var ever_com_entries = [{"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/12/04/norfolk_western.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Dec 04, 2006","excerpt":"Amanda Mattos contributed to this post. A recent tip from Dave at Indiefolkforever lead us to a rather unflattering portrait of our fair city. Norfolk & Western, a Portland band that visited D.C. last month, apparently didn't have a very nice time playing DC9 or visiting the U street/Shaw neighborhood in Northwest D.C. As part of a tour journal posted on Local Cut, the band wrote: Washington DC proved to be a less pleasant experience...","date":"December 04, 2006  11:59 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":221,"title":"Norfolk & Western Not Loving Northwest D.C.","id":85021,"votes":47}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/05/29/rock_throwing_o.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"May 29, 2007","excerpt":"It's been since last October that we heard much more about any rock throwing attacks in Columbia Heights. Despite the prevalence of these types of assaults last year, thought to be perpetrated by groups of neighborhood kids, they had seemingly stopped sometime over the winter and not begun anew, until now. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has been circulating a couple of emails to District police officials and neighborhood listserves: one that reports a...","date":"May 29, 2007  11:21 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":221,"title":"Rock Throwing, Attacks in Columbia Heights Return","id":109020,"votes":19}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/01/05/smoking_ban_may.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Jan 05, 2007","excerpt":"Only three days old, and the District's smoking ban for bars and restaurants may soon get just a little tougher. WTOP is reporting that D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has hinted that he may seek to make it harder for bars to apply for an exemption to the ban. Currently bars that lose 5 percent of their sales due to the ban can apply for an exemption; Fenty would like to see that raised to 15...","date":"January 05, 2007  4:00 PM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":184,"title":"Smoking Ban May Get Tougher","id":88831,"votes":3}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/08/08/dog_days_of_fas.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_andrew","displaydate":"Aug 08, 2007","excerpt":"The oven-like heat outside reminds us of summers off from school, which in turn got us into a conversation about the fast food we remember from those days. Maybe it's a good thing that the D.C. area, and the city in particular, isn't overrun with these places, but it doesn't mean we don't remember them fondly -- or, for that matter, dearly wish they had a few outlets closer by at times like these. A...","date":"August 08, 2007  11:22 AM","author":"Andrew Wiseman","comments":179,"title":"What We're Missing: Dog Days of Fast Food","id":118889,"votes":2}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/24/cops_ticket_cyclists_at_new_hampshi.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 24, 2008","excerpt":" The intersection of U Street, 16th Street and New Hampshire Ave. in Northwest has long been a perilous spot for pedestrians and cyclists alike. It's just a weird confluence of two major thoroughfares plus a diagonal avenue that runs one-way, in opposite directions, for one block only on either side. If you've ever tried to cross U Street on foot there, you know just how unpredictable the flow of traffic can be. Last year...","date":"July 24, 2008  12:26 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":164,"title":"Cops Ticket Cyclists at New Hampshire and U Street","id":173120,"votes":22}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/15/murky_coffee_vs_teh_internet.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_eddie","displaydate":"Jul 15, 2008","excerpt":"It's become an epic fight of the caffeinated world. In one corner, the java-head who likes his espresso on the rocks. In the other, the emphatic barista and his posse of \"mud\" slingers. The overblown scuffle started this past Sunday when blogger Jeff Simmermon stopped by Murky Coffee in Arlington for his usual, a triple shot of espresso on ice. But in a scene reminiscent of Jack Black in High Fidelity or Paul Giamatti in...","date":"July 15, 2008  11:23 AM","author":"Eddie Kim","comments":160,"title":"Murky Coffee vs. Teh Internet","id":171539,"votes":36}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/05/02/bars_claim_loss.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"May 02, 2007","excerpt":"It's been five months since D.C. took on a smoking ban in its bars, and all the grousing over not having a place to light up seems to have died down. But news coming from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington may change that. According to FreeRide, a survey by the restaurant lobby group -- which strongly opposed the smoking ban -- claims that 35 percent of bars and restaurants reported a loss of revenue after...","date":"May 02, 2007  5:35 PM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":155,"title":"Bars Claim Loss of Business Over Smoking Ban","id":105232,"votes":0}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/03/19/morning_roundup.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_jeff","displaydate":"Mar 19, 2007","excerpt":"So, it seems like George Mason may have used up much of the region's supply of NCAA tourney magic in last year's dramatic run. Of the seven regional teams in this year's tournament, only Georgetown survived the first weekend to make the Sweet 16 – stay tuned to DCist for more hoops coverage as the city unites behind the Hoyas. And before you ask: no, I'm not the least bit bitter about having a bracket...","date":"March 19, 2007  07:45 AM","author":"Jeff Beam","comments":154,"title":"Morning Roundup: March Sadness","id":98872,"votes":4}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/03/29/ask_dcist_a_hai.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_melissa","displaydate":"Mar 29, 2006","excerpt":"I recently moved here from Chicago, and despite my best efforts to wait it out until I return home for a visit, it's becoming quite clear that I am due for a new haircut and color. Like many women, I tend to have very strong \"stylist allegiances\" and am nervous about trying a new one. I want a young, hip style with a great color job but haven't really come across any places that seem...","date":"March 29, 2006  10:06 AM","author":"Melissa McCart","comments":147,"title":"Ask DCist: A Hair Affair","id":35746,"votes":1}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/12/05/obama_birth_certificate_protest.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_amanda","displaydate":"Dec 05, 2008","excerpt":"by DCist contributor Dave Weigel Four days ago, Roger Bredow uploaded a video to YouTube beseeching like-minded people to come to Washington, D.C. and stand with him outside the Supreme Court. \"[Barack] Obama was born a dual citizen,\" Bredow said, \"British, and a citizen of the United States, at birth.\" This, said Bredow, meant that the president-elect could never take the oath of office. And on Friday, the Supreme Court would read Donofrio v. Wells,...","date":"December 05, 2008  12:30 AM","author":"Amanda Mattos","comments":130,"title":"Obama Birth Certificate Protest at SCOTUS","id":196419,"votes":17}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/03/journalist_shot_in_adams_morgan.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 03, 2008","excerpt":"We mentioned it briefly at the end of the day yesterday and it's been reported several other places since then, but we wanted to share some more details on how our good friend Brian Beutler was shot early Wednesday morning in Adams Morgan. Brian, 25, is the Washington Correspondent for the Media Consortium, a network of progressive news organizations like Mother Jones and the American Prospect. He's being described as a \"well known liberal blogger\"...","date":"July 03, 2008  10:53 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":126,"title":"Journalist Shot in Adams Morgan","id":169716,"votes":9}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/16/neighborhood_de.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"May 16, 2008","excerpt":"Update: We've gotten information that Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) will be hosting Friday night potlucks in Potomac Gardens starting on May 30 to discuss issues related to neighborhood safety. He's indicated that he'll ask the police department's top brass to attend, as well as community leaders. As the District continues grappling with a stubborn and constantly shifting crime problem, residents in one Capitol Hill neighborhood are debating a controversial response -- marching on...","date":"May 16, 2008  10:10 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":125,"title":"Neighborhood Debates Controversial Response to Crime","id":162010,"votes":7}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/08/woman_killed_by_garbage_truck_in_du.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 08, 2008","excerpt":" The AP is reporting that a 22-year-old woman has died after being struck by a garbage truck while riding her bicycle near Dupont Circle this morning. The garbage truck, which was not owned by the city but rather a private company, struck the woman at Connecticut and R Streets NW just before 8:30 a.m. The roadway around the accident site was shut down while officers investigated the scene. The woman has not yet been...","date":"July 08, 2008  10:06 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":120,"title":"Woman Killed by Garbage Truck in Dupont <em>Updated</em>","id":170325,"votes":8}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/15/in_the_week_since_alice.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Jul 15, 2008","excerpt":"In the week since Alice Swanson was tragically killed riding her bike through Dupont Circle, there has been the usual back-and-forth between aggravated cyclists and aggrieved drivers. Cyclists accuse drivers of being two-ton road menaces, while drivers fire back by relaying long-worn tales of cyclists recklessly flying through red lights. But in recent days cyclists have started defending their trade, looking to present their selective ignorance of traffic laws as perfectly justifiable. First up was...","date":"July 15, 2008  3:00 PM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":117,"title":"All Hail the Scofflaw Cyclist?","id":171600,"votes":3}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2005/01/10/who_is_borf.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#robg3","displaydate":"Jan 10, 2005","excerpt":" You've seen it around town: a stencil of a smiling face labled \"BORF,\" sometimes accompanied with a quirky statements. The work of the enigmatic Borf can be seen along U Street, in Adams Morgan, in the West End, Foggy Bottom, in Georgetown, and even at least one in Virginia. Just who is behind the graffiti? While we still haven't met him, a little internet snooping has unearthed some clues. His has sparked a post...","date":"January 10, 2005  11:00 AM","author":"Rob Goodspeed","comments":113,"title":"Who is BORF?","id":32894,"votes":0}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/08/06/solo_marines_of.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Aug 06, 2007","excerpt":"Last month we got a letter from reader Christine, who related the follwing story and asked us to look into it. I recently moved to Fairfax, VA to live with my parents until my marriage next month to a marine who is stationed at 8th and I Marine Barracks in SE. After their Friday evening parade, many of the guys like to grab a beer or two. This Friday, myself, my fiancee, and five others...","date":"August 06, 2007  11:56 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":113,"title":"Solo Marines Often Refused Entry to Some D.C. Bars","id":118653,"votes":26}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/02/26/brazen_daytime.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Feb 26, 2008","excerpt":" Two men robbed the Maggie Moo's ice cream parlor on U Street at gunpoint yesterday -- and they did it at 12:15 p.m., right in the middle of the day. DCist's Lynne Venart snapped the photo above of some of the aftermath of the crime scene. According to WJLA, the armed suspects wore masks and physically attacked a 23-year-old employee of the store when she had trouble opening the safe. The gunmen only made...","date":"February 26, 2008  11:25 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":111,"title":"Brazen Daytime Robbery at Maggie Moo's on U Street","id":149067,"votes":6}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/01/23/this_city_doth_.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_tom","displaydate":"Jan 23, 2007","excerpt":" We thought that this week's protest-related excitement was over. It was just yesterday that the Right To Life movement made their yearly descent upon Washington, with their de rigeur horde of earnest teenage virgins in tow. They stood outside Planned Parenthood, were politely avoided by the President, and have already faded from most of our memories. But the pro-life crowd isn't the only protest in town this week. The Virginia Citizens' Defense League is...","date":"January 23, 2007  4:18 PM","author":"Tom Lee","comments":109,"title":"This City Doth Protest Too Much","id":91257,"votes":5}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2005/11/30/district_gentri.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_melissa","displaydate":"Nov 30, 2005","excerpt":"In gentrifying neighborhoods from U Street to Upshur, top-notch D.C. chefs and restaurateurs are jockeying for prime positions. Along the U Street corridor, Al Tiramisu owner Luigi Diotaiuti has opened Al Crostino and Saied Azali followed suit with Viridian, Perrys' sibling venture. Nora Pouillon of the eponymous Nora and Asia Nora allegedly has her eye on 14th Street for a new place (U Nora, perhaps?) and James Beard nominee Ann Cashion of Cashion's Eat Place...","date":"November 30, 2005  3:39 PM","author":"Melissa McCart","comments":108,"title":"District Gentrification: Restaurants and Real Estate","id":34885,"votes":0}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/02/22/saving_the_sing.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Feb 22, 2007","excerpt":"Last week the City Paper reported on moves to ban the sale of single beers along the up-and-coming H Street stretch in Northeast, part of an attempt to reduce the quality of life crimes, like public urination or disorderly conduct, that seemingly go hand-in-hand with 24-ounce cans of Bud Ice and 40-ounce bottles of Old English Malt Liquor. Of course, the proposal is nothing new -- Mt. Pleasant adopted a similar ban in 2001, and...","date":"February 22, 2007  3:09 PM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":108,"title":"Saving the Single Beer","id":95364,"votes":8}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/07/12/columbia_height_1.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_andrew","displaydate":"Jul 12, 2007","excerpt":"The Columbia Heights listserv has been a heated battle ground of thinly veiled race and class issues of late. When they're not sniping back and forth, many of the posters have been loudly bemoaning the Ross and Marshalls discount clothing stores coming to the new DCUSA development at 14th and Irving NW. They also complain about the incoming Lane Bryant, Foot Locker, and Mattress Discounters. The listserv has been abuzz with messages such as \"How...","date":"July 12, 2007  12:52 AM","author":"Andrew Wiseman","comments":107,"title":"Columbia Heights Listserve vs. Ross","id":115231,"votes":6}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/05/14/opinionist_maki.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dc_hemal","displaydate":"May 14, 2006","excerpt":"Today's Opinionist was written by Arlington resident Freya Estreller. Since the majority of my friends live in D.C., getting them to trek out to Arlington can sure be a tough sell. So what if I want to pay lower taxes and car insurance rates, live in a spacious house with a backyard, and drive my car that I park for free to Taco Bell at two in the morning? Does my social life really have...","date":"May 14, 2006  2:32 PM","author":"Hemal Jhaveri","comments":106,"title":"Opinionist: Making a Case for Arlington","id":36194,"votes":3}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/20/just_another_wa.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"May 20, 2008","excerpt":" Yesterday City Desk pointed us to the YouTube video above concerning something that always fires up District residents -- parking. The video in question creatively makes a point that's long been a reality for residents of Adams Morgan and its surrounding neighborhoods -- people who go out in Adams Morgan tend to park pretty much anywhere they want. As a resident of one of the nearby neighborhoods, I can attest to the fact that...","date":"May 20, 2008  10:17 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":106,"title":"Another Way to Start a Parking Argument","id":162457,"votes":1}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/04/13/lost_pants_lead.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_lindsaygibson","displaydate":"Apr 13, 2007","excerpt":"How does one quantify enjoyment gained from the perfect pair of pants? A flattering fit, oh-so-crisp lines or fine-woven fabrics might make trousers priceless to their owner. Roy L. Pearson, Jr., who just happens to be an administrative law judge for the District, doesn't have a problem putting a price on such clothes. He believes his pants are worth $67 million. Pearson alleges Custom Cleaners in Northeast lost his trousers back in 2005. He filed...","date":"April 13, 2007  4:10 PM","author":"Lindsay Gibson","comments":105,"title":"D.C. Judge Seeks $67 Million for Lost Pants","id":102551,"votes":16}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/08/06/metro_consideri.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Aug 06, 2007","excerpt":"Metro General Manager John Catoe is considering replacing late night weekend trains with buses -- both as a way to save money and to create more time to complete track and station maintenance tasks. This is very bad news. No one could argue that Metro needs to rethink how it accomplishes maintenance tasks -- the number of weekend track work delays, regular elevator and escalator outages, and out of service trains that need repairs has...","date":"August 06, 2007  10:57 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":105,"title":"Metro Considering Nixing Late Night Service","id":118638,"votes":7}, ];
var ever_fav_entries=[{"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/08/14/wone_murder_rem.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Aug 14, 2006","excerpt":"Tragic as many homicides in the District are, most aren't that much of a mystery. A robbery gone wrong, a drug-related beef, an innocent bystander hit by a stray bullet -- the killings can be explained. Unfortunately, just the opposite is true in the killing of 32-year-old lawyer Robert Wone. Wone was killed nearly two weeks ago, stabbed to death in a rowhouse on Swann and 15th streets, just blocks shy of the U Street...","date":"August 14, 2006  2:42 PM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":87,"title":"Wone Murder Remains a Mystery","id":62530,"votes":139}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/03/23/meet_your_new_r.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Mar 23, 2007","excerpt":" Update, Part 3: Here's the audio of Rep. Gohmert's wisdom on the District's lack of representation. Or, should we say, over-representation? And we've redesigned the banner for his website to better reflect his new responsibilities... Louie Gohmert &mdash; The District's Voting Representative powered by ODEO--> Update, Part 2: Here's a pic of Louie. He seems like a nice guy. And this is what he said, according to the Congressional Record: \"I would submit to...","date":"March 23, 2007  10:08 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":76,"title":"Meet Your New Representative, D.C. <em>(Updated)</em>","id":99483,"votes":83}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/11/15/photo_of_the_da_129.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_ian","displaydate":"Nov 15, 2007","excerpt":" Flickr user musely gets a gold star today for both effort and execution, for this clever series of shots lining up currency with the D.C. buildings depicted on them. We suspect this is one of those things that seems simple, but in practice is a lot more difficult than it looks to get everything in focus and lined up perfectly. The nice thing about our city? You can tour all those landmarks and plenty...","date":"November 15, 2007  11:50 AM","author":"Ian Buckwalter","comments":10,"title":"Photo of the Day: November 15, 2007","id":133481,"votes":71}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/07/05/new_dcist_featu.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 05, 2006","excerpt":"Written by DCist Technology Editor Tom Lee. Between the nearly-biblical rains, eruption of explosions and massive scheduled work stoppage, you may not have noticed the recent changes to our humble corner of the Internet. But the folks at Gothamist have been hard at work, furiously wiping sweat from their brows with labcoat-clad arms (the pajamas go underneath). And now you can see the fruits of their labor. Behold: the mighty \"Recommend this!\" link now lies...","date":"July 05, 2006  6:02 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":3,"title":"New DCist Features: An Introduction","id":44752,"votes":63}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/08/18/wone_murder_inv.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Aug 18, 2006","excerpt":"Earlier this week we reported on some of the twists and turns in the murder investigation of 32-year-old lawyer Robert Wone in a Swann Street rowhouse in early August. A killing that was originally blamed on an intruder suddenly became more complicated late last week, when police announced that the room in which Wone's body had been found had been cleaned before police could arrive at the scene. Commenters on our post -- some who...","date":"August 18, 2006  09:52 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":26,"title":"Wone Murder Investigation Turns Towards Conspiracy","id":63008,"votes":61}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/10/09/75yearold_arres.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Oct 09, 2007","excerpt":"Via Consumerist, allow us to introduce you to the next Great American Hero: Mona Shaw, 75-year-old Manassas resident and fed-up potential Comcast customer. Potomac News has the great story about Shaw, who got a little hot under the collar after trying to change her phone service from Verizon to Comcast's Triple Play back in August. As hard as it might be to imagine, Shaw ran into some difficulty trying to get her Comcast service set...","date":"October 09, 2007  2:24 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":23,"title":"75-Year-Old Arrested For Smashing Comcast Office","id":127789,"votes":55}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/07/04/washington_wash.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 04, 2006","excerpt":"This video has been making the rounds on the internets, clogging up its various tubes and delaying more important communiques. So we apologize if you've already seen this little slice of frivolity. But on this day, in this city, it seems particularly appropriate to celebrate the overwhelming awesomeness of our burg's namesake. Take care, though &mdash; it's not exactly safe for work (the audio, anyway)....","date":"July 04, 2006  6:57 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":0,"title":"Washington, Washington","id":44596,"votes":53}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/10/30/citizen_journal.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Oct 30, 2007","excerpt":"DISCLAIMER: PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE FOLLOWING LINK IS INCREDIBLY NSFW. Please do not follow it if you are squeamish, are in a public place, or have any other reservations about seeing graphic photos of public sex and drug use. D.C. resident Kevin Keith Eby, of the blog Knee Deep in Mud, recently came home to a rather rude surprise in the alley that faces his kitchen window: two individuals engaging in sex acts and...","date":"October 30, 2007  4:05 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":21,"title":"Blogger Records Public Crack-for-Sex Exchange","id":131029,"votes":53}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/07/05/a_site_announce.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_ryan","displaydate":"Jul 05, 2006","excerpt":"Item: Dear readers, the time has come for this editor to move on. As of today, I'll be stepping down as an Editor-in-Chief of DCist, and turning my set of reins over to Sommer Mathis, lately our Arts Editor, who'll be running things alongside Martin. In August, I'll be moving back to London, my home away from home, to pursue a PhD in Economic History. The goal is to make myself permanently unemployable, so I...","date":"July 05, 2006  10:30 AM","author":"Ryan Avent","comments":11,"title":"A Site Announcement","id":44693,"votes":52}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/08/02/metro_plays_mus.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_colin","displaydate":"Aug 02, 2006","excerpt":"For as long as we have been posting on transportation, you guys have been asking one question in the comments more than any other. When, oh when, is our dear Metro going to debut those new seating arrangements we've been hearing so much about? We showed you a few pictures a few weeks ago, but this week, Metro went live with the new designs, showing them off to the public and reporters on Monday morning....","date":"August 02, 2006  3:49 PM","author":"Colin Peppard","comments":74,"title":"Metro Plays Musical Chairs","id":61206,"votes":52}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/16/colbert_portrai.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jan 16, 2008","excerpt":" The Colbert Report has been blissfully, if not nearly at full speed without its striking writers, back for a little more than a week now on Comedy Central. For three nights straight they've been running a series showing Stephen traipsing all over Washington with a portrait of himself strapped to his back, trying to convince one of the Smithsonian museums to actually hang it up. Without dwelling on how we managed to miss out...","date":"January 16, 2008  10:43 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":13,"title":"Colbert Portrait Hanging in National Portrait Gallery","id":142608,"votes":50}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/05/13/the_argyle_acad.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"May 13, 2007","excerpt":" Click on the comic for more about the Argyle Academy....","date":"May 13, 2007  11:04 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":0,"title":"The Argyle Academy","id":106752,"votes":48}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/12/04/norfolk_western.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Dec 04, 2006","excerpt":"Amanda Mattos contributed to this post. A recent tip from Dave at Indiefolkforever lead us to a rather unflattering portrait of our fair city. Norfolk & Western, a Portland band that visited D.C. last month, apparently didn't have a very nice time playing DC9 or visiting the U street/Shaw neighborhood in Northwest D.C. As part of a tour journal posted on Local Cut, the band wrote: Washington DC proved to be a less pleasant experience...","date":"December 04, 2006  11:59 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":221,"title":"Norfolk & Western Not Loving Northwest D.C.","id":85021,"votes":47}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/06/02/fox_5_reporter.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jun 02, 2008","excerpt":"This is pretty good: Fox 5's Tom Fitzgerald decided to do a report on the ongoing harassment of photographers inside D.C.'s busy Union Station, a topic we've written about and heard about from our own Flickr contributors many times before. While he was there interviewing Amtrak's spokesperson on the subject, who in fact told the reporter that photography is absolutely allowed inside the Amtrak portion of the station, a security guard came up to the...","date":"June 02, 2008  11:52 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":46,"title":"Reporter Hassled By Union Station Security While Reporting a Story on Photographers Being Hassled at Union Station","id":164578,"votes":46}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/07/05/morning_roundup.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 05, 2006","excerpt":" Happy Day After the Fourth of the July, Washington. We hope you managed to get some sleep last night despite the all-night fireworks marathons taking place in many city neighborhoods. Not that we're complaining &mdash; since the view of the National Mall fireworks from the north was largely obstructed by a giant cloud of smoke, locals putting on their own displays pretty much saved Independence Day for many of us. There will be more...","date":"July 05, 2006  08:20 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":4,"title":"Morning Roundup: The Day After Independence Edition","id":44674,"votes":45}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/01/03/photo_of_the_da.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_nicole","displaydate":"Jan 03, 2007","excerpt":" Facial expressions are all the rage in Bsivad's photo of a man speaking to Mayor Fenty. On the Flickr comment stream, it's mentioned that the photo would be a good candidate for a comments contest. What do you think are the words being exchanged with such animation?...","date":"January 03, 2007  11:34 AM","author":"Nicole Berckes","comments":37,"title":"Photo of the Day: January 3, 2007","id":88431,"votes":45}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/01/30/dcist_survey_sa.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jan 30, 2007","excerpt":"We've developed a very quick survey to check in with our readers. We hope to use the information to improve the site, from developing our content areas to picking promotional and advertising partners. If you have a few minutes (it's very short), we'd appreciate it if you could answer. Update: We've got all the responses we need. Thanks for participating in the survey....","date":"January 30, 2007  09:59 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":0,"title":"DCist Survey Says ... ","id":92193,"votes":45}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/07/06/maryland_envy.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_melissa","displaydate":"Jul 06, 2006","excerpt":" Ah, Silver Spring. Even the name suggests silver lining optimism. Despite that it’s the ‘burbs, plenty of former city dwellers are making the commitment to buy real estate, open restaurants, and set up shop in what was previously considered a place to pass through as opposed to a destination. Perhaps Silver Spring is growing into what Clarendon wanted to become, before condos and retail chains began chipping away its character. In five years, will...","date":"July 06, 2006  5:20 PM","author":"Melissa McCart","comments":58,"title":"Maryland Envy","id":44864,"votes":44}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/07/24/the_fetishism_o.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 24, 2006","excerpt":"We've mentioned it briefly before, but several readers have written in to ask us to comment further, and we have to say that this is now officially fairly ridiculous. On Saturday the Post ran a whole feature article on the campaign of some Columbia Heights residents to bring a Whole Foods Market to the new Target/Best Buy development at 14th Street and Park NW &mdash; a plan that has been stalled over disagreements concerning dedicated...","date":"July 24, 2006  3:50 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":101,"title":"The Fetishism of Whole Foods","id":60060,"votes":44}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2006/11/15/sufjan_stevens_.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_amanda","displaydate":"Nov 15, 2006","excerpt":"As he tends to do, The Upstate Life has broken news of another show coming to the area. Orchestral indie darling Sufjan Stevens will be featured in a show celebrating the tradition of free music at the Kennedy Center. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Millenium Stage, Stevens and the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra will join Naval jazz ensemble The Commodores, Alvin Ailey's American Dance Theater and the National Symphany Orchestra for the event...","date":"November 15, 2006  1:14 PM","author":"Amanda Mattos","comments":5,"title":"Sufjan Stevens to Perform Free at the Kennedy Center","id":82782,"votes":44}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/31/dcist_interview_15.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_chrisklimek","displaydate":"Jan 31, 2008","excerpt":"As the singer and chief lyricist for ‘Til Tuesday, Aimee Mann had a big mid-1980s hit in “Voices Carry”. In the decade or so afterwards, however, she came to embody the archetypal critically hailed, commercially marginal singer-songwriter. After Geffen Records rejected her third solo album, Bachelor No. 2, Mann decided she’d had enough of trying to guess where her moody, often fatalistic songs fit into a major-label marketing plan. She founded her own imprint, SuperEgo,...","date":"January 31, 2008  1:54 PM","author":"Chris Klimek","comments":0,"title":"DCist Interview: Aimee Mann","id":144874,"votes":44}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/08/13/man_arrested_downtown_for_three_sex.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Aug 13, 2008","excerpt":"Criminy, this news from the Examiner is unsettling. On Monday, D.C. police arrested Edwin K. Wright, 23, on charges of sexually assaulting three women in a single hour in downtown Washington. Wright was detained by a group of citizens after the third incident, when he tried to rape a woman outside a K Street office building. The timeline went something like this: during the Monday evening rush hour, someone matching Wright's description punched a woman...","date":"August 13, 2008  11:37 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":24,"title":"Man Arrested Downtown for Several Sexual Assaults in One Hour","id":176545,"votes":44}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/03/05/boltbus_offers.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Mar 05, 2008","excerpt":"The Washington Business Journal tips us off to a new entrant in the discount bus service from D.C. to New York market. BoltBus, a division of Greyhound Lines Inc., began selling tickets tickets through its web site on Monday, and launches its service on March 27. There are a lot of options for cheap bus rides to New York, so what makes BoltBus different? It operates on the EasyJet principle, where tickets start out dirt...","date":"March 05, 2008  2:07 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":36,"title":"BoltBus Offers Cheapo Rides From D.C. to NYC","id":150361,"votes":43}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/09/16/columbia_heights_suspicious_package.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Sep 16, 2008","excerpt":" Via the DCist tipline, we get this image from Irving and 14th Streets of an odd looking bear costume wearing tattered clothing and posed over a trash can. A lot of our readers are telling us this is the reason for the suspicious package alert. \"Cops have the street blocked off and are standing around looking at it as of 9:30 am,\" the tipster wrote. Could this be another Aqua Teen Hunger Force moment?...","date":"September 16, 2008  11:11 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":49,"title":"Columbia Heights Suspicious Package: Weird Bear Costume?","id":182260,"votes":43}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2007/07/10/new_bus_service.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 10, 2007","excerpt":"There's a new entrant into the crowded East coast cheap bus service market. DC2NY, which launches officially on July 26th, has begun advertising their services by handing out cards and fliers around Chinatown. The new bus line will travel only from D.C. to New York (no stops in Baltimore or Philadelphia), picking up from two stops in D.C. -- one in Dupont Circle and the other at 14th and Eye NW near McPherson Square --...","date":"July 10, 2007  11:59 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":33,"title":"New Bus Service to New York Promises 'Luxury'","id":114869,"votes":42}, ];
var year_com_entries = [{"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/24/cops_ticket_cyclists_at_new_hampshi.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 24, 2008","excerpt":" The intersection of U Street, 16th Street and New Hampshire Ave. in Northwest has long been a perilous spot for pedestrians and cyclists alike. It's just a weird confluence of two major thoroughfares plus a diagonal avenue that runs one-way, in opposite directions, for one block only on either side. If you've ever tried to cross U Street on foot there, you know just how unpredictable the flow of traffic can be. Last year...","date":"July 24, 2008  12:26 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":164,"title":"Cops Ticket Cyclists at New Hampshire and U Street","id":173120,"votes":22}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/15/murky_coffee_vs_teh_internet.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_eddie","displaydate":"Jul 15, 2008","excerpt":"It's become an epic fight of the caffeinated world. In one corner, the java-head who likes his espresso on the rocks. In the other, the emphatic barista and his posse of \"mud\" slingers. The overblown scuffle started this past Sunday when blogger Jeff Simmermon stopped by Murky Coffee in Arlington for his usual, a triple shot of espresso on ice. But in a scene reminiscent of Jack Black in High Fidelity or Paul Giamatti in...","date":"July 15, 2008  11:23 AM","author":"Eddie Kim","comments":160,"title":"Murky Coffee vs. Teh Internet","id":171539,"votes":36}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/12/05/obama_birth_certificate_protest.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_amanda","displaydate":"Dec 05, 2008","excerpt":"by DCist contributor Dave Weigel Four days ago, Roger Bredow uploaded a video to YouTube beseeching like-minded people to come to Washington, D.C. and stand with him outside the Supreme Court. \"[Barack] Obama was born a dual citizen,\" Bredow said, \"British, and a citizen of the United States, at birth.\" This, said Bredow, meant that the president-elect could never take the oath of office. And on Friday, the Supreme Court would read Donofrio v. Wells,...","date":"December 05, 2008  12:30 AM","author":"Amanda Mattos","comments":130,"title":"Obama Birth Certificate Protest at SCOTUS","id":196419,"votes":17}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/03/journalist_shot_in_adams_morgan.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 03, 2008","excerpt":"We mentioned it briefly at the end of the day yesterday and it's been reported several other places since then, but we wanted to share some more details on how our good friend Brian Beutler was shot early Wednesday morning in Adams Morgan. Brian, 25, is the Washington Correspondent for the Media Consortium, a network of progressive news organizations like Mother Jones and the American Prospect. He's being described as a \"well known liberal blogger\"...","date":"July 03, 2008  10:53 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":126,"title":"Journalist Shot in Adams Morgan","id":169716,"votes":9}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/16/neighborhood_de.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"May 16, 2008","excerpt":"Update: We've gotten information that Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) will be hosting Friday night potlucks in Potomac Gardens starting on May 30 to discuss issues related to neighborhood safety. He's indicated that he'll ask the police department's top brass to attend, as well as community leaders. As the District continues grappling with a stubborn and constantly shifting crime problem, residents in one Capitol Hill neighborhood are debating a controversial response -- marching on...","date":"May 16, 2008  10:10 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":125,"title":"Neighborhood Debates Controversial Response to Crime","id":162010,"votes":7}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/08/woman_killed_by_garbage_truck_in_du.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 08, 2008","excerpt":" The AP is reporting that a 22-year-old woman has died after being struck by a garbage truck while riding her bicycle near Dupont Circle this morning. The garbage truck, which was not owned by the city but rather a private company, struck the woman at Connecticut and R Streets NW just before 8:30 a.m. The roadway around the accident site was shut down while officers investigated the scene. The woman has not yet been...","date":"July 08, 2008  10:06 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":120,"title":"Woman Killed by Garbage Truck in Dupont <em>Updated</em>","id":170325,"votes":8}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/15/in_the_week_since_alice.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Jul 15, 2008","excerpt":"In the week since Alice Swanson was tragically killed riding her bike through Dupont Circle, there has been the usual back-and-forth between aggravated cyclists and aggrieved drivers. Cyclists accuse drivers of being two-ton road menaces, while drivers fire back by relaying long-worn tales of cyclists recklessly flying through red lights. But in recent days cyclists have started defending their trade, looking to present their selective ignorance of traffic laws as perfectly justifiable. First up was...","date":"July 15, 2008  3:00 PM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":117,"title":"All Hail the Scofflaw Cyclist?","id":171600,"votes":3}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/02/26/brazen_daytime.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Feb 26, 2008","excerpt":" Two men robbed the Maggie Moo's ice cream parlor on U Street at gunpoint yesterday -- and they did it at 12:15 p.m., right in the middle of the day. DCist's Lynne Venart snapped the photo above of some of the aftermath of the crime scene. According to WJLA, the armed suspects wore masks and physically attacked a 23-year-old employee of the store when she had trouble opening the safe. The gunmen only made...","date":"February 26, 2008  11:25 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":111,"title":"Brazen Daytime Robbery at Maggie Moo's on U Street","id":149067,"votes":6}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/20/just_another_wa.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"May 20, 2008","excerpt":" Yesterday City Desk pointed us to the YouTube video above concerning something that always fires up District residents -- parking. The video in question creatively makes a point that's long been a reality for residents of Adams Morgan and its surrounding neighborhoods -- people who go out in Adams Morgan tend to park pretty much anywhere they want. As a resident of one of the nearby neighborhoods, I can attest to the fact that...","date":"May 20, 2008  10:17 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":106,"title":"Another Way to Start a Parking Argument","id":162457,"votes":1}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/06/26/us_supreme_court.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jun 26, 2008","excerpt":"The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled this morning to uphold an appellate ruling that says the District of Columbia's 32-year-old handgun ban is unconstitutional. The decision in District of Columbia v. Heller was written by Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Breyer dissented, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter and Ginsburg. The ruling clarifies the court's position that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own firearms, instead of only protecting a collective right for states to...","date":"June 26, 2008  10:16 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":105,"title":"U.S. Supreme Court Rules D.C. Handgun Ban Unconstitutional","id":168534,"votes":3}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/06/12/are_maryland_drivers_the_devil.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jun 12, 2008","excerpt":"WJLA's embeddable video feature apparently doesn't work at all, but head over here to watch a video clip of Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham saying on camera that Maryland drivers who commute in and out of the District are \"the devil incarnate.\" Basically, Graham says Maryland drivers in the city are the worst and most aggressive drivers on D.C. roads. The news clip tries to stir up some controversy over Graham's remarks, speaking...","date":"June 12, 2008  09:42 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":99,"title":"Are Maryland Drivers 'The Devil'?","id":166239,"votes":4}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/08/29/mccain_picks_alaska_gov_sarah_palin.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Aug 29, 2008","excerpt":"Every blogger in America is scrambling to pull together some kind of background information on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain named as his running mate this morning. The hits are generally these: She's been governor for a little under two years; she used to be a sports reporter and later mayor of Wasilla City; she took second place in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest; she's super pro-life. She's...","date":"August 29, 2008  11:47 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":98,"title":"McCain Picks Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin","id":179499,"votes":9}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/03/10/pope_to_bring_s.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Mar 10, 2008","excerpt":"Photograph of Pope Benedict XVI by Pier Paolo Cito/Associated Press It's fair to say that Washington's Catholic community is currently up to its eyeballs in Pope Fever, what with the pontiff's exclusive April 17 mass at the new Nationals stadium only a little over a month away. Turns out, Pope Benedict XVI will be bringing more than the Popemobile with him to D.C. Bloomberg News reports that today the Vatican has officially created seven brand...","date":"March 10, 2008  5:40 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":97,"title":"Pope Benedict XVI to Bring Seven Extra Sins to D.C.","id":151264,"votes":10}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/06/04/mpd_to_seal_off.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jun 04, 2008","excerpt":"Can you say Police State? The Examiner has the scoop on a controversial new program announced today that would create so-called \"Neighborhood Safety Zones\" which would serve to partially seal off certain parts of the city. D.C. Police would set-up checkpoints in targeted areas, demand to see ID and refuse admittance to people who don't live there, work there or have a “legitimate reason” to be there. Wow. Just, wow. Some of the words used...","date":"June 04, 2008  12:40 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":96,"title":"Police to Seal Off D.C. Neighborhoods","id":164945,"votes":33}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/06/02/maryland_slows.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Jun 02, 2008","excerpt":"We've had plenty of discussions here at DCist about city cyclists (Magnificent or menace? Discuss.), but now Maryland is stepping up to slow down two-wheelers along one of the area's most popular biking trails. According to the Post, officials at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission will soon start installing signs limiting cycling speeds to 15 mph along a 5.5-mile stretch of the Capital Crescent trail from Bethesda to the District line. They say...","date":"June 02, 2008  09:26 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":94,"title":"Maryland Slows Down Capital Crescent Cyclists","id":164505,"votes":0}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/09/04/morning_roundup_meet_the_new_boss_e.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Sep 04, 2008","excerpt":"Good morning, Washington. So did Sarah \"Internet Sensation\" Palin's speech accepting the Republican nomination for Vice President electrify you, too? It certainly burned a hole in our Twitter feeds, with more back and forth snarking over a single political speech than we've seen all year. The general consensus seems to be that Palin managed to come across as rather appealing to a large swath of independent voters. The San Francisco Chronicle even went so far...","date":"September 04, 2008  09:43 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":92,"title":"Morning Roundup: The Other Side Edition","id":180294,"votes":1}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/03/05/morning_roundup_207.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_tom","displaydate":"Mar 05, 2008","excerpt":" Good morning, Washington. Well, it looks like we haven't escaped the interminable primary season just yet. Senator Clinton pulled out a decisive win in Ohio and a squeaker in Texas, thereby consigning us all to yet more tedious primary hell &mdash; almost two months' worth, judging by the date of the Pennsylvania primary, which many consider to be the next potentially-decisive contest. Things were a bit more decisive for the Republicans: Mike Huckabee dropped...","date":"March 05, 2008  08:30 AM","author":"Tom Lee","comments":91,"title":"Morning Roundup: Sick Days & Goose Pate","id":150260,"votes":0}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/12/01/blankets_with_sleeves_scourge_or_sn.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Dec 01, 2008","excerpt":"A rare post from me concerning a non-local D.C. issue, but I'm currently engaged in a heated Twitter debate over whether those hideous blankets with the sleeves, marketed under such names as Slanket or Snuggie, are remotely acceptable. In one corner are those who reasonably argue that these blankets are an abomination, too strange and ridiculous looking to even be considered a reasonable purchase. In the other corner, the comfort-at-all-costs camp, who say that staying...","date":"December 01, 2008  11:27 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":89,"title":"Blankets With Sleeves: Scourge or Snuggly?","id":195582,"votes":15}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/02/14/taxicab_strike.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Feb 14, 2008","excerpt":"We've had enough reports from eagle-eyed readers now to say that an unannounced taxicab strike is underway today. Rolling taxi strikes originally began last week on Monday, and were supposed to continue on Tuesday of this week, then Wednesday of next week, and so on. No strike actually occurred, however, on Tuesday. This 2nd-week Thursday action was not made known to the public beforehand. Here's what we're hearing: From reader Chris, 10:47 a.m.: \"I'm downtown...","date":"February 14, 2008  11:00 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":88,"title":"Taxicab Strike Actions Reported Throughout Downtown","id":147286,"votes":5}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/10/28/do_the_fallout_3_metro_ads_go_too_f.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_tom","displaydate":"Oct 28, 2008","excerpt":" Those of you who read the Post's letters to the editor over the weekend might have heard of the videogame Fallout 3, which hit store shelves today. Those of you who've been through Metro Center in the past few weeks have certainly heard of it &mdash; ads for the game are plastered over seemingly every available surface. It's those ads that prompted the aforementioned letter. Its author, Joseph Anzalone, objects to the post-apocalyptic renderings...","date":"October 28, 2008  12:07 AM","author":"Tom Lee","comments":87,"title":"Do the Fallout 3 Metro Ads Go Too Far?","id":189632,"votes":5}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/04/14/help_us_decide.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Apr 14, 2008","excerpt":"Yesterday the New York Times published a review of new District hotspot Marvin, the Belgian-themed bar and restaurant sitting just north of the intersection of 14th and U streets NW: Named for the “Sexual Healing” crooner, Marvin is a new Belgian bistro and lounge in the Shaw neighborhood where Gaye was born. Those taking an evening off from the darts-and-Dockers bar scenes in Georgetown or Adams Morgan say it feels more than a few Metro...","date":"April 14, 2008  1:30 PM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":84,"title":"Help Us Decide -- Is U Street in Shaw?","id":156818,"votes":6}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/02/27/breaking_us_min.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Feb 27, 2008","excerpt":"Update III: Mayor Adrian Fenty has released a statement responding to the U.S. Mint: “We were asked to submit ideas that were ‘emblematic of the District of Columbia.’ I can think of nothing more unique and characteristic than our status as the only American citizens without full voting rights in Congress. Even after we are successful in changing that status, it will still be an important part of our history. We respectfully disagree with the...","date":"February 27, 2008  12:43 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":83,"title":"BREAKING: U.S. Mint Rejects D.C. Quarter Design","id":149267,"votes":19}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/23/fairfax_county.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jan 23, 2008","excerpt":" If you caught the morning network news shows or read this Washington Post story detailing the whole affair, then you may already know the story of Devraj \"Dave\" S. Kori, a senior at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Fairfax County, who called the school system's administrator at home last week to give him a hard time about not declaring a snow day. Kori found a number for Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer for the...","date":"January 23, 2008  11:40 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":82,"title":"Fairfax County School Administrator's Wife vs. 'Snotty-nosed Kid' Who Uses YouTube","id":143726,"votes":15}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/04/23/harris_teeter_s.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Apr 23, 2008","excerpt":"We can hardly believe it ourselves, but the Harris Teeter in Adams Morgan celebrated its grand opening this morning. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the store, only about five years in the making, took place at a little after 10:30 a.m., with Mayor Adrian Fenty, Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham, and countless Harris Teeter officials on hand to deliver run of the mill remarks and welcome to the store to the neighborhood....","date":"April 23, 2008  12:54 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":81,"title":"Harris Teeter Opens in Adams Morgan","id":158196,"votes":20}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/12/morning_roundup_255.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"May 12, 2008","excerpt":"Good morning, D.C. The big news from the weekend was that water fell from the sky for an extended period of time. More than three inches of rain has fallen in the District since Sunday, with more than four inches in the Dulles area, causing thousands of twee Radiohead fans at Nissan Pavilion to send out endless twitter updates about the relative sogginess of their skinny jeans overnight. Of course, the weekend also saw the...","date":"May 12, 2008  09:31 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":81,"title":"Morning Roundup: Water and Weddings Edition","id":161269,"votes":0}, ];
var year_fav_entries=[{"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/16/colbert_portrai.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jan 16, 2008","excerpt":" The Colbert Report has been blissfully, if not nearly at full speed without its striking writers, back for a little more than a week now on Comedy Central. For three nights straight they've been running a series showing Stephen traipsing all over Washington with a portrait of himself strapped to his back, trying to convince one of the Smithsonian museums to actually hang it up. Without dwelling on how we managed to miss out...","date":"January 16, 2008  10:43 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":13,"title":"Colbert Portrait Hanging in National Portrait Gallery","id":142608,"votes":50}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/06/02/fox_5_reporter.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jun 02, 2008","excerpt":"This is pretty good: Fox 5's Tom Fitzgerald decided to do a report on the ongoing harassment of photographers inside D.C.'s busy Union Station, a topic we've written about and heard about from our own Flickr contributors many times before. While he was there interviewing Amtrak's spokesperson on the subject, who in fact told the reporter that photography is absolutely allowed inside the Amtrak portion of the station, a security guard came up to the...","date":"June 02, 2008  11:52 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":46,"title":"Reporter Hassled By Union Station Security While Reporting a Story on Photographers Being Hassled at Union Station","id":164578,"votes":46}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/31/dcist_interview_15.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_chrisklimek","displaydate":"Jan 31, 2008","excerpt":"As the singer and chief lyricist for ‘Til Tuesday, Aimee Mann had a big mid-1980s hit in “Voices Carry”. In the decade or so afterwards, however, she came to embody the archetypal critically hailed, commercially marginal singer-songwriter. After Geffen Records rejected her third solo album, Bachelor No. 2, Mann decided she’d had enough of trying to guess where her moody, often fatalistic songs fit into a major-label marketing plan. She founded her own imprint, SuperEgo,...","date":"January 31, 2008  1:54 PM","author":"Chris Klimek","comments":0,"title":"DCist Interview: Aimee Mann","id":144874,"votes":44}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/08/13/man_arrested_downtown_for_three_sex.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Aug 13, 2008","excerpt":"Criminy, this news from the Examiner is unsettling. On Monday, D.C. police arrested Edwin K. Wright, 23, on charges of sexually assaulting three women in a single hour in downtown Washington. Wright was detained by a group of citizens after the third incident, when he tried to rape a woman outside a K Street office building. The timeline went something like this: during the Monday evening rush hour, someone matching Wright's description punched a woman...","date":"August 13, 2008  11:37 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":24,"title":"Man Arrested Downtown for Several Sexual Assaults in One Hour","id":176545,"votes":44}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/03/05/boltbus_offers.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Mar 05, 2008","excerpt":"The Washington Business Journal tips us off to a new entrant in the discount bus service from D.C. to New York market. BoltBus, a division of Greyhound Lines Inc., began selling tickets tickets through its web site on Monday, and launches its service on March 27. There are a lot of options for cheap bus rides to New York, so what makes BoltBus different? It operates on the EasyJet principle, where tickets start out dirt...","date":"March 05, 2008  2:07 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":36,"title":"BoltBus Offers Cheapo Rides From D.C. to NYC","id":150361,"votes":43}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/09/16/columbia_heights_suspicious_package.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Sep 16, 2008","excerpt":" Via the DCist tipline, we get this image from Irving and 14th Streets of an odd looking bear costume wearing tattered clothing and posed over a trash can. A lot of our readers are telling us this is the reason for the suspicious package alert. \"Cops have the street blocked off and are standing around looking at it as of 9:30 am,\" the tipster wrote. Could this be another Aqua Teen Hunger Force moment?...","date":"September 16, 2008  11:11 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":49,"title":"Columbia Heights Suspicious Package: Weird Bear Costume?","id":182260,"votes":43}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/10/30/dcist_interview_henry_rollins.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_chrisklimek","displaydate":"Oct 30, 2008","excerpt":" Henry Rollins remembers when this used to be a good neighborhood. Photo by Ben Swinnerton. Black Flag frontman turned globetrotting hilari-phizer Henry Rollins has been captivating audiences with stories of his travels for a quarter-century now. The onetime Henry Garfield first toured the country in his early 20s as the fourth and final singer of iconic punk outfit Black Flag, and has continued to write and perform music with various lineups of his Rollins...","date":"October 30, 2008  10:54 AM","author":"Chris Klimek","comments":0,"title":"DCist Interview: Henry Rollins","id":189275,"votes":41}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/15/murky_coffee_vs_teh_internet.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_eddie","displaydate":"Jul 15, 2008","excerpt":"It's become an epic fight of the caffeinated world. In one corner, the java-head who likes his espresso on the rocks. In the other, the emphatic barista and his posse of \"mud\" slingers. The overblown scuffle started this past Sunday when blogger Jeff Simmermon stopped by Murky Coffee in Arlington for his usual, a triple shot of espresso on ice. But in a scene reminiscent of Jack Black in High Fidelity or Paul Giamatti in...","date":"July 15, 2008  11:23 AM","author":"Eddie Kim","comments":160,"title":"Murky Coffee vs. Teh Internet","id":171539,"votes":36}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/06/04/mpd_to_seal_off.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jun 04, 2008","excerpt":"Can you say Police State? The Examiner has the scoop on a controversial new program announced today that would create so-called \"Neighborhood Safety Zones\" which would serve to partially seal off certain parts of the city. D.C. Police would set-up checkpoints in targeted areas, demand to see ID and refuse admittance to people who don't live there, work there or have a “legitimate reason” to be there. Wow. Just, wow. Some of the words used...","date":"June 04, 2008  12:40 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":96,"title":"Police to Seal Off D.C. Neighborhoods","id":164945,"votes":33}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/11/25/k_street_bank_robber_seriously_dumb.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Nov 25, 2008","excerpt":"In case you missed the news earlier, that bank robbery that briefly closed K Street near 14th this morning appears to have been perpetrated by someone who is several sandwiches short of a picnic. Early reports indicated that the suspect told a teller at the PNC Bank branch that he had a bomb, received some cash and an exploding dye pack, and then proceeded to hail a cab and asked to be taken to 14th...","date":"November 25, 2008  5:34 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":13,"title":"K Street Bank Robber Seriously Dumb, Missing Underpants","id":194900,"votes":29}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/03/20/metro_hopes_pee.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Mar 20, 2008","excerpt":" We were just forwarded what may be the worst, and somehow at the same time the absolute greatest, Metro ad campaign we've ever run across. The video above, uploaded to YouTube yesterday, is part of WMATA's efforts to make sure as many people as possible take public transportation to the new Nationals Park at the Navy Yard, instead of driving. Allow us to set the scene for you: Three lifeless Easter Peeps, all office...","date":"March 20, 2008  11:32 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":32,"title":"Metro Hopes Peeps Can Convince You Not to Drive to Nationals Stadium","id":152921,"votes":29}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/21/for_emerging_pl.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_chrisklimek","displaydate":"Jan 21, 2008","excerpt":" The notion that writers in Hollywood are lazy, disposable crybabies has been a stock type for decades – just ask the guys and gals outside the studio gates with the clever picket signs. But in the theater, playwrights are revered. A new company in town is taking big steps to help emerging dramatists refine their voices -- while at the same time, demystifying for audiences just how it is that a “well-made play” gets,...","date":"January 21, 2008  3:29 PM","author":"Chris Klimek","comments":1,"title":"For Emerging Playwrights, the Inkwell Is a Fount of Inspiration","id":143366,"votes":26}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/09/the_dcist_inter.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_chrisklimek","displaydate":"May 09, 2008","excerpt":" Drive-By Truckers Shonna Tucker, Mike Cooley, Brad Morgan, Patterson Hood, John Neff. Singer/songwriter/guitarists Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley had already been struggling to make music together for more than a decade when they formed the Drive-By Truckers in 1996. As the 1999 live album Alabama Ass Whuppin’ documents, this early incarnation of their band — which also featured drummer Brad Morgan, the only other founding member who has remained amid several lineup changes —...","date":"May 09, 2008  3:30 PM","author":"Chris Klimek","comments":0,"title":"DCist Interview: Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers","id":160499,"votes":26}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/16/fenty_lowers_ta.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jan 16, 2008","excerpt":"Mayor Adrian Fenty held a news conference this morning announcing lower fares for the new time and distance taxi meters he has mandated to be operational in all D.C. taxicabs by April 6. The flag drop will be $3 instead of $4. There will also be no more rush hour surcharge, and no more additional passenger fee. The announcement comes as a huge victory to grassroots campaigns like DC Residents for Reasonable Taxi Fares, which...","date":"January 16, 2008  1:30 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":57,"title":"Fenty Lowers Taxi Meter Flag Drop to $3, Eliminates Surcharges <em>Updated</em>","id":142658,"votes":25}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/30/draft_dcist_int.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_erin","displaydate":"Jan 30, 2008","excerpt":" After watching Wet Hot American Summer on repeat throughout high school, there's no way you can't recognize Michael Ian Black's face. His voice is equally iconic, given his roles as the sock puppet on Pets.com commercials, the Sierra Mist spokesperson dude and his commentary all over the \"I love the …\" VH1 series. Though he's spent years touring with comedy posse The State, not to mention co-writing and co-starring in the Comedy Central series...","date":"January 30, 2008  11:05 AM","author":"Erin Zimmer","comments":0,"title":"DCist Interview: Michael Ian Black","id":144842,"votes":25}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/11/05/washington_dc_celebrates_obama_vict.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Nov 05, 2008","excerpt":"I'm still processing what happened last night. One minute, I was gathered in a living room with friends, watching election returns come in. The next minute, Barack Obama had been declared the winner, his moving acceptance speech was over, and I was in the middle of the intersection at 14th and U Streets NW with thousands of other D.C. residents, yelling, singing, high-fiving and hugging total strangers. Car horns honked throughout the city. People climbed...","date":"November 05, 2008  10:19 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":28,"title":"Washington, D.C. Celebrates Obama Victory Well Into the Morning","id":191135,"votes":25}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/02/post_reporter_b.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_martin","displaydate":"Jan 02, 2008","excerpt":"Just a few days from now, the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire will kick off its fifth and final season. Considered one of the best and most realistic portrayals of crime and corruption in a struggling city (Baltimore, in this case), the show traces the thin line that divides the good guys from the bad. Whether cops stealing stacks of cash during drug busts or thieving dockworkers pooling together money for a stained-glass window...","date":"January 02, 2008  12:40 AM","author":"Martin Austermuhle","comments":14,"title":"Post Reporter Tells Tale of Addiction to His Own Beat","id":140462,"votes":24}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/02/29/the_state_of_dc.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_chrissnyder","displaydate":"Feb 29, 2008","excerpt":"It isn't easy being indie. Over the past few years, digital downloads, big box stores, and high rent prices in the District have forced several of the city's independent record stores to go out of business. Revolution Records in Van Ness shut down in 2006, hoping to move to a better location, the popular DC CD on 18th St. closed its doors several years ago, and Georgetown's Yoshitoshi, a record label and shop that specializes...","date":"February 29, 2008  3:19 PM","author":"Chris Snyder","comments":15,"title":"The State of D.C.'s Indie Record Stores","id":149641,"votes":24}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/08/07/help_the_family_of_marisol_caceres.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Aug 07, 2008","excerpt":"Blogger Jeff Simmermon (he of the Murky Coffee iced espresso saga and a former DCist contributor) is asking people to help him gather some much-needed cash for the family of Marisol Caceres. As you'll recall, Marisol was found strangled in her apartment in Northeast last week, and her father has since been arrested for her murder. Jeff is a friend of Marisol's brother, Jose Andrade, and says the family is in desperate need of assistance.Marisol’s...","date":"August 07, 2008  1:40 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":0,"title":"Help the Family of Marisol Caceres","id":175537,"votes":24}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/01/07/no_pants_metro.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jan 07, 2008","excerpt":" For the last seven years, a renegade group of anti-pants New Yorkers have held an annual No Pants Subway Ride event, which last year attracted over 200 participants. In 2006, it even garnered several arrests. And now a Facebook group has popped up promoting a copycat event here on D.C.'s Metro this Saturday, Jan. 12. The proposed event, scheduled from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, currently has 82 confirmed guests on Facebook...","date":"January 07, 2008  3:32 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":40,"title":"No Pants Metro Ride Planned for Jan. 12","id":141175,"votes":22}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/03/04/at_the_warner_e.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_chrisklimek","displaydate":"Mar 04, 2008","excerpt":"On February 28, 1978, Elvis Costello was 23 years old and convinced of his own magnificence. His second album &mdash; but crucially, his first with the Attractions, the three musicians with whom he'd make his most celebrated records &mdash; the furious, paranoid, Aftermath-styled This Year's Model, would be released the following week, and would top the Village Voice and Rolling Stone critics' polls at year's end. At the close of his first U.S. tour, only...","date":"March 04, 2008  2:00 PM","author":"Chris Klimek","comments":4,"title":"At the Warner, Elvis was That <em>Year's Model</em>","id":150054,"votes":22}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/07/24/cops_ticket_cyclists_at_new_hampshi.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Jul 24, 2008","excerpt":" The intersection of U Street, 16th Street and New Hampshire Ave. in Northwest has long been a perilous spot for pedestrians and cyclists alike. It's just a weird confluence of two major thoroughfares plus a diagonal avenue that runs one-way, in opposite directions, for one block only on either side. If you've ever tried to cross U Street on foot there, you know just how unpredictable the flow of traffic can be. Last year...","date":"July 24, 2008  12:26 AM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":164,"title":"Cops Ticket Cyclists at New Hampshire and U Street","id":173120,"votes":22}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/04/14/woman_arrested.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"Apr 14, 2008","excerpt":" The D.C.-based libertarian blogosphere is up in arms today over the Saturday night arrest of D.C. resident Brooke Oberwetter at the Jefferson Memorial. The story goes like this: a group of about 20 nerdy libertarian wonk types gathered at midnight on Saturday for a sort of flash mob at the memorial to celebrate the birthday of their favorite founding father. They gathered at the memorial, each with an iPod, to dance together while wearing...","date":"April 14, 2008  1:00 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":69,"title":"Woman Arrested for Dancing at the Jefferson Memorial","id":156826,"votes":21}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/12/lighting_to_uni.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#dcist_sommer","displaydate":"May 12, 2008","excerpt":"Swiss lighting artist Gerry Hofstetter brought his work to Washington National Cathedral over the weekend, as part of a celebration of the Cathedral’s centennial. Hofstetter projected his incredible artwork across the Cathedral for a piece titled Lighting to Unite. There were so many amazing captures of this event in our Flickr pool this morning, we just had to share them with you. Did you make it up to the Cathedral to see it for yourself?...","date":"May 12, 2008  2:50 PM","author":"Sommer Mathis","comments":20,"title":"<em>Lighting to Unite</em> @ National Cathedral","id":161338,"votes":21}, {"link":"http://dcist.com/2008/05/28/how_not_to_be_t.php","authorlink":"/staff.php#Megan Carpentier","displaydate":"May 28, 2008","excerpt":" Hordes of summer interns have once again descended on Washington, leaving many of us rolling our collective eyes and bitching to friends about the latest thong sighting, overheard \"I was sooo drunk\" story, or just being stuck with training someone who appears to lack the ability to function in an office. But let's say you're one of those rare interns who has actually come to D.C. to learn something, or are planning on using...","date":"May 28, 2008  1:00 PM","author":"Megan Carpentier","comments":44,"title":"How Not To Be <em>That</em> Intern","id":163675,"votes":21}, ];