As much local politics as humanly possible. Send your tips, releases, stories, events, etc. to lips@washingtoncitypaper.com.
Good morning, all. LL gives Michael Neibauer of the Examiner his kudos for squeezing an extra graf out of the spare details on the birth of Aerin Alexandra Fenty: “Aerin is an alternate spelling of the Irish name Erin, meaning ‘from Ireland.’ Or it’s Hebrew, the feminine for Aaron, meaning ‘enlightened.’ Or, according to the Baby Name Bible, it is a Tolkien Middle Earth invention derived from Elvish.”
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—-“Teen Robbery Suspect Is Back on the Street“; “Aerin Fenty Is Born“
LL and colleague broke the story, but WaPo covers it, too: The teenage robbery suspect that inspired a mass e-mail campaign has been released for a third time. Compare the angry Peter Nickles quotes: From WCP—-“Nickles says he’s ‘very unhappy and outraged’ that [the suspect] is back on the street”; From WaPo—-“Nickles called the youth’s release ‘absolutely outrageous.'” NC8 also reports (with video); react from OffSeventh and Prince of Petworth.
Board of Elections certifies Michael A. Brown as at-large councilmember; D.C. Republicans talk a big game, but no promises yet of a court appeal, WaPo reports. Examiner also files a story. In WaPo story, Vincent C. Gray makes a good point: “[W]hy should we have such a rule in the first place?” END REPUBLICAN WELFARE!
FACT CHECK—-Said Brown in WaPo, “There have been several examples nationally and locally in my situation, from Sen. Joseph Lieberman to council member Carol Schwartz, who ran as an independent write-in candidate after she was defeated in the September primary as a Republican.” NOPE—-Carol kept her Republican registration while running as a write-in.
Council prepares to push through renaming of South Capitol Street’s ballpark stretch to “Taxation Without Representation Avenue,” Examiner’s Neibauer reports. No comment from Nats, and developer who’s building apartments across the street is pissed. And then there’s this: “[T]he vast majority of Nationals Park visitors travel to the game via Metro, which lets out on the other side of the ballpark from South Capitol. Most fans…will never see the street signs.” Meh. WRC-TV also covers, as does CP’s own Housing Complex.
IN OTHER STREET RENAMING NEWS—-Council bill “would designate T Street from Sixth to Seventh streets NW in Ward 1 as Duke Ellington Avenue; Seventh Street between T Street and Florida Avenue as Chuck Brown Way; and the 700 block of 10th Street NW as Bud Doggett Way. The bill also would designate V Street from 13th to 14th streets NW as Langston Hughes Street,” reports WaPo.
SCOOP—-Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is already looking for campaign-lit photos!
Rep. Charlie Rangel, beleaguered House ways and means chair, incorrectly took the homestead exemption on Crestwood home for at least six years, Lyndsey Layton reports in WaPo. “If Rangel incorrectly received a D.C. tax break, he could owe back taxes or penalties. Receiving the District’s homestead exemption could also create a problem for Rangel in New York, where he and his wife have occupied several rent-stabilized apartments in Harlem. To qualify for the low-cost rentals, tenants in New York must claim them as a primary residence.”
Va. Rep. Tom Davis has already left his House seat, WRC-TV reports. He started yesterday at Deloitte.
Good news and bad news on CTO Vivek Kundra: WTOP’s Mark Segraves reports the city’s buzzworder-in-chief has been advising the Obama transition on tech matters. “There are some in the tech world who would like to see Kundra take the job as the nation’s first chief technology officer,” Segraves writes. Marc Fisher, though, wants Kundra’s head for the mountain junket LL revealed earlier this month. More Vivek love from ExecutiveBiz.com and from Peter Corbett, who mounted a strong defense of Kundra in Fisher’s comments.
Spare new details on Chevy Chase killings: WaPo’s Pamela Constable reports D.C. coroner has determined that Mike and Ginny Spevak “had been struck repeatedly with a sharp, heavy object.” Cops investigate ties to psychiatric practice; execute search warrant on Petworth house hear where burned Spevak car was found. WTOP’s Neal Augenstine also reports, as does WJLA/NC8 and WUSA-TV.
MPD Chief Cathy Lanier gets quoted in WSJ story about police anti-terrorism measures.
In L.A. Times op-ed, conservative Jonah Goldberg defends Obama decision to send kids to private school, calls Michelle Rhee “heroic”: “Personally, I would think less of the Obamas if they sent their kids to bad schools out of some ideological principle. Parents’ first obligation is to do right by their own kids….[M]ost Washington public schools are hellholes. So parents here—-including the first family—-find hypocrisy a small price to pay for fulfilling their parental obligations.”
IN RHEELATED NEWS—-Libertarian think-tank Heartland Institute does item on Rhee; blogger notices DCPS students a little rusty on civics, tells Rhee, “Maybe a little less crusading against tenure, and getting into pissing contests with the Washington Post, and little more emphasis on current events? I mean, you do run the Washington, D.C. school system. If there’s one thing these kids ought to be experts in when they graduate, it’s politics.”
Metro has some fab Inauguration Day advice for those staying within two miles of the Capitol, Lena Sun reports in WaPo: Just walk, goddamnit! LL thinks that’s great advice in general—-if you’re within two miles of your destination, just walk!
REALLY?—-Also from Sun’s story: “[L]arge banners and signs must be folded or rolled to no greater than 18 inches by 18 inches.”
WaPo’s Robert E. Pierre and Clarence Williams have more on the killing of Tiffany Gates, murdered by an escaped con ex-boyfriend as U.S. Marshals stood outside the apatement building where it happened. The story was covered yesterday by Scott McCabe in the Examiner. Between this and the Michael Richardson case, not a great day for Marshals PR.
“D.C. Mayor Reflects on Two Years In Office”—-Listen to Part 1 of Fenty’s interview with WAMU-FM’s Kavitha Cardoza (bottom of page).
CFSA eases licensing requirements for caseworkers, helping to end the agency’s staffing crisis, Petula Dvorak reports in WaPo. Fun fact from Tommy Wells: “A license is usually needed for private practice, such as marriage counseling, but it is not required of most social workers in the country. ‘D.C. is one of the few jurisdictions in the country that essentially requires almost all their social workers to have a master’s in social work,’ Wells said.”
Nickles announces he plans to appeal Superior Court ruling that reinstated the driver in the David Rosenbaum case, WaPo’s David Nakamura reports. Nickles says the 90-day window in which Selena Walker could be fired should have started from the release of an inspector general’s report, not from the date of the incident. In that report, “Walker acknowledged that she had gone to Howard [University Hospital rather than nearby Sibley] because it was closer to her home and she wanted to run errands.”
Reliable Source notes the rise of the power mustache, fails to mention Phil Mendelson.
Sam Smith on Kwame Brown‘s present-vote explanation: “One reader reacted, ‘You know, maybe I was being too harsh on Michael Brown. He’s a completely weak-willed, crony-loving, anti-urbanism empty suit just like Kwame, but at least he’s succinct in his vapidness. Kwame takes 100 words to say the same amount of nothing that Michael dispenses with a “I don’t know yet” or “We’ll see” or “I haven’t made that assessment.'”
WAPO BRIEFS—-Bank [Dupont SunTrust] Robbed by Man Claiming to Have Bomb; Teen Sentenced to 100 Months for 2 Holdups; Man Is Found Dead Near Highway Exit [Anacostia Freeway’s East Cap exit].
TURKEY TIME—-Marion Barry passes out turkeys today at at Union Temple Baptist Church, 1225 W St. SE. You have to have preregistered, though! Yesterday, King Harry II of Turkey Giveaways distributed 500 birds at Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church in Ward 5.
DRIVERS BEWARE—-MPD deploying speed cameras in new locations, WUSA-TV reports: 800 block of Eastern Avenue NE; 5500 block of East Capitol Street NE; 2800 block of New York Avenue NE; 1900 block of Southern Avenue SE; Southeast-Southwest Freeway at 9th Street SE entrance ramp; Southeast-Southwest Freeway at 8th Street SE; 3700 block of Southern Avenue SE; Suitland Parkway northbound before Firth Sterling Avenue SE; 2900 block of Military Road NW; 5300 block of 14th Street NW.
CONDOLENCES—-Yvette Alexander‘s godmother passes away at 78.
GU students react to littering fines.
Fake police rob woman in 7D.
D.C. COUNCIL TODAY—-10:30 a.m.: Committee on the Public Safety and the Judiciary meeting on Emergency Medical Services Act of 2008, Intrafamily Offenses Act of 2007, Juvenile Speedy Trial Equity Amendment Act of 2007, Parolee Credit Maintenance Amendment Act of 2008, Paramedic and Emergency Medical Technician Transfer Amendment Act of 2008, JAWB 120; 2:30 p.m.: Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs roundtable on Ownership and Operation of Retail Service Stations in the District of Columbia, JAWB 500; 3:30 p.m.: Committee on Economic Development meetong on PR17-1021, PR17-1022, PR17-1023, PR17-1024, PR17-1117, PR17-1118, PR17-1119, PR17-1120, PR17-1121, PR17-1122, PR17-1123, PR17-0808, PR17-1163, JAWB 120.
ADRIAN FENTY TODAY—-No public events scheduled. He’s with the the wife and new kid!