We certainly have no reservations about sticking it to Metro employees when they deserve it. But the flip side of that coin is making sure that employees who do things right are rewarded with praise -- and one Metrobus driver deserves plenty. more ›

D.C. emergency crews have responded to the scene of an accident at Garfield Park, where a large oak tree fell over on top of several people, including three children, at around 1:45 p.m. this afternoon. more ›

In what has, for whatever silly reason, become the story to chat about around the local media this week, Parenting magazine rated Washington D.C. the number one place for families in the country, citing our vast supply of cultural institutions, recreational opportunities and kid-friendly restaurants as signs that the District is the place to raise a kid. Of course, not everyone agrees. more ›

If you're of the persuasion that, despite all sound reason to the contrary, it's perfectly dandy for the parents of the District to drag their children like so many weathered messenger bags up to the bars of the District, well, this is America, and there's nothing anyone can really do about it. But as a city -- nay, as a culture -- we owe it to ourselves to draw the line somewhere. And that line, friends, is demarcated with the syrupy stain of children's "mocktails." more ›

UPDATE (5:05 p.m.): New details now on the incident -- the student who brought the cocaine to school and shared it has been charged with possession of a controlled substance. In total, four students ingested the cocaine, some orally, others inhaling it through the nose. All of the children involved are apparently okay; leadership at Thomson Elementary met with the parents of the children involved, and a letter was sent home with all students to explain what happened. Friday is a professional development day for teachers at the school, but counselors will be available on Monday to help the young students to understand what happened. more ›

Friends: did you realize that our children are being cruelly deceived by smartphone applications? In a preview of a segment that I'm sure we'll be seeing on some late network newscast in the near future, the Post reports on an eight-year-old Rockville girl who racked up $1,400 in charges by purchasing add-ons inside an iPhone game. more ›

First, retailers pushed "Black Friday" specials back to infringe on the prime costume-making season. Then, Halloween displays started getting pulled earlier and earlier to prepare for the winter holiday seasons. But in this burgeoning war against Halloween in America, this is where I draw the line: Halloween Candy Buy Back programs. more ›

How far is too far when it comes to asking the District's public school students about sexual behavior? Is it acceptable to ask them if they can name the bodily fluids that transmit HIV? If they know how to put on a condom correctly? Whether they know how to "convince a reluctant partner to use barrier protection?" Where do you draw the line? That's the question raised by this report in the Georgetown Dish, who discovered that a survey which was given to students at Hardy Middle School is asking some very frank questions about sexual acts and identity -- ones that I'd be willing to bet many adults would blush at. more ›

On the day that the District's 2010 Summer Youth Employment Program kicks off, Jay Mathews proffers this question in a Washington Post op-ed: why aren't more students in the District taking summer school classes? more ›

The Metropolitan Police Department has released a photo of two possible persons of interest in Thursday's alleged theft of an SUV with a 1-year-old child inside. The infant was eventually found safe and sound inside the vehicle in the 200 block of N Street NW, a few blocks from where the car was taken, near North Capitol and P streets NW, police said. more ›

Not many straight news stories merit a headline with an exclamation point, but this one just might qualify as an acceptable exception. WTTG/FOX5 reports that a one-year-old child has been recovered safe and sound after the car he was in was stolen off North Capitol Street this morning.

The car was left running and unattended by the mother of the child in the driveway of a home on North Capital Street shortly after 7:00 a.m. more ›

An 11-year-old girl was raped Tuesday night by two men who approached her at a park in Silver Spring and then brought her to a nearby apartment, Montgomery County Police said today. The girl reported the assault to her mother immediately after it took place, and two suspects were arrested shortly thereafter, police said. Officers found the men, Melquicide Sorto, 31, and Marcos Torres-Enriquez, 20, both of the 8700 block of Carroll Avenue in Silver Spring, inside the apartment where the girl said the rape had occurred. The suspects have been charged with one count of second-degree rape each. The girl was examined at a local hospital and released. more ›

So President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama opened up the White House to trick-or-treaters on Saturday, which is pretty cool. Kids from 11 D.C. area schools were invited to come by and meet the first couple as they handed out this administration's version of a Halloween treat: White House M&Ms, a sugar cookie, and ... you guessed it, dried fruit. Talk about boo. more ›

We frequently hear complaints during the school year about groups of kids on their way home from school misbehaving and causing problems on the city's public transit system. And now WMATA is encouraging you to lodge those complaints with Metro Transit Police. Metro has designated a specific phone number, 202-962-2118, to report disruptive behavior on the part of kids. The transit agency also says it will be deploying additional officers to trouble spots during the after-school hours, in an effort to break up trouble before it escalates. “We want to start off the new school year right, and let students and all of our riders know that their safety is our top priority. Everyone should feel secure while riding Metro,” said Metro Transit Police Chief Michael A. Taborn in a statement. more ›

D.C. Fire/EMS crews were dispatched at around noon to the 5000 block of Glover Road NW in Rock Creek Park, for a report of multiple bee stings. According to Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer, a tour group going through the park came across a bee hive, the bees became agitated somehow, and a total of eight people, both adults and children, were stung multiple times. Two children were taken to Children's Hospital, while six others were well enough to skip the ambulance trip. The condition of the two children at the hospital is described as not serious, but they did receive multiple bee stings. No word on how many total people were in the tour group, but it seems fair to guess that nearly all of them will come away with a lifetime fear of bees. Shudder. more ›

You have to sit through an intro from NBC4's Pat Collins to get to it, but this recently released video of D.C. police interviewing Banita Jacks shortly after her arrest truly is chilling, though not for the reasons we expected. Jacks definitely appears to be weak and tired (she had by all accounts been starving herself, too) but what we found most startling was how lucid she actually seems. Given the nature of the crime, we were expecting the rantings of a woman who had little to no grasp on reality, but Jacks actually speaks to detectives in even tempered, complete thoughts, noting that she knows what the discovery of the bodies of her four daughters must look like to police, and explaining that she didn't seek out help when her daughters started dying because she "knew that this was going to happen ... a bunch of trouble for me." more ›

Breaking news from the Washington Post:

A D.C. Superior Court judge on Wednesday found Banita Jacks guilty of killing her four daughters in a case that shook the region for its cruelty. more ›

D.C. Police are asking for the community's help searching for 13-year-old Nancy Arriaza, of Indian Head, Md. Nancy was last seen a week ago at her home in Maryland, but D.C. police are involved in the search because she frequently visits people in the 700 block of Longfellow Street NW and the 700 of block Kennedy Street NW in the District. more ›

The three young children whom police were searching for Thursday have been found, WJLA reports. The kids, 4-year-old Keith Dwayne Gray Jr., 2-year-old Mykia Aliyah Gray and 5-month-old Keyon Deone Gray, were reportedly found at the Columbia Heights Community Center at 14th and Girard Streets NW on Thursday evening, and were then taken to a hospital for observation. The adult family member who was supposed to be watching them, 48-year-old Toilynn Braxton, has reportedly been arrested - WJLA says she was wanted on an outstanding warrant after she failed to appear in court this week, and could face more charges stemming from this incident. more ›

D.C. police are looking for help locating three missing children from Northeast D.C. that have been missing since 8:45 a.m. yesterday morning. The kids, four-year-old Keith Gray, two-year-old Mykia Gray and five-month-old Kenyon Gray, were reported missing from 2106 I Street NE around 1:30 a.m. today, according to emails from MPD. The children, all light-complected African-Americans with brown eyes and brown hair, were left in the care of their mother's cousin, Toilynn Braxton, who police say is often seen in the 14th St. NW and Georgia Ave. NW corridor. Police do not suspect foul play, but are asking for the community's help in providing any information as to the kids' whereabouts. Call 311 with any information. Fifth District Commander Greene has also made an urgent plea for assistance in passing out fliers to locate the missing children. Anyone able to assist in passing out fliers is asked to meet at the Command Post at 22nd & I Streets NE. more ›

The AP is reporting a that a group of students have filed a class action lawsuit against Vienna, Va.-based Envision EMI, after they claim the company failed to deliver on promises of special access to President Obama's inauguration in January. The students each paid thousands of dollars for a trip to the inauguration, only to be disappointed: "...the lawsuit says once the students got to Washington, they had no tickets for the inauguration or parade. And the balls they attended were not official events connected to the inauguration." I have a lot sympathy for these kids believing they could buy their way in to a special inaugural experience, and it certainly sounds like this company got greedy and promised way more than they could deliver. But the complaint that the ball they went to wasn't "official" seems pretty naive. There were hundreds of inauguration-themed parties over the course of the four-day long celebration, and only ten of them were "official." more ›

Traditionally, the White House Easter Egg Roll has been attended mostly by D.C. area families who camped out early with their kids to score tickets to the free annual event. But on Monday, the 2009 White House Easter Egg Roll played host to over 30,000 people from 45 states and the District of Columbia, thanks to a new online ticket distribution plan put in place by the new administration. Local parents grumbled, but 4,000 tickets were also distributed separately to students from D.C., Maryland and Virginia public schools. DCist photographer Meaghan Gay was there to capture what an Easter Egg Roll hosted by the Obama family looks like. more ›

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The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum sent us this photo today of a celebration yesterday in their Space Hall. More than 200 elementary school students danced the afternoon away to the sounds of children's band Rocknoceros to launch the "Flights of Fancy" program, which uses activities, storytime and dramatic play to teach kids about all things air and space. After listening to some Rocknoceros tunes on their web site (and laughing giddily at the silly '80s style design complete with waving space monkeys), we might just get up and dance, too. more ›

Montgomery County Police say they have tentatively identified the two bodies found in Renee Bowman's freezer as two of Bowman's adopted daughters. They also released this undated photo of Jasmine Nicole Bowman, who would now be 9, and Minnet Cecila Bowman, who would be 11. A family friend made the identification, though as the Post points out, it's not yet an official identification. Still, police don't expect to discover the bodies belonged to anyone else once the autopsies are completed. more ›

The Post continues its tireless, grim updates of the Renee Bowman case, with the latest crediting three reporters in the byline and four other individuals as having contributed. New details: a lawyer who represented Bowman in a personal injury case between 2003 and 2005 describes her as being "not the same person" she was then. Bowman is apparently confused about what's going on, even though she told police one of her daughters died of starvation, while the other died from injuries sustained after a fall. Maryland medical examiners have not yet determined causes of death for the two bodies, believed to be those of Bowman's adopted daughters, that were found in a freezer inside her home in Calvert County, Md. With a case like this, you really have to hope that this woman had some sort of psychotic break and suddenly became totally nuts. Otherwise all you're left with is something far more sinister. more ›

The Calvert County, Md. Sheriff's Department has arrested one Renee Bowman, 43, after discovering what appeared to be the bodies of two children in a freezer in Bowman's home over the weekend. Authorities went to the house responding to a report of child abuse, after neighbors found Bowman's 7-year-old adopted daughter alone outside the house, showing signs of abuse and neglect. When they searched the house, they found the remains, and Bowman allegedly told them that the bodies belonged to her two other adopted daughters, and that they had both been in the freezer since February. Bowman used to live in Rockville, in Montgomery County, but moved to Calvert County in February, so charges related to the bodies could ultimately be filed in Montgomery. Bowman is currently being held in Calvert County on charges of first-degree child abuse. more ›

Via the Post, Banita Jacks pleaded not guilty this morning to first-degree murder charges in the deaths of her four daughters. A trial date has been set for Dec. 1, and her attorneys have 15 days to inform Judge Frederick Weisberg if they intend to go forward with an insanity defense. Jacks has also been charged with failing to provide the girls with adequate nutrition and medical attention. The decomposed bodies of the four girls, who had been variously beaten, strangled and stabbed, were discovered in a Southeast rowhouse in January. Authorities now believe they had been dead for six months before they were found. more ›

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The Examiner has word of the death of another child who had been recently brought to the attention of the District's troubled Child and Family Services Agency. A 6-year-old girl, identified only by her initials, DHB, swallowed a handful of antidepressants prescribed to her father. She was taken to a hospital last week, and later died. Two weeks before, someone called the city’s child welfare hot line and reported the family was having “a housing issue,” Interim Attorney General Peter Nickles told the paper. A social worker assigned to the case, but who never saw the child, has been suspended and might be fired. more ›