Breakfast links: Pray
Tax break for empty church land?
Vincent Orange wants to give a tax break to the National Shrine for undeveloped land. CFO Gandhi warns granting the break would encourage many other churches to leave land fallow and ask for tax breaks. (WBJ)
Washington’s boom, poorly explained
Locals generally panned Annie Lowrey’s New York Times magazine article on DC’s growth. It broadly confuses DC with the suburbs and its argument that “peak Washington is already past” is tenuous. (DCist, WBJ)
Tysons gets buses
Fairfax plans new bus service in Tysons to transport Silver Line riders. A circulator will serve all 4 Tysons stations every 10 minutes. (Post)
More condos are bad, say condo owners
Residents of one Georgetown condo building hired lawyers to stop a developer from building another condo building next door, claiming that the development would bring traffic, noise, and crime. (WBJ)
Suburban officials criticize DC
Economic development officials from Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William said DC does not collaborate very well with the region. A DC spokesman says the counties are just trying to “elevate their own status.” (WBJ)
Tide turning on driver responsibility?
Brian Williams reports on distracted driving and its toll in human lives. Going beyond what most journalists do, he also called for tougher penalties for drivers who kill people. (Boston Streets)
Metrohenge Dupont is today
If you go onto the Dupont South escalator at 12:30 today, you will be bathed in a shaft of light. The sun lines up perfectly with the escalator creating “Metrohenge Dupont.” (Express)
Amtrak eyes new bridge and tunnel
Amtrak plans to begin preliminary engineering work this year on replacing the B&P Tunnel in Baltimore and for the bridge over the Susquehanna River. MARC also uses both. (RT&S)
And…
Congress passed on a number of new monuments and museums last session. (WBJ) … DDOT wants your pictures of people moving around DC. (NCH) … Amtrak’s WiFi will get faster. (Post) … Few people take advantage of their SmarTrip rebate. (Post)