Breakfast links: Emancipation
A competitive general?
The November election in DC is often a forgone conclusion with Democrats cruising to victory, but might that not be the case this year with many dissatisfied voters? (Examiner)
Many reasons
Reason TV blames Metro’s escalator troubles on in-sourcing maintenance 20 years ago that stifled competition. But they forget that the escalators are now 20 years older, difficult to maintain, and Metro still uses some contractors. (Post)
Conflicts go online
Maryland elected officials may soon be posting their conflict of interest statements online. This would modernize access in a state that watchdogs claim lacks transparency. (Gazette)
Bike bits
The Anacostia Riverwalk bridge over the CSX tracks will open next week. (TheWashCycle) … A driver assaulted a bicyclist in Manassas. (Inside NOVA) … Valets, the bike lane is not the place for signs. (TheWashCycle) … Ask Fairfax to restore the bicycle program, which it cut last year. (WABA)
Taxes broken less often
In 2011, the District handed out fewer tax breaks to individual developments, perhaps because of new rules that demand more justification. (DCFPI)
Along the Purple Line
6 businesses in Riverdale Park won’t have to close to make room for the Purple Line. (Patch) … But will the line affect some schools? (Capital News Service) … A Bethesda development satisfied the Planning Board with the space it’s leaving for an on-street Capital Crescent Trail. (DCmud)
Before the Old Post Office was old
Now the Old Post Office Building is slated to become a hotel, but its future was not always so certain. A post office for 15 years, the building became a target for multiple plans to tear it down. (Streets of Washington)
Bikeshare goes Hollywood
LA will get a privately funded bikeshare system with 4,000 bikes over 400 stations. The stations will concentrate in 4 neighborhoods: downtown, Hollywood, Venice Beach and Westwood. (Atlantic Cities)
Did sidewalks add to Trayvon tragedy?
The design of Sanford, Florida, makes anyone who is walking seem like a suspicious character. With good sidewalks and places to walk, there might have been “eyes on the street” that would have prevented Trayvon Martin’s death. (Boston Globe, Ben Ross) (Tip: Ben Ross)