Potomac Confidential fills the midday lull with discussion by Metro columnist Marc Fisher, who looks at the latest news with a rigorous slicing and dicing of the issues that define who we are and where we live.

Today's Column: Seriously, Take Metro

Fisher was online Thursday, Feb. 13, at Noon ET to look at the row over the design of the D.C. quarter, the soaring cost of fighting illegal immigration in Prince William, and traffic and parking challenges at the Nats' new stadium.

Check out Marc's blog, Raw Fisher.

In his weekly show, Fisher veers wildly from serious probing to silly prattle, and is open to topics local, national, personal and more.

Archives: Discussion Transcripts

A transcript follows.

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Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, folks. Lots on the plate this afternoon, from the Nats and the impending confusion about how to get to the spanking new ballpark to the District's child welfare mess to Virginia's latest efforts to ease restrictions on guns. (In addition to the move in the legislature to make it easier to carry guns into bars and restaurants, I have an email just now from Del. Bob Marshall about his effort to revive the campaign to let students go armed to class at the state's public colleges. How nice.)

Plus: The Prince George's school bus crash, the conviction of Keith Washington in the Prince George's-Marlo's deliverymen shooting case, and whatever else is on your minds on the eve of a rare Friday Feb. 29. Happy Leap Year, y'all.

But first, let's call the Yay and Nay of the Day:

Yay to the great Henry Allen, the Style writer who wrote today's splendid appreciation of William F. Buckley Jr.--it's today's Story of the Day, a must-read.

Nay to the AAA and others who used the frightening bus rollover in Prince George's yesterday to continue to defend the indefensible, the lack of seat belts in school buses. Sure, school buses have very good safety records--thanks in part to their blazing yellow color and the good work of most drivers. But that doesn't excuse decades of refusal on the part of regulators and the industry to do the obvious and apply the same standards to school buses as we do to passenger cars.

Your turn starts right now....

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Alexandria, Va. and Section 114: Marc, good story on the Nationals Park and transit. I think the Nats are doing a good job - with the Post's help about getting out the word that there is not a sea of parking surrounding the stadium like at RFK.

However, how do we get past the expectation that many people still have that a venue like this must come with "parking for all" -- I've read posts that people want to go back to RFK. Even with its crumbling, dank ambiance, the parking and access is THAT important. Who needs a lively retail environment with restaurants and bars, who needs a modern stadium, I just want to be in my car. How do we get past this?

I ask because come the first weeks in April, there'll be bashing from the people that didn't get the message or didn't believe it.

washingtonpost.com: Seriously, Take Metro

Marc Fisher: Well, don't be so sure about that. Look at the Abe Pollin Center. For years before the downtown arena opened, we heard the exact same kind of moaning and groaning about how suburbanites would never take Metro to a game, especially at night, especially from Virginia. Well, we learned otherwise, and today the former MCI Center boasts one of the highest percentages of attendees arriving by public transit of any sports facility in the country--a whopping 68 percent. Yes, a baseball stadium is different to some extent, but look at Wrigley, Fenway, Yankee and the San Francisco park and you'll see extremely high proportions of the fan base coming by train.

At RFK, 47 percent of fans arrived by Metro. The District is projecting that that number will be 52 percent at Nationals Park--and if they can bump that up just a little more, the street traffic may not be too bad. At least, that's the city's hope. We shall see.

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washingtonpost.com: Pr. George's Ex-Official Convicted In Shooting ( Post, Feb. 26)

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washingtonpost.com: William F. Buckley Jr., Rapier Wit Of the Right ( Post, Feb. 28)

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New Ballpark: Marc,

I know this is a useless point to argue because it's in the past, but what was the reasoning for building the Nats ballpark at Green Line only Navy Yard and not just knocking down RFK and building a new stadium there where there is tons of parking and two different Metro lines? I understand D.C. wants to develop the Navy Yard area, and RFK area is residential but then I must ask this: What good is new development near the new ballpark if no one can get there without tearing their hair out?

Marc Fisher: The reason was simple: The only possible justification for using public money to build a ballpark for a private, profit-seeking company is if the city will get a substantial boost in its tax base because of the development around the ballpark. To do that, you had to have an area that was suitable for retail, residential and office development and it had to be contiguous to downtown. That's what the new ballpark district is and it's already working, as fans will see when they have to walk past construction pits to get to the game. You couldn't do that at RFK for several reasons--distance from downtown, federal land, proximity to protected waterfront, neighborhood opposition, etc.

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Alexandria, Va.: Nay of the day to Ted Lerner and the Nats ownership group for taking the city to arbitration

Marc Fisher: That was indeed disappointing to see. Alongside all the cooperation we keep hearing about, there's altogether too much enmity in this process, whether it's the various landowners in the ballpark district going to court against each other or the various disputes between the city and the team owners.

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Bethesda, Md.: Does the DC government want the new ballpark to fail? They should be falling all over themselves trying to line up as much parking in the immediate and nearby neighborhoods as possible -- or their $600 plus million investment is going down the drain. Metro these days is too unreliable, especially on weekends, to handle those kinds of crowds.

More though should have gone into adequate parking and public transit before they put the ballpark in a remote location without either -- which was not a problem at RFK.

At least we'll be able to take a taxi without worrying about being ripped off by a driver exploiting the soon to be mercifully defunct zone system.

Marc Fisher: I am hearing from lots of folks who plan to park either downtown or in some other neighborhood and then taxi over to the ballpark, which is a reasonable method, though it would be a lot easier to park somewhere along the Green Line and zip in that way. That's my plan, anyway.

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Near Southeast:"To avoid changing trains, you could get off at Capitol South Station on the Orange and Blue lines. It's a one-mile walk to the stadium, but so far, no signs show the way. Making the 20-minute trek down New Jersey Avenue at dusk, I found a desolate, difficult path along which many street lights are out, sidewalks are not continuous and the passage under the highway and past a vast trash transfer station is downright scary."

Did you actually get out of your car? You can walk on continuous sidewalks from Capitol South to the stadium. The city has installed many new sidewalks in the area in the last year. A year ago I would have agreed, but not now. What's scary about the salt trucks by the trash transfer station? Would you prefer icy streets? This article sounds like drive-by journalism. You didn't note that there are many people out walking their dogs in the area in the evening.

Marc Fisher: Maybe you haven't walked it lately. There's a housing construction project that takes out the sidewalks along New Jersey Avenue, plus the salt trucks are nice enough, but they are parked in a long line along the curbs blocking the view of the sidewalk from the street. An unobserved public space is a less secure public space--the city should move those trucks off the main avenue. And while you're right that the walk is quite pleasant at both ends of the route--some lovely rowhouses on the Hill and then all those new office buildings closer to M Street--but in between is a long rough patch that will scare off too many fans.

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Washington, D.C.: Marc,

I agree with you on that walk from Capitol South to the new stadium... it is dangerous. I grew up in Jersey and used to go to the Bronx all the time to see the Yanks, not a very good area. The difference though (besides plenty of parking at Yankee Stadium) is that in the Bronx there is plenty of lighting around the stadium, and more importantly, TONS of police. I seriously doubt D.C. will be willing to commit enough police to make that walk safe. I wanted to get season tickets this year, but I'm waiting to see how much of a disaster (or hopefully not) the stadium commute turns out to be.

Marc Fisher: I think you will be pleasantly surprised on the police front--the plan is to flood the zone, much as police departments do in the Bronx and along the path from the elevated trains in Chicago to the new Comiskey Park.

And I hope the city does come through on the lighting--so far, it's not there yet.

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Arlington, Va.: Great article today about taking Metro to Nationals Park.

What about taking Metro to RFK, then hopping the shuttle bus to Nationals Park? Will there be restrictions on who gets to take those shuttles (i.e. showing a ticket stub or RFK parking pass)?

Marc Fisher: That should be fine, though you will have to walk around RFK to the back of the stadium, as the shuttle buses will leave from the big sprawling lot in the rear of the stadium--I think that's Lot 8. The shuttle buses will use that cool secret back access road from the parking lot out to the end of the SE/SW Expressway.

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Ball Not-Park: Has Metro considered running a couple of Orange Line trains and/or Red Line trains through Navy Yard before and/or after games? Even if they only ran them to clear stadium traffic after the games, the action would clear a huge number of fans and save the chaos of transferring.

Marc Fisher: Lots of people are suggesting this, but from what I've seen Metro folks say in the past, this is harder to do than may seem to be the case. Short answer: There are no such plans, and given how quickly Metro clears crowds from RFK and the Pollin Arena, it shouldn't be a huge problem.

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Baltimore, Md.: Re transportation to the new stadium: A poster brings up a good point. With Metro seemingly committed to (or needing to) do significant track work every weekend, how is that going to play in getting to and from the ballpark? I can just envision a Post story now the first time there are 20-minute intervals for trains on the Green Line after a Saturday night game that draws 40,000 people.

Marc Fisher: Metro has a long history of stacking trains to be ready for the end of major sports events, political demos, fireworks shows and the like.

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Centreville, Va.: You make the point in your column that parking availability near the stadium will increase as the new buildings being planned or under construction come on line, with underground parking garages. While this may be work for office buildings, what about residential developments? I can't imagine that they will tell their tenants or condo unit owners that they can't park in their garages on game nights. And a lot of the new development in the area (especially buildings that will be completed by next year) is residential.

Marc Fisher: I asked both the city and the Lerners about this and there are no deals or requirements that the developers building in that neighborhood must include excess capacity in their parking garages to help handle the ballpark crowds. However, both the District and the team expect that developers will nonetheless choose to include lots of additional spaces in their garages because parking is a nice profit center and it will behoove the owners of the retail and entertainment facilities surrounding the stadium to plan to accommodate baseball fans--after all, that's why they're locating down there in the first place.

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Capitol Hill, D.C.: Marc,

I recently read a Post story reporting that Metro is considering increased (i.e., more frequent) service on a bus line starting at Union Station, cruising past the bars/restaurants on Barracks Row (8th Street SE) and proceeding to the Navy Yard stop.

Why didn't you mention this in today's story? Is this bus service not going to happen?

Marc Fisher: I didn't have space to list all of the improvements, but yes, you are right--Metro is adding bus service in several ways, including the one you mention. There's more at wmata.com/nationals

Also, the Nats are providing free valet bike parking. Ride to the stadium and an attendant takes your bike and puts it in a locked area until you're ready to ride home.

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Crofton, Md.: Regarding the Navy Yard expansion -- what does that mean? Are there more turnstiles for arriving and departing fans? I recently took Metro to the Convention Center for the Auto Show and there was a 10- minute bottleneck to get through the turnstiles there. (A lot of it was caused by too few exits, and some of it was caused by passengers who didn't know which end of the farecard was up.)

Marc Fisher: Yes, you will find a vastly expanded set of turnstiles, much like the setup at the Gallery Place-MCI Center station.

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Capitol Hill, D.C.: Marc,

I could think of no one better than you to share my consternation regarding a recorded Metro announcement that just strikes me as plain weird. I guess as a way of explaining the expense of the new bomb resistant trash cans, there is now an announcement along the lines of, "Metro now has new secure trashcans located in Metro stations at convenient locations. You no longer need to be afraid to throw your trash away." First, do you know anyone that was hoarding their newspaper out of fear? Gosh, I used to throw my kleenex away after I blew my nose, but now I'm afraid of al-Qaeda leaping out of an unsecured trash can. I know the new cans are supposed to be bomb resistant, but the Metro announcement makes it sound like riders are a bunch of paranoid nutcases.

Marc Fisher: Truly bizarre. The only fear of tossing trash I've heard about has come from readers who recall the column I wrote about the guy in Woodley Park who got a summons from the city for having thrown away a piece of junk mail in a public trash can--the city has garbage inspectors who comb through the trash to find folks who dare to use the public receptacles for personal, rather than incidental, trash. Go figure.

The removal of trash bins and recycling bins from Metro stations is one of the most annoying and dumb bits of post-9/11 hysteria to hit this town, and that's saying a lot.

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Washington, D.C.: Marc, two points: Don't forget to mention Nationals fans can also take the Waterfront Metro which is a short walk to the stadium and probably less crowded than Navy Yard; With water to the south, east, and west of the stadium and Capitol Hill and the National Mall to the north, how can you say the Lerners and MLB didn't know the roads would be "car-unfriendly"? Hello?

Marc Fisher: Well, how would they have known? The only party that made a study of the location before choosing it was the D.C. government. Remember, through most of the time when baseball was deciding whether to come here, there were several possible stadium locations under discussion. That said, the ballpark site is no less accessible than some of the most successful and beloved stadiums in all of sports--Fenway, Wrigley, and Yankee spring to mind. The highway ramps leading to Yankee Stadium are very similar to ours in terms of bad merges.

Yes, Waterfront is a very reasonable and much more pleasant walk to the stadium than Capitol South, but Waterfront is on the Green Line, so why not just stay on one more station and use Navy Yard? The big appeal of Cap South is for Orange and Blue line riders who don't want the hassle of switching trains.

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Washington, D.C.: Given that the SE-SW Freeway would be chock-a-block full of cars when there was a game, how do you think it is going to fare with just the tiny little exit ramp on South Capitol to handle traffic? Are D.C. planners thinking of using Maine Avenue or 9th Street to lessen the load on the freeway and bring baseball traffic in through M?

South Capitol's exit ramp is a mess in the middle of the day- -let alone rush hour. I'm very surprised a redesign of it wasn't part of the planning.

Marc Fisher: That ramp is the #1 transportation disaster in the ballpark district. It could easily have been doubled in width, but the powers that be decided to do nothing. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you avoid that way of getting to weekday games. Weekends shouldn't be so bad. Luckily, there are lots of other ways to do it. If you're coming from Virginia or NW DC or Maryland via 395, try getting off at Maine Avenue and staying on that till it becomes M Street. Or stay on 395 a bit longer and exit at the 6th Street SE exit and head south into the ballpark area.

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DC 20016: I have MS and walk with 2 canes, on my way to needing a wheelchair. Do you have any idea of the location and cost of handicapped parking? Something tells me I had better plan to get there early and pay through the nose if I want to utilize one of those spaces.

Marc Fisher: I don't know, but I think you'll find the answers at nationals.com/waytogo

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Re: moaning and groaning about how suburbanites would never take Metro to a game, especially at night, especially from Virginia: The problem with this argument is that people from Virginia can take the Orange or Blue Line to Metro Center and have a really short walk to the Verizon Center. Those on the Red Line in Maryland can take it to Gallery Place-Chinatown.

The Green Line is convenient only for people who live in PG County, SE D.C., and Columbia Heights.

I live in D.C. (Foggy Bottom) by the way so add me to the list with Virginians and Marylanders who are upset that their previously easy Metro trip to the ballpark is now going to be a mess.

Marc Fisher: You'll be surprised by how remarkably close the Navy Yard station exit is to the ballpark entrance. The only problem you'll face is switching trains. But if you're up for the walk, the Capitol South station is your answer.

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Washington, DC: It's not my area of expertise, but I seem to recall reading that lap seat belts can pose substantial harm to children. Therefore, before calling for the installation of seat belts on all school buses, I wish you would get more information. This considerable expense might be worth it, but statistics indicate that risk of injury or death to children on school buses is quite low. And yes, I'm saying that the expense to benefit ratio does matter. I'd pay a lot to reduce deaths, but we can't protect children from all risks and injury. Truth be told, children are at far greater risk in their parents' car (and care) -- certainly in part because they spend more time there] so perhaps we should spend money there to protect children.

Marc Fisher: This is an age-old debate, and yes, there are some studies that make seat belts out to be problematic for kids, especially when they are not worn properly, as may well be the case in an unsupervised situation like a school bus. But these are excuses--the bottom line is that there is at least as much data showing big improvements in survivability and lower injury rates when seat belts are used.

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Passing of Mr. Buckley: I disagreed with him politically, but found it interesting and informative to listen to him. Sort of a conservative William Patrick Moynihan. I never had the feeling he was yelling at me about how righteous his views were and how wrong (if not downright un-American) were those he disagreed with. He would not fit in today¿s world of talk radio and Fox News conservatives.

Marc Fisher: And that's the saddest part of seeing him go. We have lost a whole range of styles of debate and discourse in the public space, and while Buckley could be smarmy and take absurd positions, he had mastered the art of being hugely entertaining while playing wonderful games with your assumptions about politics, philosophy and economics. He was above all else a delicious provocateur and way too much of our public debate on TV and elsewhere in the media these days doesn't allow for much real debate. The shouting and the binary structure that TV producers insist upon when setting up guest lists preclude the kind of mischief that Buckley specialized in. Sad.

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Woodbridge, Va.: Any thoughts on William F. Buckley?

Marc Fisher: I loved the slow drip of words as he rumbled through a thought. I loved the clipboard. I loved the sneer. I spent an inordinate amount of time as a kid imitating him. And his use of Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto as his theme music hooked me on Bach. I owe him bigtime for that alone.

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Safer Trashcans: Don't get me started! As many Expresses and Examiners being floated around outside the station, Metro should also put newspaper recycling bins (enclosed to protect us from all those terrorist bombs that have gone off here in the past 7 years) next to every trash can. Yes, they have one outside every station, but only one compared to the numerous trash cans. They make it so people have the convenience of not recycling; I see people every day toss these newspapers in the trash cans.

In Toronto, next to every trash bin downtown, they have recycling bins for aluminum and plastic and newspaper. Why? Then a person with a newspaper has to make a deliberate choice to be an a -- and not recycle.

Marc Fisher: One of the TV stations last night had a piece on the near-impossibility of stopping the Examiner from dumping its wares on your front steps. Very entertaining piece--I've had that battle with them on several occasions and eventually just gave up. Not only won't they stop it permanently, they won't even stop it if you're going to be away on vacation.

But more to your point--yes, the recycling bins in Metro should be far more numerous, and much better designed, as in, with slots that are actually as wide as a newspaper, or wider.

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Washington, D.C.: Who is Deborah Gist and how does she different from Michelle Rhee? I've never heard of a D.C. State Superintendent.

Marc Fisher: Alas, as part of the supposed streamlining of the D.C. schools governance system, the District added a state superintendent who is theoretically in charge of the functions that a state government would handle in other parts of the country. This was the result of recommendations from a shelf full of reports and studies done by education groups, but it's really just a recipe for divided responsibilities and more bureaucracy. More people to pass the buck and disagree about strategies. A total waste.

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Alexandria, Va.: Are the Nats going to have any sort of 10th inning where people can cool down or will there be the same ridiculous bum rush to the Metro at the end of the games? Personally, I'd rather sit in a crowd inside my car than on a platform where I don't have room to lift my arm to scratch my nose.

Marc Fisher: The city's transpo chief told me yesterday that he has been urging the Nats to have concerts or other diversions for an hour or so on either side of the game so as to give fans incentives to come early and stay late and thereby ease the crush of people coming and going. The Nats are clearly going to do some of that pre-game, but I haven't heard of any plans post-game, which is when it is most needed. I was at games in Detroit and Cleveland last summer where they very effectively keep big chunks of the crowd at the park for 30 to 60 minutes after the game with rock bands, fireworks shows and other fun stuff.

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Addicted to My Car, D.C.: Marc,

Any idea how the Nats are handling local zone 6 parkers with the new stadium? One of the benefits for Capitol Hillites with RFK was that you could drive to within a few blocks of the stadium and park if you had a zone 6 parking permit.

Marc Fisher: So far, it sounds like you will have the same luxury at the new park. Yesterday's announcement of the traffic plan included the news that Zone 6 sticker owners will have access to a bunch of on-street parking that will be off-limits to everyone else. Enjoy it. And if you live directly in the ballpark district, you also will be mailed a visitor's pass purportedly for your own parking use during ballgames--but the city has no enforcement program in place that would prevent you from "lending" that pass to me during the game for a small, um, consideration.

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RE: The slog to/from Cap South: I might hesitate to walk that with my wife or kids late at night, but after the game there will be 100s if not 1,000s of people making that same trip. Sure, it might be unseemly, but there will be plenty of people around you as you walk that mile.

There's safety in numbers!

Marc Fisher: Yes, that's the plan, and the team is encouraging vendors to set up shop all along that route, which would help enormously in creating a safer and more populated feel along the way.

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Washington, D.C.: I heard an announcement on the Orange Line yesterday suggesting that people should STAND to the right side of the escalators. It's not suggesting walk to the left yet, but it's a step in the right (ahem)direction!

Marc Fisher: Progress!

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Chantilly, Va.: I'm not a gun owner, nor do I have a concealed carry permit, but I do subscribe to common sense (or so I would think). With regard to your "How nice!" retort to Del. Marshall's bill to allow students to attend school armed, I think you're off a bit.

If I am legally authorized to carry a weapon (concealed or otherwise), what makes a university different from a park or a store? Why the double standard? Why should I be legally authorized to carry in one place, but not the other? I've been checked out by the police and have been deemed worthy getting a concealed carry permit, yet I'm prohibited from carrying it when I go to college?

Private institutions are different and can set their own standard/rule, but public universities are extensions of the state gov't, the same state gov't that issued me the concealed carry permit.

Where's the logic in that?

Marc Fisher: Oh, come on--if you're resting your case on the college being a public institution, then of course you believe folks should be allowed to carry weapons into county-run day care centers, state-run emergency rooms, and county courthouses. Just what we need--guns in the courtroom when the guilty verdict is read out. I lived in Florida when the state mandated that guns be worn in fully visible manner, and let me tell you, many folks freaked out when suddenly their fellow pedestrians on the streets of Miami had guns holstered outside their business suits. But surely that's less frightening than the thought that the person sitting next to you in a library, ER or courtroom might be packing.

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Baltimore, Md.: Re the Examiner being dumped unwanted on your lawn: I have a vacant family property in the Baltimore suburbs. The Examiner kept dropping papers there. I kept calling, telling them to cut it out. They didn't. So after several failures I called and said that I would be in contact with the Maryland Attorney General's office to file a formal complaint. Voila! The papers stopped.

Marc Fisher: Nice move.

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Petworth, Washington, D.C.: You know Marc, the Examiner only does that in certain neighborhoods. We never see them east of the park.

Marc Fisher: As we reported when the paper first came to town, they said their strategy was to focus on affluent zip codes.

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Arlington, Va.: Please, please keep the president away from the ball park unless his visit is unannounced. I was there when he threw out a ball and the line for security was just terrible. I was there when he just came to the game and there was no excess security and everything was fine.

Marc Fisher: Good point--but I wouldn't be totally shocked if the Nats felt compelled to invite the prez to the opener. Still, that first day shouldn't be bad as it is a Sunday and many fans will arrive very early, easing the crunch. The problem might come as everyone leaves at the same time.

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Washington, D.C: Free valet bike parking! That is too cool! I'm so glad that I live in the city. It seems like there is so much negative energy around the new ballpark. But count me as one person that is very excited! I only went to a handful of games last year. I expect I'll go to 15-20 this year.

Marc Fisher: If everyone who tells me they're psyched about the bike valet really uses it, there'll be no traffic problems for the rest of us.

And yes, logistical nonsense aside, this promises to be quite a thrill.

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23112:"let me tell you, many folks freaked out when suddenly their fellow pedestrians on the streets of Miami had guns holstered outside their business suits."

I bet the muggers freaked out.

Marc Fisher: Touche.

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Seat Belts Kill!: Well, not directly, but every time you make school buses more expensive, the counties compensate by making kids walk farther. For example, when I grew up in MoCo, I had to walk to high school, but kids who lived as far away as I do now, got a bus. Now my kids are supposed to walk, with limited sidewalks and dangerous crossings. We have ended up driving them or, when they got old enough, letting them drive themselves. And personal vehicles with seatbelts are massively more dangerous than school buses without!

Marc Fisher: Easy answer: Let them walk. As we've been saying in the baseball transportation discussion, there's safety in numbers. Let kids walk to school again and you'll see a commensurate decline in speeding and reckless driving. There's no excuse for buses for anyone who lives within a mile and a half of their school.

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Haven't heard of any plans post-game, which is when it is most needed.: Marc, don't be silly, we live in a second-rate city where our curfew is midnight on the weekdays. If a game goes long we have to sprint to the Metro to catch a train before the city tells us to go to sleep.

Marc Fisher: Good point--the midnight Metro closing is a problem when a weeknight game goes into extra innings. But that's pretty rare. I don't recall ever getting out of a Nats game after 11:30, even for a 12-inning game. For the vast majority of games, you're out by 10 or so, which leaves plenty of time for post-game activities.

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NW, D.C.: D.C. has projected defict of $95M. I know Fenty has been getting a pass, but in his 1st year he has a potential $150 million defict in schools and a citywide deficit of $95M. Somehow I don't think his fiscal management and the oversight by the Council are getting the type of scrutiny required. As one with an econ and finance background, it seems these folks are missing some basic checks and analysis that should take place.

Marc Fisher: You can certainly argue that they should have seen it coming, but the District is in no worse a position than Montgomery or Fairfax, both of which are right now scrambling to figure out what cuts and revenue increases could get them out of the quickly worsening fix caused by the housing downturn and other sliding economic factors.

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Union Station, D.C.: I know your big into radio stuff, so I thought this might be up your alley. One of the old DJs from WHFS, Pat Kain apparently died very suddenly last week up in Pennsylvania. Moment of silence, perhaps?

Marc Fisher: Thanks for letting us know--silence commences now.

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Washington, D.C.: Am I the only one that things everyone up in arms about the baseball parking situation needs to just step back and breathe?

Will it be new, confusing and difficult? Yes, at first. The first few weeks will likely be terrible...but it will improve.

Over the season, people will learn what methods of transportation work best for them. Places like Fenway and Wrigley have years of history on their side regarding public transportation, the new ballpark is getting raked over the coals before the first pitch.

Plan ahead, go early, and enjoy the game.

Marc Fisher: Absolutely right. There will be bumps and perhaps even persistent annoyances, but all of that pales next to the extraordinary accomplishment of getting this thing built on time and on budget. Go take a look--it's pretty impressive.

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Washington, D.C.: Outrage of the day; the family members of the dead girls' suit against the District. So where was the family when the kids were alive and with their troubled mother? Maybe if a family member had been there, the kids would still be alive and mom wouldn't be in jail, but would be getting the help she needed. The city should countersue the family and their slimeball legal team for dropping the ball and leaving the mother and kids at the mercies of the D.C. bureaucracy. When is someone going to stop the kind of clowns that get into the legal profession and use these families for their own gain? It's disgusting and whoever the lawyer is needs to be disbarred quickly.

Marc Fisher: I could barely keep my jaw attached to my face when I read that news. The very same people who had no clue that their supposedly loved ones had been lying dead in that house for months are now such close and caring relatives that they deserve to get unspeakably rich on the deaths of those girls. It's enough to make one gag.

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Vienna, Va.: Where did you see the piece about Examiner home delivery? I asked them to stop a couple of years ago, and they did, then suddenly started back last month, but responded pretty quickly then too to take me off their list. I'd have called the cops on them for littering if they hadn't stopped.

Marc Fisher: I'm pretty sure it was the 7--WJLA, last night.

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My heart goes out to the family: mentioned in Metro section this weekend whose children were taken away for several weeks, and who now cannot get off the abuse registry. We've either got no intervention for families in need, or overboard intervention for kids with non-abuse injuries. Sure, they should have looked into the injury, but what a terrible nightmare.

Marc Fisher: The Caplans have been put through a terrible ordeal by the city, but think of how much worse it must be for those families who are similarly mistreated by the government yet lack the resources that the Caplans had to put into play to get their children back within two weeks. The government's cavalier approach to taking away people's children is out of control. As today's Post editorial stresses, this is a matter of attitude and competence, and not so much of writing the laws. Law is a blunt instrument--personal discretion is the true art of governing.

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Richmond, Va.: Of course guns don't belong on college campuses. Look at what happened at Ferrum yesterday: man walked down hall with gun, no one wanted to be near man with gun, campus put on lockdown.

Marc Fisher: And another panic at a New Jersey college where the powers that be decided to stage a practice alert but didn't bother to announce that it was a practice session, so kids panicked when a "gunman" burst into a classroom.

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Conceal permits: Marc,

That was a horrible argument, even for you. There is a wide difference between carrying at school and carrying where justice (and sometimes freedom) is handed out or taken away. Your gun comments are way too paranoid and last time I checked Virginia violent crime rate is far below that of your beloved District.

Marc Fisher: Ok, what is the difference? Why is it better to have guns in a room full of three-year-olds than in a courtroom or emergency room?

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That's less frightening than the thought that the person sitting next to you in a library, ER or courtroom might be packing: Umm, I already feel that way walking down the street in D.C. Why is it okay for the thugs to have guns and not us? Sure they're not "allowed" to have guns, but the bad guys will always find a way. So fine, legalize it, let them have theirs and we'll have ours. That way we'll at least be able to fight back instead of be helpless at the hands of slimeballs.

Marc Fisher: Two quick reasons: 1) The fighting back part doesn't work out very well; those same bad guys might just happen to be better with guns or less caring about their own lives than you are. 2) Maybe those of us who don't care to be armed would rather entrust trained professionals with that job than rely on good folks like you who might be perfectly responsible, but might also be complete nutjobs.

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Walking to School: Now my kids are supposed to walk, with limited sidewalks and dangerous crossings.

You mention they are high school age, so I think they'll be okay. I walked to high school across the King Street, Braddock Road, Quaker Lane intersection where you run halfway, then stand in the median and wait to go the rest of the way. I was alright, and there were plenty of other kids running with me.

Marc Fisher: And you'd all have been even safer if there were ten times as many of you.

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23112: One wonders how Buckley and Ben Franklin would have got on.

Marc Fisher: Quite well, I bet. Though Franklin would have considered Buckley a bit of a dilettante, and Buckley might have gotten a bit snooty about Franklin's populist leanings. But overall, I think they'd have gotten along rather nicely.

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Washington, D.C.: If you're considering Green Line parking options, don't even think of trying to park at the new 1,000 space garage in Columbia Heights. The traffic geniuses reduced east-west access by cutting Irving from 4 lanes to just 2. It's now a 20-minute commute from 16th Street to 14th -- and the shops haven't opened yet!

Marc Fisher: Right--better off at Petworth or Fort Totten. Or from the other direction, that nice big Metro parking garage at the Anacostia station.

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Washington, D.C.: I do feel sorry for the couple who is fighting the D.C. child welfare office. It does seem like they were partially targeted because of a "privileged" status. However, as a former Child Protective Investigator in Florida (which as you know, has a TON of child welfare issues), I'd never heard of someone getting their name removed from the database, even if the allegations were unfounded. It seems to me that having your name in there would either protect you, b/c then there's a trail of false reports from harassers, or if you were indeed doing something and finally caught, the city would be able to look at all the previous allegations. Now of course I only know FL's system, but there's no way you can be removed from the database. Good luck to them.

Marc Fisher: Apparently there is indeed a way off the DC registry, involving an appeal to an administrative law judge, or, as in the Caplans' case, to a neutral outside party, an option that the city has offered the family.

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Virginia: With Virginia not ever collecting D.C. parking tickets, why not just drive down there and park whereever you want. If you do get away with every couple of times, it might even be cheaper even if you pay the tickets.

Marc Fisher: One reason not to: Towing.

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Anonymous: Well now they will need to build the soccer stadium across the river to provide parking for the baseball stadium!

Marc Fisher: Ha! Actually, parking is likely to become an issue if the Poplar Point project ever does get off the ground. The team will want to rely heavily on the Anacostia Metro parking garage, and neighbors and transit users will want the team to provide its own parking. But that's a long way off.

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Washington, D.C.: DC is more paranoid than I realized. In San Francisco, there are several large wide-open recycling bins in every station -- and riders dig through these every day to find and read used papers. The stations and trains are cleaner, it's greener, and to my knowledge there hasn't been a problem with security or people throwing trash items in the bins.

Marc Fisher: It's all part of the pathetic self-importance that has driven so much of the overreaction to security issues.

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NW, D.C.: Can we go back to last week's discussion on the young man that hit the people in the street watching the race.

Ironically I caught Motorweek this past weekend. Assuming the guy was doing 60-70 mph, it would take a good mid-size car over 110-feet to come to a complete stop. This guy was driving a Chevy Caprice. A big car that I would imagine does not stop on par to an Malibu, Accord or Camry. You placed a lot of blame on this guy. Suspended license or not, no one should be standing in an open highway.

I also notice how no one has come forward to speak to who was racing either. Not the bystanders, or any of those injured. More than likely it was a family member or friend to those injured. Where's the culpability to those racing? Why no outcry for the witnesses of the race to speak up too?

Marc Fisher: Agreed--the bystanders have a responsibility to come forward and name names. But they haven't and apparently won't. That in its way is even more disturbing than the practice of drag racing on public roads in the first place.

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Burke, Va.: You're kidding about Waterfront being a nicer walk along M street, past run-down housing projects and liquor stores, then up New Jersey Ave/First Street to Capitol South, past new high rises and quaint brownstones. Right?

Dude, next time, take Metro and actually walk these areas before making such judgments.

Marc Fisher: I walked both routes this week and you're way off base. Yes, the northern and southern ends of the walk from ballpark to Cap South are perfectly pleasant, but the middle stretch is scruffy bordering on forbidding, with next to no car traffic and, at least now before any games take place, zero pedestrians. Whereas the walk from Waterfront--essentially from the Arena Stage to the stadium--is along a wide boulevard that has plenty of light at night, lots of people walking around, lots of street traffic, a real feeling of safety.

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Washington, D.C.: Instead of immediately calling the lawyers for the Jacks family "slimeballs", maybe people should take a different approach. If the claim is the child welfare system of D.C. needs reform, much of those changes can come from litigation. The same approach was used in other cities (New York City comes to mind) -- litigation against the city child welfare system -- and the child welfare system was reformed.

Marc Fisher: And you think that the family will, like the David Rosenbaum family, withdraw its suit once the city makes the right reforms? Somehow, I am not hearing that.

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Buckley and Franklin: Except for the religion problem. And the remarkably bad way Franklin treated his wife and children.

Marc Fisher: Picky, picky.

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McLean, Va., in Atlanta this week: Marc, what do you think about the revised D.C. quarter suggestion of having a blank face with "District of Columbia" around the edge? I think you should give a prize to whoever suggested it (wasn't me).

Marc Fisher: I do like that idea a lot. Although those who love to interpret everything connected to the District as evidence of incompetence would conclude that the blank side of the coin is a mistake. People like this next post....

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Virginia Gal: Stupid stadium quarrel, terrible parking everywhere, inept government, loopy child protective policies, awful schools...

It's why I'll never live in D.C. Marc, the comments from you and your chatters just sum it up.

Marc Fisher: An involved and demanding citizenry is a sign of a healthy community.

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Arlington, Va.: Marc,

Based on the history of D.C. government and Metro what makes you believe these two very incompetent insitutions can handle the crowds for Nats games? Please, they haven't.

They talk the talk but can't walk the walk.

Marc Fisher: They did perfectly well at RFK and they handle the crowds at MCI Center with aplomb. No reason to expect and demand the same here.

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Virginia: I'm all for taking the Metro to the game when it's just me or my buddies, but my concern is when I take my 5-year-old. The crush of humanity I've encountered leaving Caps games makes me worry. It's scary enough when your head is above the crowd, but it's terrifying for someone at knee level. Do you think there will be enough trains (and enough coordination from Metro staff) to keep things moving?

Marc Fisher: They had no problem handling the crowds--most of them families with children--for the past three years at RFK, and this Metro station will be even larger and more able to handle the numbers.

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The middle stretch is scruffy bordering on forbidding, with next to no car traffic and, at least now before any games take place, zero pedestrians.: If you walk this route, just carry a gun. That will solve all your problems.

Marc Fisher: ThreadWeaver of the Day award winner.

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Arlington, Va.: Marc, I've lived in this area for 27 years (I'm 38 now) I finally bought my first home this year and considered a number of places, including various neighborhoods in D.C. When it came right down to it, I chose Va. over D.C. exactly because of the famously horrible D..C government that you described in your column about the D.C. welfare office. D.C. is one of the worst cities in the world, and you provided yet another example as to why that is.

Marc Fisher: Haven't traveled much, huh?

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Food Choices : I am really looking forward to the food options at the next Nats games I go to. How fun to have our local eateries represented!

Marc Fisher: It's an excellent list that was announced this week--I have the full menu of choices over on the blog. But still no word on helmet sundaes.

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Bethesda, Md.: D.C. parents are raising a ruckus about closing 23 underutilized schools and consolidation, which would require their children to move to another school, next year.

In Fairfax county, Va., parents are screaming, petitioning and fighting about a plan to move some kids into a track to go to South Lakes H.S.

Compare and contrast!

Marc Fisher: Here's the real difference: At those Fairfax meetings, literally hundreds and hundreds of parents have come out, organized groups, signed petitions, etc. At the corresponding D.C. meetings, so few parents bothered to attend that many meetings started and ended within a few minutes.

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Arlington, Va.: In the past few weeks, I've seen ads on TV for the law offices of Peter Angelos. Why, I ask you why, are these ads being played here in the Washington area? Is he really just trying to remind us all that he's our Nats TV "daddy"?

Marc Fisher: Probably aiming at Howard and Anne Arundel county market, served by both Balto and DC TV stations.

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Laurel, Md.: Ummm...let me get this straight regarding the Banita Jacks case in D.C. Where were these concerned family members when the children were still alive? How long had it been since Kevin Stoddard visited or paid child support to his daughter prior to her death? Unbelievable. The family, who apparently has absolved itself of responsibility, is suing the government, which logically did not have as much access or responsibility. Yes, the government agency needs some changes -- and those are happening; public outrage demands it. But, no, the family -- who did not step in for their own blood -- does not deserve to profit on this tragedy. Nor do the lawyers.

Heck, we should sue the family and lawyers for the stress, anguish, and loss of productivity this story is causing the general public.

Marc Fisher: Nicely said.

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Re: Deborah Gist: Marc, I'm surprised at you. You've been around for a while. Deborah Gist has been the head of the office formerly known as the State Education Office since the last Williams administration. Fenty kept her in that position when the administration changed. The school restructuring essentially changed the name of that office and consolidated some state-related education functions that sat in other agencies.

Marc Fisher: Right--but that State Education Office was given a much larger role under the Williams administration and it created, as I said before, a superfluous bureaucracy that often fought the DCPS bureaucracy. The system needs far fewer chiefs, not more.

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School Zones: I can't decide whether or not I have sympathy for the family who purchased a home based on the high school their kids would attend years from the date of purchase. It would certainly stink to have the zones changed on you, but stuff like that happens. Sorry you bought 10 years ago assuming the zones would be the same.

Marc Fisher: It is a tough one. The right approach would be to do the necessary rezoning but redraw the lines so as to dramatically improve the schools that will be receiving new students. A lot of these protests boil down to fears about class and race; the way around that is to alter the boundaries so that you end up with a balance of students in which all groups feel comfortable in the school.

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Arlington, Va.: For us Orange and Blue Line riders, walking between the Capitol South station and the ballpark would be preferable to changing trains at Metro Center and using the crowded Navy Yard station. You are a savvy reporter who has covered many inner city locales, so your concerns over that walk have me worried. Do you think the city will do anything to improve the safety and attractiveness of that route?

Marc Fisher: Yes, the city is planning to put in additional lighting, signage and the aforementioned vendors. Will it be enough? Remains to be seen.

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Tenleytown, Washington, D.C.: It's a nice thought to take the Metro. You should try to get to the stadium on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. This weekend, for example, you will need to add more than 30 minutes to your trip to get around switch repairs at Van Ness. Except for 4th of July weekend, you can count on major repairs every weekend during the opening season. This are major inconveniences with the normal low weekend crowds. What happens with a big weekend stand and Metro has major work on the Blue and Orange lines?

Marc Fisher: Metro is usually pretty good about not scheduling major outages around times when major events will boost ridership.

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Metro to the Game: I want to take Metro to the new Nats park, but I fear I'll be discouraged by the same thing that made me stop taking it to RFK -- headways on lines other than the Green Line. I'm sure Metro will have plenty of service on the Green Line after games, but when coming back from RFK I would end up at Metro Center waiting 15-20 minutes for a Red Line train. It seems that the schedules for other lines aren't adjusted at all, the end result being packed trains and it taking twice as long to go via Metro as driving.

Any word from the Nats or Metro on this problem?

Marc Fisher: That's an important concern. I haven't seen anything from Metro about boosting weekend capacity on the other lines. But that doesn't mean it won't happen. Let's see what we can find out on that front.

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Washington, D.C.: You said, "I checked out promisingly empty streets tucked under the Southeast-Southwest Freeway, only to discover johns and ladies of the night doing their business in the open air -- and one no-parking zone after another."

I pass under the freeway frequently and have never once seen any signs of prostitution. When and where were you exactly? Was that just an attempt at humor? Or are you trying to scare people away? Did you report the behavior?

Marc Fisher: Take Canal Road SE north to its end, wend your way under the highway and you'll end up on a street that dead ends at a chain link fence blocking access to the Capitol steam plant. Just before the fence is the hangout for the illicit activity. Be careful.

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18,000 season tickets?: Am I the only one who thinks this is disappointing? On a personal, selfish level I'm sort of happy, since it means there should be plenty of tickets available for us non-season ticket holding fans. But all that talk of full season sellouts, a la Camden Yards and the Jake in Cleveland in their early years, seems like wishful thinking. I hope the team plays well enough to encourage more people to come to the park.

Marc Fisher: My bet is the curiosity factor pushes attendance back up to the level of the first season. The big concern has to be for the second and third years, and that's why putting together a winning team is so important. The Nats are still in the earliest phase of building a fan base. It's not a foregone conclusion that it will work, but it should.

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Alexandria, Va.: Hi Marc:

Nice article about Don Geronimo. I have been listening to him since before he teamed up with Mike. I specifically remember an instance where there was a chicken in a cage at the station and you could hear it clucking and crowing in the background.

I will miss hearing him on the air.

We were coming home from O.C. the same weekend as the accident that killed Freda. I am glad that he was able to get through all the pain and find some joy again.

Marc Fisher: Thanks very much--he runs one of the last of the great radio programs. A huge talent, and sadly, the declining state of the medium means that there are few successors being groomed.

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Arlington, Va.: Mr. Fisher,

You presented some valuable information about stadium access in your column this morning, but your readers could have benefitted by citing StationMasters.com as a resource. The StationMasters Navy Yard map shows parking alternatives and explicit walking directions, and is linked to adjacent stations' maps for additional information. Users would have a clear indication of where to transfer, and maybe stop at other stations before or after a game. There's even a link for connecting buses to the area.

Perhaps you could mention this on your Live Online session this afternoon.

Thanks.

Larry Bowring

Bowring Cartographic,publishers of StationMasters print and online guide to Metrorail station neighborhoods

Marc Fisher: Nice map, but it doesn't include any of the new Nats parking lots.

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Colesville, Md.: The hand-wringing over transportation to/from the Nationals stadium is amusing and somewhat concerning but I don't worry too much because it will eventually work itself out. Heck, if people continue going to Jack Kent Cooke stadium, I don't worry for the Nationals at all.

Do you think people would be less concerned about the transportation issues if it was someone other than WMATA in charge of moving the majority of the people?

Has Metro been doing any type of research into how they intend to move 40,000 fans in any type of reasonable timeframe?

Marc Fisher: Excellent point--the hundreds of thousands who devote their entire Sundays to the chore of getting to and from the House the Squire Built will find it easy to do the Nats Park trip.

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Marc Fisher: Gotta run--thanks for coming along, folks. More in the paper Sunday and on the big web site every day.

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