News Bullets, too many real bullets Wednesday;

I know I've been involved in a lot of serious business projects lately, writing about social services, crime, and of course Metro. These things are very important, of course, but they aren't always the fun, let's spit our coffee on our computer screen sorts of things. It's difficult to bridge the gap, and I suppose that's why the Daily Show and the Colbert Reports are the outliers. I'm kicking around a few good posts that aren't news related at all, and I hope to have a few of those up soon. I'm posting most of my serious business items over at a new site, so those will stay separate for the most part.

Shooting at the not-so-Safeway leaves teen in critical condition. Debate over the Petworth Safeway's nickname aside, this is depressing to say the least. A male in his teens was shot in the head outside of the Safeway on Georgia Avenue, just a few blocks from the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station. No suspects are in custody, but the shooter was reportedly approached by two people before the shooting. It's easy to immediately say, "look, see, Petworth isn't safe." However, to be fair, there are more shootings near Columbia Heights than in Petworth. So the thing to say is "look, see, these neighborhoods are still troubled, even though young, white, upwardly mobile bloggers have moved there recently." Maybe we should drop a Target or Best Buy in Petworth to really get things moving.

Police-involved shooting in Northeast. No real details on this yet, but an officer shot and killed a man in the 900 block of 21st St. NE. This is about a block from the location of Saturday's fatal stabbing.

Shooting reported near the Convention Center. DC Alert sent out a message about a shooting at 7th and N, NW last night. There hasn't been any news stories about this one, and I'm waiting for any further information from MPD. This comes amid a summer of shootings in Shaw, which Jim Graham has declared to be a gang war. I have a bit more on the violence in Shaw over at District Daily.

Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) proposes new bill of rights for animals. The Post looks at a Council bill aimed to help improve the treatment of wild animals. The measure, among other provisions, would clamp down on the types of traps that can be used for larger, non-"pest" animals. The Humane Society helped Cheh craft the bill, which is available for download from the Councilmember's web site. Hey, I'm all in favor of this, no doubt. I think this says something about what people in Ward 3 spend their time worrying about.

Is Chief Lanier losing the trust and respect of her officers? Harry Jaffe asks the question in the Examiner. This piece outlines the tension between officers and their chief, especially in the light of recent union-management disputes. An interesting read, to be sure, and gives some insight into the problems... though I have a feeling these sorts of disputes occur no matter who the Chief of Police is. Generally in a department as large as MPD, the chief will always be more of a politician than an officer.