RIVER ROAD TV TOWER EXCEEDING LIGHT POLLUTION REGULATIONS AGAIN IN BETHESDA

The lowest flashing bulb on the TV tower behind McDonald's on River Road is going crazy again. It's been 48 hours now. This happened last year, and went on for weeks. Finally, I called the tower's owner, Crown Castle. They promised to fix it, and within a couple of weeks, it was corrected. And that was actually the second malfunction, since the tower converted from red to white lights years ago.

Now it's happening again. I received a complaint a number of days ago via comment from a reader; however, when I checked at that time, it did not seem to be malfunctioning. Perhaps it depends which direction you are standing in relation to the tower. But it's going nuts for sure now, and once again, it simply exceeds any reasonable light pollution limits.

I'll have to call them again, apparently. This is ridiculous. They need to make a permanent fix - or better yet, join the other 90% of towers in America, and use the red lights that don't have this problem (the River Road tower uses white flashing lights). Red lights are the industry standard. Does anyone know what federal entity regulates lights on broadcast towers?

This is how the bulbs are
supposed to look at night

MONTGOMERY MALL GARAGE COLLAPSE CONTRACTOR HAS BEEN CITED IN OTHER DC AREA INCIDENTS

Whiting-Turner, the construction company in charge of the Westfield Montgomery Mall project where a garage collapse killed one, and injured another Thursday, has been cited for safety violations in other DC-area incidents.

It's important to note upfront that, given the company's size, portfolio, and work with many partners, it would be unrealistic for the company to have an accident-free record. And, based on my investigation so far, there is nothing that suggests Whiting-Turner has an unusually high number of violations relative to its competitors.

Having said that, there are a number of incidents where workers have been injured or killed.  And a Cleveland garage collapse eerily reminiscent of Thursday's.

In March 2011, Roxana Zelaya, a 37-year-old forklift operator working for a Whiting-Turner subcontractor, was killed after being pinned by scaffolding at an underground construction site at Georgetown University, in Washington.

Whiting-Turner was cited by OSHA for violations during the construction of towers at Washington Hospital Center, also in the District.

In October 2002, a Whiting-Turner employee was fatally electrocuted during the expansion project at BWI Airport. Three years later at BWI, Whiting-Turner was cited three times by the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Unit. This after a worker on an elevated roadway bridge project fell through a gap, and was "seriously injured" upon landing on the road below.

An incident in Cleveland, Ohio sounds awfully similar to what happened at the Bethesda mall Thursday.

On December 16, 2011, during construction of a Whiting-Turner project called Horseshoe Casino, a section of the second level of a parking garage deck suddenly collapsed. Fortunately, no workers were injured.

Was Thursday's work by Whiting-Turner, or its subcontractor(s)?

It could affect the company either way.

Sometimes contracts hold the contractor responsible for incidents caused by its subcontractors.

And Tim Sullivan of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters told his union's blog in August 2010 that "we have noticed a pattern of problems with subcontractors hired by Whiting-Turner."

Now, unions clash with employers all the time, so don't necessarily jump to conclusions from that.

But little information is being put out to the public right now (and that's somewhat understandable, as there will surely be civil, if not criminal lawsuits ahead for responsible parties in the mall incident).

So it's worth at least reviewing what other incidents the company has been involved in around the DC area.

COOKIES BY DESIGN HAS CLOSED IN BETHESDA (PHOTOS)

There goes another Bethesda small business.

After 17 years, Cookies by Design at 4913 Cordell Avenue has closed permanently.

The store received negative publicity on television and in newspapers last month, when it was briefly closed by county health inspectors, who reported finding mice and roaches.

Although the shop passed a second inspection, it has now closed by the owner's accord.