Dinner links: It's starting again

by David Alpert • February 9, 2010 5:03 pm

Photo by Steve Offutt.

"Snoverkill" coming: 7-16 more inches are coming tonight (Capital Weather Gang) ... We already have the second-highest snowfall of any U.S. city this year, after Syracuse, which typically gets over 5 times our average total. (DCist)

Row house owners probably don't have to worry about their roofs, and definitely shouldn't go up there to get snow off (Post) ... The Dupont Circle snowball fight is back tomorrow, starting at 2 pm.

Who shoveled?: Have DC's political figures shoveled their properties? Councilmember Jack Evans (Ward 2) did. At-Large candidate Clark Ray did some but a poor job. And Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro didn't at all. (City Paper)

Don't drive or plow this trail: Those stanchions in the middle of bike trail entrances may keep cars from accidentally driving on trails and damaging bridges, but they also means they don't get plowed. (CommuterPageBlog, WashCycle, Gavin Baker)

Sparks fly on Metro: A Blue Line train hit a communication wire, creating sparks and smoke, but the conductor just said "stand by" for 20 minutes. (Unsuck DC Metro)

Don't wait a year to call Muriel: Incompetent inspectors made a simple rental license application take a year for a Shepherd Park couple. They finally got a resolution after emailing the neighborhood list and having Councilmember Muriel Bowser follow up. Most Councilmembers would be on this in a flash; if you're in a similar situation, don't wait a year before contacting your representative. (Post)

Taking away their fare share: Montgomery County may eliminate "super fare share," a program where the County pays some of an employer's transit benefit on a declining scale over ten years for employers in Metro-accessible areas. If the cuts go through, many employees will face a spike in their commuting costs. (Gazette)

Saving through a lottery: 8 Michigan credit unions found a way to get "unbanked" people to start saving: a lottery. For every $25 saved, each participant got one entry into a $100,000 drawing, plus smaller monthly prizes. It brought in 11,000 new savers, and unlike the regular lottery, nobody loses. (Post, Chuck Coleman)

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15 comments Share	— tags: banks, bike trails, budget, Clark Ray, DC, DCRA, Dupont Circle, Jack Evans, links, Maryland, Metro safety, Michigan, Montgomery, Muriel Bowser, snow, stanchions, transit benefits, WMATA

Metro is $150 million in the hole every year in the future (Dec 18, 2009)
Metro outlines service cuts for current year (Dec 18, 2009)
Metro should release more budget-closing options (Dec 3, 2009)
How jurisdictions share the cost of Metro, and what it means for riders (Nov 3, 2009)
It's here! Metro posts transit data online (Mar 23, 2009)

Comments

It is not the stanchions, but by MoCo Parks Dept. policy that the Capital Crescent Trail is not plowed. See the Gazette on this issue at:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/01132010/bethnew215305_32547.php

by Wayne Phyillaier on Feb 9, 2010 5:24 pm

Contacting your councilman is just about the best idea imaginable for cases like that - I can't even imagine why they didn't think of it sooner themselves. I've recommended to my boyfriend that he call his councilman (Jim Kraft in Baltimore) a couple of times and both times he got near immediate resolution to issues the city otherwise would have blown off for months (in both cases, they'd let leaking water main/meter issues go for over two weeks).

by Sean Robertson on Feb 9, 2010 5:46 pm

I love the lottery/saving idea. I always wanted to change the lottery so that instead of the state getting money, the lottery ticket buyer would. In order to buy a lottery ticket, you had to have an "account" number that's tied to an IRA. 10 cents (or whatever the state gets from your dollar) goes into your IRA for every ticket you buy. Also, half your winnings. You can't touch the money until you turn 65. You can't even call it Nanny-state behavior, because you don't have to play the lottery.

Of course, really we should either get rid of the lottery or open it up to competition. The idea of a state-run monopoly is just wrong wrong wrong.

by David C on Feb 9, 2010 6:00 pm

Metro continues its EPIC FAIL when it comes to safety and public communication. A whole lot more Metro employees need to be fired in a very public manner before the agency's culture changes.

by Fritz on Feb 9, 2010 6:08 pm

MoCo's super fare share of commute costs should start with ensuring that employers don't subsidize parking for employees. Often, MoCo requires developers to build a lot of parking, then puts together incentives to ride transit rather than use subsidized parking.

by ccort on Feb 9, 2010 6:14 pm

MNCPPC's rationale for not plowing the CCT makes absolutely no sense. It would not be that expensive to plow the asphalt portion of the trail, the Coalition for the CCT could even pick up the tab on the scale of a few thousand dollars. Clearly politics are at works.

by Cyrus on Feb 9, 2010 6:39 pm

I think people are right to be worried about the weight of snow... http://jdland.com/dc/index.cfm?id=3148

by Michael on Feb 9, 2010 7:00 pm

I think I'm really at my limit of snow-themed portmanteaus. Can't we just call it a blizzard or a snow storm?

by Dave Murphy on Feb 9, 2010 9:12 pm

I used to work for a 14,000 space parking department in Iowa. Stanchions and plowing are completely compatible. There are several models of collapsible/removable stanchions available. We used them all the time on roads that we didn't want the general public going down but had to be available/plowed for emergency vehicle access to buildings.

They don't cost a substantial amount more, either.

by Evan on Feb 9, 2010 9:19 pm

DC residents- stop with the practice of putting objects in a parking space after you dig out! This is illegal and very un-neighborly. Think about the residents around the corner on the Snow Emergency route streets- they have to park somewhere! When you leave a space, it is fair game for anyone who comes along. Period!

by KevinM on Feb 10, 2010 8:00 am

I'd love to hear what the City Council members say about their inability to get their walks cleared. The representatives should be the ones showing civic pride, and setting a good example: you know REPRESENTING. If you can't do it, follow Eleanor Holmes Norton who hired someone.

by SJE on Feb 10, 2010 9:29 am

@Kevin M: You're not from the Northeast, are you?

by fritz on Feb 10, 2010 10:04 am

The lottery idea is brilliant and used around the world - I know of several "developing nations" where they use a lottery system to encourage people to save. Same basic idea as elsewhere - for every X dollars you save you get Y chances to win Z dollars (or whatever the local currency is).

I particularly like it because of how it flips, as my one friend puts it, the "stupid tax" (gambling) into the "stupid savings". Using human nature to help people instead of fleece them.

~EZ

by EZ on Feb 10, 2010 10:39 am

The Giant between Cleveland Park and McLean Gardens has barely shoveled the walk along Wisconsin Avenue. Commercial properties owners especially have an obligation to keep sidewalks adjacent to their properties clear. Plus, I understand that so many of this Giant's customers walk to the store. If one falls on the ice, it can be a real pain in the Royal Ahold.

by Who Shoveled? on Feb 10, 2010 11:40 am

@fritz: FYI- I am a native Washingtonian. I currently live in N.E. DC, adjacent to Capital Hill. The practice of claiming a public parking space is just plain wrong, regardless of where it is done. Think- musical chairs; when the music stops somebody is out of luck. It's only fair, otherwise, the folks living on the snow emergency routes are always the ones to suffer.

by Kevinm on Feb 10, 2010 11:41 am