The D.C. Lottery contract may be headed for further review, Jeffrey Anderson reports in The Washington Times. Council members Muriel Bowser and Jack Evans — heads of the government operations and finance and revenues committees — say they support a re-examination of the $38 million contract and a plan to launch the nation’s first online poker system, an idea promoted by council member Michael A. Brown, at-large independent, and approved without public discussion in a supplemental budget bill in December. “People are concerned about the lottery procurement, period,” Bowser said. “I’ve always been uncomfortable with the contract.”
The company that runs the D.C. Lottery and plans to roll out Internet gambling does not seem concerned about investigations, though. Tom Howell Jr. writes in The Washington Times that Intralot, which holds the lottery contract with a local partner in a joint venture called DC09, has posted job openings such as “Table Games Operator” even though the program has not passed key hurdles — such as collecting public input.
An Aruban judge ordered a Gaithersburg man suspected in the disappearance of a travel companion detained for an additional 60 days. Aruban Solicitor General Taco Stein tells Andrea Noble of The Washington Times that at the end of the 60 days, prosecutors expect to charge Gary Giordano in the disappearance and presumed death of Robyn Gardner, 35, of Frederick, Md.
Arguments over how the federal government is going to pay for Hurricane Irene relief efforts are raging in Virginia, David Sherfinksi writes in The Washington Times. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, which was hard hit by the storm, was among the first to voice an opinion, saying Monday the funds should be offset with spending cuts and then later said “the monies will be there.” Bob McDonnell has had to address the issue, which is also emerging as a campaign topic in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race.
The District’s “legacy legislators” are profiled by Alan Suderman in Washington City Paper. An excellent read, the piece looks at Kwame Brown, Harry Thomas Jr. and Michael Brown in the context of the District’s evolving political culture. “To varying degrees, all three have found themselves politically embattled during this year of municipal scandals. Also to varying degrees, they’ve benefited from public sympathy attached to their family histories.”
