Today is Columbus Day, a rather pointless holiday unless you happen to work for the federal government or a bank. The Metro is operating on the "It's a Sunday, and SW DC has just been bombed" schedule, so my apologies if your daily commute involves traveling south of Gallery Place on the Green or Yellow lines.Man arrested had threatened to blow up Metro trains. Police say a man arrested last week near the Friendship Heights Metro station had made threats to "blow up people and the Metro." The man, Ahamed Pinto Ali, has been charged with threatening to "place a destructive device" near mass transportation with the "intent to endanger the safety of any person, and with reckless disregard for the safety of human life." Police briefly evacuated the area but located no actual explosives. Ali did have a notebook with the words "I will kill" written as well as diagrams of local buildings.
Criminals show lack of respect for Columbus. There were several shootings around the District this weekend, though details are a bit slow to trickle out. On Friday reports are that two Hispanic men were shot near 13th and W, NW. The suspects, two black males in their 20s, escaped. On Sunday, a man was shot near the corner of 8th and H Street, NE. The suspects were described as assailants on bicycles. Prince of Petworth has reports of shots fired at the intersection of Euclid Street and Columbia Road in Adams Morgan (near the Christian Science Reading Room). No one was hit, but a suspect was arrested and two handguns recovered.
Sign a fancier on-line petition regarding Metro. Michael Perkins over at GGW has a petition calling on the area governments to fully fund Metro. This is a great idea, as many of Metro's problems stem from a stable revenue source. This petition is much better done than the Fire Catoe petition, which I fully admit was constructed in haste. Online petitions are pretty much good for one thing, and one thing alone--getting media attention. The more outrageous your demands, the more people in the news will pay attention. I fully support Michael's efforts and signed the petition myself, we'll see if it gets any traction.
Jack Evans wants the Circulator to go to Rosslyn. The Ward 2 councilmember wants the rules changed so that D.C. Circulator routes can leave the District. The goal is to replace the Georgetown Metro Connection (blue bus) with the Circulator. It's interesting that the Council may be considering expanding the Circulator program just weeks after DDOT flip-flopped on cutting service up Wisconsin Avenue. The Circulator route currently connects Georgetown to the Metro via Foggy Bottom. Service to Rosslyn would be helpful for some, I'm sure, but I can think of a few other ideas for new routes within the District that would be useful. (Possibly extending the Woodley Park line up to Cleveland Park, or over to the Cathedral. Not to mention, I don't know, something to reach over to H Street NE.
DC GOP Chair is a hip twenty-something who likes Bloc Party and the Killers. No, really, read all about it.
Also, don't miss a special Sunday post, "What we talk about when we talk about hating D.C."
It's actually Coalition for Smarter Growth's petition, but I fully support it and encourage people to sign it and promote it in any way they can.
ReplyDeleteWell I was going to say how the H St. Shuttle is analogous to the Blue Bus and how it could be replaced with a Circulator someday, but then I remembered that they'll have their own trolley by then. As a Georgetowner, I'd trade the Circulator for a trolley in a second.
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