Results tagged “cars”

A "lack of interior space" seems like a fairly redundant complaint about a DMV outpost, but in any case: the Brentwood Service Center outpost of the District Department of Motor Vehicles will close permanently on August 14. The move leaves Northeast residents in a bind, as that quadrant of the city will soon be the only one without a DMV service center.

OK, let's say we're police officers at a union meeting in Montgomery County. The County's under a severe budgetary crisis. The powers that be have asked the union to voluntarily give up our 4.25 percent yearly increase in salary. If they're smart, the union will ask the County for something so off-the-wall that they'll realize that the small savings they'll get from eliminating the cost-of-living increase wouldn't be worth it. Hmm, what to ask for? I've got it! Let's tell them that we'll give up our raises, something that will save them a little less than $5 million this year, if they let us drive our patrol cars whenever we want for personal use! Oh man, that's a good one...wait, they accepted? And they're going to pay for the car's gas and maintenance? And there's only a 15-mile limit on driving the cars outside the county? What a deal. (Sheesh, I probably would have settled for some kick-ass tricycles.)

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?)

The Examiner yesterday brought us the unfortunate news that Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham is putting a temporary kibosh on the long-planned first phase of DDOT's streetcar plans. The first stage of the plan - noted as "Anacostia Phase 1" on the map to your right - would link Bolling Air Force Base to Anacostia Metro station. The line's a vital part of the District's long-term plans to connect the majority of Southeast to the rest of the city.

You may have read Eric Weiss's story in Sunday's Washington Post, which described the District's attempts to improve pedestrian safety and encourage walking and mass transit use as a "war against workers who drive into the city." There's not much more to say about it that David Alpert and Ryan Avent haven't already said. This sums it up nicely (from Avent):

Essentially, Eric Weiss went around the suburbs asking folks to bitch about the District’s efforts to make the District a better place for people who live and pay taxes in the District

I applaud your coverage of the regional transportation issues. Re-examining our choices in light of current resource presures and climate risks is increasingly important. However, as you report, please be careful not to "make the news" by framing issues from one side or the other? For example, the poll associated with this article asks "Do you agree with the city's plan to discourage people from driving into the District?" I suspect the response would be different if it read "Do you agree with the city's plan to improve air quality and pedestrian safety, and provide safe routes to school?"

Do you own a car and have it registered in the District of Columbia? If so, you've already been through the nightmare of attempting to get your vehicle inspected at the District's only inspection facility at 1001 Half Street SW. Many of you have complained that there has to be a more efficient way to conduct inspections - well, now there is. WTOP reports that the D.C. DMV is now accepting reservations for appointments at the inspection station between 6:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. One word of advice though, for those of you with ESP: appointments scheduled during a major heat wave could get bumped.

     

Our own Andrew Wiseman last night happened upon what was no doubt the beginning of a really terrible morning for several Columbia Heights residents. On 13th Street NW between Clifton and Fairmont, a row of five or more parked cars were smashed up by another car crashing into them. Some had missing wheels, front ends knocked off, crunched fenders, broken bumpers and more. Police had already arrived on the scene by the time Andrew showed up with his camera phone -- check out the destruction left behind.

Editor's Note: Erin Zimmer, DCist Staff writer, is a senior at Georgetown. Last night, she took part in the festivities following Georgetown's Elite Eight victory over UNC. The following is an account of the proceedings. For all of last night's game, Georgetown townhouses kept their doors open. Crowds of kids huddled around their televisions, jumping up and down at every play. But once the magical three-pointer tied up the game (81-81) with 24 seconds left...

Friday night D.C. welcomed a fresh face, an old friend, and a foreign band with a peculiar fascination with hands, eyes, and lights. We walked in to American University’s Bender Arena catching only the tail end of the Silversun Pickups' set to find the bleacher seats completely filled. It was as if the concert goers were forced to attend some lecture rather than voluntarily choosing to buy tickets to a show. Maybe they were just...

Good morning, D.C. That wasn't too bad, was it? We got our projected inch of snow (more or less), but for the most part civilization continues. You can find a list of closings and delays here — the most notable is probably the two hour delay announced by District schools. But the snow isn't the only problem they're facing: yesterday more than three dozen D.C. schools experienced heat problems, and this morning three are...

A few hours spent with the Essex Green’s back catalog, and you get to wondering if they weren’t born a couple generations too late. A number of indie bands may be an exercise in “spot-the-influence,” but with the Green it’s often hard to make up your mind exactly which 60s band they’re aiming for. For example, is the intro of "Snakes in the Grass" more Paul Revere and the Raiders (think "Indian Reservation") or Monkees...

As 2006 ends and 2007 begins, the -ists look back not at the past week, but at the past year. So here it is, your Best of 2006 Spectacular. And from all of us at the -ists, happy New Year! Austinist was all about controversy as new construction to increase urban density ran rampant in 2006, as did threats to the city's image from gigantic corporations looking to set up shop in town, leading...

Morning, D.C. Man, it got cold over the weekend, didn't it? One moment on Friday I'm biking around town in my skirt, next moment I'm huddled on the couch in the fetal position, swathed in comforters. And don't even get me started on the Skins...Anyways, it looks like it'll just be in the high 30s today, so pull those gloves and that scarf on. Episcopal Church Votes on Departure: The Post reports that two...

Laura Graves loves chocolate and she has been eating and baking with it for as long as she can remember. The 33 year-old Arlington resident is a self-described chocoholic, so when she decided to quit her marketing job last fall to make gourmet chocolate truffles full time, no one who knew her was too surprised. But she craved something healthier to pair with her chocolate fix, and she sensed that consumers did, too. Graves started...

Did you get caught on Connecticut Avenue near the Uptown Theatre last night? Were you blinded by the sight of limos and more barricades than you can shake a stick at? We were. And, boy, was traffic, both of the automobile and pedestrian sort, a riot. Looks like it was all courtesy of the premiere of the movie The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher and Sela Ward. We didn't spot any stars, but, according...

If there is one thing that the U.S. can learn from Europe, it's how to best balance urban living, transportation needs, and environmental consciousness. If there is one car that can best make that point, it's the Smart Car.

Written by DCist Tom Lee, on the road in the wilds of western North Carolina.

MONDAY >> You scream, I scream, we all scream for British and 70s-inspired rock. Double your pleasure tonight at the Black Cat, as The Points (Fredericksburg's answer to Kings of Leon) and The Cuts (think The Cure meets The Thrills) work the back stage. $7, 9 p.m. >> We caught The Parachute Musical a while ago, opening for Deleted Scenes (who you may have seen at last week's Unbuckled). They turn out impressive piano pop,...

As a Brookland resident, one comes to realize that cabbing home from District night spots brings its own set of difficulties. Despite living just blocks from major D.C. landmarks and minutes from downtown, neighborhood residents learn that when hailing a cab, they're going to have to get in the car before telling the driver the destination, they're going to have to give him detailed directions on how to get there, and they're going to have to reassure the driver several times that it's not much further. Brooklanders (myself included) are sometimes boggled by the cabbie response -- this is Northeast, after all, not the wilds of Outer Suburbia -- but I have come to accept it as part of living on the other side of North Capitol Street.

Does Vienna Really Look Like That?

Good morning, Washington. We hope you had an enjoyable weekend - whether it was checking out the D.C. United game (they tied Chicago 0-0 and will play again next weekend), discovering the FSM in the Metro, or checking out Howard's homecoming. Be prepared for wet weather today - today will be cloudy with rain developing later in the day and temperatures in the 50s.

There are bits and pieces of music info floating around out there that we thought you should know about, dear readers. At first we'd thought we'd try to put them together in some sort of organized manner, but then decided we were too lazy for that. So what follows? Just some tidbits about events and news that we threw together in a random fashion. Because we love you like that. >> A couple of performances...

With the rainy, cloudy weather -- all dominated by the intense news coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II -- it hasn't been the most uplifting past couple of days. Since we can't add much more to what's been said or written about the late pope, we'll do a survey of obituaries and headlines on the jump. But first, here's what you may have missed on DCist. -- If you're late for...

It was an all-European, all-the-time line up last night at the 9:30 Club as DCist headed out to see a bill of Long-View, a group from Manchester, Scottish quintet Dogs Die In Hot Cars and Parisian band Phoenix. Though we'd been hearing some buzz surrounding all three groups, especially following Long-View and DDIHC's recent performances at SXSW, we went into the concert without any expectations, but came out pleasantly surprised.

The best word we can think of to describe openers Long-View and their style is "sleepy." Their music, while polished and pretty, didn't do too much to keep us awake during their set, and even the band members looked like they had rolled right out of bed with their mussed-up hair and droopy eyes. Though we didn't find their performance particularly energetic, lead vocalist Rob McVey has a lovely voice, and some of their catchier, dreamier songs were a pleasure to listen to.

Dogs Die In Hot Cars, despite their terrible, terrible name, played a set full of energy and charming abandon. But their singles, "I Love You Because I Have To" and "Godhopping," with their new wave-y hooks and almost ska-like undertones, were the only songs of the set that really stood out to us. The rest of the tunes sounded like a pastiche of Talking Heads and Dexys Midnight Runners -- not necessarily a bad thing, and the band compensated with their playful, exuberant performance -- but much of their music seemed like a syrupy rehash of
songs that sounded better the first time they came around in the 1990s.

In addition to the HFStival announcement, there are a few other bits and pieces floating around -- and we'd just hate ourselves if we didn't tell you about them. First off, an eagle-eyed reader let us know that tickets for the Bright Eyes/The Faint are already on sale. Though the two shows on Thursday, May 26 and Friday, May 27 haven't been posted on the 9:30 Club's home page, you can hit up their sales...

In a continuing attempt to improve WMATA's image and customer relations reputation, Metro General Manager Richard White took to the Internet this afternoon and fielded questions, concerns, and complaints from commuters during his third hour-long online forum over the same number of months. Among the issues discussed were the following: Security: White admitted that the federal government had provided only $7 million in homeland security funding for the transit system over the last two years,...

FRIDAY: >> It's what all the cool kids are doing: Liberation Dance Party goes on tonight at DC9. If you're going to the Dogs Die in Hot Cars (pictured at right) show at the 9:30 Club, make sure to hit DC9 afterwards, because they'll be doing a spot of post-show spinning. SATURDAY: >> Get crafty: The Washington Craft Show takes place all weekend long, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Washington Convention Center....

Stadium Opponents Fill Council Chambers: A public hearing on the District's baseball stadium plan was contentious as opponents, who held a rally outside prior to the D.C. City Council's meeting on the matter, packed the Wilson Building chamber. Police removed a few vocal opponents who interrupted the proceedings. Mayor Anthony Williams, who didn't testify, said bluntly that the plan would go through. From the Post: "It's going to happen," Williams said, although the project requires...

Have used batteries, motor oil, old televisions, chemistry sets and the like that you want to get rid of? Please don't use the Anacostia River as a dumping ground. But do take advantage of D.C.'s free disposal service. The District's annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection is coming up in two weekends on Saturday, Oct. 24, and District officials are starting to spread the word. Check out what can be disposed of (including asbestos tiles and roofing tar) and what can't (anything with biological or radiological waste).

We borrowed that headline from last week�s Slow Lane column in the Weekend Financial Times. In the column, Slow Lane tells us that oftentimes our rage is directed at those who had very little to do with the actual problem, citing train operators on underfunded rail networks as those who sometimes unfairly bear the brunt of the rage of commuters.