News

Metro's latest weekend track work schedule, which covers the month of April, is now up on their web site. What sorts of delay-tastic shenanigans are in store for us in the coming month? We've posted the basics below. more ›

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban threatened today to carry out a terrorist attack in Washington, D.C. At the same time, Baitullah Mehsud claimed credit for an attack on a police academy in Pakistan. more ›

The Washington City Paper will continue to be owned by Creative Loafing Inc., thanks to a ruling handed down today by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Caryl E. Delano in Tampa. CEO Ben Eason will retain control of the alternative newspaper chain despite an attempt by creditor Atalaya to take over the company, reports Wayne Garcia from Loaf HQ in Tampa, who was careful to get the name of the D.C. publication correct this time. Eason is quoted as being "psyched" by the ruling, but his enthusiasm appears to need at least some tempering.

Delano also struck a cautious tone, saying that she believed the company has “an uphill battle” ahead to have any reorganization plan confirmed by the creditors since Atalaya is far and wide the biggest creditor and could choose to vote against any plan. Delano suggested mediation for the two sides, but after a 30-minute recess in which the two sides’ lawyers talked by telephone, the idea of having a mediator appointed was tabled for now, at least until April 20 when Creative Loafing reveals more details of its reorganization plan, including possible new investors.

The District Department of Transportation is reporting multiple traffic signals are currently out on Constitution Ave. NW. As of 4 p.m., all traffic lights were out between 12th and 15th Streets, and DDOT was warning drivers to expect significant traffic delays as a result. more ›

This is just kind of sad. While it has yet to be officially announced by the team, it's long been reported that, schedule permitting, President Barack Obama will throw out the first pitch at the Nationals home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, April 13. Yes, the home opener is a weekday afternoon game (3:05 p.m.), but considering the one-two punch of the Nats playing the world champion Phillies and the promise that the wildly popular Obama will be there, you'd think our pathetic little baseball franchise wouldn't have any trouble selling tickets to at least this one game. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. more ›

Remember Brooke Oberwetter, the D.C. woman who was arrested for dancing while listening to an iPod at the Jefferson Memorial? Oberwetter was one of a larger group of libertarian-leaning Washingtonians who gathered at the memorial to celebrate Jefferson's birthday by quietly dancing, and she ended up being the only one handcuffed and arrested after U.S. Park Police officers tried to break up the party. The whole episode was captured on videotape. more ›

When it comes to urban politics, there's bound to be a scandal here or there. They're usually pretty predictable, though -- corruption, influence-peddling, never paying your taxes even though you're an elected official, traveling to far-off destinations on foreign money and acting like it's not something the public should know, etc. But no one seems to have expected the quasi-scandal that's now gripping the Wilson Building, involving a firetruck and a Dominican beach resort. more ›

It's that time of year again, D.C.! The magical season of chlorine-scented and flavored tap water is back. The Washington Aqueduct announced yesterday that it will temporarily resume the use of chlorine next week to treat our drinking water, and warned that the special odor and taste we've all come to know and love every spring will be back for at least a month. The water is still safe to drink, the Aqueduct was sure to point out. In addition to the District, Arlington County, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County will also experience the funky tap water of April (exact dates announced by the Aqueduct: April 6-May 4). Yum. Drink up! more ›

We mentioned it briefly in the roundup, but it's worth repeating yesterday's announcement from the White House of the creation of a new internship program aimed specifically at D.C. public high school students. According to the Post, the D.C. Scholars Program will place students in "part-time, unpaid positions in White House offices and departments this summer." Not exactly a Charlie Young level of opportunity, but extraordinary nonetheless. more ›

Good morning, D.C. As you've already read here on DCist, the city launched three brand new bus routes yesterday: the S9, offering limited-stop service along 16th Street, plus two new Circulator lines, one that travels from the Woodley Park/Adams Morgan Metro station to McPherson Square and back again, and another that takes passengers from Union Station to Navy Yard and back on weekdays (and on weekends whenever there's a Nats game). So here's what we want to know: did any DCist readers actually get to work faster this morning thanks to one of these new buses? more ›

The Washington Business Journal has a rather curious update on the bankruptcy proceedings for Creative Loafing, the owner of the Washington City Paper, among other publications.

Judge Caryl E. Delano will decide whether the Tampa chain will remain under control of publisher Ben Eason or Atalaya Capital Management, which says it’s owed $31 million in loans used by the paper to purchase Washington City Times and Chicago Reader in 2007, according to Creative Loafing reporter Wayne Garcia. The decision is expected at 2 p.m.

In case you missed the news over the weekend, the February jobs numbers are out, and predictably, things look really, really bad. D.C.'s unemployment rate jumped to 9.9 percent (up from 9.2 percent in January), which you may recall is roughly the same figure D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi predicted back in December the city would reach sometime in 2010. Guess the economy went into the toilet a lot faster than Gandhi expected. Here's the Post's version of the story, which also includes numbers for Maryland (6.7 percent, up from 6.2 percent in January) and Virginia (6.6 percent, up from 6 percent). The national jobless figures were 8.1 percent in February, up from 7.6 percent in January. D.C.'s unemployment figures will surely go up even more in the coming months, what with Mayor Adrian Fenty's proposal to layoff over 700 city government workers.
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There's a ton of stories this morning about some bright flashes of light and booming noises coming from the skies over eastern Virginia, parts of Maryland and North Carolina. The Richmond Times Dispatch reports that the National Weather Service’s Wakefield station's phone was "ringing off the hook" last night after around 9:45 p.m., as residents frantically called in to report flashing, bright lights and in some places, an explosion-like sound. No immediate explanation came from the NWS, but a team is now investigating what might have caused the fiery flashes. WTOP has a report that suggests that the phenomenon was most likely a fireball, which can occur when a piece of meteor rock enters the Earth's atmosphere. more ›

Whackadoo Fred Phelps and members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church will make stops in Virginia and the District this morning, picketing Fairfax High School, George Mason University and several embassies before reaching the White House around 11:30 a.m. more ›

Good morning, Washington. Friday's double derailment on the Red Line continued to cause major problems through the weekend. Metro announced on Sunday that a broken piece of rail appeared to have caused the trains to derail, and work to replace 2,000 feet of damaged track would go on up until the wee hours of this morning. Trains were sharing a single track between Friendship Heights and Medical Center all weekend thanks to the work, and WMATA says normal service on the Red Line only resumed at 5 a.m. this morning. How was your Red Line ride this morning? Did it seem back to normal to you? more ›

It was a dark and stormy night. Eco-activists, gathering for a globally coordinated assembly, organized near the world's most potent symbols of nationhood and culture. The Eiffel Tower. The Sydney Opera House. The Pyramids of Egypt. The Las Vegas Strip. And the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. more ›

On Friday, DCist reported that the two new Circulator bus routes had been set for a soft launch starting today. At the time, the posted schedule information indicated that the Union Station–Navy Yard Metro route would only be in service on weekdays from 6 a.m.–7 p.m., with extended service on Nationals game days—but not, we presumed, on weekend Nationals game days. It turns out that that is incorrect: DDOT spokesperson Karyn LeBlanc has since confirmed that the new Circulator line will operate on weekend days when the Nats are playing at home. "Any day there is a game we will run service, including weekends," LeBlanc said. "On a weekend day with a game we will run service all day from 8 a.m. to either 7 p.m. or midnight, depending on how late the game is." more ›

D.C. Wire reported late last night that members of the D.C. Council, in a charge led by Chairman Vincent Gray, will voluntarily forfeit their automatic cost-of-living increases in 2010. Currently, each council member earns $125,583 per year, and the usual raise is between 3 and 5 percent per year. D.C. Wire cites that the refusal of the raises could save the city somewhere around $75,000 in 2010, but it should be noted that amount of savings assumes the full increase for everyone. It's likely to be less than that, but hey, considering that a) thanks to the new budget cuts, there's a citywide freeze on salaries for most municipal workers, and b) council members have received a 35% increase in salary since 2006's salary of $92,530 -- well, it's the least the Council could do. more ›

Just last month, the state of Maryland saw some activity with regard to the death penalty. Yesterday was Virginia's turn. The Washington Post reports that Virginia Governor Tim Kaine vetoed a mess of bills related to gun carry, capital punishment, and vicarious liability. more ›

How is Jason Woys doing so well in the brackets bash? He's picked all of one single team that's going forward in the Elite Eights. Don't mind me, Woys—I'm only bitter that I picked the wrong upsets in the early rounds (okay, and later rounds), and maybe just a little dubious of anyone who picks only PAC 10 teams to go to the Final Four. Christy McConville foresaw seven of the eight teams that made it to the quarter-final round, and if the Eights go her way, she could emerge as DCist's gnarly bracket-bender. A lot of reader and staff brackets got burned by the surprise Memphis loss to Missouri, but not Travis Behan's—and he's currently in the lead to take his seat as the all-knowing, totally dominant, supreme DCist reader sports elder godlike being. Your DCist Weekend editors are running neck and neck in a (somewhat pathetic) tie for #83 in the standings. And all the other staffers are, ahem, safely behind us. How're your brackets doing (or not)? more ›

Earlier this month, Derek Willis twittered that the Metro Police Department had stripped crime incident narratives from its public data feed. Former District resident Ben Walsh noticed and decided to find out why. The reason? MPD manager of Internet communications Kaylin Castelli blames listserves. more ›

Citing it as "necessary to ensure preservation of the public welfare in general," D.C. Public Schools passed an emergency rule to the D.C. Register yesterday, revoking "personal determination of appearance, including styles of hair and dress" as a First Amendment-protected right for students. Chancellor Michelle Rhee also posted a revision to the current discipline code, which would -- supposedly -- lay down much harsher punishments for students who disregard current rules concerning clothing. more ›

Good morning, D.C. It's a dreary, rainy day, but at least people will be able to get around without many problems, right? Well, not entirely. The Post has some additional info about yesterday's dual-train derailment at the Bethesda Metro station, relaying that repairs on the broken piece of track in question will likely drag on until Monday morning. Delays of 20-30 minutes are expected on the Red Line all weekend. (Murphy's law, I suppose.) Also of note: the two trains involved in the accident were 2000 and 3000 series cars -- not 5000 series cars, which have had quite the spotty history when it comes to derailments. Be sure to plan in some extra time (and an umbrella, for that matter) if you're using the Red Line to heading down to today's Cherry Blossom-related festivities. more ›

The two new DC Circulator routes have been updated on the DC Circulator web site. You may now download a PDF that includes all five Circulator routes. more ›

It wouldn't be a Friday evening if there wasn't something a little bit messed up on the Red Line. Red Line trains are sharing the same track between Medical Center and Friendship Heights due to a train experiencing mechanical difficulties. Look out for some minor delays in both directions that will last through the evening rush. UPDATE 5:42 p.m. Scratch that "minor," folks. WTOP is reporting that two trains actually derailed near the Bethesda station. This DCist editor was stuck on a Glenmont-bound train at the Tenleytown station for about 10 minutes right after this happened, but we eventually got moving. Looks like things got worse since then.

Metro says a six-car train coming into the Bethesda station experienced a brake problem. Spokeswoman Taryn McNeil says another train, with no riders, arrived to pull the first train along. more ›

Less than one full day after yesterday afternoon's Metrobus/MARC train collision in Riverdale Park, another Metrobus came close to meeting the same fate today with a CSX train. more ›

There was some good news out of Houston a few hours ago. Yesterday, we alerted you to the arrest of D.C.-based artist, and Three Stars alumna, Wayna's arrest at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Late this morning, a Houston judge, at the request of prosecuters, dismissed the charges against her. She was reportedly relieved and now headed to Miami for the Winter Music Conference, where she has several scheduled performances. more ›

For those of you who weren't able to tune in to The Politics Hour on WAMU earlier (you can download the audio if you'd still like to listen), you missed House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) in his first appearance ever on the program. Hoyer called in half way through the show to discuss the most recent developments on the D.C. House Voting Rights act, expressing his regret that he couldn't get the bill scheduled for a vote next week. more ›

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The National Cherry Blossom Festival formally kicks off tomorrow, with all that the first weekend of the celebration entails. more ›

WMATA this week announced a long list of Metrobus route service changes that will go into effect starting Sunday, March 29. Among the highlights: the N22 Navy Yard Shuttle Line and the 98 Adams Morgan-U Street Link will be discontinued to make way for new Circulator routes (starting dates for those lines still have yet to be officially announced); the S9 16th Street Express Line will begin operating during peak weekday hours (on Monday); the 53, 70, 71, 90, 92, 93, and 96 bus routes will be modified to start or end at a different stop; and the L2, the 79 Georgia Avenue Metro Extra Line, and S1 lines will see increased frequency during the morning rush. Consult Metro's full list of bus route and schedule changes to see if your route is affected. more ›

Tonight, the Caps face the luckless Tampa Bay Lightning at Verizon Center. They will welcome Tampa coach Rick Tocchet, who suggested his team should have started fights with the Capitals in protest of Alex Ovechkin's three-second celebration of his 50th goal of the season, which he scored in Tampa last week. Ovechkin put his stick down after the goal and mimed trying to pick it up, but moving his hands away from its immense heat. more ›

Tune in to WAMU 88.5 FM (or listen online) today at noon and catch DCist editor-in-chief Sommer Mathis as a guest on The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi. Sommer will join resident analyst Tom Sherwood (NBC4) on the show to discuss the week's top local politics stories, as well as chat with Democratic candidate for Virginia governor Brian Moran, Ward 5 D.C. Council member Harry Thomas, Jr., and much more. more ›

With the 16-day National Cherry Blossom Festival set to kick off tomorrow, the National Park Service is reporting that the economic recession may well increase visits to the Tidal Basin and the festival's many events. The Post writes that park service officials have seen an increase in visits to their website and that almost all of the close to 9,000 $17 bleacher seats for the April 4 parade have sold out. more ›

• With Mayor Fenty mysteriously out of town and City Administrator Dan Tangherlini on vacay, who was in charge today? Michael Neibauer says it was Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso. Also of note: the mayor's public schedule is once again empty tomorrow, a good sign he's not coming back from wherever he is before the weekend.
• Nobody likes change, most especially D.C. area parents who couldn't score tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll online today. Among the lucky ones: ABC 7 News Assignment Editor Aja Hogg.
• The Get There blog has updates from today's Metro board meeting: the D.C. contingent was responsible for rejecting any fare increases, so now the board will ask for public comment on its proposed list of service cuts.

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It wasn’t a football field, but freshly minted Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens was comfortable and confident in the spotlight at the Sixth Annual National Alzheimer’s Gala, hosted by the Alzheimer's Association Wednesday at the National Building Museum. more ›

D.C. Council member and former mayor Marion Barry's most recent round of tax troubles went on the back burner for several weeks while he recovered from kidney transplant surgery. But now Mike DeBonis is reporting that federal prosecutors have filed additional court documents they say show that Barry hasn’t made any back tax payments to the District government, which he is required to do as part of his probation, since last July. "In total, according to a IRS affidavit, Barry owed the feds $277,688 in back taxes, penalties, and interest as of Jan. 8," writes DeBonis. Prosecutors are once again asking that Barry be jailed for violating the terms of his probation. A hearing is set for April 2. more ›

Three Stars alumna Wayna, fresh off her performance at SXSW in Austin and en route to Miami's Winter Music Conference, was arrested at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport Wednesday morning and charged with a 3rd degree felony weapons violation, according to her spokesperson. In the state of Texas, the charge comes with a potential penalty of 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. more ›

The Hill is reporting that Democratic leaders in the House have once again ruled out setting a date for a floor vote on the D.C. House Voting Rights Act. Despite hopeful speculation that the bill, derailed by efforts to add an amendment that would wipe out most of the District's gun registration regulations, would be added to the schedule next week, Democrats indicated today that they have still not been able to come to an agreement that would guarantee the bill would pass. The story frames the issue around the latest disagreement between D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who have split on whether the District should consider accepting the gun amendment in exchange for a voting member in the House. more ›

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is out of town today, and once again, no one seems to know where he is. WTOP's Mark Segraves has been hammering away on the story all morning, first reporting that Fenty attended American University's NCAA basketball tournament game in Philadelphia last week without telling anyone, and then following up with news that the Mayor is AWOL again today, and his office won't even tell the D.C. Council where he is.

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray, who is second in the line of succession to the mayor and the second-highest ranking elected official in town, is in the dark. more ›

With a hat tip to the City Paper's Mike DeBonis, today we find that one of our esteemed D.C. Council members isn't just complaining about a congressional amendment that would gut the District's gun laws -- he's trying to get even with one of its sponsors. more ›

D.C. police have released surveillance video of an armed robbery perpetrated on Wednesday, March 11 at 10:24 a.m. p.m. at Metro Wine and Spirits, in the 1700 block of Columbia Road NW. FOX 5 reports that four businesses have been robbed in the same block in the last two weeks: Crumbs and Coffee, Casa Lebrato, and Banco National were all also robbed recently. more ›

The White House says it released tickets to the annual Easter Egg Roll online today, but it's hard to say whether anyone actually successfully got any. WTOP is reporting constant site crashes at www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll/. more ›

Good morning, Washington. The New York Times wonders this morning whether D.C. residents are constantly on the look out for sightings of Barack and Michelle Obama, given the first family's penchant for venturing out to area restaurants and cultural events. Quoted in the story confirming that we're all on Obamawatch duty: Mayor Adrian Fenty, Dee Dee Myers, Valerie Jarrett, Ari Fleischer, and local homeless man Bill Richardson, plus a handful of presidential historians and former aides to presidents. The gist of the article: "No other modern president has reached out so widely to so many corners of the city." It's only been two months, and we're already making that call? more ›

Local service non-profit Bread for the City broke ground this morning on construction of a greatly expanded facility next to its current 7th Street NW location. The organization provides needy D.C. residents with food and clothing assistance, medical care, and legal and social services. more ›

Written by DCist contributor Brett Gellman more ›

DCist photographer Meaghan Gay captured these images of today's special effects explosion on the Potomac River, near the Key Bridge. The pyrotechnic effect went off around 3 p.m., and lasted just a few seconds. The Washington Post also has video of the effect, which was filmed for a television pilot being produced by CBS, titled Washington Field. Whether that pilot will ever see the light of day, of course, remains to be seen. The Post's video shows that the remaining smoldering flames were safely put out. more ›

Though being a part of the District's shadow delegation has a somewhat super-hero sound to it, Representative Michael Panetta, Senator Paul Strauss and Senator Michael Brown toil in almost total obscurity in their fight for D.C. statehood and self-governance. With no salaries and none of the usual congressional perks, the three members of the city's shadow delegation don't have much at their disposal to wage what's already a tough fight. more ›

DCist was the first to report yesterday on the sudden closing of Cornerstone Cleaner, the dry cleaners located at the corner of 14th and U Streets NW. Hundreds of garments belonging to customers remained locked inside, and a telephone number posted on the door went to a full voice mailbox. We've just learned that those of you with items still inside the cleaners should be able to pick up clothing both today and tomorrow, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. more ›

Much as Karl Rove and 22 senators did a few years back, it seems that some members of Congress living in the District are taking advantage of a homeowners tax break meant only for D.C. residents. Roll Call is reporting (subscription required) that four members of the House of Representatives have been taking advantage of the District's homestead exemption, which allows residents to deduct $67,500 on the assessed value of their home, resulting in 2009 savings of $573.75. So what's the big deal? They own homes in D.C., right? Sure, but as members of Congress their primary residence remains in their home state, not in the District. This year's offenders include Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.), Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). Rogers is off the hook, though, as the D.C. Office and Tax and Revenue has admitted that he never requested the exemption. Petri, who is listed as one of Congress' 50 richest members, has tried to weasel out of responsibility for claiming the exemption, stating that his wife does all the bookkeeping and has a D.C. drivers license. The problem? She's still registered to vote in Wisconsin. Oops. King comes out looking worst of the bunch -- not only is he seemingly cheating on his taxes, but he also helped stall the recent D.C. voting rights bill. Tsk tsk. more ›

Some small solace for those of you who experienced skyrocketing Pepco bills earlier this year. WTOP reports that thanks to a tarriff change approved by D.C.'s Public Service Commission, Pepco customers who live in the District can expect a credit on their April bill. It's nothing major: homes that are individually metered will get $16.84, and there will be some sort of similar credit given to apartment dwellers and non-residential customers as well. Certainly not anything life changing, but in this economy, who couldn't use an extra $16? more ›

A suspicious package report at just a little after 10 a.m. this morning shut down I Street NW between 19th Street and Pennsylvania Ave, as well as parts of the surrounding area. The package was reported found in the rear of 2001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, a large office building that from the street appears to be located on I Street, despite its street address. DCist reader Ryan sent in this view of the scene from his office window. more ›

WJLA picked up the story that Renew Shaw first reported last week: DCRA now confirms that a handful of controversial, long-vacant properties owned by the trustees of Shiloh Baptist Church in Shaw were improperly reclassified as no longer vacant, thus allowing the church to avoid paying additional nuisance property taxes. WJLA cites an official who estimates that the city lost out on $100,000 in revenue due to the error. more ›

Pepco reports they are working on a power outage in the 2000 block of 16th Street NW, currently affecting about 120 customers. A transformer failure sent a repair crew to the area earlier this morning, with a current estimated repair time of about 2 p.m. more ›

Good morning, Washington. You know, we were all set to write some mean-spirited things about Britney Spears' show last night at the Verizon Center (did anybody go?), but sometimes the morning headlines simply refuse to cooperate. So instead: all emergency service department mistakes, all the time! Montgomery Fire Official Had Been Drinking Prior to Crash: The Post has obtained a confidential report showing that a senior Montgomery County fire department official had alcohol in his system three hours after he crashed a county vehicle. Gregory J. DeHaven was returning from a Redskins game at which he served as an honor guard when he sideswiped one car and crashed into two others, totalling the SUV he was driving and causing at least $10,000 in additional damage. DeHaven is objecting to his dismissal and claims that his breathalyzer test results were entered improperly, but he seems to acknowledge that he made a mistake. Audit Finds Ambulance Fees Missing: The Examiner brings word that, according to an IG report issued yesterday, the city has failed to collect over $60 million in delinquent ambulance fees. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services had no policy in place for collecting unpaid fees from ambulance users who refused to pay, allowing the fees to accumulate over eight years. Chief Dennis Rubin acknowledged the oversight, but says that private insurer and Medicaid policies make it unlikely that the city will be able to collect all of the unpaid money even if it hires a collection agency. Review Finds Paramedic Did Not Follow Procedure: Also from the Post, it appears that a firefighter did not perform his duties properly when he diagnosed Edward Givens' chest pain as a digestive problem, leading Givens to decline hospitalization and die hours later. The firefighter appears to have misread a diagnostic test and may not have spent as much time performing the diagnosis as is normally considered necessary. Department Chief Dennis Rubin has referred the case to the D.C. Inspector General. Head-on Collision Between Taxicab, MPD Cruiser: There aren't yet many details available, but NBC4 is reporting that a city police cruiser crashed into a parked taxicab last night just west of Meridian Hill Park. The officer driving was taken to an area hospital — no word yet on what might've caused the collision. Briefly Noted: Kaine announces preservation of Fredericksburg battlefield... Gas leak in N.E. repaired... Obama nominates Marisa Demeo and Florence Pan to D.C. Superior Court... Vigil held for murdered mother & sons... Md. delegate introduces legislation calling on state to study medical marijuana... This Day In DCist: One year ago DCPS had to rehire eleven people it had just fired. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user lovedc more ›

Two clouded leopard cubs were born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo’s Conservation & Research Center in Front Royal, Va. today, taking an immediate, commanding lead in the baby animal birth cute-off that's been going on for the past couple of months (see the elephant shrew saga, the giant anteater and the close second for Top Cute, the baby gorilla, for the entire story). more ›

• Adorable photos of kids from the Children’s Miracle Network enjoying the swingset the Obamas put in at the White House.
• ICYMI: Michelle Obama on Barack not appreciating her sense of fashion: “He’s always asking: ‘Is that new? I haven’t seen that before.’ It’s like, Why don’t you mind your own business? Solve world hunger. Get out of my closet.”
• More ICYMI: WaPo Nats writer Chico Harlan apologizes to readers for telling Washingtonian magazine that he "hates sports" and is embarrassed to be covering them. Is this what covering the worst team in baseball does to you?

Cornerstone Cleaner, a.k.a. CS Cleaners, the dry cleaners located at 1947 14th Street NW, at the corner of 14th and U Streets, has abruptly closed, with hundreds of garments still locked inside. more ›

D.C. Wire is reporting that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) says he is "hoping" to get a vote by the end of next week on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House. But what will the legislation look like? Will it have a gun law-gutting amendment, which most voting rights advocates oppose? No one's really sure. According to the Post's Mary Beth Sheridan, "Hoyer has been considering compromises on the bill that could deliver a House seat for the District but would also be acceptable to city leaders who oppose the gun amendment." D.C. Wire also reports that the special D.C. Council Committee on Statehood and Self-Representation will be meeting today at 4 p.m. in Room 502 of the Wilson Building. more ›

There were long delays, petition drives, and some final technical hiccups, but WMATA has finally released its schedule data in the Google Transit Feed Specification format. What does that mean? Well, most obviously it means that Google Transit will soon be adding D.C. to its list of supported cities (UPDATE: or perhaps not — see below for a comment from Michael Perkins of GGW, who explains that there are lingering complications surrounding WMATA's legal relationship with Google). But far more exciting is the opportunity this dataset represents to third-party developers. You can bet that geeks across the region were feverishly importing schedule data into databases last night (I certainly was). So what's in a GTFS file, anyway? You can read the full spec here if you'd like, but the short version is actually pretty simple: a bunch of text files are zipped up into a single archive, which can be downloaded from the transit agency's website — in WMATA's case, the file clocks in around 20 megabytes. These comma-separated text files have names like routes.txt, stops.txt and stop_times.txt, and they can be opened in a text editor or spreadsheet program. The setup is pretty simple to understand: for example, stops.txt contains a list of bus and rail stops, complete with information like name, latitude and longitude, and assigns each one an ID. stop_times.txt, on the other hand, has a bunch of entries that assign arrival and departure times to individual routes, linking back to the stop information via each stop's ID. more ›

WMATA announced this morning that the new S9 Metrobus route, offering express bus service along 16th Street, will launch on Monday, March 30. A ribbon cutting ceremony has also been scheduled for 10 a.m. that morning, at the stop at 16th Street and Columbia Rd. NW. The S9 route will be serviced by blue and silver hybrid-electric buses, which will be branded separately with “express” labels to differentiate them from the S1, S2 and S4 routes. more ›

A report prepared for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies concludes that "flaws and shortcomings in the planning process" combined with larger than expected crowds led to the chaos experienced by thousands of inauguration ticket holders. The Post covers the report's executive summary here. Other problems cited include insufficient signage, poor coordination and communication, and not enough personnel to help direct people to the correct lines. So what should be done to fix those problems next time? Better coordination from the top, and open the ticket gates at least an hour earlier. Also of note: the report "suggested that law enforcement officials monitor Twitter and Facebook to keep on top of developing problems." more ›

Good morning, D.C. We've been wondering whether it's just us being overly sensitive and whiny thinking that the "spring" weather this week has left a little to be desired. It's been sunny, which is great, and definitely a bit warmer, but still cold enough overnight that you need a real coat. Capital Weather Gang's Matt Rogers kindly confirms our suspicions: "Our normal temperature in DC in late March is near 60 degrees," he writes, noting that we'll only reach the lower 50s still for the next few days, and continue to dip below freezing at night (plus, rain!). more ›

When Mayor Adrian Fenty opined last week that D.C. residents should be willing to accept having Congress gut the city's gun laws in exchange for a voting member in the House, many activists were peeved that the District's chief executive would make such comments in the midst of a lobbying push to secure amendment-free voting rights legislation. more ›

As we noted a couple of weeks ago, mechanical street sweepers will once again exert their significant muscle over local car owners starting today. Of course, technically, the District won't start handing out tickets for violations until the March 30 -- but considering the current budget crisis, we wouldn't want to be pushing the limits of anything involving the District and fines its agencies are collecting. Anyway, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for those "No Parking/Street Cleaning” signs from now on, lest your car be subject to the brutality of the new "Sweepercam" system. (Can we start the countdown to when "Sweepercam" will be self-aware yet?) more ›

The White House today announced that it will distribute tickets for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll online for the first time, doing away with the decades-old tradition of Washington families who line up for hours on the Ellipse the weekend before the event to receive their tickets. more ›

We have an undeniable surplus of Michael Browns in D.C. There's Michael D. Brown, one of our two elected shadow senators. more ›

Last year, local NBC news affiliate WRC/NBC4's web site got a major facelift. Gone was the relatively dull NBC4.com, and in its place was a nationally-launched web site template, in this case nbcwashington.com, that's trying to be both a home for the news content of WRC, as well as its own online brand, offering aggregated and exclusive content on top of the station's regular stories. more ›

A television crew will create a special effects explosion on the Potomac River, near the Key Bridge, on Wednesday morning, according to city officials. more ›

The Washington Capitals have played in the Southeast Division since it was first created in 1998. It's about time they start to really care about some of the other teams in it. On Saturday night, the Carolina Hurricanes made a big play to get noticed when their captain, Rod Brind'Amour, grabbed the back of Alex Ovechkin's head and pushed the Capitals superstar, face first, into one of the metal poles holding up the glass around the rink. more ›

It's one thing for the Post to cover Old Town Alexandria's newest and sexiest store -- after all, it's local news. But yesterday the New York Times took the story national, giving Le Tache a spotlight it may never have expected. Both the Post and the Times tell the story of how landlord Michael Zarlenga, frustrated with a denial of permits to expand his hunting and fishing business, closed down his own store and instead rented out the prime King Street property to Le Tache, a couples boutique (sex shop to the rest of us). Now city officials are falling over themselves to decry Old Town's newest and naughtiest business, while Le Tache and Zarlenga seem to be reveling in all the attention. more ›

Good morning, Washington. The D.C. Council is scheduled to begin its budget oversight hearings today on Mayor Adrian Fenty's 2010 budget proposal. Fenty, City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, and Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi are all set to appear at today's Committee of the Whole public briefing (Council Chamber Room 500), set to begin at 10 a.m. Expect a lot of focus on those 1,600 proposed job cuts from the Council members, as well as specific questions about the cuts planned for DCPS, MPD and DOH. more ›

Phillyist really digs roller derby.

As Metro General Manager John Catoe promised earlier this month, Metro will finally make public its schedule and routing data, starting tomorrow. As the Washington Post reports, users in San Francisco used BART rail data to create an iPhone application. You can bet that work starts on an i-app for the District before lunchtime Monday. The Post gives credit where credit is due, highlighting the efforts of the crackerjack bloggers at Greater Greater Washington in organizing the petition drive to ask Metro to release their data. One enterprising software developer you can expect to make good use of the data now that it doesn't exclusively belong to Google: the incomparable Tom Lee. more ›

Any chance that Maryland had at knocking off second-seeded Memphis this afternoon is pretty much dead; at halftime, Maryland is losing by twenty points, 53-33. Memphis has shot an unbelievable 70% from the field, and Maryland is only 1-9 from behind the three point line -- the one make coming right at the halftime buzzer. If the Terps can somehow hit a whole bunch more shots from three and Memphis goes ice cold, the boys from College Park might be able to get back into the game -- but even then, it will take a Herculean effort to win. Barring such a miracle, the D.C. area is looking at the last twenty minutes of meaningful local men's college hoops that we'll see all year. Not that it's too much of a concern for participants in the DCist Reader-Staff pool -- none of the current top ten brackets had Maryland pulling the upset. So much for local pride, eh? more ›

Eventually, scholars will evaluate whether the incentive works. But for now, the best gauge might be the reaction of students on payday. Interviews with parents, educators and youths reveal that most students compare their earnings as soon as they're handed out, excited by the financial reward. A few, in a show of apathy or rebellion, destroy checks intended to help them. And some walk home disappointed, envelopes closed.

Results are slowly trickling in -- the National Marathon's website is completely overwhelmed at the moment -- but Patrick Moulton of Providence, Rhode Island took honors in the full men's marathon at a time of 2:21:19; Moulton proceeded to breathlessly tell NBC4 that one of his shoes was untied for the last five miles of the race. Jeanette Seckinger of Massachusetts won the women's full marathon at a time of 2:48:41. As of this writing, Mayor Fenty is still navigating his way through the course. more ›

• It's budgetpalooza! Most local reporters agree: Fenty says he's not raising taxes, but he's still planning on taking more of your money from you.
• ICYMI: D.C. cab drivers complained to the D.C. Council that the meter system is costing them money. They are asking for the city to lift the fare cap (seems reasonable) and would also like to bring back shared rides (oh, hell no).
• Shadow Senator Paul Strauss's DUI trial has been postponed until June.

Written by DCist Contributor Brett Gellman. Brett had this post ready much, much earlier today, but we failed to get it posted on time. Apologies all around. more ›

This morning we reported on comments made by Mayor Adrian Fenty in which he argued that city residents may just have to deal with the gun law-gutting amendment if they want a voting seat in the House. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton was quick to register her displeasure with Fenty's comments; Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) has now followed with a statement of his own. The chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee argues that the amendment would allow violent offenders to obtain guns, result in the proliferation of assault-style weapons, limit the police department's ability to arrest chronic gun offenders and make it difficult for police to trace guns used in crimes. “Residents of the District of Columbia should not have to choose between representation and public safety," he says. “Now more than ever, we must stand united for a vote in Congress, and against this reckless assault on our safety. The Council and the region have called for a clean bill. There must be no gun amendment.” more ›

The City Paper's Mike DeBonis may have the most intriguing news of the day -- under the 2010 budget proposal released today by Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. drivers would no longer have to get their cars inspected. Wait; what? Really? Well, kind of. You'll still have to head down to the city's one inspection station for a federally mandated emissions inspection, but no longer will you have to sit through the usual safety inspection that checks everything from seat belts to headlights and brakes. Doing away with the inspections will reportedly save $400,000 a year. Fenty's budget also calls for the DMV to "transition to an online and mail-in only system for vehicle registration renewals." You can currently renew your registration online and through the mail, though certain restrictions exist. What changes are made to adapt to an all online and mail-in system remain to be seen. more ›

The Examiner editorial staff is understandably outraged that the D.C. government appears to have blocked access to its web site on all city-owned computers. Given the ongoing tumult at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, it's certainly plausible that the news site has been blocked by OCTO (hopefully, by employee error—blocking a legit news web site on purpose would be an incredibly stupid policy). more ›

Do make sure to peek inside a copy of the brand new April issue of Northern Virginia Magazine (the glossy lifestyle pub doesn't offer much in the way of what's in their current issue on their web site, regrettably), and turn directly to page 64. There, you'll find DCist Music Editor Amanda Mattos's shining face, listed among the region's most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. We already knew how smart, sassy, and stunning Amanda is, so we can hardly blame Northern Virginia Magazine for wanting to share that information with their readers. more ›

The Suntrust National Marathon is tomorrow, Saturday March 21, and much of the city will be affected by mass road closures and detours. more ›

Mayor Fenty is presenting his FY2010 budget proposal this morning, and both D.C. Wire and City Desk reporting some initial figures, including the banner headline: a proposal to layoff 776 D.C. government employees. The layoffs would be combined with the elimination of 458 vacant jobs and another 398 jobs through attrition, for a grand total of 1,632 jobs cut. Of that total, 250 will reportedly come from DCPS, which will be trimmed of support staff after factoring in this year's decreased enrollment figures. more ›

This morning the National Park Service announced it has revised the peak bloom dates for D.C.'s famed cherry blossoms, to April 1-4. It's a shorter period than previously predicted, as well as being earlier. They've also added on an overall "Blooming Period," from March 28-April 11, which conveniently overlaps nearly perfectly with the dates of the National Cherry Blossom Festival (March 28-April 12). more ›

Mayor Adrian Fenty hasn't had what you would call a stellar week, so arguing in an interview with the Post that District residents should accept a voting seat in the House even if it means allowing Congress to gut the city's gun laws isn't likely to earn him good headlines. At least not from me, I suppose. Fenty's comments have irked D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and several members of the D.C. Council too, primarily because they seem to undercut efforts currently underway to remove the gun amendment from the voting rights legislation. Says Norton in the article, "Perhaps the mayor has not had time to read the bill, but I have repeatedly emphasized...that the bill usurps entirely all D.C. mayoral and council jurisdiction over D.C. gun legislation in the future and gives the District's jurisdiction over guns exclusively to the Congress of the United States, where the [National Rifle Association] has had no trouble maintaining a majority." She seems frustrated, and rightfully so. more ›

A group of protesters have gathered in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, blocking traffic along some corridors. DCist's Fredo Alvarez captured these two images, one of the protesters (we're told they are an anti-war group, carrying signs with messages varying from identifying themselves with Students for a Democratic Society to "Make Funk, Not War"), and the other of an MPD vehicle that's been splattered with red paint. We don't have many reliable details at this point, but we've heard that for at least part of their march, the group went the wrong way down 19th Street NW, causing a lot of traffic backup, and that they were also spotted near M Street NW between 16th and 17th, creating a traffic jam there as well. Several reports indicate the police response appears to be disproportional to the small number of protesters (maybe the going down the wrong way on a one-way street had something to do with that?). We'll update with more soon. more ›

More OCTO updates! more ›

The Post reported earlier that a second D.C. government employee has been arrested in the ongoing federal bribery and embezzlement case involving the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer. Farruk Awan, 37, was arrested this morning on charges of conspiring to commit bribery and launder money. Awan is the third person to be arrested in the case, after OCTO employee Yusuf Acar and businessman Sushil Bansal. He's accused of receiving bribes from Bansal in exchange for approving Bansal's company's employees to work at the technology office, among other charges. more ›

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D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty delivered his annual State of the District speech today at the Hattie Holmes Senior Wellness Center in Ward 4, the section of D.C. he used to represent on the D.C. Council. To call Fenty's remarks today a "speech" is actually a bit a of a stretch; the mayor referred to the prepared text distributed to the media beforehand only loosely, instead relying on it as more of an outline to dole out a list of facts and figures on what his administration has accomplished over the last year. more ›

The Post's 44 blog informs us that Michelle Obama and a posse of female stars will be blanketing various DCPS campuses today, in an effort to promote Women's History Month and encourage students to set goals and follow their dreams. Celebs like Sheryl Crow and Alicia Keyes will be joined by several female notables including gymnast Dominique Dawes, Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, Gen. Ann Dunwoody, the first American woman to attain the rank of four-star general, and Claire Huxtable herself, actress Phylicia Rashad. The women will be visiting local high school campuses throughout the day -- for example, the First Lady is hosting a roundtable with students at Anacostia High School -- and a group of D.C. area students have been invited to a dinner with the entire female collective tonight at the White House. Check out 44 for the complete list of who's going where. more ›

Make sure to read this B3 Washington Post story about the near total halt of migration to the outer suburbs of the D.C. metro area, if only for the rare spectacle of seeing a Brookings Institution scholar quoted as saying, "Wow!" The bottom line: "For the first time this decade, more residents left Prince William and Stafford counties in Virginia and Frederick County in Maryland for other counties than moved in." That's a pretty big deal, and one we expect all the local urbanist blogs to geek out over in due course. more ›

WJLA covers an assault and robbery committed by a group of teenage girls at the Rue 14 Boutique (1803 14th Street NW) a few weeks ago, noting that a similar crime happened at another business nearby earlier this week. They've got surveillance video of five young suspects who participated in a grab and run at Rue 14, with one of them staying behind to rough up the store owner while the others got away. Upsetting stuff. more ›

Good morning, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is preparing to deliver his annual State of the District address this morning (11 a.m. at the Hattie Holmes Senior Wellness Center, 324 Kennedy Street NW) after having abruptly rescheduled it on Tuesday. The speech comes at a time when the mayor has been under fire for accepting lavish trips from foreign governments and not disclosing them, but as WTOP's Mark Segraves reports, the mayor still just doesn't care. Check this somewhat stunning mayoral quote, in response to questions from Segraves about whether Fenty will start releasing the details of any future trips beforehand: "I'm not going to tell you," Fenty said, reiterating that he'll only disclose travel plans if required to do so by law. more ›

Does the thought of having to wait in line to get your major Metro transactions done at the busy Metro Center Sales Office leave you putting off taking care of renewing your bus passes or replacing a stolen SmarTrip card? WMATA announced today the opening of a brand new full service sales office located in the Anacostia Metro station. The new sales office, served only by the Green line but also by literally dozens of Metrobus lines, is sure to be at least a little less crowded than Metro Center during rush hour. The office replaces a sales facility at the former Southeastern Metrobus Division, which closed last year when the new ballpark opened. more ›

We've been pestering DDOT for more details on the two new Circulator routes the city has planned, one that would travel through Adams Morgan, Mt. Pleasant, Columbia Heights, U Street and McPherson Square, replacing the 25 cent 98 bus that used to go between U Street and Adams Morgan, and another that would run from Union Station, through Barracks Row to Nationals Park, replacing the N22 bus. Last week, the Washington Business Journal's Jonathan O'Connell dubbed the new routes "Party Lines,", and offered up a homemade Google map of the proposed Adams Morgan route. But with no official routes or stop listings yet announced by DDOT, only vague dates for when they'll begin running (sometime this spring?), and zero information about them available on dccirculator.com, reliable details on the new Circulator lines are still hard to come by. more ›

Another week of waiting, it seems. According to voting rights activists we spoke to, legislation to grant the District a voting seat in the House is still stalled as congressional advocates figure out how to remove an amendment that would gut the city's gun laws. The amendment, which made its way into a Senate version of the legislation courtesy of Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), is widely supported in the House while being roundly opposed by local officials. National coalitions and organizations that support the voting rights legislation, like the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, NAACP and AFL-CIO, have promised to apply pressure to members of Congress by scoring a vote on whether the gun amendment stays or goes. If you remember, the amendment ended up in play in the House version of the bill to begin with when the NRA threatened to score the same vote. There's apparently a lot of score-keeping going on on the Hill these days. more ›

Remember how last summer's Supreme Court ruling on the District's handgun ban promised to upend regulations and restrictions on gun ownership across the country? It doesn't seem to be happening. The New York Times reported yesterday that of 80 cases that have come before lower federal courts in Heller's wake, few have actually resulted in the overturning of federal laws limiting gun ownership, transport and use. (The article cites the case of an East St. Louis, Ill. man who tried to argue that the Second Amendment protected his right to carry a gun while selling drugs. Predictably, a court disagreed.) Of course, state and local laws have yet to be tested, but some scholars guess that not much will come from those challenges either. It remains to be seen how pending lawsuits against the District's new regulations stand up to post-Heller scrutiny (not to mention a meddling Congress). more ›

Good elected officials know their constituents, and in that Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has excelled. Graham has represented the District's most diverse ward for the last 10 years, easily offing challengers by remaining accessible to his constituents and making his presence known both in times of celebration and crisis. Heck, it's near impossible to miss a guy with orange glasses and a bow-tie driving a VW Bug from Columbia Heights to Adams Morgan and Mt. Pleasant to Shaw. more ›

First Lady Michelle Obama and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton had lunch on Tuesday at B. Smith in Union Station, the Post reports. The first lady has been making a point of meeting with many local leaders (she previously had lunch with Mayor Adrian Fenty and his wife Michelle, for example), so news of the lunch isn't too surprising. And hey, both women are respected legal minds, so surely they had plenty to talk about. Still, we can't help but find Norton's official statement on the meeting to be kind of amusing:

Norton said the lunch conversation was all over the map, "like any girlfriends who put no limits on their conversation." Both also talked about how seldom each of them gets to go to an informal lunch like the one they enjoyed together today and vowed to do it again.

Vivek Kundra, D.C.'s former Chief Technology Officer, has returned to his job as federal chief information officer for the Obama administration after being placed on leave in the wake of the OCTO arrests, the Washington Times reports. White House officials told the Times that Kundra was reinstated after they were reassured that he is not a target of the federal investigation of his former office. The story makes sure to mention the recent revelation that Kundra was cited on a minor theft charge in Montgomery County in 1996, when he was 21. The White House said they were aware of the criminal theft case and were unconcerned, calling it a "youthful indiscretion." See also the New York Times' Caucus blog, which reports that Va. Gov. Tim Kaine intervened on Kundra's behalf. more ›

Good morning, Washington, and welcome back to a society that doesn't think about Ireland except for when it's ordering drinks or outsourcing software projects. Did anybody brave the bars last night? Green dye, sloppy drunks and "specials" that betray a hilarious amount of contempt for patrons (Irish Mist, Blue Curacao and Sprite? really?) all make for a scene that many prefer to avoid. But if you did go out, please do relate your hazy memories or horror stories in the comments. P.G. Double Killing Eerily Similar To Recent Crime: The Post reports that the two women whose bodies were found in a burned-out car in Upper Marlboro on Monday have been identified as Delores Renee Dewitt and her daughter Ebony Dewitt. Disturbingly, this is the second mother and daughter pair found dead in that area in the past few months: Karen and Karissa Lofton lived less than a mile away from the Dewitts when they were shot to death in January. Police aren't yet saying the two cases are definitely linked, but are investigating the possibility and asking the public for help. City May Repeal Nuisance Property Tax Hike: The Examiner reports that the D.C. Council may undo the doubling of the Class 3 "Nuisance" property tax that they implemented as part of the 2009 budget. The rate was raised from $5 to $10 per $100 of assessed value in order to encourage property owners to develop their land or sell it to someone who will. However, affected landowners are now claiming that the economic crisis and higher tax payments are making it impossible for them to develop the land, and that if they maintain it properly it shouldn't be classified as a nuisance. Briefly Noted: Despite bankruptcy risk, Six Flags plans to open next month... O'Malley announces second round of Md. stimulus spending... Md. parks ban alcohol without permit... Defendant admits to racing in 2008 incident that killed eight people who were watching a different illegal street race... Pepco says electricity theft on the rise (video)... Md. Senate passes bill banning texting while driving... P.G. County eyeing Metro-owned land near Morgan Boulevard Station for new D.C. United stadium... This Day In DCist: One year ago we talked to Tilly and the Wall and the Supreme Court heard arguments on the city's handgun ban. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user Daniel </Techie @ 127.Ø.Ø.1> more ›

Looks like the cash in the pajamas strategy paid off for federal prosecutors today, although it turns out the money was actually found in some pants, which makes the whole thing slightly less funny. Accused D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer embezzlement scheme mastermind Yusuf Acar has been ordered held without bail by a U.S. District Court judge, the Post reports. Reporter Del Quentin Wilber says that at today's hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola called the evidence against Acar "overwhelming." Prosecutors also reiterated that when Acar was arrested, FBI agents found about $70,000 in cash in his house. But they clarified that the $4,500 they originally said was discovered in the pajamas Acar was wearing at the time of his arrest was actually found in Acar's pants -- so, he wasn't wearing those pants? It's a little unclear. more ›

On Friday the D.C. Public Schools quietly released their audited enrollment figured for the 2008-09 academic year, and it shows that there are 45,190 students left in the system, down 8.5 percent from last year's 49,422. This news comes via the Post's Bill Turque, who says he found the report posted on the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education's web site (we can't actually find it available here) on Friday. Normally, the annual public school enrollment audit is released with a formal announcement. more ›

Nobody loves wagging their fingers at hypocrisy more than journalists, so D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty really should have seen this coming. In the last week, since the mayor finally disclosed that his family trips to Dubai and Beijing were both partially funded by the governments of those cities, Fenty's been on the business end of a steady stream of lecturing by the local media. First Marc Fisher and Mike DeBonis tag-teamed Fenty on the $36,000 debacle at his appearance at Nathan's on Friday, openly questioning whether the mayor's appearance at a controversial tennis tournament in the UAE might have been quid pro quo for the paid trip. And today the Washington Post's editorial board took the mayor to task for keeping the funding a secret: "Mr. Fenty promised to run a transparent administration. He heaped scorn on then-Mayor Anthony A. Williams for his extensive travels. But Mr. Williams, at least, didn't conceal anything." more ›

There's a report from the Associated Press that hit the wires a little while ago about how D.C. United fans rallied in Annapolis today to shore up support for the team's move to Prince George's County. The reporter counted about 60 people in attendance at said rally, the result of the team's push to get supporters to come out for hearings on the stadium issue set for today at the Maryland General Assembly. Earlier this month, United sent out a letter to fans begging them to support their move out of the city. We're curious, D.C. United fans: what did you make of the letter? Are you, at this point, in favor of the move? Or did you just feel like the team was asking you to support them abandoning the District? We've pasted the full letter, dated March 10, after the jump. more ›

It's a hearty top o' the morning for the city from the White House today. The AP reports that indeed, First Lady Michelle Obama has ordered the fountains on the north and south lawns of the White House dyed green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. more ›

Good morning, Washington, and a Happy St. Patrick's Day to you. If you're looking for a healthy dose of scary law enforcement warnings about the dangers of holidays devoted almost entirely to drinking, look no further than the Washington Times. They've got local bar managers promising additional security and Assistant Chief of Police Patrick Burke warning Guinness-swilling Washingtonians that the MPD's message is, "don't test your luck on St. Patrick's Day" (in terms of drinking and driving). So festive! more ›

Metro has released the name of the man who was fatally struck by an Orange Line train this weekend. WUSA-9 first reported the news that the victim was Kevin Deiss, 22, of Columbia, Md. Deiss died at the East Falls Church station at around 1:44 a.m. on Sunday. Metro Transit Police are reportedly awaiting toxicology reports on the deceased, and have previously stated they do not believe foul play was involved. more ›

The Digital TV Transition hasn't been hurting for attention over the last year. Not only is the federally funded converter box coupon program surely one of the most well-publicized government subsidies ever created (think about it—have you ever seen prime-time TV commercials advertising Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants?), but recently Congress decided it hadn't been publicized enough, and extended the deadline for broadcasters to switch to entirely digital feeds from February 17 to June 12. more ›

Metro put out a formal statement today on a move that was expected in the wake of two recent incidents involving Metrobus drivers, namely the police-involved fatal shooting of Jelani Slay, and the assault of a police officer dressed as McGruff the Crime Dog: the agency is moving forward with plans to review its hiring practices. “We’ve created a special team to implement more stringent selection criteria for applicants and job retention standards, particularly for bus operator applicants given recent high-profile events involving two bus operators,” General Manager John Catoe said. Given what the agency is reacting to, expect to see tougher rules about applicants with criminal histories come out of this review process. Metro says the review team is expected to implement changes as early as May. more ›

Another year, another anti-loitering bill come and gone. In a letter to constituents today, Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham announced he has once again abandoned his quest to implement anti-loitering legislation. more ›

In a letter sent last week to DCPS teachers, D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee directly addressed ten of the most frequent concerns she hears from teachers, ranging from "Some people say that you want to fire all the veterans in DCPS and replace them with Teach For America teachers or DC Teaching Fellows. Is that true?" to "There are too many initiatives going on. I’m worn out and overwhelmed. What’s your priority?" more ›

Good morning, Washington, and welcome to another Monday morning in seasonal limbo. In case you missed it on Sunday, a second man was killed by a Metrorail train in as many days. A man was struck and killed at the East Falls Church Station early yesterday. The victim's identity has yet to be released. Metro says foul play is not suspected, and Metro Transit Police are investigating. The death comes less than 48 hours after Metrobus driver Kurtland Johnson was killed by a Blue line train after he jumped onto the tracks at McPherson Square. more ›

Much like this weekend's weather, there's little sunshine in this story: the Post reports this morning that current HIV/AIDS levels in the District of Columbia far exceed the amounts associated with a "generalized and severe" epidemic, according to a CDC-funded report from the George Washington University School of Health and Health Services. more ›

Maryland couldn't follow up Friday night's big win against Wake Forest with a similar effort against Duke, falling to the Blue Devils last night 67-61. Maryland hung tough for most of the game, but a 12-2 run midway through the second half proved the dagger for Maryland's ACC championship chances. It was arguably going to be rough going for the Terps with star Greivis Vazquez only getting 14 points on 6 of 17 shooting, but a honest night's effort on defense -- Duke only shot 36% from the field -- kept the score close. Maryland has to be glad that they probably won't have to play Duke again this year -- this was the third game this season which the Terps lost to the boys from Durham, who will play Florida State today for the ACC Championship. more ›

The GW Hatchet has the story on the leak, reported to the University Police Department at around 8:30 p.m. last night. One or both of two underground heating oil tanks adjacent to Lisner Hall spilled hundreds of gallons of fuel into the auditorium's basement. The entire law school complex was evacuated and approximately sixty students were escorted from several buildings, including the law library. According to the Hatchet's reporting, the incident has been classified by school officials as a heating oil fuel spill and has been contained. more ›

Wake Forest guard L.D. Williams's vaunted defense couldn't stop Maryland's Greivis Vasquez from picking up 22 points in last night's big upset over Wake Forest -- a win that cleared the Terps for the conference championship and redeemed a close loss against the Demon Deacons earlier in the month. more ›

A Metro press release has identified the man who was struck and killed by a Blue Line train yesterday at McPherson Square. Kurtland Johnson, 42, of Washington, DC, reportedly stepped in front of the train around shortly after 1 p.m. yesterday, according to witnesses. more ›

In the Post, David Nakamura details that the acceptance of foreign government money for such trips is rare -- Fenty's predecessor Anthony Williams usually used funding from local businesses or foreign universities to pay for his extensive globetrotting. (Nakamura's report also reminds us that while he was campaigning for the office, Mayor Fenty criticized Williams' frequent travel. Ahem.) The City Paper's Loose Lips hits slightly harder, wondering if "is it a good idea from a[n] ethical and public relations and general decency standpoint to not immediately disclose foreign donations?" more ›

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo today announced the birth of nature's most ridiculous looking animal, a giant anteater born Thursday, March 12. The birth marks only the second giant anteater ever to be born in the history of the Zoo. The Zoo doesn't know if it's a girl or a boy yet, and may not for some time until they can get a closer look. more ›

Bill Turque turns in a thoughtful piece in today's Post, examining the loaded dynamics behind disciplining students who attack their teachers. It may sound obvious - kids shouldn't get away with physical violence, ever - but tension between instructors and administrators, overcrowded or poorly-managed classrooms, and the difficulty of confirming allegations, complicate the discipline process. There are no definite statistics about assaults against D.C. teachers, but Turque interviews instructors at Woodson Academy who complain of being struck by books or shoved by students, and who feel that DCPS and their administrators have done little to address bad behavior. more ›

AlertDC reported at 1:46 p.m. that a person has been struck by a Metrorail train at the McPherson Square station. WMATA hasn't put out a press release yet, but their alert system says that there is police activity at the station and that Orange and Blue line trains are turning back at Foggy Bottom and Federal Triangle stations. They are currently estimating delayed conditions will last up to 2 hours. We'll update when more information becomes available. more ›

We warned you about this at the beginning of the month, but it's a good time to remind you that the Green and Yellow lines are going to be a big mess this weekend thanks to switch replacement work at the Mount Vernon Sq-7th St Convention Center station. Starting tonight at 10 p.m. and lasting through Sunday, March 15 at midnight, riders should expect 30-minute delays while trains single track between the Convention Center and the U Street/African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo station. In addition, Yellow Line trains will not go all the way to Fort Totten during the entire weekend, meaning old-school Green line off-peak wait times will be in effect along the entire upper corridor of the line. Yellow Line trains will only travel between the Huntington and Mt. Vernon Sq/7th St-Convention Center stations this weekend. more ›

2008 was always going to be a tough year to top for Jeff Jones and the American University Eagles men's basketball team. Jones -- previously the head coach at Virginia -- spent last year shaping a beleaguered program without much past success into a historic upset win over Maryland, a Patriot League championship, and a first-ever bid to the NCAA tournament. The Eagles, though they fell to the second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers in the first round, fought valiantly and were very much in the game until the last few minutes. more ›

Good morning, Washington. The big local story this morning is still the FBI raid of the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer and the arrests of Yusuf Acar and Sushil Bansal. The Post has a B1 story laying out the FBI's case against Acar and his alleged accomplices, which involves a complicated embezzlement and bribery scheme that was only discovered after another D.C. government employee who was recruited to participate went to the FBI last summer. The District government was reportedly unaware of the FBI investigation until yesterday. more ›

We got a handful of emails this morning from Columbia Heights residents, asking about a long line they encountered along 14th Street NW at Harvard Street. It seems that a number of people had even camped out in the line the night before. NBC4 went to the scene this morning and reported that it was a line made of returning applicants for a number of open spaces in the Columbia Heights Village Apartments, the subsidized apartment building at that corner. DCist went by around 1 p.m., but by that time, the line was long gone. Is the line indicative of increased demand for public housing due to the state of the local economy? Sure feels like it, although District public housing pretty much always maintains a healthy waiting list. more ›

With a tip of the hat to D.C. Wire, here's a YouTube video featuring D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer employee Yusuf Acar, who was arrested this morning by federal agents, from a Citywide Job Fair last fall: more ›

Details about the District's new teacher evaluation system were discussed for the first time at a D.C. Council hearing yesterday, the Post's Bill Turque reports. The plan, which has been in development with teachers and experts over the past several months, combines classroom observations (the focus of the current system) with standardized test scores and value-added measures of student learning. Schoolwide performance goals could also be established and used as part of the evaluations. more ›

FBI agents are searching the One Judiciary Square offices of the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer this morning. The FBI is being tight lipped about what they are searching for, telling Politico only that the search is part of "an ongoing investigation." WTOP's Mark Segraves has been Twittering from the scene, adding that agents have since moved from the 9th floor OCTO offices to the 10th floor of One Judiciary Square, which houses the Office of the Attorney General. Some employees in the building have been sent home, according to Segraves. more ›

Volunteers with D.C. for Marriage met at the D.C. Center late last week to outline early strategies for engaging churches, universities and the black community in conversations about gay marriage in anticipation of a bill expected before the D.C. Council later this year. more ›

Good morning, Washington. Politico's Glenn Thrush is dubbing Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) "D.C. Mayor Ensign" this morning, thanks to his recent meddling in local District of Columbia matters, namely attaching the gun amendment to the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, and the (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to guarantee the D.C. school voucher program. Gotta wonder how that's playing in Mayor Fenty's bullpen this morning. Also a must read on the stalled voting rights bill front: Marc Fisher today is calling on D.C. politicians to swallow the gun amendment in order to make voting rights happen. "Congress will always conduct its little experiments on the District, so the city's belief that it can set its own course on guns is delusional," Fisher writes. Not exactly a stellar morning for the egos of the mayor and the D.C. council. more ›

Smug Washingtonians who like to tell themselves that we're insulated from the worst of the recession thanks to the federal government are eating their words today. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest jobs report today, and it showed a 1.1 point increase in unemployment for D.C. since December 2008. Virginia went up 1.0 points and Maryland 0.8 points (h/t Washington Business Journal). Overall unemployment rates for January were 9.3 percent in D.C., 6.2 percent in Maryland and 6.0 percent in Virginia. At this rate, D.C. could be well over 10 percent unemployment within a few months, the highest it's been since the early 1980s. You may recall that in December, D.C. CFO Natwar Gandhi predicted the city's unemployment rate would reach 9.8 percent by 2010. Given where we are now, that estimate appears to have been rather conservative. more ›

D.C. Wire reported that Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry was back at work in Council chambers today for the first time since his kidney transplant surgery on Feb. 20. The Council member reportedly drew applause when he took his seat this morning. Barry had previously announced his intention to return to work on March 2, but was instead readmitted to Howard University Hospital later that day after doctors discovered air pockets near the site of his surgery. Barry did show up to act as coach for the D.C. Council basketball team in their game against local media on Monday. more ›

It wasn’t until we were rolling up to the East Falls Church station that the operator made an announcement that this train was "express service to Vienna," and would not stop at Dunn Loring, and that we’d have to get out at West Falls Church and wait for the next train which was “directly behind us.” This only applied to those who had to go to the Dunn Loring station.Angel said she had to wait about four minutes after exiting at West Falls Church before catching the next train to Dunn Loring. Asking around today, at least one other DCist staffer had a Metro train mysteriously skip a stop once, so we asked Metro about it. more ›

The Dorchester Market, the once well-stocked bodega in the basement of the Dorchester House apartments at 2480 16th Street NW in Adams Morgan, will be no more come week's end. Residents of the building and the local area who frequent the shop may have noticed the recent precipitous drop in the restocking of goods: the gradually emptying freezer case, the large blank spots on the shelves, and finally, a couple of weeks ago, the disappearance of every magazine & newspaper from the counter newsstand. Those who guessed it couldn't bode well were right: last week, two-for-one specials started popping up, and then a simple, "Going out of business. Everything must go," sign on the doors indicated that the end was indeed nigh. more ›

The excellent Michael Perkins at Greater Greater Washington reports from yesterday's D.C. Council oversight hearing for WMATA, and hears Metro General Manager John Catoe promise that the transit agency will finally release its schedule and routing information by March 23. The statement comes several months after Metro first suggested that working with Google Transit was not in their best interest and that they would only pursue such a relationship if it made them money. more ›

When news came down last month that D.C. United was planning on moving to Prince George's County, we expressed both sadness that the team would depart the city, but also relief that at least it's not us on the line for another new stadium during a recession. Now it seems that county officials are having some second thoughts. more ›

The beginning of spring is the time of year when potholes pop up on city streets the most; asphalt expanding and contracting with fluxuating temperatures lead directly to cracks and gaps in our roads. So it's no big surprise that new acting director of the District Department of Transportation, Gabe Klein, today announced this year's pothole filling blitz alongside Mayor Adrian Fenty. That Fenty and Klein decided to rename this year's program "Potholepalooza" is, however, plenty funny. We assume the 'palooza part is necessary to combat the oncoming Potholepocalypse. Can DCist start suggesting other names for city government programs, too? How about a summertime Ratastrophe initiative as part of the District's War on Rats? more ›

Good morning, D.C. We all felt like spring had arrived earlier this week, but a quick glance at the five-day forecast reveals we still have a bit more cold weather hand-wringing to do. There's even a chance for some wintry mix on Friday. It's going to get up to 70 degrees today, but don't put those hats and scarves away just yet. more ›

D.C.'s retail employees breathed a sigh of relief over the weekend after a suspect was arrested in a string of robberies that targeted lone cashiers, often women, over the last several weeks. But now police say that another, similar robbery occurred today at the CVS on 14th Street NW at W Street. more ›

The Hill has the story of an arrest by U.S. Capitol police this afternoon of a man who police say had several weapons in his car. The suspect's car was searched after he stopped to ask an officer for directions, and the officer noticed something suspicious about the man's vehicle. But get this: he was arrested at 3rd street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW for allegedly possessing two long guns, three handguns, and a sword in his vehicle. Regular readers will recall that this is the second arrest of an armed man with a sword near the Capitol in just over a year. Is Congress under clandestine attack by Samurai? DCist will be sure to report on any and every sword-related arrest from here on out. more ›

The consensus on Sunday morning's coal ash spill in Luke, Md. seems to be that it coulda been a lot worse. Yes, 4,000 gallons of the toxic liquid ash leaked out of a pipeline over the Potomac River's North Branch, but the AP has already declared the spill doesn't appear to have done much harm, and fears about water safety in the D.C. region have been largely put to rest. But given the attention coal ash has been getting since December's catastrophic spill in Tennessee, this weekend's tiny-by-comparison accident is still making headlines. We highly recommend reading this now prescient story from the Baltimore Sun's Timothy B. Wheeler on how the state of Maryland has been welcoming certain kinds of coal ash disposal with open arms. more ›

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is back at the Verizon Center March 18-22, and with it comes the annual parade of elephants through the city. The route for the animals will begin on Tuesday, March 17 at Garfield Park, then head north on 4th Street SE to Stanton Park, then west on Massachusetts Ave NE to Columbus Circle NW, then finally toward the Verizon Center via E Street NW, 3rd Street NW and G Street NW. If your home or office is near the walk route, tentatively mark your calendars for a 10 a.m. pachyderm parade start time (subject to change, call the Animal Walk Hotline, 1-866-683-3670, for updates that morning). Since the elephant walk is happening on St. Patrick's Day this year, the animals are indeed expected to wear green and bring along their own bagpipe player. more ›

D.C. Wire brings word that the suspect who has been arrested in a string of robberies at local businesses that includes Bandolino shoe store at 1329 Wisconsin Ave NW in Georgetown, Junction vintage clothing store at 1510 U Street NW, and City Sports sporting goods store on 7th Street NW in Chinatown, had previously been employed by the campaigns of D.C. Council candidates Adam Clampitt and Council member Michael A. Brown (I-At Large) (see City Desk for more on the politics angle). Ezra Mathis (no relation) was arrested Friday night near Potomac and M streets after police recognized him from a surveillance photo. In a recent email to other stores on U Street, Junction employee Megan J. Gay noted that she felt the robbery suspect had been preying on women who were alone working in stores and boutiques. WJLA has more. more ›

Buried at the bottom of this story by the Examiner's Michael Neibauer (which is about whether the DMV should change under-21 driver's licenses from having the photo be in profile to having the ID itself be printed vertically instead of horizontally -- both seem fine) is this little nugget: "The proposed DMV rules would also increase the number of years, from six to 17, before a person is required to get a new driver’s license photo." While some will argue that ID photos ought to be redone more often than that, other states have successfully extended driver's license validity, cutting down on trips to the DMV and the costs associated with processing renewals. Arizona was the first state to begin such a program: Arizona driver's licenses remain valid until the driver reaches the age of 65, though they are required to obtain a new photo every 12 years. Maryland requires drivers to renew every five years, while Virginia's are valid for eight years. more ›

Members of the D.C. Council knocked to the floor while protecting the lane against aggressive offensive moves by much younger journalists. Disputes over fouls and scoring. The District's most even-tempered radio voice handed a technical foul for being a little too lively a coach. Getting driven to to the hole by Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) on your first play in the game. Yes, this was all part of the first ever basketball game between members of the city's legislative body and the journalists who cover them. more ›

Good morning, Washington. We know you're all just dying to hear all about how the Damn Media team overwhelmed and crushed the D.C. Council team at yesterday's basketball game at the Verizon Center, and we'll have full coverage for you shortly. In the meantime, our threat to send Martin Austermuhle after Phil Mendelson's mustache on the court appears to have been empty: the At-large Council member never made it to the game, instead sticking around the Wilson building for his MPD oversight hearing with Chief Lanier and Peter Nickles. The Post reports that Lanier made the case that the city's crime cameras have led to a decrease in crime. We know at least some people would likely beg to differ. more ›

Though the National Zoo had expected and prepared for a second black and rufous giant elephant-shrew birth in as many weeks, staff grew concerned when the giant elephant-shrew appeared outside its nest three days after it was born -- nearly three weeks before it should have. Something was wrong. But on Sunday, before zoo staff could intervene, the baby elephant-shrew was killed by its mother. more ›

Check out this ad on Craigslist right now, posted in the tickets section for Friday night's Modest Mouse show at the 9:30 Club:

My tickets are free to the first person who helps me find a new job. more ›

DCist's Verizon Center correspondent Martin Austermuhle reports from the front lines of the impending D.C. Council vs. Media Basketball Game. "I'm here with D.C.'s local media luminaries, and they're not letting us in! Scandal!" Thankfully, WTOP's Mark Segraves updates on his Twitter feed that the security issue has been resolved, possibly after intervention by D.C. Council chairman Vince Gray. But Martin's still worried: "With everyone here, who's actually covering the news?" he muses. "Fenty could dump a month's worth of bad news right now." The rest of us DCists will do our best to pick up the slack, but Martin has a point. We're not likely to see much in the afternoon news cycle today, with so many reporters at the game. more ›

The Post reported this morning that an off-duty police officer shot and killed a suspected robber in the 5300 block of B Street SE at about 5 a.m. Sunday. The killing marks the second police-involved fatal shooting in 2009. more ›

Following up on this morning's news of a Northwest D.C. woman who was stabbed in an attack on Long Island, NY, Newsday is reporting that an arrest has been made. Robert Schiavo, 22, was arrested by Suffolk County Police late Sunday and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Nancy McKinley, 61, of the 1600 block of Beekman Place NW. McKinley, a retired librarian at D.C.'s National Presbyterian School and the wife of a former U.S. ambassador to Haiti, had been visiting a friend in Bellport, NY when she was attacked on Sunday morning by an intruder. Police have not offered a motive for the killing.
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Martin already told you all about it, but we wanted to remind all of our readers that tickets are available for this afternoon's D.C. Council vs. Media basketball game, which precedes the annual City Title games. Tip off for the Council vs. Media game is at 4 p.m, with all proceeds benefiting the District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA) and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC). Duck out of work early and watch DCist's own Martin Austermuhle attempt to strip the ball from Phil Mendelson's mustache. For full team line-ups, click here. And don't miss out on D.C. Wire's preview, featuring video of Team Media's Jonathan O'Connell (Washington Business Journal) looking like a major threat. Go Media! more ›

That date marks when alternate-side street sweeping-related parking restrictions go back into effect after the winter season, though the city gives us a week to get used to it again before issuing $30 tickets: those won't start until March 30. more ›

Good morning, D.C. What a beautifully warm weekend we just had! We hope you managed to enjoy the balmy, early-springlike conditions despite the fact that an entire hour of your life was stolen from you. In Monday morning traffic-is-messed-up-because-of-Angelina Jolie news, DCist's Kyle Gustafson reports that the Salt movie crew is down by the Ellipse this a.m., wreaking havoc on road conditions near the U.S. Dept. of Interior and the surrounding area. Celebrity stalkers and folks who enjoy getting to work on time, head down there and/or avoid the area as applicable. more ›

It starts off like so many routine crime stories: the Post reports this morning that Nathaniel R. Mines Jr., a councilman in Fairmount Heights, Maryland -- just over the District's eastern border in Prince George's County -- was arrested on the charge of impersonating a police officer. Fair enough. But in Fairmount Heights, it's just the most recent incident in a long and tiring series of crimes which the townspeople of "the largest and oldest black community in Prince George’s County" have had to come to terms with. The Post's report contains an almost unreal laundry list of crimes, both alleged and proven, perpetrated by public officials: more ›

The Washington Times reported yesterday that an anonymous club source confirmed that President Obama will indeed throw out the first pitch at the Nationals home opener on April 13 against the Philadelphia Phillies. We previously noted that Obama was considering tossing the pitch, but it seems as if the Prez was able to clear some time out of his Monday schedule to do so. All of you that were planning on ditching work early to catch the 3 p.m. game might want to skip out even earlier than you planned -- who would want to miss scouting whether or not Obama can hit the strike zone? more ›

Whilst enjoying a few beers and the weather with friends yesterday, the conversation wiggled its way towards drinking establishments in Bethesda, D.C.'s friendly borough/township/indefinable blob of offices and residences to the north. Personally -- and, of course, this is opinion at best -- I've got nothing against Bethesda on the whole, but there's certainly no gravitational pull marching me closer to the inner Montgomery County suburban area. Sure, there's a couple of bars, a restaurant here or there, and it's certainly Metro-accessible, but really, it's just kind of...there. more ›

The truck inspection unit is among hundreds of program cuts that County Executive Anthony H. Griffin has proposed as part of a $3.3 billion spending plan that includes layoffs, a freeze in the school allocation and an increase in the property tax rate. more ›

Morning, D.C. What's on tap this weekend? Well, some absolutely gorgeous weather, for one. The forecast for both today and tomorrow calls for highs well into the seventies -- quite the turnaround from last weekend when we were all hunkered down, wondering whether we should go get milk from the corner store. Since we have to give up an hour we could spend sleeping, hanging at the bar, or riding Metro home from hanging at the bar in exchange for more daytime light, it's only fair that the weather's cooperating with a little taste of spring to come. more ›

The Washington Post has a story online about a deer that had to be put to sleep yesterday in Silver Spring. The deer, it seems, had been being chased by a dog, and in its efforts to flee, it first crashed through the front window of Greek Village Restaurant, and then later made its way peacefully inside a Giant Food grocery store, entering through the automatic door. The injured animal was eventually put to sleep once it was captured by animal control. The Post's headline? "Deer Rampage Ends in Silver Spring Supermarket." In the story itself, the frightened deer is alleged to have "ransacked" the greek restaurant, which would seem to mean that the Post believes this deer conducted a thorough inventory of the eatery and then robbed it. We're sure it was startling for patrons inside the restaurant, but "rampage" and "ransacked"? This is a deer we're talking about, right? more ›

Last week, DCist's Andrew Wiseman reported that a NextBus beta site that had been operational for a brief time was removed after inquiries from DCist as to its authenticity. A couple of weeks before, we had asked Metro whether the information we found on the NextBus beta was old or new, and they told us we were looking at old data. Andrew then posted about the site on his personal blog, and a NextBus official responded in comments, announcing that the site was in fact a beta site for the future WMATA NextBus site, expected to formally launch later this year. more ›

Sidewalk signs and sandwich boards like the one pictured above are technically illegal in the District, but hundreds of local businesses have long ignored the law. Take a stroll along M Street in Georgetown, 18th Street in Adams Morgan, or U Street between 15th and 16th and you're likely to find dozens of signs enticing customers with specials and sales dotting the sidewalk along the way. They do it because sidewalk signs are effective, and because the city has rarely bothered to enforce the law. But it looks like that's about to change. more ›

Today is Marion Barry's birthday. The Ward 8 D.C. Council member and former mayor turned 73 today. To celebrate, he's getting out of the hospital. D.C. Wire reports that Barry was released from Howard University Hospital for the second time this afternoon following kidney transplant surgery two weeks ago. Barry was first released on Feb. 27, but was readmitted Monday night after doctors discovered air pockets near his new kidney. Happy Birthday, Councilman! If you're allowed to eat cake now, we hope you get to have some. more ›

UPDATE: Wesley Denton, a spokesperson for Sen. DeMint, has responded by email: more ›

Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Saturday night/early on Sunday morning. Did you forget? more ›

After a tough week that saw legislation to grant the District a voting seat in the House pulled because of a hostile gun law-gutting amendment, voting rights activists are pulling out all the stops in order to save the voting rights measure. The Post reports that activists and congressional proponents of the legislation are targeting 60 conservative legislators, including members of the Blue Dog Democrats, who hold the key votes on this issue. Congressional sources claim to have 190 votes rounded up for the measure, 28 short of what they need for passage. For our part, we hope that the Blue Dogs come to see how outlandishly foolish it is that the NRA just has to hint that they'll score a vote before members of Congress come running to defend their pro-gun credentials. more ›

WTOP Political Analyst Mark Plotkin was raising hell on behalf of D.C. voting rights all over town today. First, he went to the aforementioned D.C. school voucher press conference hosted by Sens. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). In typical Plotkin fashion, he lobbed pointed questions at the Senators, along with the D.C. students they had brought along as props, on the voting rights bill, causing him, as D.C. Wire reported, to be questioned and called "rude" by a Weekly Standard writer. more ›

Been laid off recently? You and a lot of other people. The Washington Business Journal reports on a recession-themed publicity gimmick from FedEx Office (the old FedEx Kinkos) offering anyone out in the job market the opportunity to print 25 free copies of their résumés all day on Tuesday, March 10. That sounds like a nice idea, but of course the catch is that it would involve having to go inside a FedEx Office location, speak to an employee there and expect them to both be aware of the promotion and be willing to help you print your résumés. Is 25 free copies worth the hassle? more ›

We're all still waiting for the Obama family to bring home their probably-Portuguese water dog sometime next month. In the meantime, first daughters Malia and Sasha were surprised by their folks after school on Wednesday with this totally sweet swing set. As you can see in the above photo, the play equipment has been installed right outside the windows of the Oval Office—as if scoring a play date at the White House wasn't already the hottest ticket in town. more ›

The Post's Paul Schwartzman reports that the Old Georgetown Board has, at long last, voted to approve a design for a new Apple Store on Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown. The approval comes only after the rejection of four previous proposals, much to the ire of the Fenty administration, residents and business owners who wanted to see Apple come to the neighborhood. We have yet to see an image yet the approved design, but Schwartzman says it "includes a paneled glass storefront that echoes the entrances to neighboring properties." There's still more approvals needed before a construction timeline can be put together, but the Board's decision marks the last major hurdle to D.C. getting its first Apple Store. more ›

We missed this little tidbit this morning -- the two House members who have offered D.C. gun law-gutting amendments to the D.C. Voting Rights Act have been outed. The Washington Times today identified Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Rep. Steve King (R-IA) as the culprits. We've long known that Texans seems to have it in for the District (Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Rep. Louie Gohmert and Rep. Lamar Smith are longstanding D.C. foes), but now we have to add Nevada to that list? Remember that it was just this morning that we wrote about what Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) thinks about our struggle for voting rights (he doesn't, really). We also couldn't help but notice that Rep. Heller shares the same last name and has the same number of letters in his first name as the plaintiff who got the Supreme Court to knock down the District's handgun ban. Freaky. more ›

Metro released its March track maintenance schedule earlier this week, with some big delays to take note of this coming weekend and beyond. more ›

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) may be a reliable Republican, but he's never made much noise when it comes to the District. That changed last week when he successfully added an amendment to legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House that would effectively gut the city's gun laws. While many a Republican before him have done the same -- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) first among them -- it is his move that could end up sinking the measure. more ›

Wednesday was the NHL trade deadline; this is the time of year when teams expected to contend for the Stanley Cup traditionally make big splashy acquisitions of nearly-washed up superstars desperate to make one more push for a championship. This year the Washington Post thought the Caps might try to pick up Chris Pronger. Some New York City media thought the Caps had tried to acquire Bill Guerin. We thought the Caps should go after Jay Bouwmeester. Instead the Capitals did nothing. more ›

D.C. police are asking for the public's help in searching for a missing 92-year-old woman who was last seen Wednesday afternoon. more ›

At the beginning of February, D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra, was reportedly the choice of the Obama administration as the new Office of Management and Budget administrator for e-government and information technology. But this morning he's been bumped up, with an announcement from President Obama that Kundra will become the nation's first Federal Chief Information Officer. more ›

Good morning, Washington. After a week of cold temperatures and Monday's snow storm, today's sunny with a high of 46 feels practically spring-like. But we're even more excited about removing that "practically" and moving into "actual" spring-like this weekend. We're talking 69 degrees on Saturday, and up to 72 on Sunday. Start making your outdoor plans now. more ›

• An arrest has been made in the shooting death of 14-year-old Arthur Daniels over the weekend. 18-year-old Ransom Perry is being held in connection with the homicide. Daniels's family said they do not believe Perry had a connection to their son.
• What is up with Prince George's County school teachers duct taping their students' mouths shut? A second teacher in the county is now under investigation for allegedly covering several third-grade students' mouths with duct tape.
• A new reports says that 5,500 workers in the D.C. region lost their jobs in February, and that's apparently good news by comparison to other cities.

WTOP has the story on what caused this morning's major Orange and Blue line delays: a large piece of maintenance equipment derailed near Cheverly. The incident marked the fourth derailment on the Metro system in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, a vacuum maintenance truck derailed twice on the same day along the Orange Line, and later that evening, an empty passenger train derailed at the Mt. Vernon Square/7th Street/Convention Center station. Today's incident damaged some of the tracks near the Cheverly station, which had to be repaired. more ›

We mentioned it briefly in this morning's roundup, but there's a bit more information available on last night's fatal rowhouse fire in the 400 block of Emerson Street NW. The victim's name has still not been released pending notification of her family, but the Post is reporting that she was 64 years old. She was found on the 2nd floor of the home and pronounced dead later a local hospital. A second person who was in the home sustained non-life threatening injuries. The cause of the fire is believed to have been accidental, and DCFD is investigating why the woman who died was not able to escape. The home reportedly did have working smoke detectors. more ›

In the grand tradition of several previous baby animal naming polls, the National Zoo has opened up voting on a name for its new baby girl gorilla. With a promise that the name that gets the most votes will be chosen, an announcement will follow mid-month. That doesn't give us much time to make sure the right name is selected. more ›

WUSA9 News is reporting that Marion Barry has been quietly re-admitted to Howard University Hospital, just a handful of days after being released following his kidney transplant surgery. They quote a Barry spokesperson saying the Ward 8 Council member and former mayor is expected to remain in the hospital at least through the end of the week. Doctors apparently became concerned about Barry's condition after examining him on Monday, and promptly admitted him to the hospital, thus explaining why he did not attend yesterday's Council legislative session. The news means that Barry will likely spend his birthday in the hospital. He turns 73 on Friday. more ›

We first heard yesterday afternoon that today's vote on the D.C. Voting Rights Act in the House had been pulled from the schedule, and this morning more details have emerged on why it happened. The Hill reports that word got around the Capitol yesterday that the National Rifle Association was planning to turn a procedural vote related to the bill into one of its infamous "test votes," which means House members would be scored by the NRA on their friendliness toward pro-gun legislation just by deciding to bring the current D.C. voting bill to the floor. Yesterday's 5 p.m. House Rules Committee hearing on the measure was indeed canceled shortly before it was set to begin. Politico and the Post also have stories. more ›

Good morning, Washington, and welcome back to the bearable side of freezing (later today, anyway). The Capital Weather folks are saying that the snow will hang around for a bit longer, but temperatures should begin to warm up by the end of the week. Your commute isn't getting any better just yet, though: not only is it still cold, but there are major delays on the Orange and Blue lines this morning. U St. Barista Shoots Himself in the Leg: NBC4 alerts us to a story that almost rivals the recent assault on McGruff. For some reason an employee of the 16th & U Starbucks franchise was carrying a gun, which accidentally discharged yesterday afternoon, shooting him in the leg. He's expected to recover, but is now facing a weapons charge (presumably Starbucks will have something to say about bringing guns to work, too). P.G. Officers Suspended: WJLA has some disturbing video of a police traffic stop in Berwyn Heights that occurred last year. In it, two officers are seen stopping a driver named Rafael Rodriguez because of an issue with the lights on his car. Rodriguez appears to try to cooperate, but is pepper sprayed, manhandled and eventually clubbed. Since the tape came to light — thanks to a subpoena request from Rodriguez's lawyer — the officers have been suspended. The DOJ has apparently also requested a copy of it. Briefly Noted: Fenty criticized for UAE trip by local rabbi... MPD officer injured in motorcycle accident while escorting Gordon Brown... More women come forward with claims against Vienna nurse... Md.'s proposed death penalty repeal weakened in order to keep its chances alive... Fire kills woman in NW... Mother charged in death of daughter she claimed had run away... This Day In DCist: One year ago DDOT pondered bus lanes on K Street and the zoo sent an oryx back to Africa. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user jjgardner more ›

Defensive end Jason Taylor, the Redskins’ big-name acquisition last year and Dancing With the Stars runner-up, was released by the ‘Skins on Monday because he refused to let the organization add a workout clause to his contract. more ›

Barry underwent kidney transplant surgery on Feb. 20. more ›

The Hill's Mike Soraghan is reporting that the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, known as H.R. 157, has been pulled from tomorrow’s House legislative calendar due to concerns over a controversial amendment added to the Senate's version of the bill that would repeal the District's gun laws. more ›

The Examiner's Scott McCabe provides the details in today's strangest crime story. D.C. police officer Tyrone Hardy was dressed up as the iconic McGruff the Crime Dog on Saturday afternoon, interacting with a group of children at the corner of 14th Street and Spring Road NW, when a Metrobus driver allegedly stopped his bus, got out of the vehicle, walked over to McGruff and punched the mascot in the face. No kidding.

McGruff staggered, children screamed and the crime dog’s attacker jumped back into the bus and drove off, police said. A call of an assault on a police officer went out over the police radio while passengers on the bus yelled at Brim.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, MPD Chief Cathy Lanier and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor have scheduled a news conference for 1:15 p.m. to announce further developments in the Chandra Levy case. The Associated Press has just reported that an arrest warrant has been issued for Ingmar Guandique, the suspect named in news reports late last month. Guandique is currently in federal prison in Adelanto, Calif., for attacking two other women in Rock Creek Park. We'll be sure to update after the press conference. more ›

It's undeniably still winter outside, but today we're provided with a tangible reminder that spring is so close we can almost taste it. The National Cherry Blossom Festival had their annual press conference this morning at the Newseum, where they announced the peak bloom dates for D.C.'s famous pink blossoms: April 3 through 9. That's the time period when National Park Service horticulturists believe the cherry blossoms will be at their fullest and most beautiful. more ›

The Examiner points us to this Rasmussen Reports poll that claims to show that 40 percent of U.S. voters prefer retrocession to Maryland to the compromise struck by the D.C. House Voting Rights Act. Other purported findings of the poll: only 45 percent support giving the District a vote in the House, and 60 percent oppose statehood for D.C. more ›

Itching to get a glimpse of the post-Bowden, Skinny Screech'd Washington Nationals this coming season? Or maybe just morbidly curious to watch the struggling team take on the world champion Philadelphia Phillies in their home opener on April 13? Nats single game tickets went on sale at 9 a.m. this morning, and we were still able to score some reasonably priced opening day tickets around 10:30 a.m. One tip—if at first the system tells you there are no tickets available in the price range you requested, try again in another area. The web site kept trying to insist all that was left were $55 tickets for a while, but after 10 minutes we bought four $20 tickets with no problem. more ›

In case you missed yesterday's late-breaking news, the D.C. Court of Appeals unanimously denied Roy Pearson's petition hear his appeal for a second time. more ›

Good morning, Washington. The city woke up to very cold temperatures this morning after Monday's snow storm—DCist's weather widget reads 17 degrees as we type—which means those of you who didn't shovel your walks are in league with the Devil. It's all ice on the unshoveled sidewalks and gross, dirty slush in the gutters today. If your trash pickup was scheduled for today, know that DPW Director William Howland, Jr. sais in a statement yesterday that the city is "making every effort to collect this week’s trash and recycling," but that trucks are slipping in alleys and some collections might be missed. DCist can report that trash was successfully collected from DCist HQ this morning. more ›

We tragically didn't make it down to the ESPN Zone today for the official unveiling of the new Screech mascot by the Washington Nationals. For a full accounting of how the event went down, head to the Sports Bog. In the meantime, check out this Fox 5 video below for the new Screech in action (we'd recommend going ahead and turning the sound off). more ›

Canadian television personality Don Cherry grabbed some press this weekend for saying that Alexander Ovechkin celebrates his goals with too much exuberance. Cherry said he favors the Canadian way. Don Cherry is famous for making inflammatory statements while wearing suits in which Elton John would not be caught dead. more ›

We're getting reports of a fire in an apartment building at 1916 17th Street NW. The fire reportedly originated in an apartment on the 4th floor of the building. So far the DCFD response is limited to a single alarm, but there are a number of fire trucks on the scene, and southbound 17th street is currently blocked in the area—best to avoid the area until it's cleared. more ›

Fire crews have been called to respond to a suspicious package at Allison and 8th Streets NW in Petworth, a relatively unusual spot for such an incident. more ›

We're sure a visit to the National Zoo is the last thing on your mind on this wintry morning, but DCist never falls down on the job when there's a new baby animal to coo over, snow be damned. Two of the Zoo's black and rufous giant elephant-shrews, or sengis, had a little baby elephant-shrew several weeks ago, but zookeepers in the Small Mammal House only announced they discovered the animal late Friday. Zoo biologist Ashton Shaffer, in this Flickr video, described the birth as rare, although the two parent elephant-shrews the Zoo acquired from the Philadelphia Zoo in 2007 have had at least four offspring since they arrived in D.C. more ›

The Post's Nikita Stewart reports what members of the D.C. Council apparently already knew, but the public did not: Ward 3 D.C. Council member Mary Cheh was diagnosed with breast cancer last fall. Cheh has already undergone radiation treatment and a lumpectomy at Sibley Memorial Hospital, and told Stewart that her doctors have said her prognosis is good (she'll continue to be treated with drugs for the next five years). The Council member said she is disclosing her illness to draw attention to the need for women to be tested often. "I want to be a poster child for early detection," she told the Post. more ›

Good snowy morning, Washington! Let's get down to it. A winter storm warning is in effect until 2 p.m., there's plenty of snow on the ground (around 5" in the city so far, with more expected) and heavy snow is still falling as we type. But the closings and delays for the day are a mixed bag—you probably still have to get your butt in to work eventually. more ›

Someone has to save the world—but it won't be DDOT. Now that a snow emergency has been declared and the Capital Weather Gang has ruled that between 4 and 8 inches of sky is going to fall, you'll need to move your car if you've parked along a designated snow-emergency route. Even in the face of Armageddon, DDOT will not be deterred from handing out $250 fines. . See the snow emergency towing policy or look for the dread red sign. more ›

It's not often in professional sports that the home team has the chance to keep the best player on the visiting team after the game, but that might be the case this afternoon if the Capitals can make the right impression on the Florida Panthers. Panthers defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is an emerging star. He plays defense well, passes the puck well and scores goals. All year, Florida has tried to secure a long-term contract to keep him in a Panthers uniform. But this week, the Panthers' general manager said he is actively considering trades for the All-Star. more ›

Well, that was quick: less than 24 hours after we relayed the news that Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden was on the hot seat, Bowden resigned from his post, citing that his "ability to properly represent the Washington Nationals has been compromised because of false allegations contained in the press." The Nats have not yet named a replacement or an interim GM. Bowden's resignation comes less than a week after the team fired of his longtime assistant, Jose Rijo, who was helming Nationals' operations in the Dominican Republic. Rijo and Bowden -- who maintains his complete innocence -- are both involved in a federal investigation over the signing of Dominican shortstop Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo, who, after receiving the largest signing bonus in team history, turned out to be four years older than believed. With spring training well into full swing, the Nats are keeping the wheels moving with assistant general manager Mike Rizzo at the helm. There's no word on what strategy the team will take to replace Bowden. more ›