Lunchline: Metro mulls another fare hike

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter, click here to view as a Web page. Click here to view in plain text. Thursday, April 26, 2012 If you don't have happy hour plans (and even if you do, they're probably lame), you should come hang out with me at Hill Country BBQ tonight from 6-8. Here's a sweet poster to convince you if you haven't already cleared your schedule. Today is another big one in Metro land. The board of directors is expected to vote on yet another fare hike to help close the gap on their operating budget. It seems like it was just yesterday, but it was in fact two years ago, that they last raised their prices. This time, the proposal calls for the base peak fare to creep up above $2, and they'll even sneak in some higher parking rates to boot. The Post's Dana Hedgpeth explains what could go down. There's good news on the local health front. The infant mortality rate in the District has dropped dramatically. The city has historically had one of the highest in the country. The D.C. Health Department says the rate has gone down by an entire percentage point, which officials say is "because pregnant women are smoking less, fewer teenagers are having babies and women have better access to prenatal care." The Post's Lena H. Sun reports. As a person that professionally provides links to things for other people, I take link-stealing pretty seriously. Not that I get upset every time one of my friends takes something they know I found and shares it as if it were theirs, but I do notice. In this social media world, it's simply a matter of courtesy. On Facebook, this practice is less frowned upon than it is on Twitter. In general, though, it's bush league. Slate's Manners for the Digital Age podcast addresses the topic this week. If you're an architecture snob, you refer to buildings not by their name but by who designed them. I am not an architecture snob, but I do appreciate a good-looking building. And one of those is most certainly Arena Stage. If you haven't seen the facility down in Southwest, you should. It's a sight to behold. And it turns out that the same guy who designed that will be designing a new D.C. Public Library in Woodridge. This is nothing short of awesome. The Style Blog's Philip Kennicott has the rest. The Capitals got it done last night. They went on the road and beat the defending Stanley Cup champions in their own barn with a young goalie. It took overtime, but when it happened, boy, was it sweet. Joel Ward found himself back in the spotlight after providing the clincher off a Mike Knuble charge, but the reaction on the Internet got ugly, quickly. Joel Ward is black. D.C. Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg details the bigotry. Extra Bites • In other sports news, the NFL Draft is tonight. The first two picks will probably be pretty boring, so you'll need a good place to watch. Lucky for you, the Going Out Guide has exactly that. Enjoy. You are now on the clock. • Kids are apparently getting drunk on hand sanitizer these days. Not to sound like some old guy, but ... seriously? We have to do better. • I started a thing on Twitter yesterday. It's called #tweetyourdesk. Just do it. 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