From hate to love...

Just to make things completely hilarious, I'm letting you all know I've taken on a gig over at We Love DC. Feel free to drop by and read my posts about DC government and politics.

You can also follow me on Twitter and all of that.

I've received a fair number of complaints/requests that the site be revived as a repository for hating on DC. I had made it mostly clear I wasn't interested in passing this along to someone else, despite the tradition of previous writers. I know many have been sorry to see this go and to a certain extent I understand.

That being said, the only actual requests I've received have been less than stellar and have done nothing to make me think it would be worthwhile. I haven't heard one person give me a compelling reason for handing over the keys to the site. In fact, all of the requests I've gotten have been from the types of people this site traditionally 'hated.'

If you hate the city so much that you need a site that is dedicated to expressing it, then make your own. There are roughly 152 million publishing services out there, it's super easy. Stop whining and just do it!

Catch you later,

Dave

Moving along...

In case you missed it, I haven't been updating as much here lately. This hasn't been because everything in DC suddenly became wonderful, but rather because spending your days looking for things to hate is tiring. I've been told countless times, "if you hate it so much, why don't you move away." Truth be told, I don't hate it, and you can't make much of a life for yourself in a city if you constantly focus on the negativity.

I started writing here back in November 2008, and I think this site has provided readers with some good stories about some important issues. At the end of the day, though, it stopped being fun. Since this is a labor of love for me, I find little reason to continue working on something that is no longer enjoyable.

I still believe there are important stories to be told about our city, and I will continue to write about them, but just not here. This site has, I believe, run its course. Rusty and James and the others who came before me had their own stories about DC, and ultimately they left the city. I realize now, the entire concept of this site is based on something that many of us who live here dislike--the whiny complaints of people who don't care to stay. There will be no essay contest to determine the next person who can complain the loudest. Instead, I will do the Internet a favor and be done with it.

I leave with no hard feelings towards anyone, and I'm left humbled that I could, in my own way play a small part in the DC media world. I'm proud of the stories about Metro and Alice Swanson. I'm glad I could make a few people think about important things. I'm also glad I could make some people laugh. I have no regrets, other than any amount of time I ever spent worrying about "internet drama" and having "beefs" with other bloggers. It's very easy to get caught up in the blog echo chamber and forget exactly why you ever felt the need to sit down and write. Before you know it, you're forgetting about how the city's social safety net is falling apart, and instead refreshing your RSS to stay ahead of the curve on what the newest wine bar or tapas restaurant is.

All of that said, there are some good people doing some good writing about DC. I urge you to support these people in whatever way you can, even if it's just through a thoughtful comment or email. Most of us do this for free, and it is generally a thankless task.

As for me, I've decided to spend my spare time doing things that make me happy. This seems like quite a novel concept here in the District. I still want to make a difference in my community, but I realize I can do more elsewhere than by writing on this particular blog.

If you're curious to read what I'm up to, feel free to visit my blog. If you're a Tumblr user, you can do the whole 'follow' dealie.

Thanks for (most of) the memories,

Dave

Spotting a near-mugging

This evening I had stepped outside of my apartment building to enjoy the nice post-storm weather. As some readers know, I live along the border of Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights. I've lived in this place for a little over two years, and I've written about how I've witnessed a few things that have led me to call the police. I've heard gunshots, I've seen car accidents, the usual city stuff. Tonight was a first, though, as I saw two men getting ready to rob someone.

I had stepped outside and was on the phone, when I saw two men standing around near the street corner. I thought it was a little odd, as there's nothing at this corner and they didn't seem to be talking to one another. The corner in question is between a side street and a major street. There's a lot of foot traffic on the major street, but very little on the side street. As soon as you turn the corner onto the side street, it's dark, and there's no building entrances or storefronts or houses for the whole block.

I saw the two men step back from the corner, maybe 10-15 feet down the street. There are bushes along the side street, so anyone walking up the major street wouldn't really see the men. Then they put masks on their faces and put up their hoods. I could only see them through the bushes while in the driveway of my building. I could see them watching the people on the major street, I assume, waiting for someone to turn onto the side street. At this point I called 911, and was promptly greeted with the bilingual hold message. I'm unsure if they spotted me, but I went back inside the lobby where I could still see them through a window. I was on hold for roughly 3 minutes or so, at which point the started walking further down the side street.

Once I got through to an operator, I gave the location and left a call back number, and the police were on scene probably within another 5 minutes or so. They called me back and asked if I could still see them, the answer of course being no at this point. They walked up and down the side street and then left.

Of course I don't blame the police for not finding them, by the time they arrived I'm sure they were blocks away. I wasn't able to provide a very detailed description, mostly because I wasn't too keen on walking up to them to see better. It's what, maybe 65 degrees out, so clearly there's no good reason for them to have bandanas or whatever they had over their faces and their hoods up. I have no idea if that's enough probable cause to search someone for weapons, but maybe it should be.

The point here isn't to criticize the police response, though the hold time was a bit frustrating. Instead, it's only to say again what is obvious to most people in a city--it's extremely easy for someone to mug you. They could have easily robbed someone right there, mere feet from an intersection. I've lived in the city for a while now, so I know what suspicious behavior looks like, but I saw people jogging with their iPods and walking their dogs while on their phones, and otherwise being very distracted. This happened around 9:45pm, which I think a lot of people might not be on their guard.

So yeah, everyone, always be aware of your surroundings.

Greetings from Texas, and the non-election election

I'm writing this from the lovely city of Dallas, Texas. I'll use the word 'interesting' for now. I'm not talking interesting in "I can't think of anything else to say," but actually of interest. This is a city with a downtown completely built around cars, with huge parking lots and parking structures the size of skyscrapers. However, there is also a very rapidly growing light rail system. I don't have a car for my trip, so it's been interesting trying to navigate using the light rail and buses. Times like this make me join the chorus of be thankful for Metro. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the DART light rail, it goes a few places and seems moderately useful--but it's more expensive than Metro. Metro has it's problems, many of which are serious, but keep in mind that DC is one of just a few cities in the United States where it's actually practical to live without a car.

MOVING ALONG

Hey, let's talk about Election 2010. Last year, it was sounding like Decision DC 2K10 would be something interesting. Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham's office was mired in an alleged bribery scandal, Mayor Fenty's administration was the source of all sorts of graft and corruption, and even Council Chair Vincent Gray had his share of scandals. Remember all of that? Ted Loza, anyone? Remember how he was accused of nearly forcing a mistress to have an abortion, and how Jim Graham's credit card paid for an abortion? Remember well... pretty much everything Fenty did? Parks and recreations contracts? The school firings? More contracts?

Well, it's now halfway through March in an election year and there's essentially nothing going on. Vincent Gray is humming and hawing about running for mayor. Rumors continue to persist, and some media reported yesterday he would announce a run this week. Color me completely underwhelmed. Gray isn't exactly fired-up to run, and has said he's got concerns about "what happens if I lose." That's called politics, Mr. Gray. Honestly if you're too afraid of losing the election to become the Mayor, I can't imagine you'd have the wherewithal to actually govern as mayor. Meanwhile, Fenty has enough campaign money to put a significant dent in the city's epic budget gap. Let's be real here: it's very unlikely there will be a real race for mayor this time around, and Fenty will sail to re-election. He'll be super-lame duck, knowing he's got all sorts of career prospects in development and construction after his term ends. I'll be honest, I like some of the things his administration has done, but we still have a mayor who governs with little sense of responsibility or transparency.

What about in Ward 1? This could prove interesting, I just got an email blast from Jeff Smith. He's rocking the Fenty colors a bit, and has a working web site. He's in favor of what anyone pondering a bid for CM would be... safer, cleaner streets... less vacant properties, "better parking enforcement," all of that. Also in the running is Bryan Weaver, who also sports the Fenty colors. In fact, Fenty, Weaver and Smith's logos look a heck of a lot the same. Though, to be fair, Smith's green selection is a bit lighter in shade.

There's probably room for one strong challenger against Graham, but who knows if there's room for two. Ted Loza's trial isn't going to happen until well after the primary. It's unclear what/if anything new will come out from the Loza trial, but any news from that won't break until just before or after the general election. I don't see how two challengers can possibly unseat Graham in the primary, and there's be little time to run any sort of independent campaign with the news of the Loza trial. For now I'm likely counting this race out, too. I'd love to be wrong about this, though.

So yeah, Election 2010 is shaping up to a whole lot of boring. If Gray steps in, then we might see some sort of interesting jockeying for Council chair, which might free up the Ward 2 CM spot, if Evans ran for chair. That would be some sort of news.

The interesting campaigns might turn out to be that of Clark Ray for at-large, and some of the other Council spots. But, interestingly enough, the seats all mired by scandal appear to be the safest seats this time around.

Why do you tease us, Metro?

Spotted at the South entrance to the Dupont Circle station: a sign advertising the ability to add value to Smartrip via the Internet. This has been promised to us by WMATA for years, but has not yet been implemented. They have, apparently, printed banners advertising the service. When will we get it? Who knows, for now I'm awaiting comment from Metro.

UPDATE: From Ron Holzer at WMATA:

The banner in the pictures has been up for a couple of years. It was installed to notify customers that our fare vendors now (then) accepted credit cards and you could purchase fare cards and SmarTrip cards from our website using a credit card, which you still can do at http://www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/.

To avoid confusion with future online/credit card programs, the banner will be taken down.

On the 'blogosphere' and such

A few weeks ago I decided I was sort of over the whole 'blogosphere' thing. It's not so much that I don't find some writing on some blogs to be worth reading, it was more that I was completely overwhelmed with the whole thing. I had fallen into the whole trap of trying to post everyday to increase pageviews, scouring RSS and Twitter to break stories, and all of that other nonsensical stuff that doesn't actually result in any sort of interesting reading.

I've also been extremely busy, and when the pace of life picks up, something that causes stupid 'stress' will be the first thing to hit the backburner.

So yes, I have not been as voraciously consuming news about DC as I used to. I realized that I had, in fact, become something that I sort of hate about DC. I had become the self-important blogging blowhard, who at times took himself too seriously and spent far too much time writing about things everyone else had already written about.

I haven't opened by RSS reader for three weeks. I'm doing this to try and find a better balance between 'staying up on things' and 'obsessing over things.' There's a place for bloggers in the world of media and the world of writing, however I think most of the time we write for the wrong reasons. We imagine there is some sort of pressing demand for our pieces--we see readership numbers and feel a compulsion to write something. We feel like we need to keep the 'momentum' going, so we copy and paste links and press releases. But that's not quality writing, and unless those news stories are accompanied by some sort of thoughtful commentary or insight, it's generally wasted effort.

It's easy to take yourself too seriously when you begin to think your writing is popular. It's easy to think our blogs are all that and that our comments will make some sort of difference in the world. In reality, though, we should write about what we think is important, and write what we feel. As such, I'm writing a bit less. I write when something strikes me as important, or when I happen to see something amusing (e.g. photos).

At the end of the day a blog isn't going to make you into a rockstar. In most cases it won't ever earn you a dime, and certainly not a living. In this town we have a lot of bloggers, and a lot of them hope it will lead to their big break. Not to crush anyone's dreams here, but it's extremely unlikely your food blog is going to get you a book deal. It's very unlikely that your neighborhood blog is going to turn a profit. Blogs are wonderful because they give us a medium to express our own voices. It's a shame when we distort that in order to get more pageviews.

tl;dr: I've ignored the DC blogosphere for three weeks now. I feel like I haven't missed much at all. The blog echo-chamber is hard to escape, but I'm glad I'm no longer just regurgitating the same things everyone else has already talked about. Bloggers should write from the heart, and spend some time thinking about what they want to say. There's rarely a prize for posting X number of posts in a day.

Immediately I feel less pity for West Elm

Say hi to Mr. Clean for me.

Why do we have such a lack of inspiring candidates for DC offices?

I was reading a bit about the whole Eric Massa resignation hubub, and noticed all of the local government officials that might be running for the open seat. This got me thinking about how elected officials in the District government have little to aspire to. For those on the Council, the only higher elected office would be mayor. For the mayor, that's the end of the line. Now, of course, not everyone in a city government wants to run for statewide office or Congress, but at least the potential is there. I have to wonder how that complete lack of potential affects things here in the District.

Just to be clear, of course,  DC is not the only big city in the United States with corruption problems. Chicago, Detroit and others face scandals on par with or above what we have here. However, what we also have in DC seems to be a complete lack of a field of qualified and enthusiastic candidates for political office. We have a mayor who has been implicated in all sorts of unethical and possibly illegal contracting scandals, we have a Councilmember who admits to funneling city money to his girlfriends, we have other Councilmembers who are out of touch and do nothing. We have all of this, and we are in an election year, yet we've barely got a campaign for any of these offices going. The "best" hope for unseating the mayor is the Council chair, who has his own ethics problems and isn't at all excited about running.

So here's where the question comes up, is it difficult to attract people interested in public office because of the barriers to entry and the lack of higher office? All campaigns are expensive, but for someone serious about starting a political life, running for the DC Council wouldn't necessarily be impossible. But, it's sort of the end of the line. If you dream of eventually serving in Congress, you absolutely would never live in DC or run for a DC elected office. What would you do? Serve on the DC Council for a few years and then move across the river to Virginia or out to Maryland? Yeah, I'm sure your political resume will get you far over there. What we end up with is a situation where the best you can hope for is making connections to the business world for when you eventually leave office. If you are a lawyer, you can probably get a job with a law firm. Maybe you can consult.

Maybe I'm on the wrong track here, but I think this does have a non-trivial chilling effect on the pool of potential candidates. I don't like to say that I want more ambition out of politicians, but sometimes it might not be the worst thing. Aspiring to higher office means more drive to get things done, and more reason to be squeaky clean while doing it. The scandals we see coming from Barry and Fenty are the sorts that can sink a gubernatorial or senatorial campaign. I could definitely see in some other city, a young upstart sweeping in to Ward 8 trying to turn things around, aiming to then run for state legislature or Congress. With ambition, a candidate might be willing to take more risks, and challenge the status quo more. Instead, we have nothing. We have a "why bother" attitude. We've got one "federal" office, a non-elected representative. Not exactly a blockbuster position.

So what sort of options do we have here, short of throwing our hands up and abolishing the idea of elected office for the DC government? Well, of course, giving the delegate to Congress a vote might help. We'd at least have something a bit more important to aspire to.

All of this, of course, is just speculation. What do you think? Do you think there's anything to this? Do you think we could attract better candidates for political office if there was somewhere to go after the Council?

No, really, some good news for WMATA

It's too early to say for sure, but Metro's choice of Richard Sarles for interim General Manager may be a very good one. There's a whole lot of analysis up already about Sarles, but the big bullet points are that he's a rail guy and will not be a mere caretaker during the search for a permanent GM. I'm going to refer you to Greater Greater Washington and We Love DC for some more detailed information on Sarles.

This year has been big for Metro news, sadly with more accidents and deaths, but also with a bit of optimism for the future. When John Catoe announced his resignation back in January, it became clear the choice for the next General Manager could be "make or break." We've got huge budget problems, as well as infrastructure issues, all on top of the lingering and serious questions of safety. Personally, I believed that the next GM (interim or permanent) needed to be an outsider would have the ability to shake things up. Now, I'll admit, the term "shake things up" is vague and often just means "do something! anything!" and often results in a lot of talk, some layoffs, and a lot of arms waving around.

Sarles has five years of experience running NJ Transit, and had previously worked for 20 years at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He has degrees in both engineering and business. He's handled budget problems, often without having to raise fares. He recently retired from his job at NJ Transit, so his future career doesn't so much depend on what happens at WMATA.

I don't want to say Sarles is the perfect choice, he fits the bill. He has experience handling some of the same issues plaguing Metro, and he's an outsider. While he doesn't have much to gain career-wise at Metro, he also has nothing to lose. If the Metro Board is willing to stand behind him and the decisions he makes, he could work to implement the sorts of long-lasting change the agency needs. "Creative destruction" is a term I like to use when discussing what needs to happen--a vast reworking of the organization chart as well as a complete overhaul of management style. Sarles has an opportunity to come in and lay a true groundwork for the future.

Of course, as is almost always the case in life, and especially with anything political, change can be very difficult. Sarles will face pushback from the Metro employees union, and may face some pushback by the Board. If the Board knows what's good for them--and for their own political lives--they should let Sarles do the work and not attempt to sell him down the river if his ideas prove unpopular. The sort of change needed at WMATA will not be popular.

Along those lines, I'd also like to tell everyone to stop complaining about the $0.10 fare hike. The fare hike is, sadly, necessary in order to provide service. We'll be facing a bigger fare hike down the road, and no, these generally don't come with better service. Prices increase over time, and while this fare hike will be hard for some people, for many (especially Metrorail riders) it will have a small impact on personal budgets. While it's easy to grip that you have to pay more for the same (often poor) service, these are the facts of life. When the price of gas goes up, we generally don't whine that the gas isn't better quality.

Metro needs a new management style, and it needs money. Sarles is the first step. We'll dedicated funding and we'll probably need a big fare increase. However, if we can target the fare increase to make the least impact on people, and if we can improve agency-wide efficiency, there is plenty of room to be optimistic.

Yes, you read that correctly, there's reason to be optimistic for Metro's future. Who would have thought that sentence would be typed on a grey Wednesday morning in March.

Metro should end its "Safety Theatre"

Following the 6/22 crash, Metro management took some steps to help restore confidence in the safety of the rail system. These included switching train operation to manual mode, and placing Series 1000 railcars in the center of trains. As the NTSB hearings on Capitol Hill wrap-up, it's becoming clearer that both of these measures amount to little more than safety theatre.

First, let's discuss the sandwiching of the Series 1000 railcars. This seemed like a good idea at the time, logic tells you that placing the weaker cars farther away from a point of impact could be safer. In the days after the 6/22 crash, I wondered why Metro had not considered this option before. As it turns out, though, placing the Series 1000 cars in the middle of trains likely provides little benefit. Back in September, the Washington Post wrote that Metro officials admitted the action was little more than a public relations effort. At the time, WMATA fired back, citing an old scientific study (based on different train equipment) that sort of backed up their claim that it improved safety. Well, at the NTSB hearings we hear from a Metro engineer who admits that in high speed collisions (such as the 6/22 crash), the 'bellying' of the cars would do little. Metro spokesperson Lisa Farbstein has now retracted the agency's rebuttal to the Post's story. So, it's official, everyone agrees--bellying the cars does not improve safety.

One thing is for certain though, running mixed consist trainsets causes performance problems. Not only do you have issues with things such as the electronic displays in newer series cars, but you have braking and door problems. Communication between differing series railcars can be 'buggy,' so to speak, and does result in trains being taken out of service. Additionally, mixed consist cars make it more difficult for maintenance. Previously, it was possible to specialize maintenance based on the consist of trains on various lines (e.g. Series 1000 at Red Line yards, so on and so forth). Not so anymore. John Catoe made a point about the downside of mixed consist cars at the blogger roundtable in January. Bottom line, it's inefficient, causes service problems, and does nothing for safety. Now that Metro has admitted, under oath, that it does nothing for safety, they should end the program.

Now, the matter of manual operation. Under "manual mode," the train operator controls speed and acceleration of the train. Despite the name "manual mode," the train's operation is still governed by the Automatic Train Protection system. The ATP system does not permit a train from getting too close to another train, nor from exceeding the speed limit on a given part of the track. What's turned off is the Automatic Train Operation mode, which controls the speed and acceleration of the train. In ATO mode, the ride is smoother and schedules are easier to keep, as stopping and starting are computer controlled. For a good breakdown of Metro's safety systems, please refer to this post over at Greater Greater Washington.

The NTSB's line of sight tests at the site of the 6/22 crash show that it would have been difficult for the operator of the striking train to see the stopped train and stop in time. The train did not slow down because the ATP system failed to detect the stopped train. Had the train been operating in manual mode, it's unlikely the accident would have been prevented. It could be argued that the operator may be more "alert" in manual mode, however along most stretches of track, it's simply impossible for an operator to see a stopped train with enough time to stop (if the ATP system fails). Unfortunately, as it stands, the ATP system fails in an unsafe way. That will happen regardless of the train operating in manual or automatic mode.

As much as I want to say "do everything you can to improve safety," I don't believe that running in manual mode, or sandwiching the Series 1000 cars do anything for safety. I'll go out on the limb and say that both choices are merely theatre. Right now, it is possible that the ATP system could fail again. It's less likely that a failure would go undetected, but it could happen. When it does happen, it won't matter much at all what operational mode trains are in. Running in manual mode makes trains less efficient, the ride more jerky, and service levels poorer. One "advantage," I suppose could be that in the event of another collision, it would be the operator's "fault." That is, the operator would have been manning the throttle as it stuck another train, rather than the computer doing the work.

The real fixes to all of this involve replacing the Series 1000 cars as quickly as possible and getting an ATP backup system up and running. Along with this, of course, is the need for a better institutional priority on safety. Until the ATP backup system is up, the system will still be "unsafe." This is due to a poor design that completely forgets the concept of "fail-safe." If the system is going to be technically "unsafe" for a while, we might as well enjoy better and more efficient service.

City Paper Blotter updates us on the Chinatown beating

Last week I ran a letter from a reader about a brutal beating in Chinatown. Rend Smith over at the Washington City Paper did a little digging for The Blotter on City Desk, and yesterday we learned a bit more.

Chinatown Beatdown: A Why I Hate DC reader identified only as Meagan reported a seemingly random beatdown via the blog site on Feb. 16. Meagan says she "was walking into the gallery place/Chinatown movie theater and a group of teenagers ran out and started beating a random man in the street. They beat him unconscious and left him face down on the concrete."

"I do not know if the man received medical attention, but he was unconscious and his face was bleeding. The kids easily got away and no one chased them or stopped them," she wrote. "They headed down into the metro and disappeared."

First District Commander David Kamperin of the Metropolitan Police Department confirms the brutal pummeling took place: "We took a report for the assault and our detectives have reached out to several subjects (maybe even this writer) who may have witnessed it," he emails. "We are following up to see if there are cameras in the area and with Metro."

Again, I can't stress the importance of sticking around to talk to the police.

NTSB's Metro hearings begin: no real surprises

Since this is a relatively big story, I wanted to take a second to briefly discuss this week's National Transportation Safety Board hearings. The Washington Post is running the big headline in today's paper about the two previous near-misses and how that indicated a problem with Metro's Automatic Train Control system.

The only difference between what is being published today, and what's been published for the last eight months is that this occurred at a federal hearing. Hearing about these incidents is no surprise to people who have been following the topic of Metro safety following the 6/22 crash. So far, these hearings are only serving one purpose: to put all of this on the record (again), and to demonstrate that Metro has failed to establish any sort of emphasis on safety.

It's good that we have senior Metro officials going on the record about the near-miss in 2005, which nearly resulted in a three train collision under the Potomac. We do learn that contrary to previous comments by Metro, no one was 100% sure the issue had been completely resolved. This fact itself is extremely disturbing--a near catastrophe (which would have resulted in possibly hundreds of deaths) was not enough for Metro to do everything it could to identify and solve the problem.

However, this is all incredibly frustrating. Yes, government moves slowly, I suppose, but we are talking about incidents that occurred 5 years ago, and a deadly crash that occurred more than 8 months ago. We've had months and months and months of coverage, seemingly always uncovering some new safety flaw. I'm not even the NTSB or the Washington Post, and yet I have had Metro employees contact me to vent their frustrations and concerns about safety. Track workers have been killed, again, despite numerous safety recommendations by the NTSB.

So yes, to anyone who has the ability to read, it's been obvious that Metro's culture of safety has been lacking. Time and time and time again this has been said, and now it'll be said once again. The only difference, now, is that there is some discussion of a federal Metro Control Board or some such. It's being presented as a threat, if Metro does not improve then the feds will have to take away your toys and send you to your room.

Is there really any reason to wait on this? At this point, I don't see how federalizing the Metro Board could be any worse than the status quo? Sure, there are a few "good" members of the Metro Board, but the system is facing all sorts of serious problems. The General Manager is leaving, which does provide an opportunity to completely reshape the organization's management structure and style. However, Metro has had a hard time finding a new general manager, and without serious change; including reworking of the Board; it's unlikely we'll see the kind of management changes that are really needed.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...

It seems I may have underestimated the dedication some people have to the Washington Post Express. I received an email from reader Stan, who sent in this video of him and his buddy making sure an Express box in Northwest remained clear during the great Snowpocalypse.



Perhaps not too surprisingly, this was shot in upper NW, near American University.

So how about that proposed $20-$30/mo subscription fee to read the New York Times on an iPad?

Overheard on the Metro

Good thing we don't yet have 20 min Saturday headways...

Two Metro Transit police riding on a Yellow Line train to Fort Totten. Train is about to arrive at the Columbia Heights station.

Radio call comes in
Officer #1: What was that?
Officer #2: Shaw-Howard. We just passed through there!
Officer #1: Alright, alright let's roll.
Train pulls into station, officers are right by the door. #2 is checking what looks like a Google phone
Officer #1: Let's roll!
Officer #2: Looks at phone, Damn! 8 minutes 'till the next train.
Officers exit train, no longer in a hurry, and wait for the next southbound train.

Photo from flickr user lakewentworth

Elderly woman in wheelchair shovels out bus stop

Reader Steve writes in:

The New Snow Removal Plan for the Nation's Capital:

Legions of elderly women in wheelchairs will be deployed during the next major snowfall to hit the Nation's Capital. Here is a quick look at a beta version of this new snow removal system. Armed with their two-foot long shovels and orange safety vests, these intrepid ladies will clear out your neighborhood in no time!

Just took this today - two weeks after the snow began to fall. Wouldn't it be nice if a wheelchair-bound elderly woman wouldn't have to shovel through two feet of snow to get on a bus? I know the Washington, DC Government and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority had their hands full with the past blizzard, but this is ridiculous. I filmed her for six seconds then put the camera down to go help her out...but her bus came seconds later. She had to wheel herself out through a driveway.

Related note: I have to give some credit to Greater Greater Washington for organizing a bus stop shoving brigade this past weekend.

Barry might be "censured," does it even matter?

So yes, if you haven't heard, the Bennett report came out and concludes that Councilmember Marion Barry acted improperly and breached the public trust. Again. This time it was a fairly complex scheme involving siphoning public funds to fake non-profits run by a fomer girlfriend. The results of the independent probe will likely be passed to the U.S. Attorney's office--who so far have been mum on possible charges.

Marion Barry's defense attorney begins arguments

Let's face it, it's probably not going to happen. Sure, it might, but it'll take a while and in the meantime we've still got Marion Barry on the Council. What I find hilarious about all of this is how there's absolutely nothing that can be done. Sure, the Council is giving lip-service to the idea that Barry should get a rebuttal--they've even given him a deadline of next week. It's mostly impossible for him to rebut any of this, no matter how much he tries to channel Perry Mason and Matlock. The Bennett report isn't just "allegations," we're dealing with findings and conclusions of a thorough investigation.

So what say the DC Council?

Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) said that absent a criminal probe, it will most likely be up the council to determine any potential punishment.

"These are very serious allegations. The conclusions -- they are not allegations, they are conclusions -- by our special counsel amount to the fact that Marion took kickbacks" from a former girlfriend, Catania said. "The council does not have the authority to remove Mr. Barry from office. That responsibility rests with the voters of Ward 8. But we do have the authority to determine which committee he sits on and whether or not he chairs a committee."

Yep, that's about right. It is up to the voters of Ward 8. Who thinks we'll see a recall effort? Who thinks we'll see a primary challenge. People might accuse me of being hopelessly optimistic at times, but I'm going to say that there's absolutely zero chance of that. Barry is a complete joke at this point, he still serves on the Finance and Revenue Committee, even though he has been convicted of failing to file federal taxes. I suppose the Council has to talk some sort of talk about this, but in reality they should be considering adopting the 2010 No Marion Barry on the D.C. Council legislation.  Working with the Board of Elections and Ethics, DC election law should be revised to include the following qualifications for the offices of Ward and At-Large Member of the Council--you can't be Marion Barry.

Also, remember since Marion Barry is the example of why we can't have the vote in DC, see also all those other states that don't deserve a vote because they elect idiots.

On the subject of print media

The people have spoken

Metro's pedestrian alert light program left to wither

Three years ago, on Valentines' Day in 2007, Sally McGee and Martha Schoenborn, both of Alexandria, were struck and killed by a Metrobus at the corner of 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The bus driver, Victor Kolako, struck the women as they crossed with a walk signal in the crosswalk. Kolako was charged with negligent homicide and later sentenced to a year in prison. Metro had seen a rash of bus fatalities that year, and newly-minted General Manager John Catoe vowed to improve safety.

Safety at Metro has gotten a lot of attention in the past year, with the June 22 Red Line crash, the subsequent worker deaths, so on and so forth. Metrobus safety has also been back in the spotlight, highlighted by a Metrobus striking a pedestrian in Dupont Circle last summer. That incident was also followed closely by another pedestrian death in Trinidad.

How good of a job has Metro been doing at keeping up safety on Metrobus? One of the safety campaigns touted by WMATA and Catoe after the Valentines' Day accident involved high visibility lights on Metrobuses. These lights were placed on the front of the bus and flashed back and forth. The lights were a good step, they did make buses more visible, especially in a pedestrian's peripheral vision. You've probably seen these lights on some buses.

What happened with this seemingly good idea? Well, like all good things, it came to an end. Prompted by seeing a bus with the light bar installed but not active, I asked Metro about the status of the project. According to Metro spokesperson Ron Holzer, the program was a pilot that involved 100 buses in the District of Columbia. Holzer said that jurisdictions in Virginia and Maryland never approved usage of the lights. In some cases buses outfitted with the pedestrian alert lights have been transferred out of the District, and the light bars were deactivated. The program was never expanded beyond the 100 initial buses. I also asked if the bus that struck Amanda Mahnke was outfitted with the lights. Due to ongoing litigation, Holzer declined to answer the question. I've dug up a few photos from the day of the crash, and it looks as though that bus was not outfitted with the lights.

While it's difficult to know how many accidents might have been prevented with the usage of these alert lights, it's disappointing to see the program left to wither. As the lights break, or the buses get transferred out of the District, the lights will go away. Given the high price tag of accidents, both in human lives and dollars spent in litigation, it seems a project like this would be well worth the initial investment.

Is this just another case of Metro talking the talk after an accident, but failing to follow through? Reading through a press release after a deadly crash in 2007 feels like reading the same press releases from 2009.

Photo originally by flickr user taftbasket. Modified for emphasis.

This one is for all you Orange Line riders

REM - ORANGE CRUSH

Reader report of brutal beating in Chinatown

It's been a while since I've published a reader report, but this one caught my eye. I browsed around the MPD listserves to find any further information, but so far I haven't turned up anything. Stories of incidents such as this float around the blogs every now and again. From reader Meagan:

I hope your blog will help me to disseminate some critical information:

Last night I was walking into the gallery place/Chinatown movie theater and a group of teenagers ran out and started beating a random man in the street. They beat him unconscious and left him face down on the concrete. Horrified, I ran to get help, only no help could be found. There was an empty patrol car parked on the street, and no police anywhere in sight. The teens laughed loudly about their crime and ran off into the night.

Today I contacted city council and the metro police department who informed me that there are supposed to be 10 police officers dedicated to this area as a "task force". This was obviously not the case on this busy holiday weekend. This is also not the first time I have witnessed heinous crime at this movie theater.

What can be done, my fellow citizens? Well, I'm glad you asked. Several things can be done.

1.) contact your city council members. Demand a few things. Demand the city council consider lowering the teen curfew in DC, which has been upheld as constitutional since 1999. Demand more police presence in gallery place/chinatown. And since we all know that people behave better when they know they're being watched, demand cameras in chinatown. Big obvious cameras. Unless, of course, you like violent crime. In which case, do nothing. To contact your city council members, click here. http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/contactuscouncil

2.) Contact mayor Fenty with the same concerns. Remind him that elections are near and DC needs something to take their minds off the snowpacolypse. Making the city safer should do the trick. Contact the mayor here. http://app.dc.gov/apps/about.asp?page=atd&type=dsf&agency_id=1075

3.) Since we know the real driver of change is business owners, contact regal cinema. Remind them that crime drives away business, and they have the opportunity to take a proactive stance and provide a safe enjoyable experience for their patrons. When Lucky Strike bowling alley instituted a dress code, and changed their policy to admit adults only at late hours, their problems drastically decreased. Not only does regal cinema have the option of hiring extra security, and enforcing zero tolerance of disruptive behavior, they also have the option of designating the theater as 18+ at night. Remind them that you are the consumer, and you will not tolerate violence and crime in your local movie theater. Contact regal cinema here. http://www.regmovies.com/corporate/contactus.aspx

4.) Lastly, be proactive. Take a stand. If you see a disturbance, report it. Report crimes you witness to the police, report bad behavior to management, and blog blog blog.

I asked the reader for a bit more information about the incident, such as if the police responded, if a report was filed, that sort of thing. Here was the response:

After witnessing the event I went running to look for a police officer while my boyfriend helped to turn the man over. I couldn't find police anywhere. When I came back out my boyfriend said that someone had called 911 and the police were on their way. I went back into the theater and eventually found a female security guard. I told her of the event and she didn't seem too urgent about it. The impression that I got was that maybe she wasn't allowed to leave her designated area. She did have a radio though and the people standing on the street watching the man said that help was on the way.

I was on a date with my boyfriend and we were late to the movie so we did not wait for the police to arrive. There were onlookers on the street however that were staying there with the man waiting for help. I emailed city council today and chief of police Lanier, who wrote me back saying that she created a "task force" last year which was supposed to have 10 police officers on site at all times. 5 officers on foot and 5 on bikes. I wrote her back saying that there were zero officers anywhere in the vicinity, nor was there a visible camera or a "call police" station or button like I have seen in other areas.

She said she would be back in touch with me on the matter.

I do not know if the man received medical attention, but he was unconscious and his face was bleeding. The kids easily got away and no one chased them or stopped them. They headed down into the metro and disappeared.

This was a terrible crime, and I am surprised by the lack of police presence anywhere near the Regal Cinemas or the Gallery Place Metro. Generally there are Transit Police or MPD on foot near that area.

I take issue with a few things in Megan's email though. Cameras aren't always an answer. I'm sure this assault was caught on cameras, but it will do little to help identify the suspects. Furthermore, MPD has placed big "obvious" cameras around the city, but it has done little to prevent crime or help make arrests. Officers on foot patrol, bike patrol, and horseback are the absolute best ways to prevent crime in these crowded areas. Transit Police have operations to prevent robberies, but should also work on ways to cooperate more with MPD. Transit and MPD have worked together before to help prevent the use of Metro for a getaway, this project should be expanded.

Crimes such as this, as well as robberies, have long been a problem in Chinatown. The large crowds and Metro access make for easy escape routes for suspects. However, there's a certain je ne sais quoi about these emails that rub me the wrong way. The incident is unfortunate, and I certainly hope that victim recovers quickly and also files a police report. I was a little surprised to read that the witness did not stay at the scene to speak to police, especially for someone so fired up and disturbed by the events. To all others, I would urge you to remain at the scene to talk to the responding officers and/or detectives. While it may seem pointless at the time, your statement about what happened could aid in a prosecution. Unlikely, sure, but imagine if the suspects were arrested on the Metro or somewhere nearby for a different offense. If you were able to provide some good information about the suspects, there's a chance they could be charged for this crime as well.

Was a destination error the cause of Friday's derailment?

Matt Johnson over at Greater Greater Washington has done some good research into how derailers (or  "Derail switches") operate, and how the situation on Friday may have unfolded. At this point it looks like there may not have been a failure of the Automatic Train Control system. Instead, it appears this incident may have been caused by operator and/or controller error.

How do we reach this conclusion? Well, what we know is that the train pulled into the pocket track outside of Farragut North, and attempted to continue on it's way towards Shady Grove. When the train reached the interlocking at the north end of the pocket, it was derailed. This was because there was a red signal in that direction. A logical explanation for this would be that the system was expecting the train to turn around in the pocket track, and head south towards Glenmont.

A commenter at Greater Greater Washington claims he was on the derailed train, and that when he boarded at Union Station the destination of the train showed "Farragut." This would be consistent with the theory that the ATC system believed the train was supposed to go out of service at Farragut North. If this is true, it's unclear how or why the incorrect destination was keyed in. The train operator should have realized that something was wrong when the train entered the pocket track, as this does not occur during normal operation. It was only when the operator attempted to exit the pocket track in the wrong direction that the derail switch kicked in.

What does this mean? This would indicate that this accident was caused by human error, and this was not a system failure. Had the derail switch failed to activate, it's unclear if the train would have been put onto the Glenmont side or the Shady Grove side. This is all supposition, but I believe that trains traveling towards Glenmont at the time would have had a red signal at the interlocking, and would have been stopped. It's likely the Automatic Train Protection system would have prevented a train continuing once it had exited the pocket track in the wrong direction.

The derailment itself was a large inconvenience for customers and first responders, and of course for Metro. However, it does not appear (at this time) to be rooted in any sort of systemic failure of automatic train control. It does indicate an error was made by the operator (attempting to pass through a red signal) and likely a train controller (for not catching the incorrect destination). It will be important for the NTSB and TOC to learn how this miscommunication happened, however at this time it does not appear to be a narrowly averted disaster. In this case, the safety systems kicked in and worked to correct for human error.

BREAKING: Red Line train derailed to avoid collision

 

DEVELOPING STORY: RED LINE TRAIN DERAILED TO AVOID COLLISION

Sources tell the Washington Post that today's derailment was caused when derailer equipment kicked in to prevent a collision with another train. The Red Line train, headed towards Shady Grove, derailed onto a "pocket track" between the Farragut North and Dupont Circle stations. The Metro source tells WaPo that the derailer kicked in when the train was attempting to pass through a red signal.

Note: Metro's crash-avoidance system does not work using typical signals. Signals on Metro are placed near interlockings (switches). More information as this develops... The NTSB has been dispatched to investigate this morning's accident.

Several questions arise, and remain unanswered at this point: Why would a train attempt to pass through a red signal at an interlocking. Why was the signal red? Was there single-tracking happening in the area? Was there another train in the vicinity (e.g. how close of a call was this?). What parts of Metro's safety system broke down in this instance? I'll be doing complete coverage of this event, and tying it into all of the previous Metro coverage from the past. If anything, this is yet again another example of why Metro needs serious safety reform. It appears at this point that several things went wrong this morning on the Red Line.

What does this mean?
Metro's Automatic Train Protection system should govern all train operations during revenue hours. This system, in theory, prevents a train from entering a block of track that is occupied by another train, or from passing through a red signal at an interlocking. It appears that the Automatic Train Protection system failed, allowing the train to pass through a red signal at an interlocking outside of Farragut North. Equipment present at the interlocking (derailer) kicked in and derailed the train to prevent it from entering a (presumably) occupied section of track, or worse, traveling onto the wrong-way track.

BREAKING: Derailment on Red Line near Farragut North

Reports are coming in of a possible train derailment at Farragut North. No official information at this time. DC Fire and EMS tweeted of an incident; Twitter reports have trains holding at Metro Center and Dupont Circle. Multiple fire trucks and ambulances have responded to the scene.

Some reports have included some sort of indication of a switch problem near the station. Possible a train has derailed due to malfunction of an interlocking. More info will be posted as it comes available.

From WMATA:

A six-car Red Line train headed in the direction of Shady Grove Metrorail station has reportedly derailed near the Farragut North Metrorail station. There are no reported injuries.

Metro officials and local first responders are at the scene to investigate and to safely get customers off of the train and to the station.

The preliminary report is that the front wheels of lead car is the one that came off the tracks. The incident took place at 10:13 a.m.

Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

From the scene, via Twitter user beaz83:

Here's a CBS news photo from Christina Ruffini:

From WaPo:

11:10 a.m. Update: Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein on Channel 4 news.

Metro confirmed that the front wheels of the first car of a Red Line train derailed at 10:13 a.m. as it was approaching the Farragut North Metro station.

"Fortunately our reports are that there have been no injuries," Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. "The front wheels of the front car came off the tracks. We do not know how it happened."

Farbstein said the six-car train was likely filled with passengers, given the late start of the workday for federal workers after the region was hit by a blizzard on Wednesday. She said Metro was evacuating passengers after electricity was cut to the line and that they would be escorted by walking on the tracks to the station platform.

"It's too early for us to know what exactly happened," she told the television station.

11:40 AM, via We Love DC via WJLA-TV:

Passenger on cell phone (Dana Mozie) with WJLA saying passengers are being allowed off the train. Reporting that a few passengers need medical attention, not for traumatic injuries but for conditions related to shock.

11:43 AM, photo from inside Farragut North, via Twitter user andrewkneale:

Is it over yet? Maybe?

So the blizzard warning has expired, but we've still got strong winds and a little bit of snow lingering. It's been a messy day, to say the least. We've got a fresh foot or so of snow on top of the nearly 20 inches that was still sitting here from the weekend. Last night also gave us a nice layer of ice mixed in there, so shoveling will be no easy task.

Thursday is looking like a nasty day, the Federal government is closed again and Metro will be on limited service. This is going to take a while to clean up. At this point I'm only vaguely aware of what day it is, or what time it is. Oh, it's 10:45 PM? Whatever, I had breakfast for dinner and am slowly running out of food and sanity. I haven't been to work since last Friday at around 1 PM. I haven't gotten mail since last Friday! I know, right? No mail since last Friday. I'm guessing the rent check I mailed last week is still en route to a PO box in downtown DC. This week in DC has been a combination of The Road and The Day After Tomorrow. It has not been like Kevin Costner's The Postman, because at least in that film the mail got delivered.

Anyhoo, there's all sorts of important stuff to be writing about, like Mayor Fenty's political career, cops arresting a yuppie near Wonderland for throwing snow, that sort of thing. But, like many of you, I've completely checked out. I've watched all of the Homicide: Life on the Streets DVDs I got at the library a week ago, and I'm suffering from extreme cabin fever. I ventured out to take a picture of a fire truck in the snow, and my hand was completely numb after about 3 minutes. I didn't even bother to try to take more photos.

Oh, and what's that? "HEAVY SNOW" projected for Monday by the National Weather Service.

Whaaaa?? Yeah. It's too soon to really know anything but the Hydrometeorlogical Prediction Center is saying we could get it again on Monday. No specifics, other than the fact that an agency with an extremely official and smart-sounding name has informed us that we'll be getting screwed again next week.

Maybe we'll dodge that bullet. In the meantime, stay warm and good luck trying to get anywhere tomorrow.

Liveblogging the storm: Show some compassion

Now don't get me wrong, I don't ask a whole lot from the DC Police. I know they are busy with crime, I get that. However, I also know that the job of a police officer is 90% dealing with day-to-day issues that don't ever make the front page, and generally don't even result in an arrest. Just about 15 minutes ago, outside my window I saw a man stumble and fall into a snowdrift in the middle of the street. He tried to get up a few times, and was staggering. I'm going to guess he may have been drunk, that isn't all that uncommon in these parts. He'd get up, and fall down again into the snow. He then got up, and stumbled out into 16th street. He continued to walk up 16th street, in a lane of traffic, stumbling. I went outside, and saw him walk and fall down a few more times. With poor visibility and the snow piling up, this could result in a dangerous situation. I'd venture to guess most people driving up 16th right now aren't watching for passed out pedestrians.

As he continued to make his way up the street, I saw a MPD cruiser. I flagged it down and told the officers that there was a guy stumbling up the street, falling down in the snow. All I asked was if they could turn around and see if he was OK. My concerns were two-fold, one that he might get hit by a car, and two that he might pass out in the snow and get buried. I was met with total and complete disregard. They said "oh, so he's up and walking now, right?" to my response of "well, sort of, he keeps falling down in the street." I'm not asking for them to buy the guy a cup of coffee and make sure he gets home, just simply to go get him out of the street. Eventually the officer said, "well, we don't want traffic backing up the hill." He made U-turn, drove up the street a little bit, and then made another U-turn and drove away.

I don't want to gripe here, but this whole experience was very disappointing. To them, maybe someone stumbling in the street and falling down in a snowstorm isn't a big deal. It probably isn't. I wasn't asking for much. I would have been happy with a simple "Thanks for letting us know, we'll check it out." Instead, it was exactly what I feared, the whole, "you are wasting our time" attitude. I'm sure it's been a long couple of days. I'm not going to name names or file complaints, but I'm just saddened. I've reported my share of things to MPD before, and have generally always had a positive experience. Hopefully this was just an anomaly.

It's here, again; Snow blitz continues, high winds expected

Next round moves in: Above ground mass transit suspended, Federal government closed for 3rd day

The snow has already arrived, as of around 8:30 we've got a few new inches of snow. Temperatures are dropping and we've got a mess on the roads. Vehicles are struggling, even on major roads. I watched a rickety-old van nearly slide down 16th Street going up the hill. Visibility is very poor. Winds are expected to pick up, possibly leading to blizzard conditions. Tomorrow will not be pretty. Roads will again be a mess, and snow will still be coming down.

As of 8:30, we know that Metrorail will be underground only, and all Metrobus and Metroaccess service will be suspended. It's likely the DC Circulator will be suspended also. The Federal government will be closed for the third straight day.

Yes, we should keep in mind there are financial burdens when businesses and agencies close. Also, many hourly employees end up without pay if their employers close. This can be hard for many people. There's agitation in the air, and things are a mess. For what it's worth, Mayor Fenty held a whole bunch of press conferences all around the city. I'll join the chorus of people saying he should have stayed put at the SNOW COMMAND CENTER.

There is still no word on the DC Government status tomorrow. The only option at this point is to close the DC government. I've been hearing from people who have had to go to work each day, often without any transit option. Many of these people don't own cars, and some who do are snowed in. It's not a joke when someone has to walk 3 miles to work in the snow, and especially if there's 50 mph winds tomorrow. If windchills reach around 0 degrees or lower, exposed skin can freeze (frostbite) in under 5 minutes.

Snow delayed, still coming. Fenty must close DC gov't tomorrow

The snowstorm is still approaching, if a bit delayed.

From the Capital Weather Gang:

Through tonight: Snow and sleet showers developing this evening consolidate into a general area of light to moderate snow into the night. Some mix is possible across much of the area early, still favoring D.C. and southeast, but we should flip over to snow within a short window around midnight. There may be some lulls in activity late with snowfall rates picking up again near sunrise. Lows range from 20 to 25 with winds increasing by morning.

Tomorrow (Wednesday): Snow and blowing snow is the big story of the morning and very strong winds tell the tale of the afternoon. We should see a band of moderate to heavy snow swing through the area through midday before precipitation tapers late. Winds increase throughout the day and gust as high as 50 mph during the afternoon, causing reduced visibilities, drifting of snow and power outages. Highs should rise to the upper 20s and around 30.

Accumulation may be lower than initially predicted, but these will be downright nasty conditions. The photo in this post was taken this morning, on Connecticut Avenue in Dupont Circle. Some roads have been cleared, others are still a mess. Even 6" would make things much more of a mess. However, given that transit and driving will be snarled, it's downright unsafe to expect people to head to work in blizzard conditions. With strong winds gusting to 50 mph, walking outside for any period of time is absolutely unsafe.

If the forecast models prove to be true, and there is wind and snow tomorrow morning; the DC government needs to close. There's no way around it. Lost productivity or not, it's gotta happen.

We're totes fucked, folks

Blizzard 2010 continues to wreak havoc, city remains shut down. Heading into Tuesday the Federal government remains shut down. The District government will be open, though DC Public Schools will be closed. The biggest story perhaps is that Metro will still be on limited service tomorrow. I was fully expecting Metrorail to be back to full service above ground today. The fact that many above ground stations will be closed for the fourth day makes absolutely no sense. Let's talk about what we know: Metrorail cannot run above ground if the third rail is covered in snow. The third rail is roughly 8 inches above the ground. Metro has equipment that can work to clear the track above ground, and also has deicing equipment. There has been no new snow accumulation since around 6 PM on Saturday. How have they been unable to clear the snow? Yes, drifting and blowing snow can be a problem, but at this point this is baffling.

On top of all of this, another 10-20 inches of snow is expected. Yes, we are completely and totally fucked. I've lived in DC since 2002, and I recall back in '03 when we had a few big snowstorms. I wasn't here in '96 for the blizzard, so the idea of a city being shut down for essentially a whole week is a completely foreign concept. However, this much snow is also a completely foreign concept. I grew up in Chicago, which gets a lot of snow. I'd only heard stories of snowstorms measured in "feet." Sure, in Chicago you might get a few storms in a row that add up to 2+ feet, but I can't remember this much hitting all at once.

So how do we feel about the Fenty's handling of the snow? Back in December, we were all impressed by how the city handled the big snow. We saw trucks treating the big streets, and come Monday we were perhaps a bit surprised that OPM closed the government. However, for us city dwellers we need to also think of those out in the 'burbs. As I write this on Monday night, a lot of streets in the District are still a mess. 16th Street NW is finally a bit clear, but still with some ice and slush. Columbia Road is still slushy, and will likely re-freeze tonight. Side streets are mostly impassible. For many of us, though, the conditions of the road aren't so important. We can trudge through the snow and make it to CVS or Safeway. Of course, the shelves are bare (as the Mayor of the Sandinista Safeway, I am upset with the lack of perishable goods), but imagine living 4 miles from a grocery store, and being in a still-buried subdivision. However, what do we think? Fenty opened the government knowing that Metro would be limited (mostly non-existent today). Why did he do this? It would have been very easy to simply say:

Good evening. As I speak, crews are working around the clock to clear District streets. However, given the limited service provided by Metrorail and Metrobus, and the fact that many residential areas remained snowed in, I have decided to close the District government. The Federal government is also closed, and I urge all residents to stay off the roads so our crews can continue their work. While the work of the government is very important, the safety of our employees is paramount.

No really, how hard is that? You don't even have to take the blame! Blame Metro! Blame the suburbs! Look, any of you government-types that want to hire me, I'll write your tweets and blog for you. It'll be great, and you'll be doing a whole lot better than you're doing now, 'cause ya'll suck.

So yes, all in all we are totally fucked. If the weather models prove true, and we get another, say 16" of snow by Wednesday night, we'll be buried through the weekend. Metro will be screwed until probably Friday, and most stores will remain unstocked throughout the week. This isn't pretty, people. City dwellers, this is one of those times where the premium we pay to live so close to everything is so worth it.


In case you missed it: Tooting my own Tweet horn: @DaveStroup: maybe kwame brown should get on foursquare, then he could be the mayor of something.

"Day off" Monday

Digging out. If your work follows the federal schedule, you'll have Monday off. That would include this here blogger. The DC government is being very flinty, and will be opening an hour late. Originally the DC schools were going to be open, however they quickly changed their minds. WMATA has announced that Metro will open at 7 am with underground service only. Metrobus will resume on only a couple dozen routes, on snow routes only.

The DC Circulator will be operating, though with longer than 10 minute headways. The service will be free, however.

Kwame Brown (D-At Large) was quick to criticize Fenty's decision to open the government and the schools. Brown lobbied to close the government on Monday, noting the poor conditions of roads and the lack of public transportation.

He put out a couple of interesting things on Twitter, including:

@KwameBrownDC: Never count the underdog out! The people's choice always win.

Now this could be referring to the New Orleans Saints, or his own run for mayor. Has the Mayor's handling of the snow pushed him further towards running? Hmmmm...

Also from Brown, "How nice of the DC Circulator to be free. Well at least the residents of Virginia coming into DC benifet (sic), but its not offered to DC resident (sic)." This doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as the Circulator doesn't actually go to Virginia yet. He followed up with an explanation "But not for residnets (sic) in ward 5 7 or 8 who need the service (cheaper by the way) then those coming in visiting (tourist) get a free ride."

Not sure how many tourists will be coming in tomorrow, considering the Metro won't be servicing a lot of Virginia. But hey, yes, reliable $1 transit for all residents in DC would be awesome. However, this should be more of an emphasis on improving Metrobus, rather than lobbying for more Circulators.

Kwame Brown's political career aside, it's getting very cold out tonight and most anything that melted will be icing over. Tomorrow morning will prove a very difficult commute for anyone who needs to get to work. For those still without power, this is not a good situation. Weather models are showing we might be getting another 6" tomorrow.

On Sunday night, during halftime, we went to the Diner for dinner. Our server mentioned how a dog had been tied up out front for a while. Yes, it was a big dog, but he was tied up to the cigarette ashtray thing. This isn't exactly the most secure thing to tie a dog to. I guess I don't understand why someone would decide to have dinner and tie their dog up outside in the snow, slush and salt for ~ 45 minutes. The dog isn't going to freeze, but even with a thick coat it doesn't seem like the most pleasant place in the world to be. I saw the guys leave and retrieve the dog, and I was very tempted to tell them off. I just hope they didn't decide to go to another bar in Adams Morgan and tie him up again, the wind is picking up and it's getting very cold.

I'm aiming to have a round-up of all the snow-related nonsense that happened this weekend. I might also plug a few more snow photos during the day tomorrow. If you have the day off and you don't need to shovel your sidewalk or dig out your car, enjoy the day off. Please don't drive down uncleared side streets in your non all-wheel-drive vehicles. I've seen too many people get stuck outside my apartment window. As far as I know, in the history of cars, flooring your vehicle while it's stuck has never been successful. And even if you manage to push the car out, it will only then speed out of control and strike the people trying to help you (saw this happen as well).

Once in a lifetime snowstorm underway

This is for serious. Enjoy the snow, but stay safe

From the NWS:

...RECORD SNOWFALL FORECAST IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON DC REGION...

...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS DEVELOPING TONIGHT...

GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH VISIBILITIES FREQUENTLY
FALLING BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE DUE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL DEVELOP
TONIGHT TO PRODUCE NEAR-BLIZZARD AND EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.  TRAVEL IS HIGHLY
DISCOURAGED TONIGHT AND WILL BE VERY DANGEROUS.

LOOKING BACK AT THE BIGGEST STORM OF RECORD FOR WASHINGTON DC... THE
JANUARY 1922 KNICKERBOCKER STORM...28.0 INCHES OF SNOW WAS
PRODUCED FROM 3.02 INCHES OF LIQUID WATER.  CURRENT FORECASTS FOR
THIS EVENT HAVE TOTAL LIQUID FALLING FROM THIS STORM APPROACHING 3
INCHES...WHICH ACCORDINGLY WOULD CREATE A SNOWFALL THAT WILL RIVAL
THE KNICKERBOCKER STORM TOTAL.  GENERALLY ACROSS THE REGION...20 TO
30 INCHES OF SNOW WILL FALL BY SATURDAY EVENING.

BALTIMORES RECORD OF 26.8 INCHES FROM THE PRESIDENTS DAY FEBRUARY 2003
STORM WILL ALSO BE THREATENED.

A FEW PRECAUTIONARY AND PREPAREDNESS ITEMS TO NOTE:

1.  FOLLOW MANUFACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS WHEN OPERATING A GENERATOR OR
AXILLARY HEATER.  ENSURE PORTABLE GENERATORS ARE ADEQUATELY VENTILATED.

2.  TRAVEL CONDITIONS TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE EXTREMELY
DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING.  HELP YOUR LOCAL AND STATE
GOVERNMENT FIRST RESPONDERS AND TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES BY STAYING
OFF ROADS LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

3.  FOLLOW LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY DECLARATION ORDERS.
IF YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY...DO NOT TRAVEL
ALONE.  LET SOMEONE KNOW YOUR TIMETABLE AND YOUR PRIMARY AND
ALTERNATE ROUTES.  CARRY WITH YOU A WINTER STORM SURVIVAL KIT WHICH
INCLUDES A MOBILE PHONE...BLANKETS...FLASHLIGHT WITH EXTRA
BATTERIES...HIGH CALORIE NON-PERISHABLE FOOD AND WATER...AND A
SHOVEL.

4.  IF YOU GET STRANDED IN YOUR VEHICLE...DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR TO
TRY TO WALK FOR ASSISTANCE...YOU CAN QUICKLY BECOME DISORIENTED IN
WIND DRIVEN SNOW AND COLD.  THIS STORM WILL SUBSIDE SATURDAY
AFTERNOON...SO WAIT IN YOUR CAR FOR EMERGENCY HELP TO ARRIVE.
PERIODICALLY RUN YOUR ENGINE FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES EACH HOUR FOR
HEAT. ENSURE YOUR EXHAUST PIPE IS CLEARED OF SNOW AND ICE.  CRACK
YOUR WINDOWS TO AVOID CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. TIE A COLORED CLOTH
TO YOUR CARS ANTENNA TO BE VISIBLE TO RESCUERS. FROM
TIME-TO-TIME...MOVE YOUR ARMS...LEGS...FINGERS...AND TOES TO KEEP
BLOOD CIRCULATING.

5.  AVOID OVEREXERTION WHEN SHOVELING SNOW.  BREAK THE SHOVELING
DOWN INTO SMALLER JOBS AND TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS.

6.  IN CASE OF POWER SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS...HAVE AVAILABLE FLASH
LIGHTS WITH EXTRA BATTERIES...EXTRA FOOD AND WATER...EXTRA MEDICINES.

7.  ENSURE ANY PETS AND FARM ANIMALS HAVE PLENTY OF WATER...FOOD...
AND SHELTER.

FINALLY...THE KEY TO GETTING THROUGH THIS AND OTHER PERIODS OF
HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER IS WITH ADVANCE PLANNING AND BEING AWARE OF
CURRENT CONDITIONS.  THIS STORM WILL BE WINDING DOWN EARLY SATURDAY
EVENING...SO DO YOUR PART AND LET YOUR LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS
RESTORE ROADWAYS TO NORMAL CONDITIONS BY STAYING AT HOME.

News Bullets, time to panic Friday;

While my only official training in meteorology consists of watching a lot of shows about storm chasing, the occasional IMAX film, and a few weather books--it's obvious we are about to be hit with a potential "storm of the century."

Right now, the radar shows a big mass of rain and snow extending from the DC metro area all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. This is the real deal. The predictions make this look a lot like the Blizzard of 1996, which completely crippled the region. Fun factoid about the '96 storm; the City of Philadelphia banned vehicular travel. Also, the State of New Jersey closed all of their roads, including the Turnpike.

In any case, the Federal government has decided to send workers home in the middle of the storm, which could begin at any time. Projections show 3-5 inches by evening rush, though that could be more. Keep in mind above 6" Metrorail service above ground is impacted, and at 8" is suspended all together. Don't expect Metrorail or Metrobus to be running later this evening.

As is making the rounds on the webz and Twitter, everyone indeed freaked out last night. I heard reports of 2+ hour lines at the Harris Teeter in Adams Morgan, and roughly the same at the Safeway. Chaos unfolded outside Whole Foods in Logan Circle as well. For a time the store stopped letting people in; they were afraid they had reached their capacity. Hipsters were left outside screaming "I HAVE NO COFFEE AT HOME." LET ME IN! 

Let's be real here for a minute: This is a dangerous storm. Travel will be very difficult and potentially dangerous this evening. Conditions will get bad, and you could get stranded. Stay at home. If you live in the city, especially anywhere near stuff, it will be okay. If you can walk to Whole Foods on a normal day, you'll be able to survive 2-3 days buried in snow. Yes, stores will run out of things. Yes, restocking might not happen until Monday or Tuesday. But the roads will eventually be cleared. You'll live. But be careful out there, no joke. 

On a complete random aside, I heard an ad on the radio last night for birdfeed. I could be wrong, but this ad was really long, maybe a 60 sec spot. It was all about how songbirds need a helping hand during the winter. You can be that helping hand by purchasing Scott birdfeed. No, really, the ad was explaining how these birds need you to stand up for them and buy seed or else they will die. I was surprised there wasn't a Sarah McLachlan song playing in the background. I'm a well wisher for birds (in that I don't wish them any specific harm) but c'mon, spending a minute on the radio pitching birdfeed? Take the damn $10 you'd spend on birdfeed and donate it to a food bank or homeless shelter. We should be buying bags of homelessfeed in the dead of winter.

Goodbye Comcast, Hello Xfinity? What the hell?

Yes, it is true. Comcast in DC will be re-branded as XFINITY in the coming weeks. Yes, you will now have XFINITY TV, XFINITY Internet and XFINITY Voice service. Seems that they felt the old Comcast brand was perhaps a bit tarnished, or just not super AWESOME enough. I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce this name, which I suppose sounds like EX-FINITY. This way when I call to complain that my service sucks, or is too expensive, I'll feel like such an idiot saying "I want to cancel my XFINITY service" that I won't even bother with the phone call.

From Comcast:

Today on Comcast’s earnings call Brian Roberts and Steve Burke talked about XFINITY, the new brand for our technology platform and products. Simply put, XFINITY is about offering our customers more — more HD, more speed, more choice and more control over their services. XFINITY is the culmination of years of work to transition Comcast’s network and products to a platform that will now offer 100+ HD channels, 50 to 70 foreign-language channels, approaching 20,000+ VOD choices, incredibly fast Internet speeds (50 Mbps growing to 100+ Mbps) and thousands of TV shows and movies online for our customers to watch whenever and wherever they want.

XFINITY represents the future of our company and it’s a promise to customers that we’ll keep innovating. When we launch XFINITY in a market, we’ll rebrand our products: XFINITY TV, XFINITY Voice and XFINITY Internet (our company, of course, remains Comcast). This transition is already well underway across the country. Next week, XFINITY will roll out in 11 markets including: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Hartford, Augusta, Chattanooga, parts of the Bay Area and San Francisco, with more markets to come later this year.

Yeah, FiOS is kind of a lame name, too, but that doesn't mean Comcast needs to jump on the stupid re-branding bandwagon. Maybe I'll be able to buy a XFINITY modem at THE SHACK, and use XFINITY voice to order pizza from THE HUT. That way I can eat my pizza and watch SYFY or flip over to the news and hear about how XE is murdering civilians around the world. Sweet.

New Comcast tech uniforms

TO XFINITY AND BEYOND!