Smart people are everywhere, and so are people who have common sense. That’s why we’re looking high and low to bring readers the highlights of the week just past. Got a suggestion? Send it to [email protected]. Dictator down
1| Gadhafi killed by Libyan fighters
The details: Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was killed after he was found hiding in a sewage drain. Libyans poured into the streets in jubilation as Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril declared, “It’s time to start a new … united Libya.”
Simplify taxes!
2| GOP presidential candidates debate tax policy
The details: Between Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan and Rick Perry’s call for a flat tax, Republicans are seriously debating tax policy again. Simplify the tax code? Yes please.
Not-high seas
3| Sailors to be kicked out for drug use
The details: Sixty-four sailors will be kicked out of the U.S. Navy for drug use that included cocaine, methamphetamines and a synthetic drug called spice.
Higher taxes defeated
4| Senate rejects chunk of Obama jobs bill
The details: Republicans and a few Democrats joined to vote for a chunk of Obama’s job bill that raises taxes for millionaires and billionaires. The vote failed 50-50.
Conversation killer
5| Cell phones do not cause cancer, study affirms
The details: A new Danish study of more than 350,000 people concluded that cell phones do not cause cancer. Cancer rates in people who used cell phones for about 10 years were similar to rates in people without a cell phone.
Lowest regional poverty rate
6| Federal presence cited
The details: Despite persistent pockets of poverty, Census Bureau statistics show that the Washington region has the lowest overall poverty rate (8.4 percent) in the nation thanks to a plethora of federal jobs and contracts. However, D.C.’s poverty rate is 18.4 percent.
Impounds, not inmates
7| Dead-tag law repealed
The details: D.C. Council members repealed a controversial law that allowed police officers to arrest and jail motorists for driving with expired vehicle registrations. The 90-day emergency replacement law allows cops to impound the vehicle instead of jailing the driver.
Exonerated
8| DNA reverses convictions
The details: DNA analysis has exonerated a dozen Washington region inmates convicted of crimes based on mistaken eyewitness identification including Thomas Haynesworth, who was recently released after serving 27 years in a Virginia prison for a 1984 rape he did not commit.
Salary cap
9| Pay ceiling for mayoral appointees
The details: D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, introduced a bill that caps the annual pay of top mayoral appointees like the chief of police and the schools chancellor at $200,000 — which is what Mayor Vincent Gray makes.
Rescheduled
10| MLK memorial finally dedicated
The details: The new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall was finally dedicated last Sunday by President Obama, Vice President Biden, civil rights leaders and thousands of others. The ceremony, originally scheduled for Aug. 28, was delayed by Hurricane Irene.
