Breakfast links: After an outcry, Montgomery County drops their eminent domain bill
Montgomery County drops a bill to enlarge bus stops through eminent domain
After protest on the hot-button topic of eminent domain, Montgomery County is dropping a recently-proposed bill to the state legislature. It would have sped up the acquisition of small areas of land around bus stops to make them ADA-compliant. (Katherine Shaver / Post)
What’s it like to project your protest on a building?
Robin Bell has been projecting protest slogans onto Trump Hotel in downtown DC. Here's how activist groups and artist get their name, or more importantly their message, up in lights. (Courtney Vinopal / Washingtonian)
DC Council Chair proposes breaking up DCRA
Chairman Mendelson introduced a bill to break up the DC Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, creating a Department of Buildings and a separate Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. DCRA has been criticized by residents and the Council for entrenched inefficiency and lapses in code enforcement. (Andrew Giambrone / WCP)
Chinatown apartment residents maintained affordability by buying the building
The residents of Chinatown's Wah Luck House were able to use TOPA and tax-exempt bond financing to purchase the building, one of the last affordable complexes in the neighborhood. (Oscar Perry Abello / Next City)
The head of secondary schooling at DCPS is on leave following graduation rate scrutiny
After an investigation into graduation rates at Ballou and other DCPS schools found that the schools were pushing teachers to pass students with excessive absences, the Chief of Secondary Schools was placed on leave. (Perry Stein / Post)
Wiehle-Reston will keep free Saturday parking, blocking WMATA plans
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to keep free Saturday parking at a county-owned garage for the Silver Line. This vote trips up a planned pilot program for WMATA to charge for weekend garage parking to bring in extra money. (Fatimah Waseem / Reston Now)
Metro has a deal to bring new transit-oriented development to College Park
Metro will work with developer Gilbane to replace the old surface parking lot by the College Park station in Prince George's County with a mixed use building with 440 units, retail space and a plaza. The site is also near a planned Purple Line stop. (Jon Banister / Bisnow)
Arlington County will likely take over a state road
The county board will vote Saturday to take over management of a section of Fairfax Drive between Ballston and Courthouse. VDOT currently manages the street, but last summer Arlington asked for the road to belong to the county, not the state. (Anna Merod / ARLnow)
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