Maryland State Capitol by Martin_Falbisoner licensed under Creative Commons.

After floor debate, two tenant protections bills pass in Maryland House

HB 693, the Renter’s Rights and Stabilization Act of 2024, and HB 1117, the Tenant Safety Act of 2024 passed the Maryland House Monday. HB 693 is part of Governor Moore’s housing package and would give tenants the first right of refusal to purchase their homes if the property is put up for sale. HB 1117 would make it easier for tenants to use the rent escrow process when pushing for repairs to unlivable conditions. The bills passed largely along party lines.  (Danielle J. Brown / Maryland Matters)  

US House passes “use it or lose it” bill focused on federal office space that could lead to sale of DC buildings

The US House has passed the “Use It” bill mandating that federal workspace be used 60% of the time and directing the Office of Management and Budget to develop a plan to sell off unneeded DC buildings. Republicans and Democrats differ, however, on how to measure office use. The bill faces an uncertain fate in the Senate. (This article is behind a paywall).  (Tristan Navera / Business Journal)  

Alexandria contemplates cuts to already-limited DASH line 104

The bus line provides a connection between the Pentagon and Braddock Road. It currently runs every 30 minutes; the city is proposing to reduce the frequency to once an hour, even as it acknowledges that the level of service “is not considered to be useful or reliable, and ridership is likely to decrease by a large margin as riders seek other alternatives.” There will be a Transportation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 20 where the recommendation will be discussed.  (Vernon Miles / ALXNow)  

Montgomery County leadership sends letter to WMATA, MTA, recommending improved options during summer Red Line closure

The letter, signed by the County Executive and several County councilmembers, asks the Maryland Transit Authority to make a number of changes such as delaying planned cuts to commuter bus service, increasing bus speeds by making lanes on Georgia Ave bus-only, increasing MARC rail service, and reducing or eliminating fares for transportation alternatives. The letter also asks WMATA to add more shuttle bus connections to bridge not just the closed Red Line stations but to connect those Red Line riders to Ft. Totten on the Green Line.  (Ginny Bixby / MoCo360)  

New Metro station bathrooms, rated

WMATA recently announced that after 14 years they have (finally) completed repairs to all customer bathrooms in the Metro system. Most are not only behind doors that say something else, like “Fire Suppression Equipment” or “Service Corridor,” but you have to ask the station manager to let you in.   (Arya Hodjat / Washingtonian)  

NoVA data centers running into land and power constraints

Northern Virginia has far outbuilt anywhere else in the world when it comes to data processing centers, with over 50 million square feet of processing space, mostly to serve cloud computing needs. That’s more than three times what has been built in any other area in the world. The data centers are not just land-hungry; they’re power-hungry too: taken together they consume as much power as 800,000 American households and area leaders are running into constraints on both land and power access to run the centers.  (Jeff Clabaugh / WTOP)  

Hidden gems along the Anacostia River

The Anacostia River is home to deer, owls, eagles, and all manner of smaller animals, and many of its trails invite the exploration of the urban watershed’s history and ecology, namely, spots where Marvin Gaye and  Teddy Roosevelt found refuge, along with an Underground Railroad outpost.  (Bill Matuszeski / Hill Rag)  

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