It looks like the world is going to have to wait a bit longer for Rod Blagojevich's version of why he deserves a new trial.

The former Illinois governor was convicted in 2011 of 17 counts of corruption — including trying to sell President Barack Obama's former Senate seat — and is now serving a 14-year prison sentence.

His appeal was due next Monday, but his legal team has quietly filed a motion asking for nine extra days, "through and including July 3, 2013."

"This motion is necessitated, not by lack of diligence, but because of the length of the trial record," wrote attorney Leonard Goodman, who also cited the complexity of the issues, and the work he is doing on other cases.

Goodman wrote that he and co-counsel Lauren Kaesberg have analyzed more than 10,000 pages of trial transcript and "dozens of tape recorded conversations."

"Additional time is required to finish researching the law and writing the argument sections of the brief," Goodman writes. "Counsel has discussed the need for an extension of time with Mr. Blagojevich, who understands and accepts the need for this request."

Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He is serving his sentence at the federal prison in Englewood, Colo. Even with time off for good behavior, his earliest release date would come in 2024.

Elections are less than a year away in the District of Columbia, but so far there are very few candidates.

On April 1, voters will pick party nominees for mayor, attorney general, Council chair, at-large Council member and representatives for Wards 1, 3, 5 and 6. The Democrats who prevail are likely winners in November.

Given the dark cloud lingering over City Hall, the dearth of challengers is surprising.

These are good, six-figure jobs. Step up, folks!

Let’s take a look at the races.

Mayor

Vincent Gray has yet to announce a reelection bid or retirement. He has given no indication as to when he might decide.

Currently, there are three candidates who want his job. Each is a sitting Council member: Muriel Bowser (Ward 4), Jack Evans (Ward 2) and Tommy Wells (Ward 6).

Attorney General

For the first time, District voters will elect an Attorney General.

Currently, there are no contestants.

Aren’t there any lawyers in D.C.?

Council Chair

Phil Mendelson was in his fourth term as an at-large Council member when he won a special election in November 2012 to fill the void left by former-Council-chairman-turned-disgraced-felon Kwame Brown.

69,000 people -- most of whom are from majority-black precincts -- voted against Mendelson. Their choice was an unfunded, unknown, slapstick candidate. Mendelson won handily with 174,000 votes, but there are cracks in his veneer.

Nonetheless, Mendelson has no challengers.

At-Large Council

Anita Bonds won the at-large special election in April 2013. Her candidacy got a boost when Michael Brown shut down his campaign (we now know Feds busted him taking bribes).

With Brown out of the race, black voters coalesced around Bonds; white voters split their support among three candidates, two of whom were Democrats.

Bonds could face a difficult reelection.

But she has no challengers.

Ward 1

Jim Graham has yet to announce a reelection bid or retirement. Graham has said he will decide in late summer or autumn of 2013.

If he runs, Graham will be seeking a fifth term.

There are two declared candidates who want his job: Brianne Nadeau, a newcomer, and Bryan Weaver, who ran against Graham in 2010 and garnered 21 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Graham finished with 57 percent.

I was a consultant to Graham’s 2010 campaign. Many of the people who thought he was vulnerable then have the same notion today. I will withhold my opinion of the challengers and Graham’s chances for reelection until after he announces his intentions.

Ward 3

Mary Cheh has indicated she plans to seek a third term. No one has stepped up to challenge Cheh. I find this surprising. She has soft spots and could be toppled.

In 2010, Cheh endorsed two elected officials who are very unpopular in her ward: Vince Gray and Kwame Brown.

“Judgment matters” is an easy case for an insurgent candidate to make and it can be enhanced with photos of Cheh side-by-side with Brown and Gray. Her laudatory quotes about the two ice the cake.

Heck, there’s even a video.

And another video.

Nonetheless, no challengers.

Ward 5

Kenyan McDuffie is expected to announce his reelection bid later this summer. He arrived to the Council via a 2012 special election to fill the shoes of former-Council-member-turned-disgraced-felon Harry Thomas, Jr.

McDuffie just completed his first year on the Council. He is doing a good job.

Rookies seldom get a free pass, but so far...

...no challengers.

Ward 6

With Wells in the mayoral race, the Ward 6 Council seat is up for grabs.

Open seats typically attract a crowded field of contenders, pretenders, long shots, protest candidates and wackos.

No one has jumped into this race.

Wells's chief of staff, Charles Allen, is expected to run, though he will only say that the decision is something he and his family are weighing.

Elissa Silverman, who finished a strong second in the recent At-Large special election, is a Ward 6 resident. She could be a formidable candidate, but Silverman and Allen breathe the same air. With both in the race, they risk splitting the progressive, white, “livable, walkable” vote. But with no one else running, there is not a third candidate who would benefit from a split electorate.

Where are the candidates?

Would someone please get in the ring?

The election is less than ten months away.

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Chuck Thies is a political, communications and advocacy consultant. From 1998 to 2010 his portfolio included District of Columbia politics. Chuck has worked on national projects and internationally in Europe, Africa, the Middle East , China and Mexico. If you are daring, follow him on twitter: @ChuckThies.

Convicted former Illinois congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. would like to serve prison time ahead of his also-convicted spouse, Sandi Jackson, court filings show.

Paperwork also reveals that the former legislator is having difficulty paying the hefty fine levied against him by a federal judge.

Jackson pleaded guilty in February to misusing campaign funds. Jackson acknowledged in court that he spent $750,000 of campaign cash on personal items — like a $4,600 Michael Jackson fedora and a $1,500 black-and-red cashmere cape, according to the charges against him — and pleaded guilty to several charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and false statements.

Sandi Jackson pleaded guilty on the same day to tax fraud.

D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry has reported receiving thousands of dollars in gifts from two city contractors in what may be a violation of the council's ethics rules.

On his recent financial disclosure forms, Barry reported receiving a $4,000 gift from F&L Construction and a $2,800 gift from Forney Enterprises, Inc. The disclosures were first reported by The Washington Post.

Barry declined to comment to the Post, saying the forms speak for themselves. He says the gifts were listed on the advice of his attorney.

Forney Enterprises owner Keith Forney told The Post that he believes the gift was intended to help the former mayor with a personal expense, possibly a bill.

Councilmembers' code of conduct prohibits gifts from city contractors worth more than $20.
 

Gov. Bob McDonnell commented for the first time Tuesday on the controversial GOP ticket in Virginia and called for the Tea Party candidates to campaign with civility and focus on "kitchen-table issues."

The governor said on WTOP that he’d be supporting Cuccinelli and the Republican slate (“they’ll make a good ticket) but that the candidates known best for their extreme social stances should focus on issues like the economy and transportation to win over voters, particularly independent voters.

He did not comment specifically on any of lieutenant governor nominee E.W. Jackson’s incendiary remarks—Jackson once linked Planned Parenthood with the KKK, for instance—but said that the Chesapeake minister is “obviously very passionate about the right to life.”

McDonnell added that Cuccinelli cannot be held responsible for Jackson’s comments.

IN OTHER NEWS:

* As a state senator in 2005, Cuccinelli sent a volunteer to investigate a mostly-female planning meeting for an event dubbed “Sextravaganza” at George Mason University by a student group called “Pro-Choice Patriots.” The event was intended to promote healthy sexual activity, but Cuccinelli condemned the event as something that would promote "every type of sexual promiscuity you can imagine." (Mother Jones)

* Gov. O’Malley’s task force initiative is doing little to quiet the criticism in the Maryland jail scandal. (Washington Post)

* Repairing the broken sewer line that caused the downtown sinkhole on 14th and F will likely cost DC Water nearly $2 million. (Washington City Paper)

* Cuccinelli once suggested that Planned Parenthood is racist for building abortion clinics in low income, predominately black areas, encouraging people to pull out a map and “look where the abortion clinics are.” (Politico)

* A national housing report released Tuesday found that the Washington area has the strongest housing market in the country. (Washington Examiner)

* A committee appointed by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli suggests designating a state agency to help the governor restore felons' civil rights. (News4)

* Gov. Bob McDonnell plans to make a policy announcement of his own Wednesday about restoration of felons' civil rights. (Associated Press)

* Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner will not be endorsing Cuccinelli for governor (News4)

* Maryland has two separate databases for gun owners and criminals and because of a difference in the way the data is stored, officials can't cross-reference the two databases to check the gun-ownership records of a convicted felon who should have surrendered his weapons. (Washington Examiner)
 

The New York Times’ Editorial Board weighed in on the surprise Virginia GOP nominee for lieutenant governor, E.W. Jackson, writing that no one could have been more surprised by the upset choice than the gubernatorial nominee himself, Ken Cuccinelli.

“Mr. Cuccinelli will probably have to try to moderate some of his own extreme positions (he is dogmatically opposed to the health care reform law, measures tackling global warming, immigration reforms, gay rights, etc.) in his search for the Northern Virginia vote. But there he was, yoked to Mr. Jackson by the heavy sway in the party of conservative zealots. “We are not going to be defending our running mates’ statements, now or in the future,” Mr. Cuccinelli briskly announced.

The Virginia race should be a prime test of national Republican vows to reconnect with the mainstream majority. Heavyweight donors are lining up to defeat Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat candidate for governor who was President Bill Clinton’s fund-raising guru. Money may not win the election when Republicans can’t seem to resist a beguiling extremist who must face mainstream reality.”

IN OTHER NEWS:

* Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is set to announce the findings of a task force that explored how to make it easier for nonviolent felons to regain their voting rights, an issue he was once against, but now supports. (Washington Post)

* An early glimpse of the report recommended that an existing Virginia executive branch be delegated the duties of restoring the rights. (The Virginian-Pilot)

* The Montgomery County Planning Board has approved a new zoning ordinance to modernize antiquated zoning regulations, which includes relaxed requirements for keeping chickens as pets. (Washington Examiner)

* Sen. Tim Kaine discusses Benghazi, the IRS and the Justice Department scandal. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

* Virginia lawmakers -- and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, who was once against the idea -- are all for oil drilling off the coast of Virginia. (The Grist)

* Gov. Bob McDonnell paid special tribute to the 19 Virginia soldiers, sailors and Marines who died in the past year. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

* Washington Post Editorial Board: “The evidence suggests that [Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley] has not made a priority of the state’s troubled network of corrections facilities, despite well-publicized federal investigations dating to early in his first term.... [This] will remain a stain on his legacy.” (Washington Post)

* The Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation, an umbrella organization for more than 40 Tea Party groups statewide, has called for Congress to appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups filing for tax-exempt status. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

* D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray kicked off the summer pool season in the cold rain while wearing a suit. (Washington City Paper)

* Tom Sherwood asks the D.C. mayoral candidates whether -- if elected -- they would open pool season with a cannonball, as former Mayor Tony Williams used to. (News4) 

President Barack Obama is delivering a statement on the growing IRS scandal.

You’ll see them in evening and morning rush-hour lanes, in the bus stops, in the crosswalks, on the sidewalks, in “no parking” zones and in commercial loading zones. In short, you see them parked everywhere.

We’re talking about illegally parked police cars, an embarrassing side of what normally is a heartfelt week in which officers come from around the nation for “Police Week” in the nation’s capital. It continues through Friday.

There are solemn ceremonies honoring slain officers. There are other ceremonies that mark the good work that police officers do every day.

And the officers who come to Washington bring the prestige and honor of the departments for which they work.

Which is why it’s particularly embarrassing when many police vehicles lawlessly park anywhere they damn please.

NBC4’s cameras captured the scene on Monday. Especially near Thomas Circle, there were dozens of illegally parked police vehicles.

The Newark, N.J., contingent went a step further. The officers brought along their own hometown orange cones and put them in the street to mark their territory. The Newark orange cones blocked a busy bus stop, forcing riders into the street as they got on and off the buses.

Your Notebook asked D.C. officials about the rampant illegal parking.

“They are expected to follow the laws just like anyone else,” was the reply from Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s office. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Works, which assigns parking ticket writers, said there was no instruction against ticketing the police. And Mayor Vincent Gray’s office said “no pass” was given for the out-of-towners.

But over several hours on Monday, NBC4 did not see even one ticket on any police vehicle. We did get grumbling about the vehicles from passersby. We did get emails and tweets pointing out other locations and more violations. (And yes, we got a few tweets criticizing us for focusing on the issue.)

Your Notebook is not sure why the city doesn’t block off parking spaces on non-rush hour streets and reserve them for the officers. Maybe the officers could bring their trailers into town, offload their cycles and other gear, then drive the trailers to a less busy part of town.

In fact, there are many more vehicles parked illegally in a sparse area of Southwest near the baseball stadium. A huge lot there is fenced off for outdoor eating, vendors selling police memorabilia and general socializing. But the illegally parked cars in Southwest cause no trouble for anyone. There is even a steady stream of shuttle vans to take officers and their families to and from other parts of town.

Before next year’s Police Week, maybe some better planning could be done. Police officers are an important part of the fabric of our free society. They shouldn’t be seen as Wild West cowboys riding in for a rules-be-damned Saturday night. Let’s find decent parking for all their gear, and then we can salute them rather than have people grinding their teeth over blatant disrespect for our city laws.

■ Better than before. Several D.C. police officers pointed out -- and we agreed -- that Police Week is a lot better than before. Years ago the public drunkenness was as bad as the illegal parking and the racing through the streets, blocking intersections at will.

Chief Lanier has taken to sending a letter to other departments urging officers to respect their badge when they come to town. It has helped a lot.

■ It’s getting crowded here. Mayor Gray told the Notebook last week that the city’s economic boom is continuing. He said planners now expect 250,000 more citizens to live in the District within the next 20 to 25 years. That would take our population to about 880,000 people.

That’s why you’re seeing public meetings begin this week on whether and how to raise the city’s height limit to accommodate some of those folks. It’s why you see city planners thinking up ways to minimize single-occupancy automobile traffic in favor of mass transit and better density for housing.

■ Tourism is booming, too. The marketing group Destination D.C. last week reported that the city set a new record for visitors to the city. It was only a slight 3 percent increase over the year before, but the nation’s capital continues to be a popular destination. The city says tourism supports some 75,000 jobs and creates more than $6 billion in annual spending here.

■ A correction: In our posting last week on the city controversy over food trucks, your Notebook mistakenly wrote that “Andrew Klein” was representing the restaurant association. As we have known for way too many years, his name is “Kline.”

As his email to us read so succinctly, “Dude, I’m still Kline!”

Our apologies.

Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4.

After cemeteries in the Boston area refused his body for burial, Boston-marathon suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev is being laid to rest at an Islamic burial ground near Kings Dominion in Doswell, Va.

Bob McDonnell responded to the burial location on Monday as reporters questioned him after he signed his landmark transportation legislation into law.

“That wouldn’t have been my choice, but it’s a cemetery, it’s a religious cemetery,” McDonnell said. “My understanding is we don’t regulate those and it’s really a matter of private property.

IN OTHER NEWS:

* D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells officially launches is mayoral campaign. (News4)

* Gov. Bob McDonnell signed Virginia's landmark $6 billion transportation funding legislation into law Monday. (Virginian-Pilot)

* The embezzlement case against a former Virginia Executive Mansion is back in court Tuesday. (News4)

* Montgomery County is starting to bill for ambulance rides and will retroactively start charging for ambulance rides taken since January. (Washington Examiner)

* Disgraced former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown’s court imposed house arrest and curfew expired Monday. (Washington City Paper)

* The D.C. Council is considering a smoking ban within 25 feet of any city playground. (News4)

* The Virginia gubernatorial race is taking place on both the national and local stages. (Washington Post)

* A liberal interest group issued a report on LivingSocial -- called DyingSocial -- on the dangers of offering events that include shooting and alcohol. (Washington City Paper)

* A new proposal in Prince George’s County would add prostitution, human trafficking and criminal activity to the public nuisance law designation and would extend the law -- which was instituted in 1993 to deal with the sale and use of illegal drugs on commercial property -- to residences. (Washington Examiner)

* Virginia Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate Aneesh Chopra releases his first television ad of the campaign. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli released his tax plan Tuesday that would cut about $1.4 billion in taxes by reducing the state’s personal income and corporate tax rate.

His proposed plan, “Economic Growth and Virginia Jobs Plan,” would reduce the personal income tax from 5.75 percent to 5 percent and the corporate tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent.

He says he would help offset these revenue losses by identifying and eliminating “outdated exemptions and loopholes that promote crony capitalism.” He did not specifiy which loopholes he would close.

“The plan is driven by three over-arching goals: Make Virginia more attractive to job creators and open to business development; allow Virginia workers and families to take home more of their hard-earned pay; and put a cap on government spending so that it doesn’t outpace the growth of inflation plus population,” he wrote in a press release.

Read the plan here.

IN OTHER NEWS:

* The. D.C. Council is considering banning plastic firearms created by 3D printers. (News4)

* D.C. set a tourism record in 2012, with more than 18.9 million visitors, an increase of 5.5. percent from 2011. (Washington Examiner)

* About 2,500 people have signed up to protest gun laws by marching into D.C. on Independence Day with loaded rifles on their backs. The D.C. police say they will meet the protesters on the Arlington Memorial Bridge with forces and guns of their own. (Washington Post)

* A Montgomery County activist is trying to collect enough signatures to trigger a referendum and allow voters to decide the fate of Gov. O’Malley’s gun-control legislation. The NRA has already filed lawsuit against the legislation, and if the activist is successful in getting the law on the ballot, then the gun bill and suit would be put on hold until after Election Day. (Washington Examiner)

* The websites of WTOP and Federal News Radio were hacked this week, potentially infecting the computers of people who visited their site within the past two days. (Washington Business Journal)

* Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling -- who has expressed regret that he opted not to make an independent run -- criticized the two gubernatorial candidates for offering unrealistic economic proposals. (Washington Examiner)

* Morton Blackwell, Virginia National Committee member and founder of the Leadership Institute, endorsed Corey Stewart for lieutenant governor. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

* The Dalai Lama visited the University of Maryland and Gov. O’Malley literally rubbed noses with him. (Washington Post)

* Virginia is seeking public input on an upcoming draft report for a six-year transportation improvement plan. (AP)

The Labor Department is investigating Alta Bicycle Share -- the company that runs Capital Bikeshare -- after a former employee alleged that the popular bicycle-sharing network may have underpaid some of its workers for more than two years.

The Washington Post reports that Capital Bikeshare operates the system under a 2010 contract with the District’s Transportation Department worth up to $16.4 million over five years. The contract stipulates that the company must follow federal “prevailing wage” determinations.

The employee says he was paid $13 an hour for work that should have been paid the “bicycle repairer” rate of $14.43 hourly or “truck driver, light” at $15.66 hourly. He did get a raise to $15 per hour before he left, according to the Post, but was not paid the fringe benefits required by federal law.

IN OTHER NEWS:

* D.C. council candidate Patrick Mara wins absentee ballot count, still loses race. (Washington Post)

* McAuliffe’s 2008 memoir is coming back to haunt him in the governor race. The book includes glowing revelations, including him nearly missing the birth of his daughter so he could attend a ritzy party in honor of the then-Washington Post gossip columnist. (Daily Beast)

* Federal prosecutors have accused Jeffrey Thompson of obstructing their corruption probe into Mayor Gray’s 2010 campaign, according to a court order unsealed Monday. (Washington Post)

* Penn National Gaming, a Pennsylvania gambling company that spent more than $40 million to prevent a gambling expansion in Maryland, plans to bid on the Prince George’s County casino license that was part of that expansion. (The Daily Record)

* D.C. Councilman David Grosso says he will not vote for or against any contract -- he will only vote present -- because he doesn’t think the council should be in the business of approving contracts. (Washington Examiner)

* The Virginia gubernatorial race gets more substance as both candidates start to lay out specific visions of what they would do if elected. (Washington Post)

* McAuliffe officially kicked off his campaign Monday in Richmond. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

* The Montgomery County Council approved Monday a proposal that some lawmakers say would “fast track” construction of a Walmart in Aspen Hill. (Washington Examiner)

It’s election season in Prince George’s County. On May 6, 7 and 14, over a dozen municipalities go to the polls.

Here’s a brief roundup of the registered candidates by city -- and what you need to know to exercise your civic duty.

JUMP TO: Brentwood, Cheverly, Cottage City, Fairmount Heights, Glenarden, Mornigside, Mt. Rainier, New Carrollton, North Brentwood, Riverdale Park

MONDAY, MAY 6TH

BRENTWOOD

WHO’S RUNNING?
For mayor:
Roger Rudder, incumbent
Bettyjean Bailey-Schmiedigen

For at-large council (4 seats):
Ann Boatwright-Bell, incumbent
Regina Morlan, incumbent
Jason Barnett
E. James Cooksey
Jennifer Murphy
Rocio Treminio-Lopez
Write-in candidate: Aneeka P. Harrison, incumbent

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
2 years, Mayor
2 years, Council

FYI
Better Brentwood, the Facebook page representing former mayor and candidate Bettyjean Bailey-Schmidigien, introduces her slate on Monday’s ballot and some of the issues at stake in Brentwood. The Better Brentwood ticket includes Jason Barnett, E. James Cooksey, Rocio Treminio-Lopez, and Jennifer Murphy. According to The Gazette, the incumbent candidates elected not to campaign as a slate.

WHERE TO VOTE
Brentwood Town Hall, 4300 39th Place, Brentwood, Md. 20722

HOURS
7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Call 301-927-3344

CHEVERLY

WHO’S RUNNING?
For mayor:
Michael H. Callahan

For council:
Ward 1
Laila Riazi (incumbent)
Glen Barton
Karl Russo

Ward 2
Mary Jane Coolen (incumbent)
Jason Lody

Ward 3
Roswell J. Eldridge

Ward 4
David Thorpe

Ward 5
No candidate

Ward 6
Carolyn Cook (incumbent)
Seth B. Zirkle

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
3 years, mayor
2 years, council

FYI
The April 2013 edition of the Cheverly newsletter introduced each candidate and their plans for the upcoming term. Mayor Mike Callahan, who will run unopposed on Monday, shared his plans to further the economic development initiatives already in place. Get to know some of those initiatives on Cheverly's website.

WHERE TO VOTE
6401 Forest Road, Cheverly, MD 20785

HOURS
7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-773-8360

COTTAGE CITY

WHO’S RUNNING?
For council:
Ward 1
Richard Cote (unopposed)

At-large
Patricia Gross
Bertha Jackson

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
4 years*

FYI
*In March, the Commission adopted a controversial resolution to extend the length of office to four years. The resolution could extend some current members’ terms by two years without a public election. Because only Ward 1 and the at-large seats are up for election in 2013, Wards 2, 3 and 4 could go without another election until 2016.

Some Cottage City residents, including a former commissioner, began a petition for a referendum on the resolution. If the referendum is successful, the 2014 Cottage City elections planned for Wards 2, 3, and 4 will go on as planned. If the petition and resulting referendum fail, the next election for all seats will be held in 2016. Read more about the resolution here.

WHERE TO VOTE
3820 40th Ave, Cottage City, MD

HOURS
2 p.m. – 8 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-779-2161

FAIRMOUNT HEIGHTS

WHO’S RUNNING?

For mayor:
Lillie Thompson Martin, incumbent
Kevin Downing

For council (three seats open):
Harry Saunders, incumbent
Patricia Ukkundo’Oohwaka, incumbent
Timothy Burley

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
2 years, mayor
2 years, council

WHERE TO VOTE
Municipal Center, 6100 Jost St., Fairmount Heights, Md. 20743

HOURS
9 a.m. – 9 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-925-8585

GLENARDEN

WHO’S RUNNING?
For mayor:
Demetrius A. Bowers
Margaret T. Dade
Dennis C. Smith
Veerley Wilson

For council:
At-Large
Judy C. Diggs
Maxine E. Phifer

Ward 1
James A. Herring
Carolyn Smallwood
Donjuan L. Williams

Ward 2
Elaine A. Carter
Deborah A. Eason

Ward 3
Jennifer A. Jenkins

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
Mayor, 4 years
Council, 4 years

FYI
Outgoing Mayor Gail Parker Carter leaves after six years -- the maximum allowed in Glenarden. Carter summed up her accomplishments in Glenarden’s spring newsletter here. The Gazette chatted with the four candidates for Mayor. Read more about the work they’ve done and hope to do for the City of Glenarden at Gazette.net.

WHERE TO VOTE
The James R. Cousins, Jr. Municipal Center, 8600 Glenarden Parkway, Glenarden, Md. 20706

HOURS
7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-773-2100

MORNINGSIDE

WHO’S RUNNING?
For mayor:
Kenneth Wade

For council (2 seats):
James Ealey, incumbent
Todd Mullins, incumbent
Elizabeth Long

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
3 years, Mayor
2 years, Town Council

FYI
Morningside candidates spoke with the Sentinel to make their case for May 6. According to The Sentinel, sitting Mayor Karen Rooker will not run after serving for six years. Vice Mayor James Ealey has served the last three administrations, and Councilmember Mullins filled the seat vacated by former Councilmember Kevin Kline earlier this year. Newcomer Elizabeth Long shared a few thoughts about her intentions if elected. Learn more about the candidates online, or pick up the latest edition of the Morningside Newsletter, available at the Town Hall building on 6901 Ames St in Morningside, MD.

WHERE TO VOTE
Morningside Town Hall, 6901 Ames St, Morningside, Md.

HOURS
8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-736-2300

MT. RAINIER

WHO’S RUNNING?
For mayor:
Malinda Miles, incumbent

For council:
Ward 1
Jesse Christopherson

Ward 2
vacant

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
Mayor, 4 years
Council, 2 years

FYI
Bill Updike is exiting as Ward One councilmember. Ivy Thompson is also leaving Ward Two.

WHERE TO VOTE
Star-Potts Hall Building (next to the City Municipal Building), 3405 Rhode Island Avenue, Mount Rainier, Md.

HOURS
8 am – 7 pm

FMI
Call 301-985-6585

NEW CARROLLTON

WHO’S RUNNING?
For council (three open seats):
Liza Fenton, incumbent
Jim Wildoner, incumbent
Richard “Dick” Bechtold
Atari Muhammad
Lincoln Lashley

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
2 years

FYI
New Carrollton will vote for three council seats. Mayoral elections are scheduled for 2014. A special election newsletter published by the city introduces the candidates for Council can be found here.

WHERE TO VOTE
New Carrollton Municipal Center, 6016 Princess Garden Pkwy, New Carrollton, Md.

HOURS
7 a.m. – 8 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-459-6100

NORTH BRENTWOOD

WHO’S RUNNING?
For mayor:
Petrella Robinson, incumbent

For council (one council seat open):
Aaron Baynes, incumbent
Catherine Sutton

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
2 years, mayor
2 years, council

WHERE TO VOTE
Municipal Building, 4009 Wallace Road, North Brentwood, Md., (enter via the side entrance)

HOURS
1 p.m. – 7 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-699-9699

RIVERDALE PARK

WHO’S RUNNING?
For mayor:

Vernon Archer, incumbent

For council:
Ward 1
Jonathan Ebbeler

Ward 2
Alan Thompson

Ward 3
David Lingua

Ward 4
Christopher Henry

Ward 5
Raymond Rivas

Ward 6
Alejandro Silva

HOW LONG WILL THEY SERVE?
2 years, mayor
2 years, council

FYI
The incumbent mayor and council of Riverdale Park will run unchallenged in Monday’s election. Click here to learn more about the candidates’ ongoing work.

WHERE TO VOTE
5008 Queensbury Rd, Riverdale, Md.

HOURS
7 a.m. - 8 p.m.

FMI
Call 301-927-6381

Mark Zuckerberg has clicked "Like" on the Keystone XL Pipeline — and now his timeline is going to be chock-full of angry.

The Facebook founder and CEO recently started a political advocacy group called FWD.us — and the group is running a series of television ads in support of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

His PAC was created to support immigration reform, but it is also going to support such things as drilling. There are those in Congress who support immigration reform, but who also support drilling, and some say that the PAC funding might be a means to an end.

Feared and loathed by environmentalists, the pipeline would open up Canadian tar sands for oil and gas exploration.

Activists in the San Francisco Bay Area say they are "angered and mystified" over Zuck's turn for the pipe, and a group of about 50 protested Wednesday at Facebook's world headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif. The protest was timed just before the company released its first-quarter earnings. . Wednesday is also "May Day," a day where many took up immigrants' rights and a path to citizenship as the key causes of the day.

The protesters questioned why Zuckerberg would "spend millions in support" of the pipeline, "among the dirtiest projects on Earth."

And they created an online petition to stop "running ads supporting fossil fuels" which as of Wednesday afternoon had collected more than 18,000 signatures.

Zuckerberg did not come outside the building when the protect occurred about noon, nor did he issue any statement on his Facebook news website.

Supporters, however, point out that that building the pipeline means thousands of jobs.

FWD.us's ads feature Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) bashing President Barack Obama for not being supportive-enough of the pipe.

Credo Mobile, the socially-active mobile carrier, says that Facebook has refused to run its ads that blast the pipeline and FWD.us's support for it.

Even though experts say Zuckerberg's primary directive in effecting change in social policy is immigration reform, some are not going to agree with using the pipeline ads as "cover" for that change.

"But invariably there is going to be people who don’t understand and the inevitable result is going to be this type of press fire," Dan Schnur, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, told the Los Angeles Times.

Ironically, the Zuckerberg critics have a Facebook page dedicated to their cause.

The next mayoral and D.C. Council primary had been set for Tuesday, April 1, 2014: April Fools’ Day.

It didn't take long for the snickering to start.

Bryan Weaver, an announced council candidate for Ward 1, laughed when we asked him about the date. “Hey, this April Fools’ thing could play to my advantage,” he said, thinking of ways he might lampoon opponents.

But more seriously, your Notebook was hearing derisive comments from outside of our city about our entire city, not the candidates. Why would we give D.C. haters anything more to wield against us?

An early primary in April also would force candidates to start collecting ballot petition signatures around Thanksgiving, turn them in before a January deadline and then campaign through the winter.

“You can’t even stick your yard signs in the frozen ground,” another candidate groused.

Anyone who was to win in the April primary would not face the general election until seven months later, on Nov. 4. Then, victory in hand, the successful candidate would have to wait two more months before being sworn in on inaugural day, Jan. 2, 2015. That’s a total of nine months after the candidate was nominated and elected.

But now it seems next year’s mayoral and council elections might not be starting on the Fools’ foot after all. On Tuesday, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Ward 5 member Kenyan McDuffie introduced legislation pushing the April 1 primary back to a week in June.

It’s unclear how many votes McDuffie and Mendelson can get, but there are problems with moving the goal posts in the midst of an election season already underway.

One council veteran noted that it will be difficult to get legislation formally passed through the council before early fall. He said the legislation would require a hearing and two separate votes. The summer recess could interfere with the second vote. And then there’s the waiting period as the legislation passes through Congress on Capitol Hill.

Tom Lindenfeld, the chief campaign consultant for Muriel Bowser’s announced campaign for mayor, said he didn’t think the campaign extension to June would materially affect the Ward 4 council member’s mayoral campaign -- or that of any other candidate who gets into the race.

But he warned that changing the rules is dicey. “In order to protect our democracy, it’s a bad practice,” he told the Notebook.

Lindenfeld is a veteran of citywide campaigns. He said he thought the council races, which normally are less organized and planned, might be affected by the longer playing field.
“If you’re going to make a change in campaign finance [or] timing of an election,” he said, “do it for future elections.”

Jack Evans, the Ward 2 council member who also is preparing to get into the mayor’s race, said he would support a date change. “I’m open to moving it to June if it is not too late to do so,” he told us.
It’s unclear exactly how a change to June would affect Mayor Vincent Gray, if he runs for re-election, or Council member David Catania, an at-large independent. Catania is considering a run for mayor in the November general election.

Why April 1? The Notebook consulted with Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh, who chaired the committee that passed legislation adjusting the D.C. election calendar in the first place.

The primary date had to change from September after new federal law required that D.C. give more time to vote absentee by military personnel serving overseas. That pushed the primary in late summer, a busy vacation time. So the April date was selected.

But Cheh says there was no intention to single out April Fools’ Day. She said elections normally are held “the first Tuesday after the first Monday.” But she said the drafted legislation that passed read simply “the first Tuesday” in April. This year, that’s April Fools’ Day.

Cheh, who also is up for re-election next year, said she was inclined to support moving the primary from April to June.

OTHER NOTES:

■ Anita Bonds wins. Veteran political operative Anita Bonds won last week’s special election for an at-large seat with just 32 percent of the vote.

First-time candidate Elissa Silverman scored a strong second place with about 28 percent of the vote. Many see Silverman’s narrow loss as a clear sign of future political possibilities for her.
While Silverman scored far better than some expected, the biggest defeat came for Patrick Mara, who was making his third bid for a council seat.

The Republican Mara and his campaign were supremely confident that they had identified approximately 17,000 certain voters who would carry him to victory. He might have won if just the city’s Republican voters actually turned out. But Mara polled a weak third with 23 percent of the vote. The actual vote totals dropped precipitously in many precincts.

■ The old red and gray. As the week was beginning, NBC4 reported that the D.C. Taxi Commission is proposing this week that all of the city’s 7,500 cabs be painted red with a gray streak on them. These are the same colors you see on the Circulator buses.

There’ll be a hearing on the plan in late May. If all goes well, the commission will mandate the change. All new taxicabs will have to comply with the color scheme, and older cabs will get the new colors if they’re repainted for any reason. The hope is to get most of the cabs using the same colors by 2018.

Ron Linton, the taxi chair, says the color scheme is just one part of fostering a “a modernized, comfortable system of transportation that offers a quality ride,” he said.

And here’s one other bit of taxicab news. Linton says all cabs in the city should be equipped to take credit cards by the end of June.

Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4.

The D.C. Council approved a contract Tuesday that gives a start-up health care firm, Thrive Health Plan, $542 million worth of Medicaid business with the District

This will be the firm's first source of business, prompting some concerns among council members.

According to the Washington Post, Councilman Vincent Orange was the most prominent detractor, accusing the firm's owner on the dais Tuesday of failing to disclose criminal offenses on forms submitted to insurance regulators. “The question here today is one of disclosure and honesty,” Orange said.

The owner, Thomas Duncan, defended himself recently, saying the insurance examiners were aware of his three misdemeanor offenses, two of which involved underage drinking.

In the end, the council approved the contract with a 7-3 vote.

Washington Business Journal has a helpful article explaining Thrive Health Plan’s background and the nature of the contract.

IN OTHER NEWS:

* Councilman David Grosso suggests changing the name of the Redskins to the Redtails. (Washington Examiner)

* Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe proposed an independent ethics commission as an oversight body for Virginia elected officials and their staff. He recently called on a ban on certain gifts to state leaders. (Virginian-Pilot)

*WaPo Editorial Board: “What powers of alchemy does Mr. Williams, a major campaign donor, possess that prompted those two officials, the state’s most powerful elected Republicans, to flagrantly disregard Virginia’s already flimsy disclosure laws?” (Washington Post)

* Councilman David Catania outlines his Reform 2.0 plan for DC public schools. (WAMU)

* Mayor Gray withdrew his nomination of a controversial AIDS health official to the Commission on Re-Entry and Returning Citizen Affairs—a city board that works to help former prisoners better integrate into the city. (Washington Post)

* McDonnell insists that the gifts from the Star Scientific CEO to members of his family did not buy any political favors for the donor or his company. (News4)

* How can Cuccinelli win over centrist voters while still appealing to his core conservative base? (Washington Post)

* At their final debate, the seven people running for the Republican lieutenant governor nomination agreed on most things. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

* The Washington Post publisher says she is looking to house the paper’s new headquarters in D.C. and Virginia and would like it to be “cheap, and near the Capitol, near the courthouses.” (Washington City Paper)

* The Montgomery County inspector general is investigating the Silver Spring Transit Center after council members requested $100,000 be put toward examining the center's construction errors. (Washington Examiner)

* Terry McAuliffe airs his first statewide television ad of the campaign.

Once a month, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has a working breakfast meeting with members of the D.C. Council. It's an opportunity for the mayor to brief councilmembers on new legislation he is proposing and to provide them with updates on important issues.

It's also a forum for councilmembers to express concerns about a wide range of issues.

News4's Mark Segraves is inside the meeting room providing live Tweets.

Tweets by @SegravesNBC4

George W. Bush shed a sentimental tear. Barack Obama mused about the burdens of the office. Bill Clinton dished out wisecracks. Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush chimed in, too, on a rare day of harmony at the dedication of the younger Bush's presidential library that glossed over the hard edges and partisan divides of five presidencies spanning more than three tumultuous decades.

"To know the man is to like the man,'' Obama declared of his Republican predecessor, speaking Thursday before a crowd of 10,000 at an event that had the feel of a class reunion for the partisans who had powered the Bush administration from 2001 to 2009. Dick Cheney was there in a white cowboy hat. Condoleezza Rice gave shout-outs to visiting dignitaries. Colin Powell and Karl Rove were prominent faces in the crowd.

On this day, there was no mention of Iraq or Afghanistan, the wars that dominated Bush's presidency and so divided the nation. There were only gentle references to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And praise aplenty for the resolve that Bush showed in responding to the 9/11 terror attacks.

Instead, the day was about the legacy preserved in the new Presidential Center. Laura Bush led the library's design committee, with a keen eye toward ensuring that not only Bush's presidency, but the family's roots and values, were reflected.

Laura Bush told News4's Barbara Harrison in an one-on-one interview that with exhibits such as "Living in the White House," she wanted to give visitors a small taste of the First Family's experience, because "everyone wants to know what it's like to live here."

Gifts to the Bushes are displayed, including a sapphire and diamond necklace and earring set given to Laura by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

• WATCH: Laura Bush discusses the Presidential Center with Laura Bush

"People might not know, but gifts that come from foreign heads of state are considered gifts to the people of the United States," Laura Bush said. "And so we never owned them, they weren't ours. They are here now for people to see."

But the library also reflects the Bush's roots in Texas. Architects used local materials, including Texas Cordova cream limestone and trees from the central part of the state, in its construction.

"I wanted it to have the Texas feel that this building does because that's where we're from,'' Laura Bush told The Associated Press. "I also wanted the building to be modern-looking, to be forward-looking because George was president during the very first decade of our new century.''

Architect Robert A.M. Stern says the former first lady influenced the design throughout the project.

"She has a very good eye,'' Stern said. "She gives the architect his own space and then let's the architect present his ideas, at least this architect. And then she thinks about it. Sometimes she speaks directly at the time and sometimes she ... sleeps on it and we talk later. But it's been a very productive and rewarding process from my point of view.''

• WATCH: White House Workers in Dallas for the Bush Dedication

And the museum includes an exhibit on the 9/11 terror attacks that shaped George Bush's second term, including steel beams from the World Trade Center.

Not always easy, not always popular

Clinton joked that the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center was "the latest, grandest example of the eternal struggle of former presidents to rewrite history.'' But he also praised Bush for including interactive exhibits at the center that invite visitors to make their own choices on major decisions that he faced.

Bush, 66, made indirect reference to the polarizing decision points of his presidency, drawing a knowing laugh as he told the crowd: "One of the benefits of freedom is that people can disagree. It's fair to say I created plenty of opportunities to exercise that right.''

• WATCH: Laura Bush addresses the crowd at the dedication

He said he was guided throughout his presidency by a determination "to expand the reach of freedom.''

"It wasn't always easy, and it certainly wasn't always popular.''

It was a day for family and sentimentality, Bush choking up with emotion at the conclusion of his remarks.

The 43rd president singled out his 88-year-old father, another ex-president, to tell him: "41, it is awesome that you are here today.''

The elder Bush, wearing jaunty pink socks, spoke for less than a minute from his wheelchair, then turned to his son and quipped, "Too long?'' He has a form of Parkinson's disease and has been hospitalized recently for bronchitis.

• PHOTOS: Behind the scenes at the Bush library

Just as the public tends to view presidents more kindly once they've left office, ex-presidents, too, tend to soften their judgments -- or at least their public comments -- with time.

Obama once excoriated Bush for his "failed policies'' and "disastrous'' handling of the economy, for expanding budget deficits, and for drawing the nation into war in Iraq.

On Thursday, he took a detour around those matters and instead praised Bush for his strength after 9/11, compassion in fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa, bipartisanship in pursuing education reforms and restarting "an important conversation by speaking with the American people about our history as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.''

If the country is eventually able to enact immigration changes this year, Obama added, "it will be, in large part, thanks to the hard work of President George W. Bush.''

Obama said the living presidents make up an exclusive club -- but it's more like a support group for the men who have held the position.

"No matter how much you may think you are ready to assume the office of the presidency, it's impossible to truly understand the nature of the job until it's yours,'' Obama said. "And that's why every president gains a greater appreciation for all of those who served before them.''

Keeping a low profile

The other presidents struck a similar tone.

Clinton praised Bush for his efforts to combat AIDS in Africa, his work on global health and even for the paintings he's doing in retirement. And he said he'd gotten so close to the Bush family that there were jokes that "I had become the black sheep son.''

Carter praised Bush for his role in helping secure peace between North and South Sudan in 2005 and the "great contributions you've made to the most needy people on earth.''

Bush has kept a decidedly low profile since leaving office four years ago with an approval rating of just 33 percent. That figure has been gradually climbing and now is at 47 percent -- about equal to Obama's own approval rating, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released ahead of the library opening.

If politics was absent from the podium on Thursday, it was still a prominent subtext.

Those in attendance included a number of potential candidates for president in 2016 -- another Clinton (Hillary) and Bush (Jeb) among them.

George W. Bush in recent days played up the idea of his younger brother, the former governor of Florida, seeking the White House, telling C-SPAN, "My first advice is: Run.''

Their mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, did the opposite.

"We've had enough Bushes,'' she said Thursday on NBC's "Today'' show.

The presidential center at Southern Methodist University includes a library, museum and policy institute. It contains more than 70 million pages of paper records, 200 million emails, 4 million digital photos and 43,000 artifacts. Bush's library will feature the largest digital holdings of any of the 13 presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration.

A full-scale replica of the Oval Office as it looked during Bush's tenure sits on the campus, as does a piece of steel from the World Trade Center and the bullhorn that Bush used to punctuate the chaos at ground zero three days after 9/11. In the museum, visitors can gaze at a container of chads -- the remnants of the famous Florida punch card ballots that played a pivotal role in the contested 2000 election that sent Bush to Washington.

It used to be that being a businessman was a sterling credential on a political resume.

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and Obama's allies, annihilated that axiom in 2012, morphing Republican challenger Mitt Romney into an outsourcing, job-killing, vulture capitalist who had something to hide by not releasing (more of) his tax returns.

That playbook is now in full effect again. But this time it’s being employed by a Republican, Ken Cuccinelli, against Democrat Terry McAuliffe, best known as a prolific Democratic fundraiser and Clinton ally.

“If you have nothing to hide… then release the documents,” a Cuccinelli video says, excerpting McAuliffe himself, urging the Democrat to release his tax returns. On Thursday, Cuccinelli released eight years of tax returns.

• Read the complete post on NBC News' First Read blog here.

The video is full of quotes from President Obama and former Obama adviser David Axelrod to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi -- all from when they were calling on Romney to release his for the sake of “transparency.”

It’s just the latest page in the Cuccinelli playbook against McAuliffe. Earlier this month, the campaign released a blistering video, slamming McAuliffe for his involvement in Greentech Automotive. It blasts him for not creating the jobs he said it would and noting that the car plant was essentially outsourced to Mississippi – instead of creating jobs in Virginia.

It even uses this quote from ex-president Bill Clinton, under whom McAuliffe was DNC chair: “I would buy a new car from Terry. But a used car? I am not so sure about a used car.” (Beth Reinhard at National Journal has previously written about how Republicans are using the Romney playbook against McAuliffe.)

“Terry McAuliffe is running on a perceived business acumen, and that is his credential to talk about jobs and the economy, which is the core of his candidacy,” an operative close to the Cuccinelli campaign said. “That is quickly being taken away from him and discredited, and that will leave him rudderless.”

As for the comparison to the anti-Romney strategy, principally used by Super PAC Priorities USA, which ran brutal ads in Virginia, the operative did not shy away from it.

“It’s not that the Democrats and Terry made these arguments,” the operative said. “It’s that they made these arguments a few months ago, which puts them in a very tough position to defend a candidate, who directly opposes a position they took a few months ago. … To the degree that draws attention to Terry and the position that puts him in, all the better.”

Democrats see it as nothing more than a way to grab attention and change the subject. Cuccinelli -- whose conservative views on everything from gay marriage and abortion to investigating climate scientists at the University of Virginia have called into question whether he is in step with this state Obama won twice -- has also been under the microscope for his investments in a company called Star Scientific. Cuccinelli's office was representing Virginia in a tax lawsuit Star Scientific filed.

"It's been a month of editorials and front-page stories highlighting Ken Cuccinelli's ethics problems and lack of transparency, so it's no surprise that he's trying to change the subject with misleading attacks,” said Josh Schwerin, press secretary for McAuliffe. “Even the most conservative editorial board in Virginia is calling Ken Cuccinelli's attacks an attempt to distract from his ongoing conflict of interest scandal. Ken Cuccinelli has zero credibility when he is refusing to answer questions about why he failed to disclose that he bought stock in a company while he was supposed to be pursuing them for unpaid taxes."

Noticing the Romney strategy, the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote, “The move serves two purposes: It deflects attention from the Star Scientific flap, and it flips the traditional partisan script.”
There’s also a question as to whether employing the Romney strategy will work against McAuliffe, because there were two steps to the strategy behind the Priorities USA ads. It wasn’t just that Romney was a rich guy, there was also a policy pivot to his support of tax cuts that benefited the wealthiest.

It’s a point that even Republican pollster David Winston made to the Washington Post. “It’s how you translate it [into] what McAuliffe would do if he were elected,” he said. “Here are these interesting points. Now why does this matter in terms of policies?”

As the Times-Dispatch concluded: “This is all mildly entertaining, though it has about as much relevance to issues such as education and transportation as the size of a candidate’s hat. No matter. Last week Republicans tried to make political hay out of McAuliffe’s decision to skip the Shad Planking, an event about which few voters know and even fewer care. It is going to be that kind of campaign.”