Cell phone service providers and the FCC joined with police commissioners in D.C. today to announce new initiatives to tamp down on the theft of smart phones and electronic gadgets. more ›

Just as many other cities across the country, D.C. has been hit by a rash of robberies, a large part targeting people with iPhones and other electronic gadgets. Now D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier has a message for national cell phone service providers—step up and help stop the thefts. more ›

Yesterday D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and Mayor Vince Gray announced a number of arrests in connection to thefts of electronic gadgets, which have spiked in 2012. more ›

Everyone knows -- or they should -- that it's illegal to hold a cell phone while you're operating a vehicle in the District of Columbia. But based on the number of citations police have again recorded this year, there's more evidence that most people just don't care. more ›

And now, for today's lesson in cultivating numerous media sources! more ›

If there's any District revenue-collection program which shows no signs of slowing down, it's the one which fines drivers for using a cell phone while driving, ticketing for which hit a record pace in 2010. Given the frequency with which D.C. drivers are ticketed, and considering the city's dire financial straits, perhaps the Council should take a cue from Virginia Delegate Vivian Watts of Annandale: Watts has introduced a bill which would criminalize all use of a phone while driving in Virginia -- yes, even with the use of a hands-free device -- and would ramp up the fines for chatting while behind to wheel to upwards of $500. Drivers, of course, aren't too pleased about the whole "not even with a Bluetooth?" aspect of the proposal, but there wasn't anyone cited in ABC7's report complaining about the increased monetary penalties. Currently, the District levies $100 fines to those that are caught yaking away without a headset while driving (and when the police actually enforce the law, of course), but think about it: by adopting the kind of fines that Watts is proposing, the District would be able to pay for Vince Gray and Kwame Brown's Navigators after only eight citations! more ›

Hey, whatever happened to that whole "cell phone service throughout the Metro" thing? Weren't we all supposed to be getting really worked up about all the grocery list debating, relationship talk and childcare arrangement blather happening on Metrorail trains by now? Actually, not really -- estimates for when you'd be actually able to make a call at Shady Grove and keep it going all the way until you hit Franconia-Springfield had long ago been pushed back to the Congressional-mandated deadline of fall 2012. more ›

Jon Stewart and the jokesters behind the Daily Show have arrived in town and will begin a week's worth of tapings of the popular late night program this afternoon at Sidney Harman Hall. If you were one of the lucky few to get tickets, you'll get the chance to see interviews with Council Of Economic Advisors Chairman Austan Goolsbee today and Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) on Tuesday. Oh, right and some Obama guy on Wednesday. (Nah, your DCist editor isn't bitter at all about having to listen to some guy from Delaware instead of one of the most important figures of the 21st century. Not at all.) more ›

After a decline in the amount of citations for cell phone-related distracted driving in the District in 2009, police are back on track to smash the ticketing record this year. WTOP reports that D.C. police have issued 11,088 of the $100 citations so far this year -- that's almost as many as they did in all of 2008, when a record 11,904 citations were handed out. According to projections, the total number of talking and texting tickets could top 14,700 in 2010. After more ›

The Washington Post's Michael Birnbaum posts an update noting that the Prince George's County school board has approved the area's strictest ban against students using cell phones during school hours. No texting, no twittering, and no phone calls will be allowed on school property "from the first bell of the morning to the last bell of the day." more ›

Many long-suffering iPhone owners let out a groan last week when it was reported that AT&T's exclusive relationship with Apple may go at least through 2012. But a friend of mine texted me last night to let me know he had just picked up a 3G Microcell from his local AT&T store for $150 here in the District and it is working perfectly for him so far. more ›

DCist reader Aaron W. sends in the following account along with the above photo:

Seen on Saturday in Dupont Circle: A cop, in his SUV, entering Dupont Circle, LOUDLY talking on his cell phone as 10-15 people on both sides of the street watch/listen as he speaks with his wife. As long as this city continues to enforce the hands-free law, shouldn't those who are trusted to enforce it also abide by the same laws?

For all the iPhone users out there, a heads up: Gothamist has just released its first iPhone app, dubbed "Istaverse." You can download it free from iTunes here. more ›

Couple of headlines on local crime trends from the broadcast outlets worth looking at today. more ›

Last week we got a little too excited about the impending expansion of cell phone service in the Metro system, but now it's official: T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint Nextel customers should be able to use their cell phones inside Metro's 20 busiest stations starting first thing Friday morning (the Post says it'll be turned on at midnight, but of course the system will be closed by then). Verizon customers could already access their network inside the same stations, and they will continue to have that service after the change. more ›

Back in August, WMATA announced that the first phase of the Congressionally imposed expanded cell phone network inside D.C.'s Metro system would be completed by October 16. That date, by which time Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile customers should all be able to access their networks inside the 20 busiest underground Metro stations, is coming up fast. And earlier this week, it appeared as though some of the stations might already be wired up. more ›

I have three or four old cell phones sitting in the bottom drawer of my desk (along with roughly 20 cables and wires I have absolutely zero need for), so I'm relieved that today's rain means that the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District's "Flowers for Phones" promotion has been moved to tomorrow. more ›

WMATA put out a press release this afternoon announcing that Metro's board has finally given the go ahead on a plan to build a new network that will allow companies besides Verizon to offer cell phone access in stations and tunnels. A contract has been awarded that will allow Verizon, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile to build a new wireless network inside the Metro system over the next four years, which would also eventually include wireless internet. In order to comply with rules written into a $1.5 billion funding package passed by Congress last fall, 20 of the busiest underground rail stations will have "expanded cell phone service" by the end of 2009. more ›

A tip of the hat to Loose Lips Daily for pointing us to this nugget from NBC4 on Friday: Ward 2 D.C. Council member Jack Evans says he wants the District to "reconsider" its cell phone driving ban. Now, we've written before about how most D.C. area drivers appear to be ignoring the law and how while the number of tickets issued keeps going up every year, enforcement is still pretty lax and certainly doesn't seem to be discouraging many people from breaking the law. more ›

Only a handful of people I know still have landlines at home. It's especially marked among people under 30, those of us who moved to the city and into a group house soon after college at a time when cell phones were basically mandatory. Maybe we've moved into nicer places since then, but who needs a landline? It's just an extra expense that seems increasingly redundant. more ›

Buried at the bottom of yesterday's WaPo story about the $1.5 billion funding package for Metro passed by the Senate is this juicy tidbit:

The bill also includes a provision to improve cellphone coverage in the subway system. Within one year, the 20 busiest underground Metro stations would be required to have cellphone access for all carriers. Currently, only Verizon or Sprint roaming customers can receive signals.

Back in November of 2007, we cited a report from the Washington Times, which showed that citations for simultaneously driving and using a cell phone were sharply rising every year. Well, this year is no different - take a look at the chart to your right. more ›

The Examiner reports again this morning on one of Metro's longest running teases: that some day, a contract could be awarded to build a wireless network inside Metro's tunnels and stations that would allow cell phone customers who don't use Verizon to use their phones as well. Metro first started talking about awarding such a contract two years ago, but nothing happened, and then last summer there was some more chatter, but still nothing. This latest round of mobile network titillation does sound slightly more promising, however, as it's linked to General Manager John Catoe's plans to modernize stations, platforms and trains by adding things like flat screen monitors. more ›

You might be able to finally use your non-Verizon cell phone in Metro tunnels. Just don't hold your breath. more ›

The Washington Times is reporting that the number of tickets issued by the MPD to drivers using cell phones without a hands free device has increased for the third straight year. In the first year after the law was enacted in mid-2004, the city dished out 7523 tickets. The following year the number rose to 8,358. This year, it's 9,484. The numbers raise a host of questions about the efficacy and enforcement of this law.... more ›

Good morning, D.C. If by any chance you're a contractor with the city, you may be in for a rude awakening this morning, as City Manager Dan "The Man" Tangherlini and Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra have ordered your cell phone to be returned. Apparently some non-employee contractors have been getting a pretty sweet deal from the District for some time in the form of free cell phones, the end of which will save the... more ›

>> Don't forget: thousands of dirty hippies and the gun-toting maniacs who hate them are getting together for a big ol' hootenanny down on the National Mall tomorrow morning. It's the War on War on War. >> At the Washington City Paper, editorial assistants who make mistakes aren't just named, they're taken out back and tortured with one million paper cuts using the latest issue while Erik Wemple screams "you're not good enough to... more ›

Today tens of thousands of District children return to school, leaving behind the late-morning starts, extended curfews and breaks at the public swimming pool that summer afforded them. And though the year will proceed as it usually does, they will be part of a school system that has seen drastic changes over the last few months. Now under mayoral control and led by new chancellor Michelle Rhee, the District's public schools have entered a new... more ›

Written by DCist contributor Claire Compton more ›

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness – we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts... more ›