Yesterday, news broke that Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) had introduced an amendment to a defense bill that would have forced the move of the District's New Beginnings Youth Development Center -- our 60-bed youth detention facility -- from its current location in Laurel to a plot of land on the existing Walter Reed Army Medical Center which will be turned over to the city for re-development next year. Without the move, Cardin warned, he'd stop the city from getting a 62.5-acre parcel that will be re-developed into retail space, residences, offices, and even two charter schools. more ›

Yesterday afternoon the Senate unanimously approved Mayor Adrian Fenty's school takeover legislation. The vote finally came after three separate holds were placed, and then quickly lifted, by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and at the very final hour, Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) placed the third Senate hold on the bill. Levin removed the hold after speaking with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton. Now the bill only awaits approval from President Bush, who... more ›

It's a drizzly Thursday morning out there, D.C., and it seems like every ... single ... local news headline ... we've run across has to do with this Tuesday's election. Rest assured, we'll have DCist's own election guide for you later this afternoon, but we'll also have plenty of our regular music, food and other odd goodies. Because lord knows we could all stand a break from the Midterm Midtacular (hat tip to The Daily... more ›

Happy Halloween, Washington! We love this holiday. It's an excellent excuse to gorge on candy, dress up like an idiot and generally have a spookily good time. Besides, it's the last celebration before the holidays begin to feel like thinly-veiled attempts to pretend that it isn't actually cold and awful outside. Steele Gets Some Democrats' Endorsement: It appears that some African-American Democrats in Maryland are unhappy with their party's nominee for Senate — and have decided to make their displeasure known now, endorsing Republican Michael Steele with only a week left before the election. the Post reports that the group, led by former P.G. County Executive Wayne Curry, is frustrated by their party's failure to support black candidates. Perhaps this is why the Washington Times is quoting Steele as saying that he wished a recent appearance on Meet The Press with his opponent, Ben Cardin, had included some discussion of matters of race (the two did discuss affirmative action during the appearance). Yet More Md. Ballot Mishaps: Oh Maryland, Maryland, Maryland. Come on, guys. This is starting to get ridiculous. Missing keycards, rebooting machines, late ballot deliveries — it's been a chaotic election season in the Old Line State. And yes, now there's another embarrassing chapter: as the Examiner notes, Governor Ehrlich and his running mate Kristen Cox made a point of voting by absentee ballot — they say it was to encourage concerned voters to avoid the state's new Diebold voting machines, while opponents say it was a gambit to suppress turnout. Whatever the reason for the absentee advocacy, it seems to be working. Well, sort of. When Cox tried to vote, it didn't go very well: she was given a different person's ballot. Kidnapping Suspect Arrested: It may be Halloween, but we're glad to hear that the city just got a little bit less actually-scary: the Post reports that a suspect has been arrested in connection with a series of abductions around the city. The victims were detained by a man impersonating a police officer, who then forced them to withdraw money from ATMs before releasing them. Caliss Johnson was arrested after being identified by virtue of an ATM surveillance photo (and his considerable girth). Briefly Noted: Montgomery County trying to reduce number of mobile classrooms... Steele campaign benefits from push-polling, denies involvement... Purple line not delayed after all... VCU lit mag to publish new Plath poem... Family establishes reward fund for murdered Arlington veteran... Area airport wait times increasing... Who to blame for this morning's commute... This Day In DCist: One year ago we wallowed in our local teams' crapulence and talked about a nasty feud among neighbors. Two years ago we were excited about WMATA's new website. Image by Flickr user ewedistrict, used under a Creative Commons Sharealike license more ›