All Opinions Are Local - A forum on hot topics in D.C., Maryland and Virginia - October 24, 2010

Solar D.C.'s newest power couple

By Anya Schoolman and Jefferson Morley Washington Dear President and Mrs. Obama: Now that it has been announced that solar panels will soon return to the roof of the White House, we write to welcome you to the ranks of...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 30, 2010; 6:53 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: D.C., economy, energy, environment
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The myth of the black Confederates

By Bruce Levine Next year, the country will begin observing the sesquicentennial of the bloodiest war in U.S. history -- the Civil War. But the question of how to remember that war sometimes seems as contentious as the war itself...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 30, 2010; 6:39 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (38)
Categories: HotTopic, Virginia, history
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In D.C.'s Web voting test, the hackers were the good guys

By Jeremy Epstein, David Jefferson and Barbara Simons Last month, the District conducted an Internet voting experiment that resulted in a team from the University of Michigan infiltrating election computers so completely that they were able to modify every ballot...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 30, 2010; 10:25 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: D.C., HotTopic
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My views on sex ed aren't anti-gay

By Martha Schaerr Derwood In Michael Birnbaum's Oct. 27 news article, "School board hopeful has new focus," David Fishback of the D.C. chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays was quoted as saying that my views on...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 29, 2010; 9:41 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: HotTopic, Montgomery County
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Overreactions starting to nonexistent Metro plot

Following news that the FBI orchestrated its own, fake Metro bombing plot to catch a potential terrorist, Metro transit police are already pondering instituting useless "security theater" methods like random bag searches. Bag searches look good but don't do...

By David Alpert | October 29, 2010; 10:50 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: D.C., HotTopic, Local blog network, Metro, crime, transportation
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Are universities creating unlevel playing fields?

By John R. Maney Springfield The Post reports that Stevenson University in Maryland is adding a football team to attract more male students ["The new game plan boosting colleges' odds," front page, Oct. 27]. There is, indeed, a desire to...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 28, 2010; 7:13 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Georgetown, HotTopic, schools
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Welcome, PolitiFact Virginia

Eric Cantor's pants are on fire. At least according to PolitiFact Virginia, a new partnership between the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the St. Petersburg Times's PolitiFact.com announced this week. Virginia is now the eighth state in which a news organization...

By Paige Winfield Cunningham | October 28, 2010; 3:36 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: HotTopic, Local blog network, Va. Politics, Virginia
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Fimian's cluelessness on D.C. voting rights

It's been a while since something related to D.C. voting rights got me riled up. After all, a decade of living here makes just about anyone immune to the blather that comes out of some people's mouths when they...

By Martin Austermuhle | October 28, 2010; 1:30 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: D.C., DC Vote, HotTopic, Local blog network, Va. Politics, Virginia
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Defense contracting clouds on the horizon

One wouldn't know it from the midterm election campaigns, but dark clouds are forming over Virginia and much of Maryland, too. One barometer check is in this morning's Wall Street Journal, which rounds up quarterly performance reports from several...

By Peter Galuszka | October 28, 2010; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: HotTopic, Local blog network, Maryland, Montgomery County, Va. Politics, Virginia, development, economy, guns, health care, military
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The freedom of a charter school

By Shoshana Rosenbaum Washington I read with interest Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet blog post [Metro, Oct. 25] on the textbook review process that led to an inaccurate history book being approved while Joy Hakim’s well-regarded “History of U.S.” had a...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 27, 2010; 8:25 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: HotTopic, schools
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My endorsement: A businessman for O'Malley

By Leonard E. Moodispaw Annapolis As a longtime Maryland businessman, I am offended at suggestions that Maryland is not favorable to business. I am the CEO of the KEYW Corporation, a cybersecurity firm that just completed a successful public offering....

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 27, 2010; 5:45 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: HotTopic, Maryland, My Endorsement
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Drug bust deja vu at Georgetown

The police arrived before the sun was fully up. They took several Georgetown University students under custody on drug related charges. The campus was shocked to hear the news. By noon it was clear the arrested students’ lives were...

By Topher Mathews | October 27, 2010; 12:23 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: D.C., Georgetown, HotTopic, Local blog network, crime
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A GOP House could be good for D.C.

By Jeff Surrell Washington In his Oct. 23 op-ed, “GOP storm brewing for the District,” Colbert I. King warned District residents of the perceived dangers of the GOP regaining power on Capitol Hill and rightly suggested that presumptive mayor-elect Vincent...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 26, 2010; 9:47 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: D.C., D.C. politics, HotTopic, Vincent Gray
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D.C.'s poor need a raise

How many District residents are considered poor? Enough to fill both RFK Stadium and Nationals Park, and still have folks leftover. How many Washingtonians are living in extreme poverty, making less than $5,300 per year for a single person?...

By Martin Austermuhle | October 26, 2010; 3:52 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: D.C., HotTopic, Local blog network, economy
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Eric Cantor's layers of defense

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) could become House majority leader if the Republicans win as many seats next Tuesday as many pundits believe they will. Cantor, whose 7th District runs from Richmond west to the foothills of the...

By Peter Galuszka | October 26, 2010; 12:00 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: HotTopic, Local blog network, Va. Politics, Virginia, crime, development, economy, education, energy, environment, media, police, taxes
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Fact check: The newest Connolly attack

The newest attack ad against Republican Keith Fimian over the home inspection company he co-founded could use some inspection itself. The company, U.S. Inspect, is once again being turned into a campaign weapon by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee...

By Paige Winfield Cunningham | October 26, 2010; 9:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Va. Politics, Virginia
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Will Gray retreat on school reform? Here are 5 tests

By Richard Whitmire Arlington On Oct. 24, soon-to-be-departed D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Mayor Adrian Fenty wrote a farewell in The Post’s Outlook section: “We’ve done our best. Now it’s up to you.” Wisely, and appropriately, they kept their...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 26, 2010; 5:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: D.C., D.C. politics, Fenty, HotTopic, Va. Politics, Vincent Gray
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Invisible ink against crime

Many D.C. residents have had something stolen from them at one point or another. But did you know that the Metropolitan Police Department participates in an initiative called "Operation ID," which can help you get your possessions back? It's...

By Aaron Morrissey | October 25, 2010; 2:59 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: D.C., HotTopic
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A lot is at stake in ANC elections

ANCs, or Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, have no power to directly approve or reject any proposals. Nevertheless, they can have a tremendous effect on their neighborhoods and their growth, for good or ill. That's why it's very important for D.C....

By David Alpert | October 25, 2010; 1:02 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: D.C., D.C. politics, HotTopic, Local blog network
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My endorsement: Standing up to the unions

By Michael J. Amery Montgomery Village My vote for governor will be for Robert Ehrlich. Maryland has a significant structural deficit problem that has been difficult to control because of the influence of public-sector unions on the political process. In...

By washingtonpost.com editors | October 25, 2010; 12:07 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: HotTopic, Maryland
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All Opinions Are Local: October 24, 2010 - October 30, 2010