Photo by jimmywayne on Flickr.

PG Metro board member yanked

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker has pulled alternate Marcel Solomon from the WMATA Board, citing his second-lowest attendance rate over the last 18 months. (Examiner) … Meanwhile, Tommy Wells said he’ll be appointed to DC’s voting seat, but Kwame Brown says nothing is official yet. (Post)  

Leslie Johnson won’t control development

The Prince George’s County Council has stripped Leslie Johnson of power to influence development in her district. Johnson was arrested along with her husband, the former County Executive, on corruption-related charges. Even better would be to end altogether the practice of deferring to each member on projects in their district, which detracts from countywide planning. (Post)  

Teen killed in hit and run

A 14-year-old girl was struck twice while crossing Marlboro Pike in Capitol Heights, and later died. The first driver stopped, while the second fled the scene. Prince George’s County police are looking for the other driver. (TBD)  

Gray education picks are strong reformers

Vince Gray announced two top education officials: De’Shawn Wright, an advisor to Newark mayor Cory Booker, for Deputy Mayor for Education, and Hosanna Mahaley, who ran an Atlanta pro-reform organization, for State Superintendent of Education. Their strong education reform bona fides should put to rest claims that Gray would bow to anti-reform voters. (City Paper)  

Zimmerman looks ahead

Outgoing WMATA board member Chris Zimmerman discusses the difficulties facing Metro. He says the real problem is Metro being chronically underfunded, and that governance debates are a distraction. (We Love DC)  

Overhead wire bill approved

Among its other actions on Tuesday, the DC Council approved the overhead wire bill, allowing overhead wires on the H Street-Benning Road streetcar line and creating a process to authorize additional lines though never on the Mall or Pennsylvania Avenue. (Streetcars4DC)  

Dulles Metro station far for security reasons?

MWAA is concerned that placing the Dulles Metro station near or under the terminal will create too inviting a target for terrorists. But it’s unlikely that it would be a more attractive target than a crush-loaded train running under downtown during rush hour. (WTOP, Bossi)  (Tip: Bossi)  

Tell station managers about escalators

If you’ve ever wondered why some stations have one broken escalator and two going the same direction, it’s probably because the station manager just doesn’t know about it. Please tell them. (TBD)  

And…

A few long time Washingtonians, including Mayor-elect Vincent Gray, reminisce about DC’s previous era of streetcars (WAMU) … Streetcar head Scott Kubly may run for Council (Post) … Alexandria will install a BRT busway and signal priority in the median of Route 1 (NBC Washington) … The Examiner has better details on Jim Moran’s language on BRAC traffic at the Mark Center which was trimmed in the final defense bill.