Outdoor seating causes rapes? Cleveland Park ANC Commissioner Frank Winstead was in top form Monday night to oppose late-night outdoor seating at Comet Ping Pong, arguing that it would “turn [the neigborhood] into Adams Morgan, with the murders [and] the rapes.” From Marc Fisher’s summary, it sounds like Winstead’s crusade and the resulting publicity may have actually helped Comet by building sympathy.

This is what visionary transportation leadership looks like: NYC DOT’s Jeannette Sadik-Khan has convinced Mayor Bloomberg to try a car-free boulevard on three Saturdays in August, modeled on Bogotá‘s extremely successful Ciclovía. Streetsblog has video of the announcement. Too bad our Mayor still wants more street space for cars and DDOT lacks coherent policy leadership. Could DC do something on Car-Free Day?

Fairfax subsidizes employees living far from Fairfax: Some Fairfax police officers get county cars to drive home, even when they live far outside the county, reports the Post. This forces the county to spend huge sums on gas, tolls and maintenance. And the cars mostly go to detectives and commanders, not patrol officers. “Once members of the department are given a take-home car, they then move far away from the county,” said one officer. Democratic candidate Gerry Connolly is quoted opposing the wasteful practice.

Obama hasn’t stopped talking about rail or bikes: On Monday, the candidate said, “We can invest in rail, so that cities like Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis are connected by high-speed trains, and folks have alternatives to air travel.” Via Matthew Yglesias. He also told bicycle advocates he would support bicycle and pedestrian funding, reports Streetsblog.