Up until last year, the D.C. Council's weekly breakfast meetings were closed to the press and the public. The meetings, which then council Chair Linda Cropp claimed were merely social in nature, were thought of by local reporters as the place where city politicos hammered out sensitive deals -- and did so away from the prying eyes of the District's residents. Even though that has now changed, we've never really gotten much of a sense......

As we are still recovering from the gluttony that was Thanksgiving, and since it was pretty slow news week in, well, everything, we are light on the transit news, too. But first, which D.C. Council Member likes to ignore laws? You get one guess and the answer is after the jump. Photo by AlbinoFlea......

Howard Kurtz's WaPo column today concerns the kerfuffle over Tim Page's angry email to Ward 8 Council Member Marion Barry's office that we told you about yesterday. As you'll recall, Page, who writes about classical music for the Post, received an unsolicited press release from Barry's office about the city's deal with Specialty Hospitals of America to purchase the Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Page then fired off an angry email in which he called the......

Interesting story in today's Examiner, which tells the story of Logan Circle resident and dog owner Daniel Greenberg. Greenberg likes to let his dog off its leash inside Logan Circle, even though the practice is against city code. He was caught with his dog off-leash by an MPD officer back in May, and was actually arrested on criminal charges -- even though the D.C. Council has passed legislation that makes having a dog off its......

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. It wasn’t easy to keep up with the business flooding through the Council as the latest session neared its end. Amid the bills dealing with Greater Southeast Community Hospital, authorizing development bonds, addressing land deals in the West End and over the Center Leg Freeway, and placing moratoria on new Adams Morgan taverns, an interesting pattern nonetheless emerged. In just this past......

A few more tidbits keep trickling out about decisions made during the D.C. Council's action-packed final summer session earlier this week, and this one is ripe for a cascade of debate. Running enthusiast Mayor Adrian Fenty is determined to see the Nation's Triathlon, scheduled for Sept. 29, go forward this year, complete with a one-mile swim in the Potomac River. Last year, the swim part of the event was canceled after the health department determined......

Via the DCist Tipline, we get this photo and story from a reader who spotted D.C. Council chairman Vincent Gray running over to speak to a U.S. Park Police officer in the hopes of talking him out of towing his car Wednesday evening. While playing softball down by the FDR memorial this evening, my team was a little shocked when we saw a park policeman not only issue a ticket to an illegally parked......

Chances are, if you live in or near the city and are not fantastically wealthy, you probably have roommates. Maybe you live with friends, maybe with some folks you randomly found on craigslist and barely talk to, but sharing your living space with other people is a fact of life for most people under 30 in D.C. And in this kind of heat, any sort of odd personal odors emanating from your roommates' bedrooms might......

Good morning, Washington. Still can't get enough post-Pants Proceeding wrap-up? The Post's Henri E. Cauvin has a nice write-up and a video of the Chung family's press conference for you, conveniently located on A1. Still no word yet on whether Pearson will appeal yesterday's decision, but given the sheer volume of news stories published about this case all over the world, he can be sure whatever he decides to do from now on, people......

The controversial plan authored by Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham to relocate a number of strip clubs displaced by the new Nationals stadium into Ivy City, a neighborhood in Ward 5, got even more interesting this week. The D.C. Council on Tuesday agreed to spend $3.6 million to reduce the "impact" of the relocated clubs, in a rare earmarking of funds for a specific neighborhood. Ivy City is bordered by Bladensburg Road, New York......

Via City Desk, the excellent homeless publication Street Sense scooped everyone on a big story about the potential closing of the District's largest family shelter, D.C. Village Family Emergency Shelter in southwest Washington. Under a new city proposal, the shelter could close sometime this fall, to be replaced by a bus operations center for WMATA in advance of the opening of the new Nationals stadium. From Street Sense: ...more than 350 ... people - mothers,......

We hope you had a relaxing, if not warm, holiday weekend, Washington. Mixed in with the egg decorating and good cheer, we sure noticed a lot of grumbling about the ongoing cold snap (along with those flurries on Friday night), so let's get right down to the all-important question: When will this misery end? CapitalWeather.com is breaking it down like so: Most of this week will still see cold temps in the morning, with......

Buck up, D.C. Of course we're all still reeling from the Justin Timberlake-Cameron Diaz split confirmation, but there's plenty to be cheerful about this Friday before a holiday weekend (especially one that's shaping up to at least be mild temperature wise, if rainy). Why, even a few of this morning's headlines seem downright cheery. New Taxi Zone Map in the Works: Even while the new District government is considering making the switch from zones to......

We're barely getting over the September 12 Democratic primary and already we're hearing whispers of the 2010 election. Jonathan Rees, the Ward 3 candidate known for his, let's say, "creative" use of online resources to run his campaign, may be smarting from his trouncing on Tuesday (he mustered 29 votes for the council seat, or 0.21 percent of the total votes cast), but he's not out. Not at all. In a posting on a DCPages.com......

Like it or not, the details of the personal lives of the rich and famous intrigue us. We like to know what exists behind that public facade, what quirks make the celebrity, pol, athlete or rock-star just a little more human. And just as we once found out that mayoral candidate Linda Cropp owns an iPod and stocks it with audio books and that D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams enjoys bird watching, today the Examiner brings......

Immigration News: The Post reports that yesterday thousands gathered outside the Capitol building to protest legislation that could potentially authorize prosecution of social service workers, doctors, and others who assist illegal immigrants. A protest spokesperson estimated that 20,000 people showed up to the rally. The original House bill was sponsored by Representatives from Wisconsin and New York, but issues surrounding immigration are locally pertinent. The Post also looks today at a Brookings Institution study......

As the clock rolled through midnight, there sat Marion Barry, hunched over in his too-big suit, red Nationals cap pulled low over thick glasses, interrupting the chair. He spoke haltingly, with long pauses, as he made his roundabout point, while Linda Cropp alternately reclined in exasperation and leaned forward over the desk, glaring at him in incredulity. Barry hushed Kwame Brown and David Catania by their first names as they attempted to clarify his statement,......

If there was any silver lining to the cloud of cigarette smoke District residents nervously enjoyed in area restaurants and bars last night, it's that hookah bars may be granted a blanket exemption from the smoking ban that the City Council endorsed yesterday on a 12-1 vote. Council-member Jim Graham, whose Ward 1 enclave includes a number of the Middle Eastern-themed establishments, has announced that he will introduce an amendment to the smoke-free legislation to......

D.C. Public Schools start classes bright and early Monday, August 29, and the grounds (not to mention the interiors) of many District schools are in sorry shape. It's time to do a little weeding, painting, mulching and pruning. Schools, parents and community groups are joining forces and co-sponsoring a beautification day this Saturday, August 27, and asking for your help. Our area schools -- especially in Ward One -- need a little TLC to kick......

(By DCist contributor Zoe Mitchell) According to a press release we've received, the activists who briefly occupied the Randall Shelter over Thanksgiving weekend are planning to drop by the Wilson Building today to listen in on a subcommittee's vote on the fate of the building, and perhaps take action. The Subcommittee on Human Rights, Latino Affairs and Property Management is scheduled to vote today at 3 p.m. on declaring the Randall Shelter surplus property. If......

A persistent resident of Upper Northwest convinced the city to study interactions between pedestrians and automobile traffic on Connecticut Avenue near her Chevy Chase Circle home. Their solution was something called "Safe Steps," where the city provides bright orange flags to pedestrians to use to signal to motorists. The Washington Post reporter found at least one pedestrian whose flagging was ignored by a "company van" which refused to yield. However, this new attention to pedestrians......