The National Weather Service (NWS) and AccuWeather released their winter outlooks this morning and both agree the odds are strongly stacked against a historically snowy winter in the D.C. metro region.

“I’m not a betting man, but I wouldn’t be betting for a very snowy winter [in Washington],” said NWS’s Mike Halpert, deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center (CPC).

Halpert and CPC expect the development of a strong La Nina – perhaps in the top five on record — favoring storm tracks west of the mid-Atlantic across the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys. That kind of storm track often brings a wintry mix of precipitation to the metro region.

Indeed AccuWeather also forecasts La Nina to strengthen, favoring “harsh conditions across the northern tier of the United States and drier-than-normal conditions throughout the southern tier” leaving the metro region near or just south of the “wintry mess” battle zone.

Though AccuWeather expects less snow in the region overall, AccuWeather chief long-range forecaster Joe Bastardi anticipates winter may begin with a bang for much of the East.

“It wouldn’t be surprising if at the end of the December much of the eastern U.S. was similar to what it was last December,” said Bastardi.

Of course, last December the D.C. area experienced “Snowpocalypse”, its greatest December snow event on record (16.4″ fell at Reagan National Airport). But Bastardi – presumably recognizing that – then said “I don’t think quite as much snowfall.”

Of course, they could be wrong.

• Abandon Your Cars Now ! Snowpocalypse Approaches !
• Abandon Your Cars Now ! Snowpocalypse Approaches !
• Fellow Washingtonians, Abandon Your Cars Now
• Fellow Washingtonians, Abandon Your Cars Now
• Snowmaggeddon, Snowpocalypse, Whatever You Call It I’m Snowed Out

Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry was on hand to back up the shenanigans charges.

“I supported Adrian Fenty,” said Barry, speaking of the candidate’s 2006 run against Linda Cropp. “He wined me, dined me, impressed me.” Barry said that he made robocalls on the then-candidate’s behalf.

But Barry said that Mayor Fenty has since become a “great disappointment,” indulging in “cronyism” and a “culture of corruption.” Barry said that he supports Gray because he is “more personable” and cares for the District’s “vulnerable citizens.”

Well, if anyone knows corruption, it’s Marion Barry.

• Only In Washington
• Only In Washington
• Marion Barry Update
• Marion Barry Update
• Marion Barry Avoids Jail Time

Former administrative law judge Roy Pearson Jr. just can’t catch a break in his quest to hold someone accountable for losing his job with the District of Columbia.

Pearson, recall, was the judge who filed a multimillion-dollar suit against a dry cleaner over a lost pair of pants. The suit didn’t go unnoticed. In 2007, Pearson was denied reappointment to his post as a D.C. administrative law judge. Pearson sued, making a host of claims.

When Pearson’s wrongful termination suit was dismissed by the federal district court in Washington, he turned to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Today, a three-judge panel upheld the dismissal of the suit.

(…)

The D.C. Circuit rejected flat-out Pearson’s claim in briefs that U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle, the trial judge who dismissed the federal suit, should have been recused because of her association with several of the defendants, who include D.C. Superior Court judges who had varying degrees of involvement in the decision to deny Pearson reappointment.

The appeals court said a person who is fully apprised of the circumstances “could not reasonably question that judge’s impartiality.”

This is what Huvelle had to say about Pearson’s pants suit when she dismissed it: “A review of the nature of, and motivation behind, plaintiff’s lawsuit demonstrates that plaintiff was not on a mission to protect the public welfare.”

Indeed not.

H/T: Eric Turkewitz

• The Lawsuit That Will Not Die Lives Again
• The Lawsuit That Will Not Die Lives Again
• The Continuing Saga Of The $ 65 Million Pants
• The Continuing Saga Of The $ 65 Million Pants
• The Return Of The $54 Million Pants

Just about two months after being rejected for display by the Smithsonian, the suit that O.J. Simpson wore when he was acquitted of the murder in 1995 has arrived at another Washington, D.C. museum:

LOS ANGELES — The suit O.J. Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted of murder has been delivered to the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where it will be part of a display focusing on the trial that was viewed by millions.

Susan Bennett, vice president and deputy director of the museum of news, said the Armani was transported Thursday by Simpson’s former manager, Mike Gilbert, who had it in storage for nearly 15 years. Gilbert flew to Washington from California carrying the tan suit, white shirt and gold tie in a garment bag.

Bennett said the clothing has been placed in the artifact preparation area and Newseum officials hope to have it ready for display by October, which will mark the 15th anniversary of Simpson’s acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Simpson was acquitted Oct. 3, 1995, after a televised trial that riveted the nation.

“We are very careful with all of our acquisitions,” Bennett said. “It is being evaluated and we will have professional mount makers prepare the display.”

Bennett said the suit will be in a collection that includes press passes, newspapers and the mute button that Superior Court Judge Lance Ito used when he wanted to shut off the live microphone in court so lawyers could talk privately during the trial. The exhibit will focus on media coverage of the so-called trial of the century.

An unfortunate acquisition, I think.

What’s next ? The prison jumper that Jeffrey Dahmer wore during his trial ?

• Oh Dear God
• Oh Dear God
• O.J. Simpson Will Not Be Explaining How He Did It
• O.J. Simpson Will Not Be Explaining How He Did It
• The Saga Of The $ 65 Million Pants Comes To A (Final) End

On Tuesday, the D.C. Council gave final approval to a bill establishing a legal medical marijuana program. If Congress signs off, District doctors — like their counterparts in 14 states, including Rhode Island, where Chopra works — will be allowed to add pot to the therapies they can recommend to certain patients, who will then eat it, smoke it or vaporize it until they decide they are, well, high enough.

The exact dosage and means of delivery — as well as the sometimes perplexing process of obtaining a drug that remains illegal under federal law — will be left largely up to the patient. And that, Chopra said, upends the way doctors are used to dispensing medication, giving the strait-laced medical establishment a whiff of the freewheeling world of weed.

Even in states that allow for marijuana’s medical use, doctors cannot write prescriptions for it because of the drug’s status as an illegal substance. Physicians can only recommend it. And they have no control over the quality of the drug their patients acquire.

“I worry about that,” said Chopra, a pain medicine specialist. “That’s what’s throwing a lot of [doctors] off.”

The District’s measure, like those elsewhere, specifies certain conditions and illnesses that qualify for medical marijuana. A patient who has HIV, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, cancer or a chronic debilitating condition will be able to receive a doctor’s recommendation to possess up to four ounces in a 30-day period.

Unlike in many states, the District law would not allow patients and caregivers to grow their own marijuana, at least initially; an advisory committee would later decide whether to permit cultivation. Until then, patients could only acquire the drug illegally or from five to eight government-regulated dispensaries.

The bill goes to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who is expected to sign it and send it to Congress, which has 30 days to review the measure before it becomes law.

Since the Congressional leadership has already said that it will not block the District’s effort to legalize medical marijuana, it would seem that is pretty much a done deal.

Good.

• Washington, D.C. City Council Approves Medical Marijuana
• American Medical Association Backs Drug Law Reform To Permit Medical Marijuana
• American Medical Association Backs Drug Law Reform To Permit Medical Marijuana
• Marijuana Legalization Gaining Ground In California
• Marijuana Legalization Gaining Ground In California

If you’ve ever been to the United States Supreme Court building you’ve undoubtably taken the walk up the marble steps and through the massive bronze doors at the entrance.

Well, soon those historic doors will be closed:

The Supreme Court is permanently closing its massive, bronze front doors to the public, citing security risks.

The court announced Monday that visitors to the high court will no longer climb the 44 marble steps that lead to its great hall and courtroom, and cross the threshold under the famous words “Equal Justice Under Law.” Instead, visitors will enter the building on the plaza level for security checks. They still may exit the building through the front doors.

“The new entrance, which will serve as the primary means for public entry, was designed in light of findings and recommendations from two independent security studies conducted in 2001 and 2009,” the court said in a news release. “The entrance provides a secure, reinforced area to screen for weapons, explosives, and chemical and biological hazards.”

The new procedures begin Tuesday.

At least two Justices are not happy:

Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented from the court’s decision.

“The significance of the Court’s front entrance extends beyond its design and function,” Breyer wrote in a statement joined by Ginsburg. “Writers and artists regularly use the steps to represent the ideal that anyone in this country may obtain meaningful justice through application to this Court. And the steps appear in countless photographs commemorating famous arguments or other moments of historical importance.

“In short, time has proven the success of Gilbert’s vision: To many members of the public, this Court’s main entrance and front steps are not only a means to, but also a metaphor for, access to the Court itself.”

They have a point, I suppose. There is a symbolic value to those open doors, bu this decision seems to be just another symbol of the world we now live in like the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue and the prevalence of security cameras in Washington, New York, and other major cities. If it was recommended by those in charge of security for the building, it’s not surprising that most of the Justices would go along with it.

The Supreme Court’s website describes the doors like this:

One can enter the building through the opened bronze doors of the west front, each of which weighs six and one-half tons and slides into a wall recess when open. The door panels, sculpted by John Donnelly, Jr., depict historic scenes in the development of law: the trial scene from the shield of Achilles, as described in the Iliad; a Roman praetor publishing an edict; Julian and a pupil; Justinian publishing the Corpus Juris; King John sealing the Magna Carta; the Chancellor publishing the first Statute of Westminster; Lord Coke barring King James from sitting as a Judge; and Chief Justice Marshall and Justice Story.

And, while, it’s unfortunate they have to close them permanently, that does mean you should be able to see this when you visit:

• Meet The Most Powerful Man In Washington
• Meet The Most Powerful Man In Washington
• Supreme Court Retirement In The Works ?
• Supreme Court Retirement In The Works ?
• Signs Of Another Supreme Court Retirement

After years of financial problems and two decades of playing second fiddle to The Washington Post, the Unification Church is putting The Washington Times on the market:

Washington Times executives are negotiating to sell the newspaper, after the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s family cut off most of the annual subsidy of about $35 million that has kept the Unification Church-backed paper afloat, company officials said.

Nicholas Chiaia, a member of the paper’s two-man board of directors and president of the church-supported United Press International wire service, confirmed that the paper is actively on the market: “We recently entered into discussions with a number of parties interested in either purchasing or partnering with the Washington Times,” he said in a statement to The Washington Post.

Current and former Times officials said one suitor has been the paper’s former executive editor, John Solomon, who resigned in November 2009. Soon thereafter, they said, Solomon organized a group of investors to purchase the Times or launch a new multimedia outlet called The Washington Guardian. Times company officials said they are also in discussions with other potential investors.

Solomon, a former Washington Post reporter, declined to comment.

The negotiations follow months of turmoil at both the 28-year-old conservative daily and the business empire founded by Moon, 90, whose children are jostling for control over the church’s myriad enterprises, which range from fisheries to arms manufacturing.

One wonders if it even matters anymore.

The Times has always been a second-fiddle newspaper to the Post and, largely because of it’s connections to the Unification Church, has had a hard time gaining any real credibility outside of conservative movement and, with the advent of papers like the Washington Examiner and Politico, it’s in danger of becoming a fourth-place newspaper, especially since it’s web site leaves very much to be desired.

Like James Joyner, I’m not sure that a sale is going to do anything but delay the inevitable:

There was a time when having the Moonies sell the paper to real newspapermen would have seemed a godsend. Now, though, I can’t imagine why anyone would want it.

(…)

Given that mass audience newspapers are a dying industry, I just don’t see what space is left.

Me neither.

• The Dead-Tree Media Die Off Begins
• The Dead-Tree Media Die Off Begins
• Washington Post To Partner With The Onion
• Washington Post To Partner With The Onion
• The Beginning Of The End Of Printed Newspapers

Washington (CNN) — President Obama’s punch lines targeted a diverse group Saturday — from teen sensations the Jonas Brothers to comedian Jay Leno, whom he described as the only person with worse ratings than his.

“Jonas Brothers are here tonight,” the president said at the annual White House Correspondents’ dinner. Daughters “Sasha and Malia are huge fans. But boys, don’t get any ideas. Two words: predator drones.”

Obama said he was happy to address the crowd before Leno, who headlined the annual event.

“Glad to see the only person whose ratings fell more than mine last year. … I’m also glad that I’m speaking first,” he said.

“We’ve seen what happens when someone takes the time slot after Leno,” the president added, referring to comedian Conan O’Brien leaving NBC after an unsuccessful stint hosting “The Tonight Show.

Here’s Obama’s bit:

And Leno’s:

I thought the President was actually funnier than the “professional comedian”

• Obama Taking Heat For Jonas Brothers/Predator Drone Joke
• Obama Does The Tonight Show
• Obama Does The Tonight Show
• Obama Takes A Swipe At The Birthers At Nerdprom
• Truman Defeats Dewey, USA Hockey Beats Russia…..

The D.C. Council unanimously approved a bill Tuesday to allow chronically ill patients to receive a doctor’s prescription to use marijuana and buy it from a city-sanctioned distribution center.

Under the bill, which passed without debate, a patient who suffers from HIV, glaucoma, cancer or a “chronic and lasting disease” may receive a doctor’s recommendation to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana in a 30-day period.

The patient would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana, but between five and eight pot distribution centers would be established in the city.

Those distribution centers would receive marijuana from privately run cultivation centers, where up to 95 marijuana plants could be grown at a given time. The distribution and cultivation centers, which could not be located within 300 feet of a school or preschool, would be operated by private or nonprofit organizations and businesses that would be licensed by the city.

The Council will have to vote on the measure one more time next month before it goes to Mayor Fenty for signature, but, unless Congress goes back on the promise it gave in December not to void any D.C. law authorizing medicinal marijuana (which seems unlikely), the bill will soon be law.

Good.

• Medical Marijuana Gets Final Approval From D.C. City Council
• American Medical Association Backs Drug Law Reform To Permit Medical Marijuana
• American Medical Association Backs Drug Law Reform To Permit Medical Marijuana
• D.C. City Council Votes To Legalize Gay Marriage
• D.C. City Council Votes To Legalize Gay Marriage

Last week, though, there was some indication that City leaders had decided to accept the gun control provisions so that the vote could go forward. That decision immediately became a political football when Vincent Gray, the Councilman challenging Mayor Adrian Fenty in the Democratic Primary, came out opposed to the bill in it’s present, amended, form.

Today, though, the House Majority Leader announced that the measure was dead for this session of Congress:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said a D.C. voting rights bill will not come up this session, in part because of opposition to an amendment that would have eliminated most of the District’s gun-control laws.

“At this point in time I do not see the ability to move it in this session of Congress,” said Hoyer (D-Md.), who added that he was “extraordinarily disappointed.”

(…)

Hoyer said the bill was felled by a “combination of issues.” In addition to divisions over provisions concerning the District’s gun laws, the measure was also hurt by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R) declaration that he would oppose it because his state would be granted an At-Large congressional seat, rather than a new district whose lines the state’s leaders could draw on their own.

But while Hoyer alluded to the Utah dispute, he made clear that the gun control language was the biggest stumbling block.

“The price was too high,” Hoyer said.

Given the likelihood that, at the very least Republicans will pick up enough Senate seats in November to overcome the 62-34 cloture vote that let the bill go forward in the Senate last year, this would seem to me to be the high water mark for this effort for some time to come. Even if the Democrats retain the House in the elections, they’re never going to get the bill as far as they did in this session.

Considering the fact that the bill is blatantly unconstitutional, that’s a good thing.

Now, can we start talking seriously about retrocession ?

• The D.C. Vote Bill Is Back
• The D.C. Vote Bill Is Back
• Senate Passes Amendment-Laden D.C. Vote Bill
• Senate Passes Amendment-Laden D.C. Vote Bill
• The D.C. Vote Bill Might Just Be Dead