Breakfast links: Maryland keeps pushing for a faster Purple Line ruling
Maryland pushes for an expedited ruling in the Purple Line appeal case
The state of Maryland is in court requesting an expedited schedule for an appeal of the case that has stalled Purple Line construction. If the request is granted, the case would be finished in about two months. (Andrew Metcalf / Bethesda Beat)
Here’s why the L is better than Metro, according to Chicago’s mayor
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says DC and New York's transit systems are struggling because, unlike Chicago's L, the transit agencies don't put emphasize on rigorous infrastructure modernization or repair, the “secret” to reliable trains. (Martine Powers / Post)
Alexandria is running out of affordable market-rate rentals
Alexandria is running low on market-rate affordable rental units, which are typically priced lower because they are older or less central, not because they are subsidized. There are 90% fewer of these units on the market today than there were in 2000. (Michael Neibauer / WBJ)
All Greater Washington jurisdictions decline to turn over voting data to the feds
Virginia, Maryland, and DC are all among the jurisdictions who have refused to turn over voters' personal data to a controversial presidential commission. Officials here and across the country have spoken out against the request. (Rachel Kurzius / DCist)
Have you seen DC’s Liberty Bell? It’s been missing for over 35 years
A DC Council employee is asking if anyone in DC knows what happened to a Liberty Bell facsimile that once stood on Pennsylvania Ave. The bell went missing following a street improvement project that temporarily relocated a number of small statues and monuments along Pennsylvania Ave in the early 1980s. (Mike Murillo / WTOP)
Here’s Tysons’ next mega-development and its mega-construction site
The Boro is an 18-acre development in Tysons that will eventually have apartments, offices, a grocery store, a move theater, a hotel, and a library. For now, it's a construction project so large that it has its own concrete plant. (Karen Goff / WBJ)
Fourth of July safety on the Mall included one mannequin and many explosives
In order to demonstrate proper fireworks safety, the Consumer Product Safety Commission launched them at mannequins on the National Mall to instruct people on the danger of homemade, broken, or otherwise compromised fireworks. (Camila Domonoske / WAMU)
The Chinese “straddling bus” was a scam and now police are involved
Chinese police arrested 32 people for illegally soliciting investments in a fraudulent transportation company. They proposed to build a Beijing bus that could glide over traffic, but the design could not actually navigate Chinese roads. (BBC. Tip: Chuck Coleman)
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