Leaders will meet in Mount Vernon, VA this morning to assess the progress of the project to restore Chesapeake Bay—one of the biggest water control pollutions projects in U.S. history.
According to the AP, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray and a representative from Virginia Gov. McDonnell’s office will attend the annual meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Program's executive council.
The meeting will provide an update on how the six states and the district are doing in the effort to restore the bay after years of neglect.
The Examiner reports that in Virginia the cleanup efforts are on track, although problemsstill remain.
Gov. Bob McDonnell announced on Friday that “significant reductions” of phosphorous and nitrogen stemming from wastewater treatment plants has put Virginia in line to reach pollution reduction goals towards cleaning the Chesapeake Bay.[1]
According to Virginia’s secretary of natural resources, Doug Domenech, progress towards cleaning the Chesapeake Bay “clearly shows that a restored bay is possible.”[2] How Domenech defines a “restored” Chesapeake Bay remained unclear. Restored to what?
* The Washington Informer reports that former D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty will not seek his old post again in 2014.
Former District Mayor Adrian Fenty recently told one of his closest advisers that he will not run for his old job in 2014.
"Adrian is not interested in getting into politics at all," said Joshua Lopez, a political activist who lives in Northwest. "He is doing great. He is excelling in the private sector."
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
* Governors from around the country will convene in Richmond Thursday for the National Governors Association summer meeting.
Hosted by Gov. Bob McDonnell and Virginia, the three-day event will be footed by corporate sponsors and will not cost taxpayers anything.
* There’s a petition online calling for Pepco to invest their profits in burying power lines and making its power system more efficient.
* In just a matter of years, more D.C. children will attend charter schools than comprehensive public schools, according to The Washington Examiner.
Forty-one percent of D.C. children currently attend charter schools, up seven percent from last year. Nearly 15,000 children are on waiting lists to attend one of the District’s 93 charter schools, the Examiner reports.
Because of tough laws, there are only four charter schools in Virginia and 49 in Maryland.
* The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that U.Va.'s board spent $115,581 for the fiscal year ending June 30 on expenses that included dinners, overnight stays at luxury hotels, car and airline fares, and entertainment for spouses.
* Gov. O’Malley and Louisiana Gov. Bob Jindal squabbled on ABC's This Week on Sunday about the relevance of Romney’s wealth.
Appearing on ABC's This Week, Jindal said -- predictably -- that the campaign's focus should be on President Obama's economic record, which he called "a failure." But just as predictably, O'Malley saw it differently, and in his brief appearance made five separate mentions of "Swiss bank accounts" -- a reference to an overseas holding of Romney's that was closed in 2010 and that Democrats have seized on to paint their rival as out of touch.
Here’s the full transcript.
