Good morning, Washington. The first weekend in December debuts, and it’s going to be sunny and mild with temperatures rising to about 50 by the afternoon. Sans the October snowstorm, the start of the winter season hasn’t been too bad. more ›

Good morning, Washington. DCist heard from a tipster Thursday night that "several hundred" people were planning to converge on McPherson Square Saturday morning for a sister protest to New York’s "Occupy Wall Street." NBC Washington reports that at the height of participation Saturday, the group called "Occupy DC" amounted to about 40 to 50 people whose protests were often drowned out by a women’s percussion practice across the square. more ›

Apparently, things in the print media industry are even worse than we thought. Patch reports that Peter Labovitz, the president and CEO of Alexandria-based Connection Newspapers, will be heading to jail after he collected thousands of dollars in payroll taxes from his employees, but failed to send the money to the IRS. more ›

UPDATE: The woman has reportedly recanted, saying she was in a fight at her home instead of being injured on WMATA property. more ›

The History Channel is currently featuring a rather fascinating series, How The States Got Their Shapes -- and a recent episode covered the return of the District's ten miles square to Virginia, or how "George Washington's perfect diamond was torn apart." more ›

You think the District's the only place where people with connections (allegedly) proposition the guy in charge for a high-paying job? Think again. Confederate General Robert E. Lee was fielding these kind of requests back in the 1860s, guys. more ›

Great news for all of you food truck fans. As the food truck scene continues to grow and expand, our very own Fojol Bros. of Merlindia has been named one of the best food trucks in the nation. more ›

Driving to Green Olive Buffet & Grill is like entering another world. The restaurant sits about halfway between Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon, an area little known to most Washingtonians. A 30 minute drive from downtown D.C., this stretch of Old Richmond Highway is a mix of newly developed shopping centers, chain restaurants, and relic motor lodges advertising vacancies and modern conveniences such as A/C and free HBO. That and the best old-school Chinese/American buffet in the region by far. more ›

It's never too early -- even if you're an Imperial Stormtrooper -- to celebrate a slice of the Irish life. Even though St. Patrick's Day won't officially be here for another ten days, that wasn't going to stop Alexandria from getting their green on and marching down King Street on Saturday. more ›

Alexander Rivas, 18, has been charged with running a prostitution ring involving underage girls. Rivas, a member of the MS-13 gang, allegedly transported teenage girls who had run away from their homes into the D.C. area to work as prostitutes. A 17-year-old girl involved in the prostitution ring reported to investigators that Rivas would carry a machete, which he called "his wife," with him when he took her to prostitution appointments. Federal prosecutors say that he got his customers from men who would come to his apartment to buy beer. Rivas has been charged with sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, or coercion. Sex trafficking is usually levied as a charge when a person is brought across state lines as a part of the sex trade industry.
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Gulet Mohamed, a 19-year-old from Alexandria who was placed on a no-fly list and detained in Kuwait for nearly a month, returned to United States soil at Dulles International Airport this morning. Mohamed, who had been traveling through Yemen and Somalia, was locked up after attempting to renew his visa at an airport in Kuwait. He then claims he was beaten during questioning by federal authorities. more ›

If you missed the opportunity to make a reservation for your favorite D.C. Winter Restaurant Week participant, you may want to turn your attention to Alexandria's Restaurant Week. Alexandria's event, which runs from January 21-30, has restaurants providing two options: three-course meals for $35 and $35 dinners for two. While some of the more high-end Alexandria restaurants aren't participating, there are still some deals to be had. more ›

If you're not headed to Columbia Heights Day or taking in the insanity on the Mall this weekend, you can catch the last three days of Alexandria Restaurant Week, which runs through Sunday, August 29. While a good portion of the restaurants participating in the $35 deal are less-than-stellar options, some reasonable deals can be had with the $35 dinners for two. One stop we must recommend: be sure to swing by the Dairy Godmother for their special $3.50 sweet treats. more ›

Yesterday afternoon, a massive thunderstorm tore through Alexandria like Superman through a phone book -- the damage was so extensive, that the Mayor of Alexandria told reporters last night, without hyperbole, that the Del Ray area of town looked like a "war zone." DCist staff photographer Meaghan Gay, a resident of Alexandria, documented the area in the immediate aftermath; a large number of Virginia homes are still without power this afternoon. more ›

Thieves in Alexandria have made off with over $60,000 thanks to a skimming device that was installed at an ATM at the Wachovia Bank branch at 3624 King Street, Alexandria Police say. more ›

Do Confederate colors run? A water main break in Old Town Alexandria may put the question to the test. North Washington St. City between King Street and Duke Street, which this writer understands to be pretty important streets in Alexandria, is closed in both directions owing to a water main break that occurred at 6:30 a.m. this morning, according to ABC7. The Washington Post notes that the water main falls directly under a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier erected in 1889. As the Washington Post helpfully reports, "The statue's rear end is seen from the north." Indeed.
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If two sex shops are able to remain open in the relatively small Old Town Alexandria commercial district, someone must enjoy patronizing them. Yet Alexandria city planners proposed to ban further sex shops from opening in the historic district, according to ABC7. That decision that would have grandfathered in Le Tache but forced the more recently opened Lotus Blooms to close. Both stores are located on King Street. (Those links are potentially NSFW, especially if you work in Old Town Alexandria.) more ›

Former Alexandria Police Chief David Baker is back in the news this week, thanks to agreeing to appear in this PSA for the DUICheckpoint campaign, a joint effort from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation. You'll recall that Baker retired from his position shortly before pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated and serving five days in jail. more ›

There's nothing classy about driving drunk, perhaps especially when you're the Chief of Police. But former Alexandria Police Chief David Baker has at least managed to handle the aftermath of his recent DUI arrest with a healthy amount of respect for the law. After retiring from his position almost immediately following his arrest, Baker today pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, and will serve five days in jail. Baker will also lose his driver's license for a year, pay a $300 fine and attend the county's Alcohol Safety Action Program for DUI offenders. From the statement Baker released after his court hearing, via the Post: "I offer no excuses for my bad decisions and behavior because there are none. And I am, and will be, forever haunted by the personal embarrassment and humiliation I caused to those who have supported, mentored and guided me through my personal life and long and rewarding public safety career." more ›

Remember those fancy renderings of Nationals Park, the ones which showed it as a center of lively activity from both the land and the river? While the development freeze on the land side has been well documented, we were recently wondering about what's been going on with the plans to make the riverside a fun place to hang out too. more ›

Alexandria Police Chief David P. Baker resigned this afternoon, everyone in town is reporting. Baker's decision comes amid growing criticism due to his arrest over the weekend on DUI charges, after causing a car accident in Arlington that injured at least one person. In a letter to his entire department, Baker, 58, called the resignation a "retirement." 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 ›

Perhaps it’s time to change up the old routine. Maybe, instead of coming home from work and snuggling up on the couch with your block of aged cheddar, smoked gouda, a knife, and a box of Triscuits, it’s time to take your cheese habit to a more refined setting. more ›

Mired in layers of red tape since its purchase in March 2007, Fontaine Caffe and Crêperie has been the fascination of Kyong Yi, formerly of Teatro Goldoni and Galileo, and her sister Sunyi stemming from a trip to Vienna, Austria. The crêperie, which opened in late January, now sports a bright red sign, easily spotted from its location just off of King Street’s busy thoroughfare. more ›

Yesterday the Examiner reported that Alexandria officials are hoping to force interested developers to help foot the bill for two new infill Metro stations in the growing Potomac Yard and Eisenhower Avenue corridor areas. more ›

Via USA Today's Pop Candy blog, Amazon.com has put out a list of what they're calling the country's "Most Romantic Cities" (just in time for Valentine's Day promotional product tie-ins!) -- except by "most romantic" they actually appear to mean "most in need of more romance". The list corresponds to the web site's top locations for sales of romance novels, relationship and sex books. Two Northern Virginia cities in the metro area made the top ten, with Alexandria coming out tops in the nation for potentially embarrassing reading habits. more ›