The Maryland legislature is now proposing a bill, SB 8 that will provide tax credits for businesses that voluntarily ban smoking in their establishments. As I read the bill, it appears to be only relevant for the city of Annapolis, but regardless, this is a win-win proposal. What a concept, incent businesses that ban smoking, by offering tax credits and the subesquent effects of implementing the ban could also prove beneficial to the business – better health for the employees and as some studies have indicated, increased revenue.

WTOP reports that MLB and the District have reached a new ballpark lease agreement, pending council passage.

The new deal adds a few new points:

• The city to use traditional and not private financing for the stadium;

• The city to split with the team the proceeds of land sold for development;
• Major League Baseball to lease RFK in 2008 if the new stadium is not completed;
• MLB to develop a youth baseball facility;
• MLB to increase the number free tickets given to disadvantaged children.

The council is expected to vote on the lease on Feb. 7. There are five councilmembers already committed to the deal with two more needed for approval.

it’s zagat survey time again — if you register, vote for & review your favorite dc/baltimore area estblishments, you’ll get a free copy of the new zagat guide. i lived and died by zagat in nyc and want to see the dc one improve dramatically. a friend that moved here in early 2000 complained that zagat listed cheesecake factory as one of the top rated restaurants in dc. hello!?!! we can do better than that.

i just bought a friend the 2005 guide who moved here from australia. i made sure to add my own scoring system of my top choices and where absolutely not to go — sometimes the latter being more valuable!

so c’mon our dear dcmetrobloggers audience, put your two cents in — either here or through the survey.

Many Thanks to DCist for pointing out that the Mayor’s got his blog on again, and that he’s desperate for comments. I’ve read some of the Mayor’s entries, and I came to one that has me awfully befuddled:

I’ve never made New Year’s resolutions before but here goes. Two thousand six will see me: recognize that I’m married and have a beautiful wife; two, stay healthy — mentally and physically — by good eating and exercise; three, maintain this blog on a regular basis; and four, put accountability and children first on the city’s agenda.

Sadly, the Mayor’s blog lacks permalinks, but doesn’t that excerpt from his 24 January entry read like Mayor Williams is having to make some major concessions here? Did he NOT recognize that he was married before? Did he in fact recognize that he was married, but not to a beautiful woman? Either of those may get you some time sleeping on the Couch, Mr. Mayor…

But if you really want comments on your blog, I recommend the following:

1. Get Permanent Links to each entry.
2. Get an RSS feed
3. Post unmoderated comments, then police for spam, etc.

Hello, MoCo is all over the bail hearing for John L. Hall, whose 8 year old son shot a 7 year old girl at daycare earlier this week. Apparently the 8 year old has a bit of a mouth on him:

Assistant State’s Attorney Karyn McAuliffe alleges that the eight-year-old boy said:
“Give me your money,” to the seven-year-old girl.

“[Expletive] the police. What the [expletive] can they do to a kid, anyway? I’ll shoot ‘em.”

“Phase 1: Get weapons. Phase 2: Kill the hillbilly.” It’s unclear who the hillbilly is.

Yikes. Dude. Seriously. That’s fucked up. An Eight Year Old?! Of course, it seems that we’re going to have some quality time with Jack Thompson, as the child apparently used to play violent videogames with his father as well. This whole thing gets sadder by the day.

Technorati Tags: gun control, Maryland

I paid up my season seats today with the Nats this morning, shelling out an extra $20 for my 21 game plan to keep my yellow seat over in Section 511. What’s that going to buy me this season? 21 games of watching Jimmy Bo and his crazy Nats try to finish out of the cellar in the NL East. We managed a so-so first season in DC, but this offseason has been crazier than a bunch of drunken santas, leaving the Nats in poor position to compete on the free agent market. Of course, it doesn’t help that we’re not exactly an appealing place to play right now:

Bowden and the Nationals are NOT considered attractive by any MLB’er. The male equivalent of the Nats still lives with his parents, sweats profusely when the thermometer rises above 50 degrees and dresses himself entirely in credit-card promotion giveaways.

Yeesh, that’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?

Technorati Tags: baseball, DC, Nationals

Everyone knows about the geyser in Yosemite Park. But did you know that DC has it’s very own Old Faithful? It’s right downtown, and I discovered it last night in an explosive geological event that’s sure to get my name into the National Geographic Society.

The adventure began innocently enough, while enjoying a few pints with my fellow worker bees at a certain pseudo-Brit gastropub downtown…
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Ah the humor in it all… After having their previous Texas Hold’em Tournament robbed at gun point, this past week, the same and ever popular NoVA Texas Hold’em Tournament was robbed again.

How could the same game get robbed again, you ask? Oh maybe because of its advertising. Seems they invited the wrong people, or at least too many. To quote the WashPost:

Before the [first] Fairfax robbery, those on the e-mail list, from across Northern Virginia, numbered about 500, the host said. After the robbery, he and others slimmed down the list to the 170 people they most trusted [for this game].

Slimmed down to 170 people. Do you know 170 you would trust to come to your home? Do you even know 170 people?! And if you were robbed the last time you had a poker party, wouldn’t you think twice about having one again?

Or having one at all, as gambling is illegal in NoVA, right? You wouldn’t know it by this great quote:

“We used to have a place where we could play comfortably seven days a week, and that’s been narrowed to two to three times,” said the host

Playing Texas Hold’em seven nights a week? What are you – The Great Zucchini of poker parties?

A number of people may not be aware of this, but just as a right on red is legal in the District of Columbia, so is a left, provided that you are on a one-way street and turning onto another one-way street. It’s hard to verify, since for no reason I can discern you can’t get the DC driver’s handbook online – there’s only the practice test

What is easy to verify, however, is that if you want me to turn on red there is no way other than patience for you to make it happen. What you can make happen is me waiting through the entire red light, which is accomplished by leaning on your horn. See, here’s the thing, Sparky. I can turn on red, but I don’t have to turn on red. So when someone is rude to me and I have nowhere to be, I’m gonna take my sweet time. So you got to wait out the light. Oops. I know you didn’t appreciate it based on your subsequent behavior, but here’s hoping you took a lesson from the experience.

Not all States allow right or left on red, by the way, so if you will be traveling anytime soon you can consult this excellent list of links to driving manuals in all the States.

Image from the VA complete driver’s manual.

Today Reprint Bookshop, the best bookstore in DC, is going out of business. Reprint was the oldest, independent bookstore in Washington DC, residing first in Foggy Bottom and then moving to L’Enfant Plaza in the 80′s. Reprint was known for their very knowledgeable staff (of which I was a member for 2 years) and for strongly supporting independent and self publishers for decades. Reprint also played a key part in supporting the African American fiction explosion of the 90′s by giving a home to several of that movement’s biggest authors back when they were unkown and being ignored by the chain store circuit and New York publishers.

Today is a sad day for DC book buyers. RIP Reprint Bookshop.