Breakfast links: Election day

by David Edmondson • April 3, 2012 9:04 am

Photo by JoePhilipson on Flickr.

Make your voice heard: If you haven't gone to vote yet,exercise your rights. If you missed our endorsements, we compiled the list for you. Find your polling place for DC here and Maryland here.

Knowing fraud: 93 DC government employees knowingly collected unemployment insurance illegally while employed with the District. DOES found the fraud in a routine check, and may lead to expanded audits. (Examiner)

Defense cuts will hurt region: $1 trillion in military spending cuts on tap will ripple far beyond the defense industry, eventually costing the region 159,000 jobs. (WBJ)

Institutionalization on the street: Virginia' overtaxed mental health system is turning away mental health patients, often leaving them to wallow in the streets. Not only is this bad health policy, it wastes police and justice system resources. (Washington Times)

Metro police aren't so great: Metro Transit Police aren't held responsible for incompetence on the job or for crimes committed by off-duty officers. When on-duty they don't do much law enforcement, either. (Washington Times)

Chicago pushes ahead without feds: Chicago Mayor Emanuel announced a $7 billion infrastructure investment, revamping the city's utilities and public transportation on a scale not seen in a generation—all without federal help. (Transport Politic)

A real frequency map: Vancouver, BC, has an extensive frequent bus network, and at last TransLink has released a frequent bus map to match. Though DC has experimented with frequency maps before, nothing has come of it. (Human Transit)

And...: Bikeshare stations on the Mall are now consistently among the top 10 busiest. (Examiner) ... Virginia's counties don't want to be on the hook for roadwork. (Post) ... Bill Clinton led a large and international Lincoln Heights community clean-up effort. (DCist) ... California's High Speed Rail cuts costs by $30 billion under a new business plan. (NARP)

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11 comments

Tags: links

David Edmondson is a transportation and urban affairs enthusiast living in Mount Vernon Square. He blogs about Marin County, California, at The Greater Marin.

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what is the expected turnout in the DC primaries?

by charlie on Apr 3, 2012 9:57 am • link • report

Also, this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/metro-riders-and-some-experts-wonder-why-dupont-escalator-work-must-take-so-long/2012/04/02/gIQALk30qS_story.html

(I would have submitted it, but I assumed the links would catch it. I know, u and me. In any case, subway and escalator experts call BS on the Dupont renovations)

by charlie on Apr 3, 2012 10:06 am • link • report

@Charlie
Thanks for that. It didn't show up in my post RSS feed for some reason; I'll submit it for tomorrow.

by David Edmondson on Apr 3, 2012 10:15 am • link • report

No endorsement for the (republican) presidential primary in MD and DC? Sad.

Virginia' overtaxed mental health system is turning away mental health patients, often leaving them to wallow in the streets.

Not to mention, many of these patients are vets. Rather disgraceful considering that those controlling Richmond say they highly value the military.

by Jasper on Apr 3, 2012 10:44 am • link • report

oh noes, not hypocrisy!

by cynic on Apr 3, 2012 11:21 am • link • report

It can be reasonably argued that the four-part series on Metro that the Post's Lyndsey Layton did a few years ago started the ball rolling in a chain of events that led to Richard White's departure as WMATA CEO. Although it's commonly (and justifiably) believed that the Times has an inherent and very strong anti-union bias, which should make their reporting seem less objective, I do wonder if they will have a similarly large impact with their present series as the Post did.

It is instructive here that one way to get favorable reporting on the ACLU out of a conservative paper like the Times is when the ACLU goes after unionized workers.

by thm on Apr 3, 2012 11:21 am • link • report

NOT feeling the Vancouver map spotlighted, as it lacks any designation help to assist in wayfinding. One would readily presume from it that if I show up on a corridor, the route is going to continue along it, but the corridor may share routes with other divergent routes that aren't frequent.

If a DC model directly mimicked this and lacked designators, I would presume any bus on M Street would take me up to Tenleytown, but would be badly misdirected when the 38B turns out to be the first thing to show up.

by Adam on Apr 3, 2012 11:22 am • link • report

"Not to mention, many of these patients are vets. Rather disgraceful considering that those controlling Richmond say they highly value the military."

Rather disgraceful on the part of the Feds for not taking care of their own.

by Kolohe on Apr 3, 2012 11:28 am • link • report

@ Kolohe:Rather disgraceful on the part of the Feds for not taking care of their own.

The National Guards have served as well. Richmond has a responsibility.

Also, soldiers do not belong to the Feds. And Feds are no separate group of people from other residents.

by Jasper on Apr 3, 2012 12:04 pm • link • report

I blame the Federal government whenever it fails to provide needed services. And obviously we should shrink the Federal government in order to teach it a lesson. Rinse. Repeat.

by oboe on Apr 3, 2012 12:32 pm • link • report

To be fair to the Metro Transit Police, some of the most egregious "officers" mentioned in the article are actually "Special Police Officers." The article mentions this, but buries it. Special Police Officers are really just security guards who have the right to carry a gun and have very limited police authority only when on duty. The do not patrol the Metro system and do not make arrests or conduct investigations.

Special Police Officers are low paid, generally get only a minimal level of training, and not subject to the same hiring standards as actual police officers. There really is no comparison between a Special Police Officer and an actual officer. Metro is not the only agency that has had problems with its "specials." DC Housing has, as the Dept of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service.

by dcdriver on Apr 3, 2012 2:57 pm • link • report