>> Three "bottle bombs" were detonated at Friendly High School in Ft. Washington, Md. No injuries have been reported and three students have been arrested. The school was on lockdown but students were then let back into class. [AP via WTOP] >> A fifth person has been charged in Sean Taylor's murder. [AP via NBC4] >> Ben Stiller & Co. will be invading our streets to film the sequel, Night at the Museum II:...

DCist was pleased to learn today that we've been selected as the official blog to represent the District of Columbia at this year's Democratic National Convention in Denver. DCist will be part of the State Blogger Corps, which is a new cadre of bloggers who cover state and local politics that the Democratic National Committee has invited to sit with their own delegations on the convention floor. You can find a full list of...

A lengthy stream of names, many of them seriously big time folks, keeps rolling out of the Washington Post newsroom today as senior reporters, editors and columnists are coming to final decisions about their buyout offers. The face of the Post is about get a lot younger and a lot less familiar to its readers. The two biggest names to come out of today's round of buyout acceptances are longtime sports columnist Tony Kornheiser and...

The death of the irrepressibly innovative artist Robert Rauschenberg on Monday marks a loss for the entire world of art. Tyler Green rounds up a list of obituaries and more for accounts on the man. In D.C., the loss is acutely felt, owing to his many fine works in the national collections this city hosts, but that should also serve as a warm reminder about his life and works. District viewers were very recently graced...

D.C. Superdelegate Anita Bonds, who is also the chair of the D.C. Democratic Party, formally announced on Tuesday that she will vote for Sen. Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in August. D.C. Wire reported on Bonds' decision first, and Bonds has since issued a formal statement on the matter. (CORRECTION: The City Paper's Mike DeBonis, aka Loose Lips, was actually the first to report on the Bonds story). In my role as the...

MUSIC: Members of three of our former Three Stars (The Bonapartes, Death By Sexy, and The Third Programme) have banded together to form Cobra Collective. They'll be performing their first show at the Black Cat tonight with Dennis Kane and Once Okay Twice. $8, 9 p.m. JAZZ: Tonight, Chicago's freewheeling fusion quartet Hudson pays a visit to Busboys & Poets. 9 p.m. $10 KARAOKE: Put on a neon wig or any of the other...

Seeing a band scheduled for two consecutive nights can be nirvana for die hard fans, but for those without that sort of disposable income, it can also pose the question of which night will yield the better show. Granted, many concert goers are also at the mercy of their daily schedules, but trying to figure out whether a band is a better band the first night or the second night, even without factors like a...

Potentially terrible news for local music fans: The Going Out Gurus are reporting that Fort Reno Park, the site of D.C.'s beloved outdoor summer concert series, has been closed indefinitely after United States Geological Survey satellite imaging reports found high levels of arsenic in the soil there. We've since heard from readers who said they saw the park service today in the process of putting a fence around the entire park to ensure no one...

Cigarette taxes are popular with voters, so it's no surprise, as we've mentioned earlier, that the D.C. Council voted Tuesday to include an additional $1 per-pack cigarette tax in the 2009 budget as a means of making up a predicted shortfall. In a statement released today, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is calling the move, which brings the total tax on a pack of cigarettes in the District of Columbia to $2, a "win-win-win solution...

Written by DCist contributor Wade Green Jr. Pull up a chair to the new OpenTable. The online real-time restaurant reservation site has added a new feature allowing diners to contribute their feedback on a restaurant just moments after dining — and even have their opinion provided to the restaurant, if they like. After honoring a reservation, patrons will receive a form email asking what they thought of the restaurant. Food, ambiance, service and the overall...

We may see helicopters flying around the capital all the time, but this photo by SuperTopher is admittedly pretty cool. This U.S. Park Police helicopter was banking over some rough Potomac waters, in front of a very nice, subtly colored sunset. EXIF....

Many of us with loans through Sallie Mae have nightmarish stories regarding our dealings with the company, but we're hearing word of a new, special kind of financial screwing of which our readers may want to take note. Yesterday a college friend sent me this article, screaming that her FICO score suddenly dropped 120 points overnight. Apparently Sallie Mae switched the way they describe the "status" of loan holders who use the graduated payment plan...