William World News William F. Yurasko's blog v.14 – Nats, Penn State, Redskins, greater DC , travel, more

Ghosts in the Newsroom – Vanity Fair
A tale of missed opportunities, identity crises and disruptive technology. These challenges are far from limited to The Post, but seem more acute with one of the most important American newspapers. Some excerpts:
Warren Buffet, an significant investor in the paper:
And, as Buffett sees it, the newspaper’s journalists never understood [...]

Half Street ‘Fairgrounds’: Shipping Container Market, Events Space – JD Land
The Bullpen, which for the last few seasons was the closest pre-/post-game watering hole to Nationals Park, is no more. The replacement is “‘Fairgrounds,’ a combination food, market and events space that will be open seven days a week from the beginning of baseball season [...]

County Board to Vote on Changes at Pentagon Row – ARLnow.com
Arlington County is going to vote of changes to Pentagon Row in my old Pentagon City neighborhood. The most welcome is a larger ice rink and a longer season for it.
The proposal includes plans to expand the length of the ice rink by 40 [...]

$90 million contract for final mile of ICC awarded – WTOP
A $90 million contract to complete the Intercounty Connector (MD 200) has been awarded. Maryland’s newest toll highway and the biggest expressway project in the Washington, D.C. region will be extended one miles east from the Interstate 95 interchange to US 1. The new route [...]

UPDATE: As of March 15, 2012, these route markers are back on Google Maps. In fact, the old secondary numbers have been removed which could leave to confusion.
A few weeks ago, I noted that Google Maps had within days added the newly assigned state route numbers, 294 and 289, to the Prince William Parkway and [...]

ARLINGTON, Va. — It has been about two months since the extended Fairfax Drive on-ramp to Interstate 66 westbound was opened. As somebody who drives from Ballston to Tysons Corner most mornings, this new ramp has improved my commute. My anecdotal evidence suggests that Ballston is less congested due to the extended ramp. I cannot [...]

Since news broke that 3 Northern Virginia county parkways were getting new state route numbers, Google has already updated their maps for two of them. First, the Prince William Parkway and its new route 294 was updated. As of this morning, the Franconia-Springfield Parkway is now shown with primary Virginia state route 289.
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Oddly, [...]

The news that several Northern Virginia county parkways would get new state route numbers only broke in the last few days and already Google Maps has the new Prince William Parkway route number, 294, posted. The original number, 3000, is still shown as well.
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That was fast! Maybe too fast since the numbers won’t [...]

3 commuter routes to be renamed – WTOP
Three Northern Virginia county parkways that were built as secondary highways will be “promoted” to primary state highways.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved the transfer to VDOT Thursday.
The move converts the three thoroughfares into primary roads, meaning they may be eligible for new funding and maintenance priorities. The routes [...]

Remember several years ago when I posted that Alexandria, Va. was the most romantic city in the U.S. according to amazon.com? Remember how I pointed out that it might be a good thing?
It has been suggested that perhaps the criteria amazon.com uses, “sales data of romance novels, relationship and sex books” indicates a lack of [...]