Photo by David on Flickr.

Vihstadt wins

John Vihstadt, a Republican who ran as an independent, won the special election to replace Chris Zimmerman on the Arlington County Board, 57%-41%. Vihstadt will face Howze again in November. (ARLnow)  

Tommy may run

Tommy Wells may run as an independent for DC Council at-large. If he did, he would be competing against at least 4 others, including Elissa Silverman, who resigned from DCFPI to plan a run. (City Paper)  

And Yvette may run

Yvette Alexander surprised political observers by saying she also is considering a run for the independent at large seat, which she can try without giving up her Ward 7 seat. She wants to focus less on constituent service. Perhaps then Vincent Gray would get his old seat back? (Twitter)  

Holder defends investigation

Attorney General Eric Holder defended Ron Machen’s decision to cut a plea deal with Jeff Thompson and release documents just weeks before the primary election. That may have cost Gray a second term, but he said keeping the information under seal also wouldn’t serve the public interest. (Post)  

Mikulski questions Metro

Sen. Barbara Mikulski is asking how WMATA plans to fix issues with bad contracting practices that surfaced in a recent federal oversight report. She said federal funding for Metro repairs is in jeopardy. (Post)  

Rock Creek repairs soon?

Repairs of the Rock Creek Park trail could begin in 2015, according to the National Park Service. The project has taken years already, frustrating local bicycle advocates. (DCist)  

M is for Mostly finished

The M Street cycletrack is “another week or two” from being done, says DDOT’s Jim Sebastian. It includes a very short segment at Rhode Island Avenue where a physical curb separates the lane from traffic. (WAMU)  

Purple Line Holocaust bill stalls

A bill that would have disqualified one company from winning the Purple Line contract because of Holocaust ties stalled before the Maryland General Assembly session ended Monday. (Post)  

And…

Six developers are each proposing a mixed-use building with ground-floor retail and residential for a DC-owned lot in Shaw. (UrbanTurf) … DDOT finally opened the 8th Street SE freeway ramp to 295, the latest piece of the 11th Street bridge project to be completed. (Post) … Streetsblog’s annual Golden Crater competition places Jacksonville against Rochester for the title of worst parking crater.