Good morning, Washington. Hopefully you didn't get get caught in the thunderstorms that came in from Chicago last night. Or hopefully you weren't one of the many stuck on I-270 last night, when a gas leak slowed down traffic to a crawl for six hours. Looks like today is going to be even more insufferably hot than it was yesterday, with a predicted high temperature of 100 degrees. And what, it's only Tuesday?
Foggy Bottom Metro Gets New Escalator:Katja Weir at the Washington Examiner noted that yesterday was the first test run for a new escalator at the Foggy Bottom Metro station, completing the first phase in a $6 million escalator-replacement project that began in January. The rest of the project includes replacing the remaining two entrance escalators, adding a staircase, and placing a canopy over the entrance. Foggy Bottom commuters, the worst is not yet over.
Pepco and Metro Face Off: When the area's most hated utility company and the area's love-to-hate transit system enter into business together, things seem to go awry. Metro recently backed out of a no-bid contract with Pepco when a proposed $16 million in energy-saving changes to stations inexplicably became $22 million, Luke Rosiak at the Washington Times reports. An audit of Metro's deals shows that outside contractors have overcharged the transit agencies for various services on more than one occasion.
Regulators Increase Scrutiny of Pepco: Speaking of "we're not even shooting for average" Pepco, DC's regulators have tightened standards for the utility company, the Washington Post reports. The new measures say that Pepco must reduce instances of outages by 9 percent each year starting in 2013. The length of outages must be reduced by 3 to 4 percent each year. Here's hoping this is a standard Pepco is actually willing to shoot for.
Lanier Gets a Salary Cap: DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier, reportedly the highest paid police chief in the country, might get a salary cap for just over a quarter million from the DC Council. Freeman Klopott at the Examinerthat Lanier's proposed salary, at $253,817, exceeds the cap for President Barack Obama's cabinet members. Briefly noted: Howard County may ban smoking in its outdoor parks.
It’s Going to Be a Hot One; Foggy Bottom Metro Gets New Escalator: Morning Links
Must-reads from around Washington
Good morning, Washington. Hopefully you didn't get get caught in the thunderstorms that came in from Chicago last night. Or hopefully you weren't one of the many stuck on I-270 last night, when a gas leak slowed down traffic to a crawl for six hours. Looks like today is going to be even more insufferably hot than it was yesterday, with a predicted high temperature of 100 degrees. And what, it's only Tuesday?
Foggy Bottom Metro Gets New Escalator: Katja Weir at the Washington Examiner noted that yesterday was the first test run for a new escalator at the Foggy Bottom Metro station, completing the first phase in a $6 million escalator-replacement project that began in January. The rest of the project includes replacing the remaining two entrance escalators, adding a staircase, and placing a canopy over the entrance. Foggy Bottom commuters, the worst is not yet over.
Pepco and Metro Face Off: When the area's most hated utility company and the area's love-to-hate transit system enter into business together, things seem to go awry. Metro recently backed out of a no-bid contract with Pepco when a proposed $16 million in energy-saving changes to stations inexplicably became $22 million, Luke Rosiak at the Washington Times reports. An audit of Metro's deals shows that outside contractors have overcharged the transit agencies for various services on more than one occasion.
Regulators Increase Scrutiny of Pepco: Speaking of "we're not even shooting for average" Pepco, DC's regulators have tightened standards for the utility company, the Washington Post reports. The new measures say that Pepco must reduce instances of outages by 9 percent each year starting in 2013. The length of outages must be reduced by 3 to 4 percent each year. Here's hoping this is a standard Pepco is actually willing to shoot for.
Lanier Gets a Salary Cap: DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier, reportedly the highest paid police chief in the country, might get a salary cap for just over a quarter million from the DC Council. Freeman Klopott at the Examiner that Lanier's proposed salary, at $253,817, exceeds the cap for President Barack Obama's cabinet members.
Briefly noted: Howard County may ban smoking in its outdoor parks.
Subscribe to Washingtonian
Follow Washingtonian on Twitter
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
What It Felt Like for a Virginia Marching Band to Win Metallica’s Contest
Meet the 2023 Washingtonians of the Year
What’s IN and OUT in DC Restaurant Trends for 2024
Introducing 8 of DC’s Most Stylish
Washingtonian Magazine
May 2024: Great Getaways
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
13 Major Concerts and Music Festivals in the DC Area This Spring
Mary Timony on Her Emotional New Album, “Untame the Tiger”
The Beatles in DC: A New Exhibit in Maryland Looks Back on Early Beatlemania
Northern Virginia High School Wins Metallica’s Marching Band Competition
More from News & Politics
DC Area College Students Protest Gaza War at George Washington University Encampment
Here Are the Celebrities Coming to Town for the White House Correspondents Dinner
Insomnia Cookies, Picnic Blankets: Waiting in Line for Trump’s Supreme Court Case
PHOTOS: Demonstrators Gather Outside the Supreme Court as It Hears Arguments on Emergency Abortion Case
DC’s Coolest Jobs: A Jazz Detective. Orchid Whisperer. Armageddon Stopper.
Seven Miles of Georgia Avenue Will Have a Bus-Only Lane This Summer
What We’ll Miss (or Won’t Miss) About Foxtrot
Foxtrot Is Closing Its DC-Area Stores