Breakfast links: Cabinet shuffling

Rheesigning

Michelle Rhee will leave at the end of October. Some are surprised she’s not staying until Gray becomes mayor, but she and Gray agreed the speculation around her future was becoming a “distraction.” Her deputy, Kaya Henderson, will replace her in the interim. (Post, Stacy)  (Tip: Stacy)

Peck for City Administrator?

Suzanne Peck, WMATA’s head of IT and former head of DC’s OCTO, is a leading candidate for City Administrator, say sources.  (Examiner)

Road rash of crashes

After a string of pedestrian deaths on our region’s roads and highways, DDOT Director Gabe Klein and USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood held a press conference to highlight the danger and remind road users to always behave cautiously. “I’m not saying all this to scare people, but in one sense we sort of need to,” Klein said. (TBD, Stephen Miller)

VA liquor plan gets worse

Gov. McDonnell’s attempts to privatize liquor stores for one-time transportation funds suffered another setback as the latest proposal removes several extra taxes, creating up to a $70 million shortfall that will reduce the profits from the plan. (Fairfax Times)

Get yer historic DC maps

DCRA will release historical maps of DC and put them on Flickr. A handful of historic maps are there now but more will be added over the next few weeks and months. (DCist)

Ban stoplights?

An effort is underway in the UK, inspired by the Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman, to remove stop lights in the interest of improving traffic flow. Designing signal-free intersections that are safe for pedestrians, however, is easier said than done. (People-Powered Arlington, Stephen Miller)

And…

One small developer has been revitalizing Anacostia one small storefront at a time (Housing Complex, Eric Fidler) … Amtrak’s ridership rose by nearly 6% in the last fiscal year, 4% in the northeast and 6.5% on Acela (Post, Gavin) … A lighting designer finds DC’s lighting adequate but not interesting. (The Dirt, Steve Offutt)  (Tip: Gavin)