By Kirk
As a follow-up to Tom’s Daily Feed and my Feature: WaPo reports that the DC Board of Elections has set a June 10 date for a hearing on the proposed marriage referendum that was filed earlier this week. The Board is said to be expediting the application process in order to give pro-referendum groups enough time to collect signatures, if the item is approved. They will have only until early July to get the requisite 21,000 signatures for their item to be put on the ballot.
By Kirk
‘DC “No on 8” March’
courtesy of ‘ann gav’
Proposition 8 is not a strictly Californian issue. It is an initiative of national consequence and its underlying strategic principles are redefining the same-sex marriage debate in DC. To restate the obvious, the results of the Prop 8 vote flew in the face of political convention. The population of a relatively liberal and historically gay-friendly state voted for a heterosexual definition of marriage. To many, it signaled a break between popular ideology and the viewpoints of elected officials.
The result of the Prop 8, along with the passage of similar ballot initiatives in Florida and Arizona, has lead many gay marriage opponents to believe that they’ve found their adversaries’ Achilles’ heel: when put to the question, populations will vote against legalizing homosexual marriage. With momentum in DC gathering for legalization, this idea has already begun manifesting itself. As Tom reported this morning, a group called “Stand 4 Marriage D.C.” has applied for a marriage definition referendum with the Board of Elections. If the application is approved, they will need to collect over 20,000 signatures to have it placed on the ballot next year.
By Tom Bridge
via alexashrugged and twitpic
In a day that saw a crowd of over 1,000 kids and another few hundred adults opposite the Wilson Building, including a number of students who are directly part of DC’s current voucher experiment, the White House announced that they will seek to continue the voucher program for those already in it, but will allow no further applicants to the program. The new plan is contingent on the Congress reauthorizing funding for the vouchers of those students currently in the program, which would be an uphill battle.
Seems odd to discontinue this popular program right now, but, well, what the unions want, the unions get…
By Tom Bridge
There are some parties that pretty much scream “DEEEEEE CEEEEEE” and this is one. There’s a big party tomorrow night over at Brown Rudnick that will be both job fair and 100-Days celebration, complete with audience-compiled report card.
$20 gets you in, and there’s an open bar, which is pretty much the holy grail of DC parties.
But yeah, there’s a saying that you can find just about any excuse to throw a good party, but could you think of a more DC-centric party than this one? Come on out tomorrow night and join a few of us who are going.
By brownpau
‘Tea Party in DC’ (courtesy ‘skye820’)
In addition to Tax Day, today is the official Fox News/Freedom Works “Tea Party” Day, when thousands, nay, millions of outraged conservatives who do not know what teabagging really means will descend on DC to protest taxes, because a Keynesian stimulus package and a ~3% increase in the marginal tax rate for the super-rich marks the end of the Republic as we know it. Updates and pics after the jump: Continue reading
By jasmine
White House photo by Pete Souza
I’m actually really pleased at the way the White House has handled the arrival of the new pup–the post on their blog was understated (“In case anybody was wondering…”) but they must have known that Puppywatch 2009 had been going on since Nov. 2 and people are understandably excited. There was even a minor controversy when a blog leaked a photo before the Washington Post’s exclusive article hit. Hilarious.
So, now that we’ve got an official dog in the White House, can we go back to talking about fixing the economy or even how awesome the rescue of the sea captain from the evil clutches of the pirates was?
By Tom Bridge
Upwards to the Capitol
Originally uploaded by tbridge
Details are a bit sketchy at this point, but Gawker is reporting that the Capitol Visitors Center has been evacuated: Continue reading
By jasmine
‘Obama: Shut Down Guantanamo’
courtesy of ‘mike.benedetti’
Mentioning Guantanamo Bay incites different reactions in different people, but almost everyone has a passionate take on the issue. One of President Obama’s first actions when he took office was to sign a bill to close Guantanamo within a year, so this couldn’t have been a better time for National Geographic’s Explorer: Inside Guantanamo. I went to the world premiere screening of the film and panel discussion this past Tuesday, which was very exciting and informative– it’s events like this that make me glad to be in DC.
The event started with a huge reception with lots of food, drink, and mingling. According to one of the people I talked to, that kind of thing is very unusual for National Geographic’s screenings, but they must have pulled out all the stops for high-level guests from Congress, the administration, the military, and even Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace, who moderated the panel. Continue reading
By Katie
‘Flying a Kite’
courtesy of ‘InspirationDC’
It may have been a gray and drizzly Saturday, but that didn’t stop Inspiration DC‘s Rebecca and I from heading out to take pictures of the Smithsonian Kite Festival on the Mall.
Packed with kids of all ages, flying kites of every variety, the turn out was more than I expected. Even with the grey sky, the kites dotting the air made the mall festive and full of life. To live vicariously through us (and the WLDC flickerattzi), click on through. Continue reading
By Amélie
‘Fannie Mae Stole My Job!’
courtesy of ‘sinksanctity’
The Washington Post’s employment website just launched a new feature to help those recently displaced from gainful employment with a feature “How to Survive a Layoff“. I’ve personally been reading this feature due to my recent separation from my employer. It’s a handy To-Do style list of things folks should take into account once they’ve found themselves missing the daily enriching (in both definitions of the term) routine of going to work. The chief one, and one that I had to use every day due to my job as an computer incident response professional was “Don’t Panic!”. But the other useful proverb is also “use your network”. Continue reading
By Jonathan
McPherson Square Station, by arvidbr (Creative Commons)
Update: Metro reports that the blue and orange lines are back to normal. Just in time for the best part of rush hour. Perhaps today isn’t so unlucky after all!
Dr. Gridlock, from the Washington Post, reported a few minutes ago that McPherson Square Metro Station is closed. It is reported that a Blue Line train hit someone on the tracks at that station.
This means that all Blue and Orange line trains are turning around at this station. There is “bus service” between Farragut West and Federal Triangle, but it might just be faster to walk. No word yet on when the station will be reopened.
By Amélie
Okay, I know it’s apocryphal for us to be linking to another blog <cough>BoingBoing</cough>, but while the video is cool and somewhat local (we had a shot of our own Wilson Bridge), I wonder if our tax dollars, besides going to the banks, insurance companies, and other misanthropes in another metro area <cough>New York</cough>, are now funding somebody’s quick fingers with Final Cut Pro? While I’m glad to see the Dulles Metro extension finally get moving (2013 to ride to Herndon), was this a real “shovel ready” project Tim Kaine approved? (The opera, however, is a nice touch… I think it was inserted for the NoVA constituents)
By Tom Bridge
This just in, S.160, the DC Voting Rights Act, has passed the Senate 61-37! It’s onward to the House, at this point.
There were a couple of amendments attached today, including:
The Ensign Amendment, which relates to Gun Control
The DeMint Amendment, which relates to the FCC and the Fairness Doctrine
The Durbin Amendment, which also pertains to the FCC, but to Media Ownership Diversity.
Get the full text of the amendments and the bill via Thomas at the Library of Congress
By Tom Bridge
Never has such a weird word been so loudly acclaimed. Today, the Senate voted 62-37 to close debate on S.160, the bill that grants the District a Representative in the House, and tomorrow will vote on its passage. Several senators crossed the aisle (at least one in the opposite direction…) to make this cloture vote possible. The House is fairly receptive to the idea, and this means that come 2011, it’s very probably that the District will have a voting member in the House of Representatives.
Ed. note: This post has been updated to add the link to the vote tally.
By Amélie
Participation Lager… Originally uploaded by dharmabumx
Well folks, it seems, much like the application of parking rates, D.C.’s leadership have painted with a large brush in order to solve a detailed problem. On February 9th, the D.C. Council enacted, at the behest of of several ANC members, a ban on the sale of single bottles of beer in several wards in D.C.. The Washington City Paper has an excellent write up on the issue. The local beer aficionado and brewers list (which includes many of the brewers for local brew pubs in the area, local breweries and others), DC-Beer, has lit up discussing the issue.
In short, to paraphrase the City Paper, too many people in certain areas of the city have been pissing in the wrong people’s yards after a night of drinking and revelry. So far Ward 2 (Georgetown) and 6 (Capitol Hill) are directly affected (can anybody say “staffers”) but has the unintended affect on those who drink beer for taste rather than rote consumption. A number of specialty stores (or those who actually stock something other than the corn-fed varieties, such as Budweiser) are left shipping their stock to the basement to avoid penalties while trying to get responses back from unresponsive commissioners and councilmen. I ask, dear readers, have you been affected by this issue, or have an opinion?
By Amélie
hello parking meter!
Originally uploaded by Nahh
The brew-ha-ha from last weeks parking meter hike around the city, and how it affected various commuters, visitors and others has taken an odd turn after some research and interviewing. In the apparent rush to receive those funds from the increased rate, it seems the D.C. DPW (whose responsibility it is to maintain them) were sloppily quick… either not being uniform in their application, or just wanting to make it interesting for those who choose to park downtown.
The meters originally under contention last week, actually play 3 different rates to parkers. One, the old rate ($1.50 for 8+ hours), two the projected 50% bump ($1.50 to $2.00 for 8 hours), or the crazy $0.25 for seven (7) minutes. I ask you, dear readership, and those who are regular street parking folks, have you come across similar issues? With the meters under three (yes three) different agencies to maintain, enforce and adjudicate, who’s going to be at the other end of that e-mail or phone call to hear you complain about the issue. Several of my parking buddies on two wheels have either moved to new locations (not yet changed), found a garage that will accept them, or stopped coming in via their former mode of transportation. One gentleman is still awaiting an e-mail back from Mayor Fenty’s office. I doubt this makes good policy, let alone much sense to the community.
By Wayan
You go boy!
For years, I’ve considered crossing the Potomac as the entry into a whole other country, a bastion of conservatism that confused my liberal mind. Now I think its Virginians that are confused. Or at least the gun toting, God-fearing types who must be thinking they’ve awoke in Maryland this morning. Just look at these two lead stories in the WashPost:
What’s next? They allow popsicle beer?
By Tom Bridge
Marion Barry was admitted to Howard hospital this morning for a kidney transplant. The operation, which has a 95% success rate, does have a pretty lengthy recovery time. Get better soon, Councilman.
By Amélie
Law enforcement scofflaws
Originally uploaded by philliefan99
Did you hear me Mr. Fenty and Ms. Babers? D.C.’s quest to now emulate Chicago with the new administration has reached new lows. As the Democrats and Obama administration have been touting friendliness to green technologies, smart transportation alternatives, and conservation, the city they now hold a majority in, took a TWELVEFOLD step backwards. I had created the D.C. Motorcycle parking map of the Metro region to help those folks on two wheels track down ever vanishing spots (one set is in center court in the Verizon Center… how convenient), and since most garages do not allow motorcycles in, it’s necessary. Over this past weekend, the D.C. Parking Authority (aka, the D.C. DMV) cranked up the rates without warning for the motorcycle spots to be commensurate with the rates for cars (or even more so), from 12 hour meters which were 25 cents for an hour and 24 minutes, to now 7 minutes per quarter… a loss of 77 minutes 92% of your parking value… WTF?! It shocked most folks parking on the G Street meters (which until the beginning of last year were free) on the west side of the Old Executive Office Building so much, that today, EVERY bike has decided not to pay. Seriously D.C., are you trying to discourage smart commuting?
By Tom Bridge
Thursday is the 200th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. It will be marked with all manner of fanfare, throughout the country, with celebrations and re-dedications galore. The Library of Congress is celebrating the bicentennial with a special touring exhibit that opens Thursday evening.
With Malice Toward None is an incredible portrait of Abraham Lincoln in his own handwriting. Beginning with an arithmetic primer, and ending with letters after the end of the war, it’s a trip through famous artifacts of Lincoln’s import for the United States.
I couldn’t help but feel a little “Great Man Theory” soaking through the exhibit at times, making Lincoln out to be a man who was eight feet tall. Though, this was delicately counterbalanced by the group of curators giving the tour, speaking of Lincoln’s personal difficulties and family troubles during his tenure at the helm of our nation. One such note made it fairly clear that Lincoln wasn’t having a good time leading a nation amidst its worst conflict. Continue reading
