FRIENDSHIP 'TURTLE' PARK in Northwest D.C. will not be closed indefinitely, despite initial reports last night that it would be shut down due to concerns about arsenic levels in the soil. Karen Harris, chairperson of May Fair, an annual fundraising event for the park, says the park will be open, and the family friendly event is continuing as planned on Saturday.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Ward 3 councilmember Mary Cheh and George S. Hawkins, director of the D.C. Department of Environment confirmed at a press conference Thursday that initial reports of the park's closure were premature, according to Harris.

"When they said the park might be closed last night, it's because they had not been made aware of the Army Corps of Engineers testing in 2002," Harris said. "Extensive arsenic testing was done [then], that showed no significant levels of arsenic."

May Fair takes place Saturday at Turtle Park, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

SPENDING TIME in one of the many parks in the District can be good for your head. Unless that park is Fort Reno. Then, not so much — it's been closed by the National Park Service due to levels of arsenic in the soil that exceed federal safety standards.

In a statement released Wednesday, the park service said it closed Fort Reno, located on Nebraska Avenue NW near Tenleytown, at 6 a.m. after it received word from the U.S. Geological Survey that satellite imaging reports "that the Fort Reno Park grounds contain arsenic levels in the soil and that the levels revealed in the USGS report exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) safety threshold."

The imaging took place, the statement said, as part of the USGS's "on-going work in the Spring Valley section of upper Northwest Washington with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."

The statement went on to indicate that the findings were a little unexpected.

"The only time the NPS would conduct field soil sampling or soil testing on national park lands is when it knows of or suspects there has been a release into the environment. The NPS had no prior reason to suspect anything other than safe conditions existed in Fort Reno Park."

» Fort Reno [NPS.gov]

LOOKING FOR A SPACE to show off your art? Local officials have a sizable canvas they're looking to fill.

Barracks Row Main Street, a non-profit organization looking to revitalize the 8th Street SE corridor, and the D.C. Department of Transportation are looking for someone to create an urban mural on the Southeast Freeway overpass. According to a press release, the goal of the project is to craft a unique landmark that expresses the character of the surrounding neighborhood.

Specifically, organizers would like the art to be reflective of the history of the strip — considered the oldest commercial corridor in the city — and tie the area together with the nearby Anacostia River and Navy Yard. Graphic representations must include a transportation theme, according to the groups, but waterfront, nature, commerce and architecture scenes are also welcome.

Continue Reading "Calling All Artists to Spruce Up Barracks Row Overpass" »

Photo of flooded roads in Beltsville this morning by James M. Thresher/The Washington Post

YOU'D NEVER KNOW IT'S mid-May by looking at the thermometer for the past two days. It's cold. And rainy. And windy. And so over-the-top crappy that some folks — yours truly included — have transitioned from being congested due to pollen to being congested because of some airborne terrorist that hijacked our bodies while unseasonable cold and ridiculous wetness teamed up to distract our immune systems.

Blah.

Thankfully, our colleagues at washingtonpost.com's Capital Weather Gang say that relief is in sight: Tomorrow will boast temps in the mid to upper 60s and some extremely welcome sunshine.

But before that, we have to get through today, when temperatures will struggle only into the lower 50s, and tonight, when the mercury will dip into the 40s. The rain should end tonight.

Continue Reading "D.C. Area Deluge to End Tonight; Warmer Tuesday" »

NATIONAL TEACHER DAY is celebrated on the first Tuesday of the first full week in May — in other words, today.

Unfortunately, as many as 30 D.C. Public Schools principals are learning in a letter sent Monday that they're losing their jobs when the next school year rolls around.

Ouch.

The Post's Bill Turque and V. Dion Haynes report that D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee declined to name which principals she's dismissing. "Parents will learn this directly from the District, which is appropriate, AFTER we tell the individuals who are impacted," she wrote in e-mails to The Post.

Continue Reading "Happy National Teacher Day, Fired D.C. Principals!" »

THE FORMER JUDGE who sued a dry cleaners for $54 million over a pair of lost pants is hitting the courts again, but this time he's fighting to get his job back, according to NBC4.

Roy L. Pearson Jr. has filed a suit in federal court claiming that he was wrongfully dismissed for exposing corruption within the Office of Administrative Hearings.

Pearson, a former administrative law judge, lost his job when his term expired in May 2007. A D.C. commission voted against reappointing Pearson in October 2007.

The lawsuit is yet another twist in a story that began with Pearson suing Soo and Jin Chung, who owned Custom Cleaners in Northeast, for misplacing a pair of his pants. Pearson initially sued for $65 million, claiming the establishment did not live up to a "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign posted in the shop.

Continue Reading "Pants Lawsuit Judge Sues To Get His Job Back" »

THREE MONTHS AFTER the biggest fare hike in Metro's history, ridership continues to grow, according to budget analysts.

"Rail ridership is up, bus [ridership] stayed about the same as last year and parking lots and garages are still filling up," said Metro Budget Director Rick Harcum after studying three months of ridership data.

According to Metro, average weekday ridership grew 6 percent in January, 4 percent in February and 3 percent in March. Budget analysts project another 3 percent growth in rail ridership over the next few months, as compared to last year.

Continue Reading "Metro Ridership Up After Fare Increases" »

Taxi driver Alexander Holder checks his new meter Thursday as he waits for a fare at Union Station. Photo by Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post

IT'S MAY 1 -- D-Day for D.C.'s taxi drivers, the day every cab in the District is supposed to have meters installed as part of the great changeover from the city's notorious zoned fare system to a more traditional metered system.

But if you take a cab today, odds are you won't see a meter. Excuses abound, ranging from a dismissive "We don't need to have them till June" (not true, and violators face a hefty fine) to, "This company ain't ordered them yet." Your driver might cite the high cost of having a meter installed ("over $400," according to one cabbie) or the long wait time (only a few places in the city install meters).

Cabs in D.C. are generally clean and pleasant. They don't smell of vomit or cigar smoke. But today they reek of festering rage. Cab drivers are angry, and soon the District may have a lot fewer of them.

When asked about his missing meter, driver Liban Aden declares that he won't be getting one.

"I ain't gonna work free," he says. "I gotta find another job."

Aden, an immigrant from Somalia, has been driving a cab for two years. He expects to see at least a 50 percent drop in most fares, and that's on top of sky-high gas prices -- he paid $3.99 per gallon yesterday.

He says a passenger recently suggested that if he didn't like the change to meters, he should go back to Africa. But he's sticking with America, if not with his taxi: "I'm a U.S. citizen. I voted. This is my country," he says, "I don't know why I deserve this punishment."

Continue Reading "Fare Warning: D.C. Cabs Convert to Meters? Not So Fast" »

An artist's rendering of above-ground Metrorail track through Tysons Corner. Image courtesy Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

IMAGINE YOU HAD a beloved family dog. It had lived a long, long life, and it brought your family joy — even if it sometimes spawned an argument or two about whether it ought to be digging in the yard.

Earlier this year, the dog died. You had a funeral for it. You buried it in the yard. You grieved for it. Then, months later, it appeared at your doorstep, wagging its tail and looking for dinner.

That must be how it feels to be someone who worked on the project to extend Metrorail to Dulles Airport. Earlier today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, in a stunning turnabout, told officials that the federal government would allow the project to move into a final design phase, The Post's Amy Gardner and Lena H. Sun report.

The effort had been brought to a standstill in January, when federal officials cited a laundry list of concerns — rising costs, the ability of the Metro system to integrate the 23 miles of new territory, the ability of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to manage the construction — to support their decision not to provide $900 million in federal funding that was the oxygen the project needed to survive.

Metro to Dulles was dead. So dead that Tysons Tunnel, the tenacious group of residents and businesspeople who opposed the plan because it would snake aboveground track through Tysons Corner, withdrew its federal lawsuit seeking to block the project.

That kind of dead.

Its resurrection has set keyboards a-clacking around the area.

Continue Reading "It's Alive! Reactions to the Dulles Rail Resurrection" »

WITH SUMMER'S HEAT coming right around the corner, Metro and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission have set their first Code Red Air Quality Action Day of the year for Wednesday.

According to Metro, free bus rides will be offered throughout the day on all Northern Virginia bus routes, and special events will take place from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. at various commuter locations to raise awareness about the impact of poor air quality on the health of commuters in the region.

Free bus rides will also be offered in suburban Maryland on forecasted Code Red days through September 15. The program is designed to encourage people to use mass transit and reduce air pollution. Visit Metro's site to find out more.