Lunchline: The State of the District is quarrelsome

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter, click here to view as a Web page. Click here to view in plain text. Tuesday, February 7, 2012 There's a TV show coming on the Travel Channel tonight that purports to investigate the District by focusing on three crimes that have defined the city. I can't wait to see how this turns out. There's nothing like three brewing scandals to mark the day you're supposed to deliver the State of the District speech. But that's exactly what D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray is dealing with. On one front, nearly 90 city employees are facing potential firing for illegally receiving unemployment benefits while in fact, working. On another, Gray could be beefing with certain firefighters when he does finally speak today. Lastly, he's battling council Chairman Kwame Brown over how to spend the city's surplus. Yikes. If being late to school were a crime back in the day, I know a few people who might still be in jail for it. But Loudoun County's tired of dealing with parents who seemingly don't respect the school bell. Too many tardies is a Class 3 misdemeanor, which many people say is a punishment unfit for the crime. So when Mark Denicore and his wife were served with a court summons over their lack of punctuality, they decided to defend themselves. The trial begins March 14, The Post's Emma Brown reports. Apparently, if you don't have a granite countertop, you're living in the Stone Age. The kitchen feature that used to be associated with trendy condos is now the norm in nearly every kitchen in America, and the cult surrounding the surface is intense. People are going crazy over what stone they're going to install and the levels of complexity surrounding this trend are downright astounding The Post's Monica Hesse reports. The situation in Syria is not getting better, whatsoever. Nations are scrambling to figure out how to handle the tricky diplomatic situation, while the Assad regime is brutally shelling its own people. In Homs, the violence has picked back up, even as Russian leaders align with the Syrian government. Foreign Policy has put together a photo gallery of the violence, which I will warn is at some points graphic. The Wizards managed to get a win last night, but it wasn't pretty. After blowing a lead to the god-awful Raptors, things went to overtime, where the boys in red, white and blue pulled out a 111-108 victory. More importantly, the team stopped their four-game slide, which got particularly ugly against the Clippers on Saturday. But of course, the Wiz Kids can't make it out of the week without at least one embarrassing moment, and here's last night installment, courtesy Javale McGee. Come on, son. Extra Bites • Everyone knows that Amazon has the best deals around as far as online retailers are concerned, but would you shop there if you had to open the door to get in? That's what shoppers in Seattle will soon figure out when Amazon opens a brick-and-mortar store there. • A wax figure of Harriet Tubman will debut at Madame Tussaud's today, to be unveiled in the Presidential Gallery. I'm very curious to see how it looks. • Today's Google doodle for Charles Dickens is pretty awesome. That is all. Check out my Facebook fan page, my Twitter feed, or e-mail me at clinton.yates@wpost.com Get The Washington Post, your way. Want to stay on top of the latest news, features, commentary and more? Here's how: Mobile: Alerts: Social Media: Applications Web site E-mail SMS RSS Feeds Facebook Twitter SEND TO A FRIEND UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER CENTER GET HELP Washington Post Digital E-mail Customer Care 1150 15th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20071 ©2012 The Washington Post Privacy Policy