in his file.” That would be because he violated General Order 301.3, which prohibits most police chases. Good stuff!
THE KITTY GENOVESE OF 14TH STREET—-Man assaulted in Columbia Heights left to lay on sidewalk for 20 minutes before anyone called for help, WJLA-TV/NC8 first reports. The assault itself, near 14th and Parkwood on Tuesday evening, is caught on videotape. “What happens next? Nothing. For 19 minutes, no one calls 911. Two men pulled the victim’s head off the curb and pulled him onto the sidewalk. A couple of times they unsuccessfully try to pull him up. As of all it unfolds, people walk past the victim over and over and over again. Some stop; some don’t. Cars drive past. Even the owner of the van eventually loads his groceries into the vehicle and pushes away the cart, but never stops for the victim.” WaPo also covers.
TAXES BEAT RATSES—-Or something like that. Jack Evans proposes giving tax breaks to businesses who invest in trash compactors, Michael Neibauer reports in Examiner. “Beside the benefit of reducing the amount of garbage, the equipment is designed to be air- and watertight, leaving nothing for the scurrying rat to feed on or hide in….Evans’ bill offers a corporate income tax credit equal to 50 percent of the cost of the trash compactor, which run in the thousands of dollars. The bill may be amended, an Evans aide said, to provide a break for business owners who lease the equipment.”
GOOD POLITICS—-Michelle Rhee opts not to collect her earned bonus, WaPo reports, citing “this difficult fiscal climate at this time.”
Big shots “surprised” at lax security around Obama and Biden during inaugural festivities, Aaron C. Davis reports in WaPo: “One of the three said ticket checks were so lax that no one noticed when, after a breakfast for contributors, a friend whose name hadn’t been submitted for a background check tagged along into a VIP room to take pictures with Vice President-elect Joseph Biden.”
HEARINGS ON PURPLE TUNNEL OF DOOM?—-Eleanor says get ready. WTOP has more deets on how to get your consolation gift bag.
Trouble at Howard Theater? Biz Journal’s Jonathan O’Connell reports that the Howard Theatre Restoration nonprofit “has some rebuilding of its own to do after the organization improperly paid some board members’ companies for doing work on the project. The group…now has no executive director or board chairman, complicating its efforts to raise $6 million by this summer and complete the $22 million renovation of the city-owned building by its 100th anniversary next summer.”
The Blade and Metro Weekly have more on Whitman-Walker Clinic hearing.
Gay clubs displaced by ballpark expected to reopen soon in Southwest, Lou Chibbaro Jr. reports in the Blade. “Allen Carroll, the owner of Ziegfeld’s and Secrets, has completely renovated the new space to accommodate Ziegfeld’s drag shows in the building’s first floor, people familiar with the club have said….People who have seen the club said Secrets will include a glass enclosed shower area for the male strippers, similar to the shower feature at the old location. The strippers will also dance on a stage, according to people familiar with the club.”
American Spectator: “Marion Barry wants the world to know there isn’t just one Messiah now living in Washington, D.C.”
WaPo’s David Betancourt follows a volunteer as she participates in the yearly MWCOG homeless count. “The homeless count takes place every year in Northern Virginia counties and cities, the District, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and the city of Bowie. Numbers are collected in shelters and transitional housing, and hundreds of volunteers and paid staff are sent out to find the small number of people who shun official shelters.” Quiet night—-she only finds one guy, in downtown Anacostia. WaTimes’ Michael Drost also covers the count.
District to auction off 31 derelict homes today, Biz Journal reports. DCmud has much, much more.
GGW runs down some newly introduced legislation, but he buries the lede—-Marion Barry and Harry Thomas Jr. want to force the City Museum to reopen?
DPW NEEDS TO GET “FLINTY”—-Due to ice, trash pickup was suspended yesterday.
Water main broke this morning on 1600 block of Park Road; Sacred Heart Elementary has no water, is closed today.
Biz Journal editorial pleads with Hilton to consider the District for their corporate HQ: “It’s refreshing to see the city stand up for itself. And why has Hilton apparently left D.C. out of the running to begin with? We can envision Hilton happily existing in the city. The Nats could even sell their naming rights and play at Hilton Park.”
Columbia Heights man sentenced to 36 years for killing teen in Prince George’s County over $130 in marijuana.
Woman, 39, found stabbed to death in Eckington. NC8 reports the stabbing took place in front of the House of Ruth DV shelter; police are searching for a former boyfriend. WRC-TV’s Pat Collins, as usual, is the must-watch.
$5.28M necessary to cover Metro inaugural costs, John Catoe tells board, according to Kytja Weir in Examiner and Lena Sun in WaPo. “The amount the agency is seeking includes money to cover additional wear-and-tear expenses that could arise in coming months after operating on an unprecedented level of service that ‘pushed the system to its limit.'”
JIM GRAHAM IS YOUR NEW WMATA BOARD CHAIR
Free marketeer reacts to Evans’ St. Paddy’s Day cigar plans: “Funny, isn’t it, how politicians can vote for laws that everyone else has to live by, but find it perfectly reasonable to make exceptions for themselves.”
Think-tankers: “Will The Recession Kill School Reform?” To wit: “[L]ook at Washington, D.C.’s dynamic Michelle Rhee, whose transformational teacher-pay plan was predicated on the notion that all instructors in the system would receive hefty raises, whether or not they sign up for greater accountability….Put aside the unconcern that such reformers have shown for taxpayer pocketbooks. Note, though, that built into their strategy was the assumption that more money for education would always be on the table. After all, hasn’t it always been? Take away that assumption, however, and what’s Plan B?”
MEDIA MOMENT—-WTTG-TV’s Patrick McGrath retires.
EU leases new office space at 2175 K.
CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE is Sunday. Street closures begin at 9 a.m.; parade’s at 2 p.m.
AUTO SHOW NEXT WEEKEND—-WaTimes tees it up. Check the boldfacers: “Highlights this year include visits from Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green, Washington Redskins Antwaan Randle El and Jason Campbell and former Redskins star Darrell Green, and Washington Wizards Dominic McGuire, JaVale McGee and Nick Young. The Washington Redskins Cheerleaders, the Speed Channel’s Vida Guerra, and actors Corbin Bleu and Idris Elba also are scheduled to appear.” STRING IN THE HOUSE!
TODAY ON THE POLITICS HOUR WITH KOJO NNAMDI—-Tom Sherwood, WRC-TV; Bruce DePuyt, NewsChannel 8; At- Large Councilmember Phil Mendelson; Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md. 4)
D.C. COUNCIL TODAY—-Retreat for members and staff at UDC
ADRIAN FENTY TODAY—-No public events scheduled.