* City Paper reports on a lawsuit that had been brought by three street vendors "seeking to halt the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs' current practice of assigning vendors to sites outside the stadium via a lottery." The judge ruled against the vendors' request for a preliminary injunction against DCRA yesterday.

I did notice yesterday for the first time four semi-permanent kiosks on the edge of USDOT's Southwest Plaza, on New Jersey Avenue at Tingey Street, where before last night's Phillies game a couple of vendors were plying their wares. I'm not sure when these kiosks were installed--I'm guessing sometime within the past few weeks? And perhaps they're used during the day, too, for non baseball-related vending? This would probably be the result of the council's emergency legislation to add more 14 more vending spots closer to the ballpark. I didn't make the walk down Half Street to see if any vendors were in place there last night--anyone have any sightings of other new vending locations?

* This is a few days old, but the NYTimes has a report on how Nationals Park's ads from ExxonMobil have raised the ire of environmentalists: "When the Washington Nationals' season opened in March, the team unveiled a stadium any environmentalist could love -- the country's first certified green major professional sports stadium, with energy-conserving lights and water-conserving plumbing. Now, the team is the focus of protests from environmentalists who say their issue is not with the stadium, but with the Nationals' advertising relationship with the oil giant ExxonMobil. The company's logo appears prominently on the left-field wall and is frequently featured on the stadium's scoreboard. Despite the stadium's recognition for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by the U.S. Green Building Council, ExxonMobil's involvement has erased any good will, say the leaders of Strike Out Exxon, a combination of environmental, civic and religious groups. The groups want the Nationals to end their advertising arrangement with the company."

UPDATE: One more link about the ballpark: Bayer's helping to keep the cherry trees healthy!