>> Both the White House Christmas Tree and the Capitol Christmas Tree arrived in Washington today. >> D.C. fire officials are warning people not to overload electrical circuits in their homes this holiday season in the wake of a fatal garage fire over the weekend. [WTOP] >> Vice President Dick Cheney experienced an irregular heartbeat Monday and will be heading to George Washington University Hospital to have it checked out -- in case you......

Good morning, Washington. Recent increases in gun-related crime in the city seems to be today's main topic of news, just as the Supreme Court may announce today whether it intends to take another look at D.C.'s handgun ban. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has scheduled a press conference this morning to address the District's position on its gun safety law, but in the meantime the Washington Post is questioning the law's effectiveness and just last......

Yesterday we threw together a list of the people in the District we considered influential, taking after a similar annual list put together by GQ that compiles the movers and shakers on the federal side of the city. One of our nominees was Dorothy Brizill, a well-known civic activist and political gadfly who runs DC Watch, the closest thing we have to a citizens' inspector general. And as we expected, last night she offered us......

>> D.C. is the fifth most overpriced real estate market in the country. [Examiner] >> Four teenage girls were arrested today after Frederick police said they found 33 pounds of marijuana in their car. [NBC4] >> A police chase led a fleeing driver in a white Cadillac to drive on the wrong side of I-295. [WTOP] >> The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the union representing 10,000 Amtrak workers, has reached a tentative agreement on......

>> Vice President Dick Cheney is claiming that, for the purposes of securing classified information, his office is not part of the executive branch. Exactly which branch are you in then, Mr. Vice President? [Raw Story] >> Are you ready for another severe thunderstorm alert? The National Weather Service just issued one from now until 10 p.m. >> There's a book launch party tonight for Murray Waas' The United States vs. I. Lewis Libby. Somehow......

I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison today and fined $250,000 for lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame. The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted of two counts of perjury, one count of making false statements to FBI agents, and one count of obstructing justice three months ago. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said he......

Dear Hillary Clinton and Dick Cheney: feel free to do embarrassing things in public today. D.C.'s celebrity (and we use that term loosely) photogs are probably following around real celebs -- well, at least Angelina Jolie. Yesterday the Examiner gave us the heads-up on a litany of famous-outside-the-Beltway folks traipsing around town this week. So if you're a little tired of running into Nicolas Cage filming National Treasure 2, keep your eyes peeled for these......

>> Students at George Washington Middle School in Alexandria have been locked inside the school since around 2:30 p.m. today, after some students said they may have seen another student with a BB gun, school officials said. [WaPo] >> If you use the Wilson Bridge to get home, it's time to think about alternate routes. Two southbound lanes of the Beltway are closed after a sinkhole opened around noon. Crews working on the Virginia side......

>> University of Maryland students continue to protest on-campus housing cutbacks. Today the school's Board of Regents met, with residents of a growing tent city looking on. [The Diamondback] >> One of the best variations on D.C.'s endless tourist season is the junior high field trip. Metroblogging DC has some tips for students and residents. >> The National, who confirmed to DCist last year that they don't hate our city, will join Arcade Fire......

A trial that has captivated Washington has come to an end. From CNN: Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been found guilty on four of five counts in his perjury and obstruction of justice trial. Libby, 56, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. The five-count indictment against the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney alleges perjury, obstruction of justice and making false......

Oh, hey there, D.C. Yeah, we're a little grumpy this morning, now that the brilliance of Friday and Saturday's summer-like weather has turned into a drizzly, chilly late fall Monday morning that makes us just want to stay in bed all day. But please, don't take our failure to greet you in our usual friendly manner as any kind of slight or disrespect. Especially since, according to the Times, petty disputes are exactly the kinds......

Is the theatre world crying out for five plays centering around Vice President Dick Cheney? It's certainly a topic that hasn't yet been done to death artistically. But in You Don't Know Dick, a group of short plays being workshopped for the Capital Fringe Festival, the debate is less over whether the topic is valid and more on whether these works have anything new to say. Some certainly are worth the minimal time investment they......

Saturday at the Fringe brings audience goers political polemics, aerial artistry, deconstruction chic and a tour of some D.C. neighborhoods. When you have to navigate, don't forget to use our special Fringetastic new Google Map. The best way to get to the show on time! Theatrical Performances: Frozty the Abominable Snowman, Landless Theatre There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found! For when they placed it on his head, he......

We're not big fans of Dick Cheney. It's not the whole obsession with secrecy, or the way he's encouraged his aides to out CIA officers. It's not the refusal to accept that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda are not the same thing, or his long-standing ties to government contracting juggernaut Halliburton. It's that damn motorcade and security detail. A few months back WTOP discovered that Cheney's motorcade -- yes, the one that regularly snarls traffic......

Every now and then the finely tuned machines that are seasoned politicians sputter and choke. Be it Vice President Dick Cheney's warning to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to "fuck off" or Rep. Cynthia McKinney's recent dressing down of an aide while still wearing a clip-on microphone, even those trained in the art of diplomacy and tact occasionally allow their true feelings to be heard. Today was D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' turn. Towards the end of......

While he may spend much of his time clogging up traffic with his expensive motorcades to and from work, Vice President Dick Cheney really does seem to have a soft spot for the District. The Post is reporting that Cheney and wife Lynne have donated $2.7 million to the George Washington University Medical Center and $1.3 million to Capital Partners for Education, a Georgetown-based organization that helps parents pay for private schooling for their children.......

It was another busy week in DCist. We kicked off a new feature exploring what Metro needs, starting with a good PA and proposing that it take a cue or two from the London Underground. We checked out The Sounds and Morningwood at 9:30, discussed CVS's condom-locking policy, mocked Dick Cheney's ceremonial first pitch and reviewed the West End's recent development. We reported on an update to the rock-throwing kids in Columbia Heights, cooked......

Yesterday was the perfect day for playing a little hooky -- beautiful springtime weather and the Nationals' home opener would tempt anyone, including us. Some of those who gave in to those temptations weren't too good about hiding them, especially to the media or their employers. As written in a Post article on the Nats' 7-1 loss to the New York Mets: "This is our team," declared Lynette Jackson, 50, of D.C., who called......

With estimates in the tens of thousands, immigrants and their supporters took to the Mall yesterday in a massive show of force in favor of progressive immigration reform. As the Post notes, quite a few of the marchers were taking their first steps into political activism, a step that is having a noticeable impact on Capitol Hill. Area bloggers have started sending us their experiences from the march, so if you have any to......

WJLA brings us positive news today in the fight for District voting rights -- D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has announced that three groups will receive grants to launch outreach campaigns for voting representation for the city in Congress. D.C. Vote is set to receive $500,000, Our Nation's Capital some $300,000, and the League of Women Voters $200,000. The city is forbidden by law from using taxpayer funds to directly lobby Congress for voting rights,......

So yesterday we found out that the 1,300 motorcades needed to ferry the government's most senior officials around the District cost the city's taxpayers some $1.5 million in 2005, bringing the total since 2000 to over $10 million. Today WTOP is reporting that any time a motorcade carrying the president, vice-president, or foreign dignitary makes its way through the District, some 40 D.C. police officers and 40 police cruisers are diverted from their daily tasks......

For a region that often runs in terror at the mere sight of snow, Washington and its environs managed the weekend's snow-dump with a relatively calm and mature demeanor. This DCist was shocked to awake yesterday to cleared roadways and open businesses, though power outages were reported in some areas and local airports struggled to get air traffic in and out. Today should proceed regularly -- an unfortunate truth for those of us whose employers......

Halloween falling on a Monday night, DCist took the night off, opting to hand candy to passing children and fend off egg attacks from neighborhood hooligans. We did explore area houses, though, taking in decorations both simple and elaborate. And proving that some people will use any opportunity to make a statement about the state of affairs in the country, we spied one gravestone marked "Scooter Libby, R.I.P." and one proclaiming the death of world......

This photo was uploaded to DCist photos by mgdistrict. Today will be partly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms until mid afternoon and highs in the mid 80s. Defense Contractors Withhold Memorial Funds: As part as a major effort by the Examiner to encourage donations to the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Fund, the paper reports that although Vice President Dick Cheney has given $25,000 and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has given $100,000 to construct......

She doesn't like George W. Bush, because "the President persists in misleading the American people." She is, however, a guarded Marion Barry fan, who she admires because of "[h]is perseverance, his political stamina, [and] his savvy." When asked about 2 Amy's, she steers you to Sorriso, but when asked about Spices she responds that "I really don't like to talk about restaurants since I never get to experience food." She's Ariel, or Artificial Robotic Intelligent......

Political satire takes center stage at 10 p.m. on NBC. "Saturday Night Live's Presidential Bash 2004: The Great Debates" will showcase some of the best political skits from the past 30 years. Highlights include the Bush (Will Ferrell) - Gore (Darrell Hammond) debate of 2000, the 1992 Clinton (Phil Hartman) - Bush (Dana Carvey) - Perot(Dana Carvey) debates and goes way back in time for the 1988 Bush (Dana Carvey again) - Dukakis (Jon Lovitz)......