Breakfast links: Election day
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)