DJ WHO SPUN AT BETHESDA NIGHTCLUB ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY RAPING UNCONSCIOUS WOMEN, FILMING THE ASSAULTS (PHOTO)

A DJ arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly raping several Virginia women, and filming the assaults, worked behind the turntables at BlackFinn in Bethesda as recently as February of this year.

Joseph M. Rivera - better known as DJ Joey Flash - is wanted by Fairfax County Police, who plan to charge him with rape, aggravated sexual battery, and two counts of unlawful filming. He is being extradited from Nevada to Fairfax County.

According to Fairfax police, Rivera allegedly took advantage of women who appear unconscious on videos the DJ saved on electronic media. How exactly these events transpired, is not yet detailed by police.

But the total number of alleged victims also remains unknown, and several women seen on the videos have not yet been identified by police.

For that reason, Fairfax police say they are working with other police departments in the DC area to determine how many victims there are, and their identities.

According to my research, Rivera was a weekly regular at BlackFinn Bethesda between October 2012 and February 2013. As "Joey Flash," Rivera performed at BlackFinn on January 5, 12, 19, and 26; and on February 2, 9, 16, and 23 this year alone.

Rivera spun at several DC-area clubs, and also worked at bartending competitions.

It is currently unknown if any of Rivera's alleged unidentified victims are from Bethesda.

If you have any information about Rivera pertinent to this case, Fairfax police are asking you to please call 703-246-7830. If you, or someone you know, have reason to believe you were victimized by this suspect, you should also call that number, or contact Montgomery County Police at 301-279-8000, if the incident occurred in Montgomery County.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCIL HOV LANE PLAN DEFIES BELIEF

COUNCIL INVITES

495, 270, LEGION BRIDGE

COMMUTERS TO JOIN

EMPEROR'S NEW CARPOOL

The Montgomery County Council and staff have surveyed two of the nation's most notorious traffic snarls - the American Legion Bridge/I-495, and I-270.  They have examined these 7th and 8th Circles of Hell.  They've brought their infinite wisdom to bear on one of the biggest obstacles to attracting new employers to Montgomery County (traffic gridlock).

And they've concluded the answer is... carpools.

Apparently, on whatever planet, and in whichever dimension, these folks reside in, this makes perfectly plausible sense to them.

Reality can be harsh.

They've studied a problem that has two definitive causes:  the failure to build at least three additional Potomac River bridges, and the failure to build our master plan highway system.

And what they've proposed specifically, is this:  turn the shoulders of 495 between Tysons Corner and the 270 spur into HOV/bus lanes.  And take an existing lane of I-270, and designate it an HOV lane.

In the first case, they have not increased capacity for the majority of drivers, and they have proposed a solution that could actually create worse traffic jams, and reduce safety.

Very few people carpool or take the bus on the Beltway.  So moving those vehicles onto the shoulder would have virtually no impact on travel lanes.  What would happen, however, is that the frequent broken-down or fender-bendered cars would now have no refuge at the side of the road.  There's no shoulder to pull off to, under the council's scenario.

I happen to recall driving from Virginia into Maryland one afternoon rush hour, and seeing a broken-down school bus on the shoulder.  Had the council's plan been in effect, those children would have been out in the middle of interstate highway traffic.  Is that a situation the parents of Montgomery County can buy into?

In addition, if someone breaks down in that shoulder "lane," you would have a jam worse than ever, as all of the buses and carpoolers would have to change lanes to get around that disabled car.

At least they're not proposing to "steal" a lane there.  But further north on 270, that's exactly what their plan calls for.  They want to turn an existing lane into an HOV lane.  In other words, congestion will get worse, not better.  Have you ever been at a dead stop at the 270 spur, and noticed the HOV lane is essentially empty?   So we're all sitting here, just so some politician can say he's "green?"

Surprisingly, or not, local media had no critical questions to ask the council, despite the plan's patent absurdity.  Instead, we are treated to more Orwellian statements about 21st century solutions, and "getting people out of their cars," something no one besides Communist China has been able to do so far.

Traffic congestion will not improve whatsoever should the council implement both their HOV plan, and the equally laughable Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) proposal.  In fact, in both cases, traffic would be worse.

But gridlock could be all but eliminated, if we made a belated commitment to building our master plan highways:  The Outer Beltway, Rockville Freeway, M-83 Mid-county Highway Extended, Northwest Freeway, and the Northern Parkway.  And at least one new Potomac River crossing.

There is simply no way the council can add 85,000 new cars to our existing highway system, as they plan to do, when it can't even handle today's traffic.

It's fine if the council wants to delude themselves that we can bus and carpool ourselves out of this mess.  But citizens and the media should cease to indulge decisions that place ideology over reality and decades of traffic engineering research.

We have "leaders" telling us they're adding 100,000 new residents to the county, which means 85,000 new cars driven by people who will not ride transit under any circumstances.

How many master plan highways is that same council proposing to build in the next 10-20 years?

Zero.  None.

We can't go on like this.

DEBUNKING ROBERT MCCARTNEY'S MONTGOMERY COUNTY BRT PROPAGANDA

The less than 20 Montgomery County officials ramming through a $2 billion boondoggle known as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) are desperately trying to recover from last week's devastating critique by their own master planner, Larry Cole.

Enter Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney.  In yesterday's Metro section, McCartney gave getting the BRT narrative back on track the old college try.

Suffice it to say, McCartney really, really likes the Emperor's new clothes.  And he needs to educate the masses, who just aren't smart enough to get these things.

How biased is McCartney's piece?  Check out this word cloud of McCartney's descriptions of the BRT plan:

ambitious, big idea, jazzy (!!), 

rare merit,

 bold, innovative, 

make a difference on a large scale, 

visionary, worthy

Wow.  OK.  Whatever happened to the phrase, "critical thinking" or "journalistic skepticism?"

McCartney had bought in to a plan that is nothing more than pie in the sky, by and by.  He doesn't need supporting data.  And gosh, that's good, because the county council and transit task force sure ain't providing any!

Now let's just take McCartney's piece apart, fiction by fiction:

He tries to float a general theme that there are no beneficial transportation projects that could be built - until these super geniuses, and all-around swell folks, invented BRT.

"Everybody talks about Washington traffic, but nobody does anything about it.  Despite having the region's second-longest commuting time, Montgomery has no big-ticket transportation project underway."

This is complete hogwash.

The county council and planners have been well aware for decades of our unbuilt master plan highways.  They have stalled construction of Midcounty Highway Extended [M-83], and the Outer Beltway for decades.  And they cancelled the Rockville Freeway, Northwest Freeway, North Central Freeway and Northern Parkway - just to name a few.

In 2010, Councilmember George Leventhal said, "the Rockville Freeway is dead, the M-83 will not be built in my lifetime."

Mr. McCartney, Leventhal referred by name to just 2 of many "big-ticket transportation projects" that would "make a difference on a large scale."

He, and other councilmembers, have failed to execute the known solutions to gridlock.

So, to say BRT is "all we got," is not fooling anyone.

Second, McCartney boasts that BRT "would actually relieve some of the region's chronic congestion."

Again, patently false.  In fact, by taking away existing traffic lanes, and reprogramming traffic signals, BRT will actually worsen congestion.

What will make the 85% who drive take BRT, Mr. McCartney?

His column didn't answer.  It's not speed, because it takes BRT 50 minutes to go 15 miles.  It's not convenience, because 95% of residents don't live on the major highways where BRT will run.

Pray tell, Mr. McCartney, what does make a person voluntarily agree to double their commuting time, by trading car for BRT?  Making it mandatory, like China?

Tell us, because the BRT folks so far cannot.

McCartney's suggestion that Montgomery is falling behind Fairfax County because it doesn't have BRT is ludicrous.   Have you checked the number of jobs created in both counties over the last 10 years, or 6 months?  The numbers are staggering, and an indictment of the council's failure to do anything but spend money.

Worst of all, McCartney lowballs the tax you'll be charged, which for Bethesda residents will be $1000 or more per year for single family homes, and upscale condos.

Don't "applaud the county" just yet, Mr. McCartney.  Failed policies and outlandish spending and taxes are their specialty.  BRT is just the latest scheme.

Do your homework, and get back to your readers with fact-based, skeptical, critical thoughts on BRT, a political vanity project run wild.

OUTER BELTWAY

STUDY ADVANCES

IN

VIRGINIA HOUSE

Virginia House Bill HJR-131 has been approved by the House Rules Studies Subcommittee. The bill, sponsored by Del. J. Randall Minchew (R-District 10), mandates a Virginia Department of Transportation study of a new Potomac River crossing into Montgomery County. It would also explore a request for inclusion of Route 28 as part of the federal interstate system.

The bill now goes to the full House Rules Committee.

One small step for man; one giant leap for DC area drivers.