* A church on Capitol Hill complains to WJLA about the new on-street parking restrictions, saying that they shouldn't have them because they're a "40-minute walk" from the ballpark, which is quite a bit of hyperbole for 400 D Street, SE. I live two blocks closer to the ballpark than the church, and I'm pretty sure those two blocks don't double the time of the trip (and the 20 minutes it takes me from my house is definitely at "amble" speed).

* WAMU looks at the environmental impacts of the ballpark.

* WJLA talks about Ben's Chili Bowl at the ballpark, and NBC4 talks about the complete lineup of food at the ballpark that some of us reported weeks ago . If you want more, um, intense coverage of the events at Ben's yesterday (and equally intense coverage of basically everything having to do with the Nationals), visits Nats320, where no Nats tidbit ever is overlooked. He makes me look like a once-a-month dabbler.

* I always predicted that the ballpark would drive every media organization in the country to do a story, and it's now starting: here's Fast Company's quick overview of Nationals Park, from a more business-oriented perspective.

* Scripps wonders what sort of reception President Bush will get when he throws out the first pitch next Sunday.

And now it's time to get ready for the first-ever baseball game at Nationals Park, GW vs. St. Joseph's. The 2,000 fans who got tickets are going to be restricted to moving around on the main concourse and in the lower bowl only.

A proposal will be going before the WMATA board next week to allow the Nationals to lease the Southeastern Bus Garage at Half and M (just across from the about-to-reopen Navy Yard subway station west entrance one block north of the ballpark) and an adjoining surface parking lot just across Van Street. This would happen once the Metrobuses are relocated, which apparently is supposed to be by Friday, March 28.

The lease for the Van Street lot would start the next day, and the garage itself would be available on April 20 (after Metro takes a few weeks to remove equipment). For the first 12 months, the Nats would pay $27,370 a month to lease the garage and $9,500 a month to lease the Van Street lot. If they were to decide to lease them until 2010, the rates would be slightly higher.

This money would be used to offset operating expenses associated with the garage's closure, and could bring WMATA nearly $900,000 in revenue if the leases were to run until April 2010.

The unknown, of course, is what will happen with the sale of the garage site, which of course was originally awarded to Akridge for $69.25 million but which is now tied up in a lawsuit brought against WMATA by Monument Realty. The parking lease with the Nats does allow for cancellation by either party with 30 days notice.

The WMATA Planning, Development and Real Estate committee will vote on the propsal first on March 27, and, if it's approved, the full board will vote on it later that same day.

For Nats fans who might be wondering, the garage and lot are both in the Red Zone, so would cost $35 per game to use.

If the garage is indeed closing next week, there will be much rejoicing by pedestrians who've been dodging the buses for years, including distracted neighborhood bloggers trying to grab photos while standing in the middle of the Half and M intersection.

* MLB.com also has a Q&A with Stan Kasten about the ballpark and other items. "You want all of it to work right, but you know there is going to be a hiccup here and there. We are going to be looking at everything. We'll be getting right back at it that Monday morning [March 31] to see what worked and what didn't work -- to see what we could improve on. Hopefully, we'll have that whole week to improve things even further."

* You can't swing a cat today without hitting news of the Metro Peeps.

* Poor Phil Mendelson. He still wants to use 225 Virginia Avenue for some MPD functions, and the mayor and the executive branch appear to be ignoring him.

* Elephants will be on parade just a few feet north of the neighborhood on Monday morning. No, really. I'm serious.

If you want the less-viral version of information about the Navy Yard expansion, NBC 4 and WTOP and WUSA have video from a tour given today to the media of the revamped west entrance, scheduled to open in time for Opening Night. Also, during yesterday's Metro ride-along with Stan Kasten, Nats320 grilled WMATA's COO with a pile of Metro/Nationals-related questions.

If you haven't been following along, Metro has spent $20 million increasing the number of fare gates and vending machines, adding two elevators and relocating the station kiosk, fare gates and fare vendors from the mezzanine to the street entrance. One thing in today's reports that is quite different from anything I've heard in the past two years--Metro is now saying that the upgrade to 15,000 passengers an hour is just for the west entrance, and that the east entrance can handle an additional 5,000 passengers an hour. Seems odd that this has never been emphasized before now, that it's always just been that the upgraded station would handled 15k....

Oh, and the commemorative Nationals SmarTrip cards go on sale Friday (March 21).

You can see my Take Metro! page for more details on links.

As we've been told ad infinitum, as of now there is only parking for season-ticket-holders in the lots that the Nationals have contracted with in the vicinity of the ballpark (though that may change); fans who want to drive to a Nats game but who don't have a season ticket parking pass have the free parking at RFK (or parking at a Metro station) as the only other option. Street parking is a definite no-no.

* The Prince George's Gazette says that Nationals Park "could bring jobs and an economic boon to the southern part of the county."

* This is a few days old, but the US Park Police and the National Park Service say you'd better not think of parking at Anacostia Park during ballgames and other events at the stadium: "The NPS and USPP remind those seeking parking for events at the new Nationals' stadium that parking within Anacostia Park is open to park users only. Parking on turf is illegal within Anacostia Park. Park users are asked to be aware that increased vehicular traffic is anticipated and to make plans accordingly."

* Dr. Gridlock on his Get There blog talks about the "National Trifecta" on March 29--the National Marathon (which wrought all sorts of havoc in Southwest last year), the National Cherry Blossom Festival, and the Nationals-vs-Orioles exhibition game--that could make for rough driving around the city on that Saturday.

* I've taken enough photos of the stadium scoreboard to last a good long while, but Fox5 has a bunch of shots of the Scoreboard Control Room.

*This week's Ballpark and Beyond column in the Post's District Extra covers the new parking lots at Capper, and has a preview of the Florida Rock zoning hearing tonight (see renderings and photos here).

I unexpectedly found myself inside the ballpark this evening, and of course couldn't resist taking some photos. They're not anywhere close to a complete set, just a few shots here or there of some nice views and fun things I hadn't seen before, like the flags hung by the BID along First Street, one of the bike racks, etc. The big lights weren't on (as you can see above), so it's all kind of impressionistic. (That's a nice way of saying "blurry.")

There's also two new stitched-together panoramas, for those of you who are fans of them: one from a second-level suite on the left-field side (which was taken at dusk but looks like daylight after some fiddling with the camera settings), and the above view, from section 106.

"Prior to every Nationals game at Nationals Park, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) will allow passengers to be dropped off along 1st Street, SE or along South Capitol Street; both locations are adjacent to Nationals Park, as near as possible to the two HOK designed accessible elevator entrances. After games, passengers may be picked up at the South Capitol Street location only. There are curb-free areas along South Capitol Street between O and P Streets."

Cars with state-issued disabled parking placards/license plates will be able to park in Lot E at First and N (just across from the ballpark) on a first-come first-served basis, or may purchase single-game access to those spaces for $35 per game starting March 26 at nationals.com/waytogo.

(UPDATED to add the link to the full press release.) And here's a link to the Post's story, with quotes from worried fans.

Nationals President Stan Kasten took the media this afternoon on the short Green Line jaunt from Gallery Place/Chinatown to the Navy Yard Metro station, to get the word out to stadium-goers that Metro will be the best way to get to the ballpark. He emphasized multiple times the 57,000 parking spaces at Metro stations around the area, which will be free on nights and weekends. [Sorry, that was my boo-boo, not his.] I'm sure there will be "real" coverage of the field trip on tonight's newscasts, so I'll update later with links to those stories.

But in the meantime, here's a few photos I took. I had hoped that the group would get to go up the not-yet-complete west entrance of the station, to see the expansion, but that didn't happen. (Waaah!) But when the group exited at New Jersey and M, there was the N22 shuttle bus to Union Station, waiting as if on cue.

In other news, the Washington Times reports that the ballpark has gotten its certificate of occupancy.

UPDATE: First out of the gate is ABC7, with a skeptical text piece (Kasten is "hoping to convince skeptical fans that the rail option is the best way to reach the team's new stadium" and that the Navy Yard station "was still a mess of construction last week"--because, you know, last week is the same as next week, that just because something wasn't done then means there's no chance it'll be done on time). And now the video's posted.

* Season-ticket holders are apparently starting to receive their parking passes. I'm updating my parking lot map with the lot letters, so you can see where your lot is and whether it's surface or underground. Leave your lot letter and location in the comments if I haven't added it to the map yet. Never mind--found the Nats' interactive trip planner that has the lots marked. But on mine you get to find out what's surface and what's underground! (It's all about the value-add.)

* A few weeks ago the March Washingtonian hit the stands with a big article on the ballpark, along with a second article ("Ballpark Living") about what's coming to Near Southeast in terms of residential offerings. That second article is now online--but don't be put off by its first two words.