After mounting a spirited defense of his second job last week, Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) is again facing uncomfortable questions about conflicts of interest related to his positions as a legislator and an attorney at Patton Boggs. more ›

Hundreds of people were evacuated at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center this afternoon after a fight broke out between participants at the Greater Washington National College Fair. more ›

If you experienced a beefed-up police presence on your way past the Convention Center this morning, don't fret -- it's just for President Barack Obama. more ›

Earlier this month, we posted a call for volunteers for a collection effort conducted by the D.C. Central Kitchen at the conclusion of the Summer Fancy Food Show. Some 150 people ended up pitching in -- and it's a good thing, since the Kitchen needed every ounce of manpower they could get. more ›

The 2011 Summer Fancy Food Show -- "North America’s Largest Specialty Food & Beverage Event," which features 180,000 products from 2,400 exhibitors and 80 countries -- is in full swing at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. But what happens with all the leftovers once the Show is over? D.C. Central Kitchen is hoping to give most of it a good home. more ›

Sold out isn't exactly the right term, since admission is free. But regardless: the supply of tickets to Sunday night's inaugural ball, during which Vince Gray and others will undoubtedly attempt to set the record for most people simultaneously hand-dancing in tuxedos and evening gowns, has been extinguished. Nikita Stewart reports that the Convention Center ran out of the 7,500 total tickets it had to give away at 11:05 a.m. this morning. Gray's ball is expected to host approximately 10,000 people on the whole -- that's a slight decrease in attendance from Mayor Adrian Fenty's 2007 bash (15,000 guests), but still a lot more partiers than Fenty predecessor Anthony Williams had at his 2003 celebration, which only attracted 3,000 people. Of course, Williams charged attendees $35 for the privilege of getting in the door; Fenty's party was, like Gray's, free. more ›

New mayor Vince Gray's inaugural ball, featuring the aural stylings of go-go maestro Chuck Brown among others, will take place this Sunday -- and you can crash the party. Free tickets for the ball are available today, tomorrow and Thursday, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. inside Room 145 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. There are 7,500 tickets available to the public and a 2 ticket maximum per person -- you'll need to show valid D.C. identification to claim tickets. more ›

Get ready for some prayer and go-go: the District of Columbia State Democratic Party has released the schedule for Vince Gray's Mayoral Inuaguration, which will take place on January 2, 2011. All events will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and are free and open to the public. more ›

A large protest outside the Convention Center is causing some traffic issues this morning. The protest concerns the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America's Save the Dream home loan counseling program which is currently taking place inside the Convention Center. 9th Street NW had been closed down from N Street to Massachusetts Avenue earlier this morning, while Circulator service has also been disrupted around the area due to the protests. We've got phone calls in to see what the hubbub's all about, but if you work in the area or had a longer commute than usual due to the protests and can shed some light on what's going on, drop us an email and tell us about it. UPDATE: Well, that would help explain the street closures. President Barack Obama is currently delivering a speech on educational reform as part of the National Urban League 100th Anniversary Convention. more ›

Wondering what that big line around the Convention Center is for? We were too. Turns out that people have been queuing up outside the building since yesterday morning, documentation in hand, in order to get help with renegotiating and understanding their home loans. more ›

A man who was shot near the intersection of 7th and N M Streets NW Thursday night died of his injuries. The Metropolitan Police Department said it is investigating the shooting, which happened at approximately 9:37 p.m., as a homicide. more ›

>> One of two correctional officers assigned to guard the prison inmate who escaped from a Laurel hospital yesterday morning had taken a break and left his partner alone with the inmate. [WaPo] more ›

Welcome back, Washington. We hope those of you who celebrate Christmas had a holly and/or jolly one, and that your stock of material possessions has been satisfactorily increased. As you might expect, not too terribly much happened while you've been away. Davis Mulls Eighth Term: Sure, it was published yesterday, but we imagine many of you may have missed the Post's analysis of whether Tom Davis will seek another term as congressman for Northern Virginia's 11th district. Davis's senatorial aspirations were dashed earlier this year when Virginia's Republican party opted for a convention rather than a primary system, which put Davis at a disadvantage and prompted him to remove himself from consideration. Since then observers have been wondering whether the congressman would leave office for a lucrative private sector job. Although the Post article does a nice job laying out the pros and cons he faces, so far Davis seems not to be dropping many hints as to what he'll do. Ready To Say Goodbye To That Tree?: If so, WTOP has you covered. In D.C. and a number of surrounding counties you can simply put it out on with your recycling and trust that it'll be responsibly mulched — if, that is, you've properly detinseled it. Thousands Of Jobs Headed to P.G. County: The Post reports on the soon to open Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center and its considerable staffing needs. The hospitality complex is getting set to hire 2,000 people, and the county government seems understandably pleased about it. There are so many jobs and so much interest that Gaylord will be running a multi-day job fair at the end of January. Briefly Noted: Kid playing with lighter starts fire, displaces several apartments' residents... Charles County considers banning drive-through liquor stores... Medic involved in serious crash in Alexandria while responding to emergency... There was a water main break in Southwest last night... Murder suspect claims gun discharged during struggle... This Day In DCist: One year ago we interviewed Middle Distance Runner and asked them and a number of other D.C. bands what their top albums of the year were. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user christaki more ›

The Examiner ran a story on Monday about Bloomingdale's recent round of talks with the city regarding opening a new store in downtown D.C. Along with the recently approved development at the Old Convention Center site, sources in the Fenty administration told Michael Neibauer that the talks have included the controversial Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 9th and G Streets NW as a "possible option" for the store. more ›

Good morning, Washington. We hope not too many of you were making your way into the city from Montgomery County this morning, as two separate water main breaks forced road closures in Takoma Park and kids to get the day off from school in Germantown. We'll admit it -- we're pretty envious of the students at Fox Chapel Elementary School, who get to spend the day doing whatever they please while we had to show up and actually do work. Isn't it supposed to be Christmas break already? more ›

>> The holiday gift season is officially here, which means we're going to start seeing a little more emphasis on the latter half of "arts and crafts" around the city, when the search for the perfect present for Aunt Sallie ends with you standing in front of a pile of handmade tea kettle cozies. You might want to start with the high quality stuff, and get to the Washington Craft Show this weekend at the... more ›

Pour Out a Forty for the Childe Harold The pilgrimage is at its end. After 40 years nestled on 20th street NW in Dupont Circle, the Childe Harold has closed its doors for good. A victim of increasing rents and lessors unwilling to negotiate, the Harold is one more example of how the face of Dupont Circle is ever-changing. The venerable institution held a lot of history, partly because of its ties to the music... more ›

Good morning, Washington. In case you didn't believe us when we first told you that this tax office corruption scandal was going to get bigger and badder as the week went on, just check out the trio of stories on offer from the Post this morning on the widening scandal. First and foremost, it turns out Harriette Walters and Diane Gustus allegedly worked together to steal $4 million more than originally thought, bringing the grand... more ›

D.C. officials are apparently stunned to find that the money they've spent on the new Nationals stadium isn't translating into the sort of unconditional loyalty they might like. Turns out the team's 2008 Dream Foundation Dream Gala (it's dream-related, see) will be held at National Harbor in Prince George's County, Md., and the Examiner reports that Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray and just about every other D.C. leader is throwing a temper... more ›

>> Mayor Fenty has changed his mind and now says emails to and from city officials will be kept indefinitely. [WTOP] >> More Fenty decisions! He's considering a drastic change to the role of the hated D.C. Taxicab Commission. [Examiner] >> Several people on a Boston-bound flight out of DCA were taken to a hospital after complaining of feeling sick and were found to have elevated carbon monoxide levels. [WCVB] >> Jack Bauer spotted in... more ›

What's That You Say? is our roundup of the best comments from last week's posts. So help us out and keep saying funny, interesting, and weird stuff. We know you can. ------ Speaking of weird, in regards to the manhole fire post, Jeffrey has this to say about the Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers in our city: If I've said it once, I've said it thousand times: this city needs to launch a fire safety... more ›

The Washington Business Journal reported yesterday that the Washington Convention Center will be officially renamed to honor D.C.'s first elected mayor, Walter E. Washington. Apparently the D.C. Council approved the name change last year, though we can't recall having heard about it at the time. The idea is a fine one though, and Washington is certainly worthy of having his legacy honored. So what's the problem? As of Nov. 5, the building will officially become... more ›

The National Transportation Safety Board released its findings this afternoon from an investigation into the January derailment of a Green line train near the Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center stop. The accident, in which the fifth car of a six-car train jumped the rails and hit a wall in the tunnel, injured 20 people and left around 60 passengers stranded in the tunnel for nearly 45 minutes. The Associated Press has the first word on the... more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Rebecca Cooper After much ado—and by that we mean delay -- the Old Dominion Brew House at the convention center opened in January, and from the looks of things, the bar and restaurant is still trying to combat the relatively light foot traffic in the area during off hours. With its seemingly countless flat screen TVs and copious "tailgate" specials for weekend football games (the bathrooms even have televisions so you... more ›

If you missed the Green Festival at the Convention Center this past weekend, you missed an incredible event. Luckily event organizers will be posting video and audio of the plethora of speeches to their website in about two weeks. You'll also be able to download speech audio from this year’s upcoming San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago festivals. The Green Festival is sponsored by Co-Op America and Global Exchange. The event is largely volunteer-run, with 1300... more ›

FRIDAY: >> Do the right thing and head to 9:30 Club for a show hosted by the strange gathering of the likes of Gypsy Eyes Records, The Federal Reserve and haberdasherie Propper Topper for a benefit for the DC Public Library Foundation. Kitty Hawk, Vandaveer, Revival, These United States and many more make up the crowded bill. 7:30 p.m., $20. >> The Brunettes (pictured right) perform sickly sweet but addictive pop duets, and they'll be... more ›

>> A power outage at Union Station has been resolved, but not before it made everyone's commute home totally miserable. [WaPo] >> A pedestrian was struck by a police cruiser on Wisconsin Ave. NW this afternoon. [WTOP] >> Nats' new park on schedule, on budget. [MLB.com] >> Get your premature convention center hotel construction watch blogging over here. [Renew Shaw] >> A member of "retiring" Rep. Jerry Weller's staff comes to blows over having... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Have you recovered from yesterday's local sports emotional rollercoaster yet? The Nationals bid farewell to RFK, and managed to close out their time there with a 5-3 victory over the Phillies. The Redskins, on the other hand, well ... we might still not be ready to talk about that last drive. Yet despite the despondent football fans across the region this morning, we get the sense that no one is sadder than... more ›

It's round two of the official opening of the fall art season. If you didn't get to check out all the openings last week (and who humanly could have?), spend part of your Saturday afternoon perusing the rest -- our reviewer particularly enjoyed the show at Flashpoint. But block off your evenings for the parties to celebrate the following openings: >> Up in Bethesda, it's the big night for the Trawick Prize finalists, as they... more ›