A coalition of D.C. food trucks endorsed the District government's recent proposal of new rules for how they operate, but with a few exceptions. more ›

It looks like it might be smoother sailing for food trucks in the District under a new set of rules published today that would regulate where, when and how they can operate throughout the city. more ›

If you're a barber in the District, you have to be licensed and regulated by a city board. But if you're a tattoo artist or piercer, you're in the clear -- currently, the District remains one of the last places in the country in which tattooing and piercing are wholly unregulated. That looks like it will soon change, but how dramatic the change will be is yet to be determined. more ›

As we reported in June, the District remains one of the last places in the country where tattoo and piercing parlors are a wholly unregulated business. That could soon change. more ›

In case you didn't believe us regarding that whole "95 percent of the city's legal fireworks vendors are located in Wards 4, 5, 7 and 8" thing, here's the visual proof. more ›

The Fourth of July is right around the corner. And you know what that means. That's right -- a whole evening of people setting off fireworks at all hours, leading some to believe that their apartments are being overtaken by guerrilla forces. (Oh, and look at that -- it falls on a Monday this year! How nice.) more ›

On Friday, we took a quick peek at Peregrine Espresso's new digs at 1718 14th Street NW -- by far, the biggest question we got was "so, when will the place be open?" Soon, caffeine freaks! more ›

Recently dissed by one user as but the third-best government Twitter account in town, it's obvious that the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs won't be taking such slights lying down. more ›

The beginning of May not only means the start of the city's crackdown on littering, but it also brings about the return of the city's regulations regarding lawn work. As usual, the District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs will be keeping an eye out for property owners who let their lawns get out of control starting this Sunday. more ›

Oh, you better believe DCist is still on the case of the mysterious noise which woke the District this morning. (We've got stick-to-itiveness, what can I say.) Tamika Wright, a spokesperson at Fort Myer, tells DCist that the cannon blasts "weren't coming from" the base as we previously suspected, but instead were being fired at Arlington Cemetery as part of an installation. So we dialed up Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson Steve Satkowski, who tells DCist that there was indeed some blasts being fired at the Cemetery this morning. more ›

Our Fox Mulder-esque search for the truth about this morning's blasting continues! DCist was able to get in touch with Shannon Whalen-McDaniel, a spokesperson for Arlington County, regarding the possibility that the noise had originated from the work which is currently going on at the Rosslyn Metro station. more ›

Were you awakened by loud, booming noises which started at about 6 a.m. this morning and resonated throughout the District? Your editor-in-chief slept right through them over here at DCist HQ, but most of the city wasn't as fortunate. more ›

You might be able to take Metro during a government shutdown, but a bevy of other city services that Washington residents usually take for granted would grind to a halt. more ›

Earlier this month, we reported on a dustup between food trucks and U.S. Park Police officers in Farragut Square which resulted in several vendors around the park being temporarily shut down and threatened with arrest until the Metropolitan Police Department got involved. Well, it sounds like the Park Police was at it again yesterday, hassling the District of Pi pizza truck as it served around noon outside the Square. more ›

According to sources, a group of food truck vendors around Farragut Square were temporarily shut down and threatened with arrest by U.S. Park Police before a Metropolitan Police Department officer intervened this afternoon. more ›

When I first moved into the District of Columbia, I rented a room in a very old, large group house in upper Northwest that housed as many as eight different people at any given time. The rent was fantastic. But one of the many, many drawbacks was that, during the winter, we couldn't really heat the place. (Of course, whether that was worse than having to battle two other guys for bathroom space in the morning is arguable.) See, the house wasn't really in the greatest shape, and so turning the thermostat anywhere above the low 60s was a recipe for a gas bill a mile long. Yeah, it sucked -- especially when one of my former roommates almost burned down the place by leaving his space heater on all night. With that said, it warms my heart to see that the District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs trying to get the word out to the public about heating regulations for apartments in D.C. more ›

As your editor-in-chief walked between Columbia Heights and U Street last night, all I could think about was how much complaining there would be about the state of the city's sidewalks come morning. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that the walk was treacherous, I am a relatively young lad -- elderly folks, for instance, probably would have had difficulty along, say, Fairmont Street, which was certainly slippery. But those looking to the city for assistance on the issue of shoveling enforcement might not want to hold their breath -- after all, the last time the city updated its regulations on shoveling was eighty-nine years ago. more ›

This afternoon, Mayor-elect Vince Gray announced he will retain Office of Planning chief Harriet Tregoning, along with several other Adrian Fenty appointees. more ›

The District's neighborhood listservs provide one particularly valuable service to jittery residents: they're searchable repositories of suspicious activity. Shady newspaper salespeople, magazine peddlers, people dressed as utility technicians -- just a sample of the alleged scam artists who prowl the city's residential streets in search of their next victim. Recently though, we've noticed another class of accused scammer popping up on the listservs: the guy who sells meat out of a van -- who some residents aren't just afraid will swindle their money, but perhaps also their digestive health. more ›

We'll have a full report from the press conference in which District Department of Transportation director Gabe Klein announced his departure from the position shortly, but it appears as if today has been a very painful one if you were appointed to a job by Mayor Adrian Fenty. Alan Suderman was able to confirm that Linda Argo, director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, will not return to her job when Gray takes over as Mayor in January -- a huge surprise, considering the leaps and bounds DCRA has made over the last four years. Michael Neibauer also notes that deputy mayor for planning and economic development Valerie Santos, Department of Employment Services head Joseph Walsh and director of the Department of Small and Local Business Development Lee Smith have all received letters stating that they will not be retained. Word is still out on whether Office of Planning Director Harriet Tregoning will stay on or not. more ›

Michael Neibauer of the Washington Business Journal must have enjoyed himself while deciding on a lede for this story about the District government's search for a few cadavers. Basically, the city's Board of Funeral Directors (which is comprised of "four professional funeral directors and one consumer member of the District of Columbia community who have an interest in serving the funeral community" and is affiliated with the city's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs) was seeking dead bodies to use for its biannual licensing exam. The board's solicitation, which is closed now (sorry, guys), was seeking "three un-embalmed" cadavers, offering $1,500 a piece for them. The best part of the story might be that the DCRA solicitation specifically requested the corpse provider to be from Virginia, as, according to Neibauer, "no one in D.C. or Maryland could meet the District's needs." Draw your own conclusions, folks. more ›

So what happens when you combine the instantaneous communication of Twitter with a extended dispute over regulatory guidelines at a Washington pub? Lots of drama, duh. more ›

Last Thursday and Friday, over 18,500 people stood in long lines at the Curbside Cookoff in order to get a taste from D.C.'s favorite food vendors. At that time, they were asked to text in votes for the vendor they felt deserving of the first-ever 2010 Curbside Cookoff Curby Award. The lucky winner? Curbside Cupcakes. The runners-up were (in order): Red Hook Lobster Truck, BBQ Bandidos, District Taco and Pleasant Pops. more ›

This morning, we got word from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs that they would soon be uploading a bunch of neat findings from the District's Office of the Surveyor. According to DCRA, the Surveyor has "more than a century" worth of maps, some of which the agency plans on uploading to the agency's Flickr feed over the coming weeks and months. more ›

The Curbside Cookoff kicked off yesterday. If you're planning to stop by today, word from BYT is that Friday's crowds have been even bigger than yesterday, so expect trucks to start selling out by 7 p.m. more ›

If you missed it, the District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has updated its regulations regarding vacant buildings inside the city. As of October 1, there are two new tax brackets for properties which are classified as vacant and/or blighted -- the former will be charged $5 per $100 of assessed value, while the latter will be charged $10 per $100 of assessed value. Those are some fairly stiff penalties for an issue which is often a recurring issue in several neighborhoods. more ›

Voting is over and the District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs announced Friday the 20 food carts/trucks voted into the 1st annual D.C. Curbside Cookoff. More than 4800 votes were cast in online voting, picking the finalists from more than 500 registered street food vendors in the D.C.-area. The 20 favorites will gather October 7-8 at the CityCenterDC, formerly known as the Old Washington Convention Center. more ›

The District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs reminds us that today is the last day to vote for your favorite food truck or cart as part of the 2010 Curbside Cookoff contest. The top 20 mobile food vendors, as voted by the public, will get the chance to ply their trade at the same time at CityCenterDC on October 7 and 8 in a display of the District's reinvigorated love affair with cheap, but delicious food you get on the street. Register your vote until midnight tonight here. more ›

Politicians may have the stage today, but tomorrow, it's all about the food carts and trucks. more ›