I've been told by Opus East, the developer of 100 M Street, that the work being done along 1st and along M this past week or so has been the capping of the utilities in preparation for demolition, which should be starting next week (the week of Aug. 28).

Today's Washington Times reports that DC mayoral candidate Michael Brown has vowed to "stop construction of the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium on South Capitol Street and instead would refurbish RFK Stadium for the team." He will apparently be holding a press conference this week to detail his plans. Additionally: "Mr. Brown acknowledged the apparent difficulties in gaining the approval of all interested parties for a new stadium deal but said he can do it. 'I didn't say it was easy, and there are a lot of different moving pieces.' " In other the-stadium-is-a-boondoggle highlights from the weekend, the WashTimes editorial board compares the financing for the new Yankee stadium to what DC "negotiated" to get the Nats to DC (i.e., stop pointing the gun at us, Bud, we'll give you everything you want, just so you'll finally put a team in one of the biggest markets in the country), but also uses it to once again castigate the Lerners for standing in the way of the city's desire to recoup some money by building the Garages Wrapped With Development Goodness. In addition, local muckraking institution DC Watch has had much discussion from its readers over the past few weeks about the stadium and it's financing, and addresses it specifically in its current issue.