II. The Court Will Enter Judgment in Favor of Plaintiff on Count 2: The Decision to Remove the Bike Lanes Is Arbitrary and Capricious and Not the Result of Reasoned Decisionmaking. Count Two of the amended complaint alleges that the decision to remove the dedicated bike lanes is arbitrary and capricious for a number of overlapping reasons, including that the defendants have not provided a reasonable explanation for their action, the decision represents an unexplained change in position, the record does not reflect that defendants gave sufficient 24 consideration to available safety and traffic data, and the defendants have not considered the reliance interests of WABA members. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 69–91.

"Arbitrary and Capricious and Not the Result of Reasoned Decisionmaking" would make a fine title for a history of the Trump administration, should we live to see such a history written and should writing survive as a subject still taught in the schools.

Data visualization, "Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East," Florence Nightingale

Full D.D.C. opinion ➔ ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

ONCLUSION The Court finds the decision to proceed with the 15th Street Cycle Track Removal to be arbitrary and capricious because the record does not reflect that the defendants examined the relevant data and articulated a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made. It further finds that the defendants’ invocation of the highway modernization categorical exclusion, and their conclusion that the Removal Project would not have a significant impact on public health and safety, to be arbitrary and capricious as well.

Therefore, the decision to proceed with the Removal Project as described in the March 31, 2026 NPS Decision Memorandum and the March 31, 2026 NPS and FHWA Categorial Exclusion documents, as well as in the February 23 NPS and February 27 FHWA Categorical Exclusion documents to the extent they were not rescinded or nullified but only elaborated upon on March 31, is hereby VACATED and REMANDED to the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration. This means, as counsel for the defendants acknowledged on the record at the hearing, that the decision is null and void, and the Removal Project may not and will not proceed on April 23, 2026. Given the ruling in plaintiff’s favor on the merits, plaintiff’s request for interim relief is denied as MOOT.

WABA prevails in its lawsuit, barring the National Park Service and FHWA from removing the 15th Street protected bike lanes.

END OF AN ERA: Dos Gringos Closing at the end of the month in Mount Pleasant. La Lucha, “sandwiches & more” coming soon. - PoPville 3116 Mount Pleasant Street, NW And now for the bad news... Thanks to Terry and Naomi for sending this incredibly sad news from Mount Pleasant: "Dos Gringos in Mt Pleasant is closing at the end of the ...

Dos Gringos, a Mt. Pleasant institution, is closing, although a new establishment in the same spirit will take its place. www.popville.com/2026/04/dos-...

Incidentally, water temp at Washington Channel is showing at 70°F — some buoys around the region's tidal rivers climbed into the 70s this week, although deeper-water locations are still quite a bit colder. www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page...

CO-OPS provides the national infrastructure, science, and technical expertise to monitor, assess, and distribute tide, current, water level, and other coastal oceanographic products and services that support NOAA's mission of environmental stewardship and environmental assessment and prediction. CO-OPS provides operationally sound observations and monitoring capabilities coupled with operational Nowcast Forecast modeling.

NOAA's upgraded the water level station (i.e., tide gage) on Washington Channel, moving to a lower-maintenance radar-based sensor. tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/news_posts/a...

Would seem likely. I notice that they often fly out to Great Falls, even in the morning, and I think that some of these flights are more routine monitoring than SAR.

N11PP, the Park Police helicopter, has moved on up the river.

Do I want to know why the US Park Police helicopter is orbiting the area just below the Potomac Interceptor pipe collapse, on a Saturday night? (Map images from CopterSpotter.)

Fascinating to see journalists use remote sensing to ascertain the operational status of data centers—reminds me of the people who’ve made a business of using orthoimagery to estimate the volume of oil in storage tanks By reading the height of tank roofs.

I must say that the new Fort Totten Metro station is quite a bit smaller than its predecessor.

Diagram of the Axis of Evil

The proposed arch aligns with the Custis–Lee Mansion to create the "Axis of Evil," which terminates on the DC shore with the backside of the Lincoln Memorial (where the statue has its back turned b/c that president wants nothing to do with this).

Commission of Fine Arts votes to move ahead with Trump's proposed victory arch The seven-member body, whose ranks are composed of Trump appointees, was expected to approve the arch. The proposed monument strongly resembles Paris' Arc de Triomphe, but almost 100 feet taller.

CFA approves a new triumphal arch. The commission noted that they received about 1,000 comments, all of them negative, except for one that proposed an alternative design. www.npr.org/2026/04/16/n...

List of headlines that I did not expect to see, item #7499.

I've known a disproportionate number of Hampshire alumni, and they've all been deeply principled people doing good in the world, and tonight I'm learning that *several more* folks I pay attention to went to Hampshire.

Higher education was better for Hampshire College, which for 56 years has embodied another view of how teaching, learning, and life might work.

Diagram of waterways by US Army Corps of Engineers

From USACE Pittsburg District, a topological diagram of the area's waterways, locks, and dams. www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...

Rule 36 - Signals to Attract Attention Return to the top of the page If necessary to attract the attention of another vessel, any vessel may make light or sound signals that cannot be mistaken for any signal authorized elsewhere in these Rules, or may direct the beam of her searchlight in the direction of the danger, in such a way as not to embarrass any vessel. ‹ Any light to attract the attention of another vessel shall be such that it cannot be mistaken for any aid to navigation. For the purpose of this Rule the use of high intensity intermittent or revolving lights, such as strobe lights, shall be avoided. ›

Compare Rule 36 of the Inland Navigation Rules and COLREGs, don't use your searchlight in a way that would "embarrass" another vessel.

Maryland Rye Whiskey Has Finally Returned. But What Was It in the First Place? (Published 2019)

Maybe Maryland's contribution should be rye whiskey — the state was the 3rd largest producer, pre-Prohibition, after KY and PA. www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/d...

I do miss Shophouse.

NWS issued a statement about wildfire danger, covering the DC area, given drought, winds, and low humidity, so I am glad that we are seeing a little rain. forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatx...

Given that Sweetgreen and Cava both started in the DC area, there’s a case for the slop bowl as one of the city’s most significant foods.

A Lot of Shops Won't Fix Electric Bikes. Here's Why Bike shop mechanics have lost fingers and their shirts while repairing ebikes of dubious origins. Make sure yours is repairable and third-party certified.

Headline says that it's hard to find shops that'll work on e-bikes. The article indicates, the issue's that a growing number of "e-bikes" sold by scummy manufacturers are uncertified, out-of-compliance, or legally/effectively motor scooters/motorcycles, not bicycles. www.wired.com/story/why-is...

View of 7th Street, N.W., East side, looking North from F Street three to five story buildings are visible in the background. people are visible on the sidewalks. a wagon is on the left, and a blurry cyclist is in the middle of the intersection

I have been looking through some of these c. 1900 street views with students and have become obsessed with looking for bicycles and bicyclists --

like the ghostly presence in this intersection

www.loc.gov/resource/ppm...

Just to have it on the record, I understand from some of Frederich St. Florian's faculty colleagues that he was dismayed by how the WWII Memorial turned out, and he preferred to be remembered for the Providence Place Mall. (I am not kidding.)

Emancipation is an important moment—not quite the failure of Reconstruction, not Lincoln, not Frederick Douglas, not slavery, all of which are marked, though arguably not deeply enough.

Oscar Meyer Weinermobile but for half smokes and with a side of politicking.

Even setting aside everything else (!), the writing here is only marginally literate.

USACE has awarded a contract for restoring/rebuilding James Island, an all-but-vanished island in the Chesapeake Bay, using dredge spoil. www.nab.usace.army.mil/Media/News-R...