Potomac Confidential

Washington's Hour of Talk Power

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: A Wave of Violence Engulfs a Life on the Mend

Fisher was online Thursday, July 24 at Noon ET to look at soaring crime in the District, how to deal with the overpopulation of deer and columnist Bob Novak's pedestrian encounter.

Check out Marc's blog, Raw Fisher.

Archives: Discussion Transcripts

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Marc Fisher: Welcome aboard, folks. What a delightful mid-summer day, and what a surprising bumper crop of news for mid-July. So much to chew over today, from the latest wave of shootings in the District and the resulting decision to reinstate the controversial checkpoints, to the conviction of former Prince George's County schools superintendent Andre Hornsby on corruption charges, to the moves afoot in Congress to strip the District of its right to write its own gun law in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month.

Today's Post offers a fascinating scoop by Richmond bureau chief Tim Craig on what appears to be an effort by Jim Gilmore's campaign to hide the Senate candidate's involvement with a Virginia company that is accused of conspiring to defraud the federal government. The Gilmore campaign is trying to paint this as an honest mistake in reporting on his financial disclosure forms, but that doesn't quite sound right. What's your read on it?

There's good news on the free speech front, as Union Station executives called to testify at a congressional hearing this week conceded that they have been way too cavalier about stopping people from taking pictures inside the train station and mall. This is one of several local spots where photographers have been harassed by security guards as part of the post-9/11 crackdown on Americans exercising basic rights in public. Sounds like things may get a bit easier now, at least at Union Station.

Sunday's column looked at deer overpopulation and the culture wars that develop when suburbanites try to hire a hunter to thin the herd and the Bambi-loving neighbors get into the act.

Today's column focuses on a D.C. man who took the hard route from drug dealing to college, career and community service, only to be gunned down on his own front porch while taking care of his ailing mother.

On to your many comments and questions, but first, let's call the Yay and Nay of the Day:

Yay to the Prince George's jury that finally returned guilty verdicts against ex-schools chief Andre Hornsby. If ever there were a guilty public official, this was the guy--caught red-handed on video, stealing money from children, scoffing at his responsibilities. This guy was a serial offender, getting into all sorts of trouble in one city after another, yet always winning a bigger and better job. Finally, he's out of the mix, but too many big city school systems continue to choose leaders from a tainted pool of charlatans and face men. Those jobs are awfully tough, and it is indeed hard to find real winners to fill those spots. But some of those who keep getting big jobs are plainly up to no good, and school boards should know better than to keep going back to the same well.

Nay to columnist Bob Novak, whose ludicrous excuse for his plowing his Corvette into a pedestrian in downtown Washington yesterday fails the laugh test. Novak would have us believe that he simply didn't know he had hit a pedestrian, but a lawyer who watched it all happen said the man who was struck rolled onto Novak's hood and then onto his windshield. This is a bit difficult to miss, don't you think?

Your turn starts the proverbial right now....

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Washington, D.C.: Marc,

I was deeply saddened to read your article this morning regarding Keith Hines, but am very appreciative that you shed light on this story. I had the pleasure of working with Keith at the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) several years ago. He was an impressive young man and as you indicated in your article, very committed to sharing his story in the hopes of helping others. In fact, he testified several times in front of the D.C. City Council to advocate for improved conditions and expanded programming within juvenile detention facilities. Keith had a wonderfully contagious smile and was an excellent teacher and programmer for children and youth. Having lived through many of the similar challenges facing the children, youth and families served by LAYC, he was uniquely equipped to offer sound advice and guidance, which he did passionately and affectively. In short, he was an outstanding young man. I hope that his family finds some solace in his legacy of accomplishments and that some good comes of yet another senseless act of violence in our communities.

washingtonpost.com: A Wave of Violence Engulfs a Life on the Mend ( Post, July 24)

Marc Fisher: Thanks very much--I met Hines only one time, a couple of years ago, but he stood out from others at the YouthBuild charter school as someone who had figured out the path forward and was intent on getting somewhere.

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washingtonpost.com: Gilmore Filed False Information On Campaign Disclosure Forms ( Post, July 24)

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washingtonpost.com: Peace Talks Spare Ravenous Deer ( Post, July 20)

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washingtonpost.com: A Wave of Violence Engulfs a Life on the Mend ( Post, July 24)

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washingtonpost.com: Novak Cited for Hitting Pedestrian ( Post, July 24)

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Fairfax, Va.: Wow. Thanks for the heartbreaking story this morning on Keith Hines. Are there any leads on his murder investigation? Does his mother have friends or family in the area who can help her through this? My condolences to her.

Marc Fisher: I understand the police have some leads, if not yet a clear suspect in the case.

Some of Hines' cousins are helping his mother through this time, but as she told me, she is still very far from realizing that her only child is gone. She seemed numb and very much alone when I visited with her.

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Gallery Place, D.C.: I realize this is a grim question, but thinking of his mother's dialysis situation, do you know if anyone was able to make use of Keith Hines' organs?

Marc Fisher: It's a good question, and one I've been getting from quite a few people, but no, I'm told that alas that did not happen.

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Alexandria, Va.: The amount of attention paid to Chandra Levy's death by The Post vis a vis that paid to Hines is just obscene. Neither deserved to die, and of course wealth, family connections and having an affair with a married congressman twice your age is going to garner more interest, but still...

I gather not everyone feels this way. I'll be interested in reading what the Ombudsman has to say on this issue.

Marc Fisher: Well, I take your point and there is certainly merit to the idea that we are a celebrity-obsessed culture and that that infection afflicts the news media every bit as much as it has grown in the general population. But the Levy and Hines cases are quite different. Levy would have been just another missing person if she hadn't been involved in an affair with a member of Congress. That added a level of gravity and potential scandal to what was otherwise a tragic mystery. The Hines murder is also a tragedy, of course, perhaps even a greater one if you're into measuring these things against one another. But in the news business, and in all of our daily lives, what stands out is what's most unusual or unexpected, and a murder of an affluent young intern who was having an affair with a congressman leaps out more than a murder of someone in a neighborhood with all too many such incidents of violence. That's not a judgment of the merit of one life over another, but a reflection of the enormous differences in how and where we live.

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Murder Coverage/Levy: Hi Marc,

I can't help but note that even today, Chandra Levey got more column inches in the post than the young man you wrote about. On some level, I understand the disparity. There's no congressman involved, Chandra was a hot white female, etc. But still -- shouldn't this bother us at some level?

Marc Fisher: Yes and no. Yes, it should bother us that many of us, both as readers and as news people, harbor the attitude that murders in rough neighborhoods are generally just thugs killing thugs and therefore are of less concern or interest. As the Hines story shows, there are good and impressive people who fall victim to the deep ills of a coarsened society.

And no, it makes perfect sense that the Levy case captures the public's fascination. It is a classic murder mystery with all manner of dramatic elements.

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Washington, D.C.: So Marc, the check points go away and the thugs come back to play. You still going to cry and complain about "civil liberties" being taken away. Try to explain that liberal nonsense to the 13-year-old who was gunned down last weekend. Keep the check points until the animals who are killing people are gone.

Marc Fisher: Do you really believe that the checkpoints are an effective tactic? Do you really think that those who think nothing of shooting another human being over some pathetic perceived slight will care if there are police stationed a few blocks away? Checkpoints are by their nature a temporary tactic; does it not stand to reason that as soon as they are lifted, crime will resume? Does it not also make sense that checkpoints will at best displace crime, moving it perhaps a few blocks away?

Police presence is a good thing. Police who immerse themselves in a neighborhood and get to know people are an even better thing. Checkpoints don't accomplish that; rather, they detract from the ability of officers to invest in a community and win trust and cooperation.

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Washington, D.C.: Another Metro columnist (name is escaping me at the moment, Courtland Malloy?) had a piece yesterday. Basically several kids who live in the area where the checkpoints/shootings have occured in Trinidad said that the people doing this are kids, 17 and younger, and they don't fear the law because they know they'll get a slap on the wrist because they're juveniles. If ever there were an indictment of the liberal judges and D.C. govt letting kids get away 'literally' with murder, this is it. Shame on D.C. Time to get tough, put the young thugs in jail for life or 25 years. Get them off the streets, and get them off now. Enough of the mushy liberal slaps on the wrist for juveniles, they're running this city because of it.

washingtonpost.com: A Street Corner Analysis of D.C. Crime ( washingtonpost.com, July 23)

Marc Fisher: Yes, an effective effort would involve both the kind of Boston campaign I outlined above and a justice system with real teeth. As Courtland Milloy's piece this week made clear, there is an accurate perception among too many teens in the District that the law will not hold them accountable for their actions because they are minors. The juvenile courts, largely because of their obsession with secrecy, are perceived to be a place where young wrongdoers are coddled.

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Mount Rainier, Md.: Mark, Okay, now we are in the second round of road blocks in Trinidad. What is your gut telling you about a way forward that doesn't involve more deaths or more cops on corners?

Marc Fisher: Good question. If the police chief and mayor were serious about cutting down youth crime and shootings, they would adopt something like the Boston approach, in which police, city agencies, schools, churches, volunteer groups and social workers team up to identify the problem kids--several of those groups always know who the troublemakers are in any given neighborhood--and pry their way into those kids' lives, with home visits, job training, counseling, whatever it takes. The impact in Boston at the height of that effort was stunningly good. It's intensive and expensive, of course, but so is the silly show of setting up checkpoints.

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Leesburg, Va.: Do you think the Mayor or Chief of Police will look into why Bob Novak wasn't charged with a hit-and-run or with leaving the scene of an accident? With all the fuss over pedestrian accidents in D.C., doesn't it look pretty bad to let a major media figure (and prominent conservative) off with a $50 ticket after nailing a pedestrian in a crosswalk (with the signal) and then driving off?

Marc Fisher: Sure looks bad to me. What would you have to do to get charged with leaving the scene if driving off after someone rolls across your hood doesn't qualify? Thanks are due to the bicyclist and other citizens who saw what happened and forced Novak finally to stop and face what he had done.

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Robert Novak hitting a pedestrian: Maybe the attorney who witnessed the accident can get Novak charged with something more serious, do you think? It's outrageous. I got fined for speeding about 15 years ago and paid a higher fine than that -- and there was virtually no one else on the road except me and the cop. Time to put away the car keys, Novak.

Marc Fisher: Apparently he takes some pride in his extreme approach to driving. We had a Reliable Source item back in 2001 after Novak was seen shouting at a pedestrian in which the columnist said this: "I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

Nice guy, huh?

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Arlington, Va.: I recall that had an auto encounter with a deer. Do you think if Bob Novak hit a deer that he would acutally notice? And why did the police allow him to drive away after what could have been a hit and run?

Marc Fisher: Actually, I bet he'd have faced even greater public outcry if he had plowed into a deer and driven off. The Bambi-lovers are out in force these days.

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RE: Deer Story: In the deer story you just linked to, the caption under the photograph of the two deer reads, "Game show host and animal activist Bob Barker, left, weighed in on the deer-hunt debate in a Great Falls neighborhood, urging Virginia officials to block it."

When did Bob Barker switch from giving away dough, to looking like a doe?

Marc Fisher: I love that caption (in the web version of my column on deer overpopulation in Great Falls).

Actually, Barker called me from his California home on the day after the column ran and he got a kick out of that portrait of him too. He tells me he likes racoons and coyotes too.

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Georgetown, Washington, D.C. : Lay off Novak. Marlene Cooke drove through Georgetown with guy on her Jaguar and the police bought her explanation...

Marc Fisher: At least she knew he was there.

Don't you miss the Cookes? We need a flashier brand of sports team owners in this town.

Speaking of which, I took in the Washington Kastles tennis match at the new (if temporary) tennis stadium downtown last night (before the monsoons scratched the event) and the near sell-out crowd was really into the game. The ownership is making an effort to boost attendance by portraying this as a chic, celebrity-saturated sport, and the Wizards' Gilbert Arenas had to suffer through several announcements of his presence courtside. But the crowd was smart enough to resist the awfully treacly efforts to persuade them to shout and cheer--hey, this is tennis, and the crowd wanted to be quiet and watch the game, which is what they did.

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Anonymous: Did Novak really say "at least he's not dead"? That is so dark. Too bad it is not included in the new Batman movie, as it's worthy of a 5 minute vignette.

Marc Fisher: Kind of a shocking statement, but if you watch the video, it's clear that Novak was feeling cornered by a persistent TV reporter and was just trying to control his emotions and come up with something to say. I think he behaved miserably in the incident, but I wouldn't criticize him for the blabbering he did as TV reporters birddogged him all along K Street.

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Rockville, Md.:"I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them."

You don't see any? Last time I was downtown I had to stop at nearly every intersection for someone crossing against the light. A whole town of outlaws. And it is the same in Bethesda.

I don't have to get angry with them, they pay in full.

Marc Fisher: I don't see anything remotely wrong with jaywalking. It's often far safer than crossing at the corner. The main issue is whether the pedestrian is acting responsibly and not daring motorists not to hit him; if the coast is clear, a mid-block crossing is safer than a corner crossing because you only have to look two ways rather than account for turning traffic at an intersection.

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Novak traffic citation: Yesterday, I overstayed my welcome at D.C. parking meter with a two-hour limit -- citation: $25. Earlier this week, my sister entered an empty intersection on what she perceived to be a yellow light, but what a D.C. police officer viewed as red -- citation: $75. Robert Novak HITS a pedestrian -- citation: $50. At least one of these things seems out of whack.

Marc Fisher: Absolutely. Thanks for the good price list.

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Lewes, Del.: Yesterday's Page 3 "Random Acts" had a piece from someone who was touched by a homeless woman's "paying back" the city for its services by putting "hundreds of pennies" into downtown parking meters. The only problem is, parking meters don't take pennies! At least they didn't when I retired here to Lewes this past fall. What the woman was doing was jamming all the parking meters in the city. Whether this is intentional or due to ignorance, I can't say. However, the practice is costing the city a lot of money and should be stopped.

washingtonpost.com: Giving at the Meter ( Post, July 23)

Marc Fisher: I loved that little piece by Bernard Demczuk, whose name you may recognize--our story didn't say so, but he was one of Marion Barry's top aides for many years and remains a wise and perceptive observer of Washington politics from his perch at George Washington University.

I don't think pennies jam the current generation of parking meters--the pennies certainly don't register on the meters, so it is a donation of sorts, and obviously pumping in pennies by the hundreds would fill up the meter awfully quickly, but it doesn't seem to cause malfunction.

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Arlington, Va.: Hi, Marc,

I found your blog on walkable neighborhoods interesting. In playing around with the Web site, I noticed that typing in ZIP codes get more accurate scores than towns. Having lived in 22204 (Columbia Pike) and now in 22203 (Ballston), I find neither compares to when I lived in 02446 (Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA), which scores a 97 on the site.

But, to go with another of your blogs about smart growth in Silver Spring, to make that area walker-friendly they first have to reduce the main street to 2 lanes of traffic each way instead of the 3-4 per direction that it is now.

Marc Fisher: The walkscore web site doesn't take street design into account, nor does it note which neighborhoods are served by transit, so it is a flawed measure of walkability, but it's still a fun site and there does seem to be a strong correlation between the scores it produces and the density of a particular area.

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McLean, Va.: Marc, yesterday' Food article about gourmet coffee bars is column bait.

Roasting Raises the Coffee Bar ( washingtonpost.com, July 23)

Are you gong to take the opportunity to write about Coffee Nazis?

Marc Fisher: The Murky Coffee story has gotten well more than its share of notice, so I'm not sure this is the right moment to jump in on that, but it's a good topic for down the road at some point. Thanks for the suggestion.

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washingtonpost.com: Walk Score

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Trinidad: Doesn't the person who said you should cry about civil liberties think there is at least a small chance that the criminals waited until a good amount of time had passed before coming back? In fact that is probably what did happen since all indications are that some of the shootings were a coordinated attack. Or maybe this person thinks there should always be checkpoints up. The fact is that just checkpoints aren't going to work. There are two other options. Flood the area with all city resources: health, employment development, neighborhood, and police just like Baltimore does. Or appeal to the community leaders and show that you will work with them as they have done successfully in High Point, N.C.

Marc Fisher: The most hopeful sign to come out of this current spate of violence in the city so far is the effort by a couple of community groups to hold meetings and try to persuade residents that it is in their interests to come forward with information the police can use to get shooters off the streets. Breaking the bias against "snitching," otherwise known as "being a responsible and caring citizen," is job one.

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Washington, D.C.: Marc,

Could you enlighten me about something I've taken notice of over the past couple of years in the District...

What's killing all of the trees? I live near Ft. Totten Park -- and by extension Rock Creek Park -- and it seems like every day I notice more and more trees have died.

Marc Fisher: I haven't noticed or read anything on that. Anyone?

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Marc. I don't know if you're the right person to ask, but for the last several weeks there has been at least one police car parked at the corner of 20th and S NW in Dupont pretty much all the time. Is there a particular reason for this? Thanks!

Marc Fisher: I draw a blank on this too--can anyone help?

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Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.: Marc --

Have you had a chance to take the revised 30 bus line yet? Any thoughts?

For myself, I wish they started the express buses a half hour earlier. And they need to make sure that the buses show up. On several occasions, the short-trip 31 bus (which I don't take) hasn't shown up (I get on at Wisconsin and Porter at around 6:30 a.m.). As a result, the full-trip 32 bus, which shows up after the 31, is standing room only by the time it gets to me.

Marc Fisher: I haven't taken that trip lately, but I've been hearing from folks who have, and they report that the timing and frequency of those buses leaves quite a bit to be desired.

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Arlngton, Va.: Why would Union Station not allow shutterbugs? You can take photos in any airport, including Reagan National, so what makes Union Station off-limits? The fact that it was modeled after the Baths of Diocletian? What's the security risk of people taking photos of one of the grandest public spaces in D.C.? If we're going to be this paranoid, we might as well not allow photography of any public building in D.C., NYC, or other big cities in the U.S.

An aside... I found the 1982 Time article on the proposed renovation of Union Station. Amazing and great how we brought it and Grand Central back to their former glory and even improved upon it for modern use.

In Washington, D.C.: Last Stop for Union Station ( Time Magazine, Oct. 25, 1982)

Marc Fisher: In fact, photography is expressly permitted by Amtrak at Union Station and all of its stations. The problem is overzealous security guards and unclear instructions from the mall managers. In their testimony before Congress, the managers said they will move to retrain the guards and make certain that photographers are left alone.

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Rockville, Md.: Levy or Hines.

Of course the answer is "both." Why go into endless debate on which is more important? Get smart.

Marc Fisher: Yes, both is right. But editors have to make decisions about how much reporting time to commit to different stories, so there is a legitimate debate about the Levy series.

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Levy Coverage: To be fair, I personally see this series as a way to highlight the poor state of the MPD -- using the Levy case is just a great way of making sure that more people read it.

Marc Fisher: Agreed, and surely the Levy series could have been constructed with a much greater emphasis on the police failures in the investigation, but the writers chose instead to tell the story as a murder mystery, unfolding in a recounting of the tale from her disappearance through to the botched investigation. It certainly makes for compelling reading, though, as many readers now say, it makes it harder to discern what the new reporting is in the series.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Chandra may have gotten more space, but her story didn't make me tear up like your story today did. It is so sad that this young man was not able to live out his potential.

Marc Fisher: Thanks--they're both unspeakable tragedies, and there's not much point in weighing them against one another. They bring up different aspects of the same central issue--our failure as a society to create clear paths and opportunities for all too many lost souls who go on to terrorize the rest of us.

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Rockville, Md.:

Nothing wrong with jaywalking? I remember this. Now.

Perhaps I used the wrong term -- but I mean people who come to the intersection and see the red hand or "don't walk" and charge out in the street. Is that jaywalking?

It is not smart.

And I do not like it.

When I walk in Bethesda, I do stop and people nearly knock me down to get around me and walk into the intersection.

If there is nothing wrong with it, why don't we get rid of the laws and call it a "free fire zone." Or whatever is PC these days.

Marc Fisher: The more pedestrians assert their rights, the more motorists will have to slow down and show a decent level of care.

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Washington, D.C.: I'll stop jaywalking when drivers stop running through stop signs while texting (true story, I nearly got hit by someone doing that a couple weeks ago). It's really no less safe to jaywalk in this city than it is to wait for the walk sign at the cross walk.

Also, did I miss something in the deer story, or was the Bob Barker letter and PETA involvement the first that the deer-hunting couple heard of their neighbors' distress? Did they not talk to each other first?

Marc Fisher: The neighbors had indeed made their displeasure known to the Peterson family before the PETA/Barker involvement in the case, and from what the neighbors told me, the Petersons were receptive to the complaints and were searching for ways to control the deer without hiring a hunter even before PETA entered the case.

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Beautiful Silver Spring, Md.: So what was the winner from Friday's "You Be the Editor" contest? I was pumping for B.

Marc Fisher: You'll be pleased to know that that's the item I am working on. It was a very close vote--this is last Friday's Raw Fisher blog item in which you the readers were asked to select a topic for my future reporting--and a virtual tie between items A and B, on a military official's effort to force civilians on his local base to stand at attention every day during reveille, and on the tactics used by local police in setting up stings to catch online predators who try to meet teenaged girls. The latter story won slightly more support from readers, and your vote is my command.

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washingtonpost.com: You Be the Editor ( Raw Fisher, July 18)

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Washington, D.C.: Marc:

I'm surprised that I can't find any coverage in The Post about the fact that the D.C. fire department has ruled that the cause of last Friday's huge fire in NW's Manor Park neighborhood was caused by two boys playing with matches. A total of seven houses were damaged; four of the homes are not habitable. The damage is over a million dollars.

What is your thought of holding these boys or their parents responsible?

One added thought: This massive fire was just around the corner from where two women died in a house fire in January (a home with no smoke detectors). Seems like that tragedy could have been a teaching moment for these boys' parents on the danger of playing with fire.

Marc Fisher: I haven't followed that, but in general, I do believe that it's important for the authorities to hold parents responsible for the actions of their children. The parents may not have been around or known that their kids were lighting houses on fire, but it's their duty to be certain that their kids are properly supervised or at least raised with a sense of what's acceptable and what's not.

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Guiliani law suit: Can I just say how distateful it is to have someone sue a school because they weren't good enough to make a sports team? Seriously, talk about the definition of being a bad sport!

Marc Fisher: And this comes to you as a great surprise given what you know about Giuliani's values?

(This refers to the story about Rudy Giuliani's son Andrew suing Duke University because he was cut from the golf team. No wonder coaches don't enjoy their jobs as they once did.)

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Washington, D.C.: What's killing the trees? Apathy/lack of water. GET OUT THERE AND WATER THEM PEOPLE! Last year there was a drought.

Marc Fisher: Thanks...

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Cambridge, Md.: I read your chats after the fact and last week's struck me as everyone's having a cranky day. The Post writes for a number of different constituencies. You can't expect to be interested in every single article. So they devoted some space to a topic in which you're not interested. Get over it!

Having said that, the amount of time and effort tht went nto rehashing the Chandra levy cash definitely strikes me as overkill.

washingtonpost.com: Potomac Confidential Discussion ( washingtonpost.com, July 17)

Marc Fisher: But as you say one paragraph earlier, there are hundreds of other stories in the paper--you do get to choose.

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washingtonpost.com: Rudy Giuliani's Son Sues Duke Over Golf Dismissal ( AP, July 24)

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Arlington, Va.: Do not, as one of your earlier posters suggested, lay off Novak. I had a vicarious encounter with his driving habits many years ago: he plowed into my roommate's car while making an illegal turn on Wisconsin Ave., then took forever to pay off. Also, I remember distinctly a few years ago when Novak used the bully pulpit of his nationally syndicated column to berate a police officer at National Airport who gave Novak a warning (i.e., not a ticket) for making a U-turn. Now he doesn't notice hitting a pedestrian. Anyone see a pattern here?

Marc Fisher: Novak has even referred to his driving habits himself, so it's not as if he's pretending to be a caring and gentle driver. And yes, he ought to be held accountable well beyond a $50 citation. The victim of this incident is, as police say, of no fixed address, so it doesn't seem likely that he'd be the sort to sue over an incident like this. Nor should the onus be on the victim to hold the perpetrator responsible. The criminal code should suffice to prevent someone like Novak from doing this sort of thing.

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Alexandria, Va.: Actually -- I'm happy for the Snyderization of local sports talk radio. His purchase of 980 was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

I'm not much happier downloading the day's Dan Patrick show, or highlights from Mike and the Mad Dog and listening to them as I drive home.

Marc Fisher: I think you meant to say you are "now" happier, rather than "not," and I am hearing quite a bit of unhappiness from readers about the Redskins' takeover of all of local sports talk radio. Some folks miss the Fox syndicated programming that had been on WTEM, and some want more coverage of local sports other than football. This is a big and strong enough sports market to support a real, 24/7 local sports talk station, yet it's hard to imagine any of the big radio companies deciding that it would be worth the investment to take on Snyder and start up another sports station.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Marc, don't know if you're taking baseball questions today, but have you been to Nationals Park recently? They've put up a huge red tent on top of the parking lot directly across the street from the LF upper deck viewing area, completely blocking the view of the Capitol dome. You can still see it, but only if you walk halfway down the top ramp. So the perfect panorama that Tom Boswell hailed as the best part of the stadium is now obstructed. What could ownership possibly be thinking?

Marc Fisher: I don't like the way the big tent on the roof of the ill-conceived outfield parking garage looks, but it was the garage itself that blocked many of the views north from the stadium, not the tent on top. There is still a good view of the dome from some small parts of the upper deck, and as more buildings go up in the ballpark district, all of the views of the Capitol are likely to vanish, so the tent, while annoying, is merely a sign of things to come.

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Washington, D.C.: Your column makes it sound like Virginia had a quick trigger (pun intended) when recommending the hunt. I understand that hunting to thin a population can sometimes be necessary, but it should be a last resort. Did Virginia in fact jump the gun (so to speak) in suggesting the hunt, or am I reading this wrong?

Marc Fisher: There are many in the state conservation offices who believe that hunts are an important part of the effort to reduce the deer overpopulation that is not only eating away at people's landscaping, but more importantly, is strangling other species that depend on the foliage that the deer are eating up. Obviously, animal rights folks disagree, and even the state biologists concede that the long-term efficacy of hunts is not clear, but in some areas, the desperation to get the deer population under control is becoming palpable.

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Rockville, Md.: Your story about the deer population did cover the most important reason we need to hunt them -- Lyme disease. Sure, I'm not happy when my landscaping gets turned into a lunch buffet but what's worse is when I pull Lyme-infected deer ticks off my 5-year-old daughter.

We have killed the natural predator of the deer and now the population is growing while the land available is shrinking. For our safety, we NEED to reduce the herd.

Marc Fisher: Lyme disease is the number one reason many readers cite as the basis for their support of using hunters to thin the herd.

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Blog Land: Marc, I understand why the Post would support a federal shield law, but instead of just an op-ed why not report on what the bill will and will not do? Will bloggers be covered under the proposed federal shield law? I read the dead tree version of the Post EVERY day and the Post has not devoted 1/100 th of the space they wasted on the Levy serial to reporting on this bill.

Marc Fisher: I'm not sure I get the analogy to the Levy story, but yes, we have written several news stories on the shield bill as well as op-eds and I'm sure there will be more coming.

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Arlington, Va.: Marc,

When did D.C. become Florida, at least weather-wise? Highs in the 80s or 90s every day, with a thunderstorm nearly every night.

Old people running over pedestrians (Novak).

What's next? Early Bird specials? A return of Friday afternoon NSO concerts filled with Leisure World residents?

Marc Fisher: That's standard July weather here, going way, way back--check the stats and you'll see that the last few summers have actually been milder than most.

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I'm asking, so you can tell: So Marc, are you for or aginst gays in the military? Funny debate to have as if burying one's head in the sand and pretending they don't exist is the answer -- especially since there are a lot of gays currently serving and from what I can tell, the earth is still rotating around the sun just fine.

Marc Fisher: I cannot imagine why anyone would care what any member of the military's sexual ideas, preferences or activities might be, unless and until anyone acted improperly or illegally. And at that point, it doesn't matter if the offending behavior is heterosexual or homosexual.

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Obama's On!!!!: Marc! Hurry up and wrap up the chat, Obama's about to speak in Germany, and as a member of his fan club (aka being a reporter) you should get ready to drool over his every word.

Marc Fisher: You really believe that? Check out the coverage of John McCain over the past couple of decades and you'll find probably the single most documentable case of news media infatuation with a politician in recent American history. Both of these guys have gotten unusually good press in comparison to many of their colleagues, and for very different reasons: McCain because he has long been unusually open and funny and seems to enjoy the give and take with reporters, and Obama because his campaign turned into a genuine grassroots phenomenon, which meant that he was a great story. Reporters vote the quality of the story, generally with little or no regard to the content of the message.

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Woodbridge, Va.: This is probably totally off topic, but I had to get this off my chest. I just read the chat from Sophia Nelson about black women in America, Michelle Obama, etc.

I am a white 44-year-old female. Keeping in mind that I don't know the Obamas from a hole in the ground, I would still be quicker to invite him to a backyard BBQ than I would her.

From what I've seen so far, she just doesn't strike me as someone I would like to get to know. I'm sorry, but she seems standoffish. However, I could give him a hot dog and talk the Redskins without a problem.

Conversely, I don't know that I'd invite John McCain. I respect him immensely for his sacrifices over the years, but I don't know that I could give him a hot dog and talk the Redskins with him comfortably.

Am I off base or stupid?

washingtonpost.com: Outlook Discussion ( washingtonpost.com, July 24)

Marc Fisher: Of those three, I'd most want to invite McCain to a barbecue--he'd probably have the best stories to tell and seems to have a strong sense of humor. I don't have nearly a good enough sense of Mrs. Obama to know whether she'd be fun at a backyard party. The husband seems something of a stiff, but obviously is a charmer. Let me know when your barbecue takes place; if you'll have me, I'd love to be there with that whole crowd.

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Arlington, Va.: If I were the pedestrian who Novak hit-and-ran from, I would want him to pay my medical/hospital/rehab bills and to write a column about why what he did was wrong.

But, knowing Novak's personality, I won't hold my breath for that column.

Marc Fisher: No, I wouldn't expect to read that one during this particular lifetime.

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Alexandria, Va.: The bicyclist is a high-powered lawyer downtown who was commuting in to work. I could easily see him taking the case pro bono, or arranging for a colleague to do so (perhaps a former CIA type to bring things full-circle).

Marc Fisher: That would make for a splendid story. But I won't hold my breath.

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Bethesda, Md.:"The more pedestrians assert their rights..."

Well, that's the point. Far too many pedestrians go way beyond that and assert rights they DON'T have -- like the right to step into moving traffic, against the light or not at one of those striped crosswalks -- that create traffic hazards for drivers (like having to slam on your brakes and hope the cars behind you who can't see the pedestrian will stop in time). Sure, there are plenty of rogue drivers too -- I'm just saying it's not a one-sided problem, as you seem to think it is. I try to follow the rules and be considerate both inside and outside the car, and I have no problem with jaywalkers who do so carefully and do not impede drivers, but you should acknowledge that sometimes it really is the pedestrian who is the problem. (I'm not saying that I would ever hit one, obviously.)

Marc Fisher: Sure, people dart out from between parked cars, essentially daring motorists to kill them. People do all sorts of insane things. But the roads are generally designed to make it easy for drivers to ignore pedestrians, and that's not good for any of us.

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D.C.: Marc, if Novak did not see the pedestrian as he claims, he should have his license taken away. Did he not hear the guy hit the window? We had a duck hit our windshield once and it sounded very loud...I can't imagine a person hitting it wouldn't be even louder. This whole $50.00 ticket is in your face absurd. Shame on the D.C Police Dept.

Marc Fisher: To the many others who wrote in with comments along these lines, this reader will have to serve as your spokesman.

We're way over the time limit now, so just a couple more....

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washingtonpost.com: Hornsby Convicted On 6 Counts ( Post, July 24)

Marc Fisher: Couple on this story:

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washingtonpost.com: Andrew Giuliani files lawsuit against Duke ( Newsday.com, July 24)

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Baltimore, Md.: Re the Hornsby conviction: While I was certainly glad to see him get nailed, I have never been able to understand how the prior jury could not bring itself to convict him on even a single count. I mean, there was audio and video evidence that the guy was on the take, not to mention the fact that his girlfriend at the time made a huge commission on a sale to the PG school system, when that wasn't even in her territory. Yet somehow, the first jury couldn't convict him on a single thing. Baffling.

Marc Fisher: The main problem was that the woman who logically ought to have been the star witness did not testify, so it's easy to imagine that the jurors saw a big gap in the prosecution's case. And in the second trial, the prosecutors knew this and were able to frame their arguments and their case around that gap.

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Re: This guy was a serial offender, getting into all sorts of trouble in one city after another, yet always winning a bigger and better job. : How did he DO that? I mean I'm a regular gal with good education and credentials, but always feel like it's pulling teeth when I'm looking for a job. How does someone spin so effectively that past stealing is overlooked? The dude should coach people on interview techniques!

Marc Fisher: It's like buying a house: You don't get to enjoy the fruits of the house's growing value unless you buy that first house. In the case of gypsy school superintendents, once you're in the game, it's vastly easier to get jobs than it would be for someone who has never held that position before. People generally don't like to take chances on someone new.

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RE: Novak: Did he leak his own hit and run story to the press?

Marc Fisher: The wags are out....

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Washington, D.C.: The Chandra Levy series: Until I read it, I had no idea of the sheer incompetence the D.C. police displayed over the course of the investigation. Yeah, Condit's prevarication made him a target for the cops, but it always seemed to me highly unlikely that Condit, a serial philanderer, would suddenly take it on himself to murder a woman he was involved with. And today's account of the shortcomings of the D.C. crime scene investigation unit was an eyeopener --technicians spending their own money on supplies, no less. CSI it wasn't.

Marc Fisher: And one more from the other perspective....

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Washington, D.C.: Thank you for the column; it's a shame how murders have become so accepted and that The Post so frequently dismisses them with a few lines buried in the Metro section. I'd heard the excuse that people in rich neighborhoods will talk, while those in poor ones are too fearful, so there's frequently nothing to report. But the City Paper recently wrote about Post reporter Robert Pierre's complaint that "he wrote up a couple of inches of copy on a recent murder victim, but his editors cut it over space concerns."

Does The Post management really think murders are no longer newsworthy?

Marc Fisher: To the contrary, this paper records every single murder in the city, which strikes me as kind of quaint. When something happens hundreds of times a year, it doesn't make sense to treat each incident as an earthshattering event, even though it obviously is utterly shattering to those who knew the victim. The real challenge is to find those stories that can be used to illuminate deeper truths, to get at why these killings occur, and to probe for solutions and uncover obstacles to both prevention and resolution of cases. Those stories could be a Levy story that looks at how police botched the investigation, or a Hines story that asks us to consider that those who are killed in rough neighborhoods are more than just thugs, or any number of other approaches.

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Marc Fisher: That has to kick things in the head for today. Thanks for coming along and apologies to those I couldn't get to today. Back here next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel.

The column is back Sunday and the blog is served fresh daily.

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