Wisconsin Giant site plan

Cleveland Park Giant approved: The DC Zoning Commission has approved the long-proposed Giant redevelopment in Cleveland Park. The vote was unanimous, over the objections of the Cleveland Park Citizens Association. (Jaime, DCist)

New push for Metro construction: Virginia Congressmen Gerry Connally and Jim Moran are trying to find support for a $20 million earmark to study a greatly extended Metro system in Virginia. The proposal touches on all three existing Virginia lines, extending the Orange, Blue, and Yellow lines to Centreville, Woodbridge, and Fort Belvoir. If ultimately approved in full, this would represent the largest expansion of Metro beyond the original system in its 30-year history. Commentators argue that these far-flung places (except, perhaps Fort Belvoir) would be better served by peak-service commuter rail, and that inner-core expansion is critical. (WBJ, Gavin B)

Hine redevelopment moving forward: The list of potential redevelopers of Eastern Market’s Hine Junior High School, closed since 2007, has been whittled from six to four. The Eastern Market Metro Community Association is holding a meeting from 6pm to 9pm tonight at Tyler School to review the conceptual drawings. The EMMCA has announced that it will use five criteria to assess the proposals: promotion of neighborhood uniqueness, provision of space for a flea market and town square, protection of the neighborhood’s “residential” character, attraction of pedestrians and cyclists “but not cars,” and accommodations for “community programming.” (Thom, DCmud)

Fireworks back on: The DC Fire Chief’s ban on fireworks at Nationals Park was short-lived. The displays are now planned to continue, with minor adjustments. Because there hasn’t been a home game since Sunday’s announcement, the ban did not impact any event at the diamond. (City Paper)

No vote for now: With some in the media announcing it is “dead in the water,” Congressional leaders have announced that the DC voting rights bill is on-hold indefinitely, because of a lack of “consensus” on the firearms amendment. In describing the situation, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has stated in an email, “Please understand that we are holding the bill for now, not giving up on voting rights.” (Post, Decider)

Streetcar chugging along: Arlington’s Columbia Pike streetcar project is hitting another milestone, as the Metro board moves to vote on the project Thursday. The critics, however, remain unsilenced: the head of the Northern Virginia Transportation alliance has complained that “[w]e have billions and billions of needs and to put a couple hundred million dollars in Columbia Pike seems a poor investment at this time.” It has not been reported what the NVTA believes would be a better use for scarce transportation dollars. (Examiner)

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