Dana Hedgpeth of the Post provides a fascinating tale of the history of handshake deals that will come to an end when the Nats spur development near the new ballpark. Hedgpeth's article is primarily a profile of the various and sundry personalities who have, say, purchased trash lots and turned them into night clubs and are now cashing out for big development.
And, no, these guys aren't bitter. As one said, "It's progress."
What a gang Hedgpeth profiles, too! Seemingly everyone is connected to someone with a nickname pulled from a paperback. There's "Lowball Lenny" and "Trashy Cohen" and the rest of 'em. Fun stuff.
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Speaking of the new ballpark, the Associated Press is reporting that the District and Major League Baseball are working hard . . . doing hard work . . . coming in on weekends . . . eh, I forget the rest of that SNL skit.
Anyway, they're apparently trying to iron out a revised lease that a majority of the Council of the District of Columbia (but don't use that acronym, because it might be confusing!) will approve. We've already treaded that ground, yes---but this time Mayor Williams is going to toss up an approve-able lease tomorrow, Friday. Or maybe next Friday.
Whatever. What's important is that they're willing to sacrifice sleep for it. Not only does it serve to punish these jerks, but I take it as a sign that we're getting close on this.