A Guatemalan woman flying in from El Salvador was stopped at Dulles airport on Sunday night and found to have four pounds of cocaine on her—cleverly hidden in chocolate bars and juice boxes. more ›

Good morning, Washington. U.S. Park Police have released the name of a man they want to speak with in connection with the gunshots reported near the White House Friday night. Investigators are trying to track down 21-year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega. more ›

A source who spoke with airport police says that yesterday's security lockdown at Washington Dulles International Airport was prompted by a male passenger who left the security screening area to go to baggage claim and returned through a secure door. Since he bypassed TSA security screening, airport police shut down the airport for 45 minutes at 4:30 p.m. more ›

Dulles police confirmed reports from sources that Washington Dulles International Airport is on security lockdown. Flights are neither arriving nor departing at this time, and no passengers are passing through airport security. Police could not say at what time airport activities were put on hold, and police would not comment on the cause. Flight status as of 5:25 p.m. is still showing normal departures and arrivals. Transportation Security Administration agents said that no one at the information call center had any knowledge of the lockdown. Developing. . . . more ›

A handful of Metrobus route and service changes took effect on Sunday, the most notable of which is an increase in the frequency of the 5A line, which travels between L'Enfant Plaza and Dulles Airport. Three westbound and three eastbound buses have been added every weekday, which is good news for anyone who regularly uses the often very crowded 5A. more ›

Seems like just about everything about driving a car in this city is becoming more expensive these days. WTOP reports that parking fees at both National and Dulles airports will go up on June 1. more ›

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will vote today whether to put the Registered Traveler Program in place at Ronald Reagan Washington National and Dulles International Airports, WTOP reports. more ›

The rush to get out of D.C. to family Thanksgiving celebrations has already begun, but if you're still reading DCist, you're probably still at work and planning on leaving within the next 72 hours. Whether opening up that military airspace will really make a difference at Washington area airports remains to be seen, but WMATA has announced a special Thanksgiving weekend schedule that could stand to help out many of you trying to take public... more ›

Some details are now available regarding the alleged scuffle involving Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), who represents San Diego, at Dulles Airport on Sunday night. It seems that Filner got a little frustrated while trying to find his bag in a United Airlines baggage claim office, and according to a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police statement, then "attempted to enter an area authorized for airline employees only," and "pushed aside the employee's outstretched arm and refused... more ›

Hey look, someone who writes for Gawker doesn't know where to go out in D.C., and thinks that everyone who lives here works for the government and never changes out of their work clothes! How adorable.Yesterday, I was trying to get home from Miami, but the weather had other plans, and the plane I was on got diverted to Washington, D.C. To Dulles Airport, to be exact, which is way farther outside of the city... more ›

The longest day of the year has just passed us by, the solstice bells have rung out, and far to the north they've seen the sun at midnight. Here in Washington, we brace for the brutal heat we've only just tasted up to now. There is some consolation for the misery mother nature heaps on D.C.'s coming dog days. For many lucky office drones, in summertime the living truly can be easy. That filing that's... more ›

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are in town today, thanks to Affleck having agreed to be the commencement speaker at Falls Church High School. The WaPo explains that the actor agreed to lend an unusual amount of starpower to the high school graduation ceremony thanks to his friendship with Falls Church senior Joe Kindregan. Kindregan and Affleck met when the actor was filming 1998's Forces of Nature at Dulles Airport. Kindregan has ataxia-telangiectasia, a rare... more ›

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. It's easy to focus on the problems and pathologies at the margins of a rapidly growing city. The pains of congestion and growth are frequently more dramatic in the far flung counties, where populations increase annually by astounding percentages and where infrastructure is least developed. At some point, though, you have to realize that one of the best ways to fix the... more ›

Good morning to you, D.C. It may be raining, but temperatures will hover somewhere between the upper 50s and the lower 60s today, if you can believe that, so no need for a heavy coat. The rain will be gone by tomorrow, in plenty of time for all of us to safely head over to Mayor Adrian Fenty's Inaugural Ball. DCist will be there, and not just for a chance to snap some hilarious photos... more ›

If you're from D.C., like me, the one great thing about the holidays is that you never have to travel, and all your old friends come to you for a week or two, and that week or two turn into dozens of debaucherous, memory-filled nights, telling stories about the times you used to hang out at Amphora Diner in Vienna (anyone else? Anyone?). Unfortunately, I had one of those nights last night, so you're... more ›

Since when does HR-57, Washington’s Center for the Preservation of Jazz & Blues, also care about the preservation of giggles? The historic venue is arranged like an interactive music archive, with live jam sessions multiple times a week. All ages come to experience the Ellingtons and Armstrongs of past and present, but now the non-profit cultural center is trying its hand at another national treasure — comedy. The HR-57 organization — yes, notice the "dot... more ›

Metro broke its all time annual ridership record, last week boarding over 205 million passengers since last July - a 5.3 percent increase from the previous year. Over the past week, Metro also recorded its seventh, eighth, and ninth highest ridership days ever. Officially, each of these records was attributed to baseball games. But The Examiner's Steve Eldridge notes that those numbers don't quite add up. Could it be that as D.C.'s population and... more ›

If we've learned one thing from the effort to extend the Orange Line through Tyson's to Dulles Airport, it's that two billion and change can buy you a pretty substantial amount of rail transit. Or, if you please, it can buy you 18 miles of road. The Inter-County Connector passed its final hurdle today, receiving official federal government approval and allowing construction to begin on the highway in the fall. The road will travel from... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Today will be as hot as yesterday with temps in the high 90s and a heat advisory is in effect. It will be sunny in the morning but become cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Ben Bochnowski posted this photo of the Washington Monument to DCist photos. Tonight, there's two free films on our calendar - at George Washington University and the National Building Museum - and we... more ›

If you're anything like most of the people in D.C., you're getting out of Dodge City any way you can for some vacation time this summer. Most likely, you're leaving on a jet plane for some (hopefully) exotic and non-humid locale. Well, be prepared to wait: Ken Mead, the inspector general at the U.S. Department of Transportation, has said that the summer of 2005 will be the worst ever for flight delays -- more than... more ›

Photo of the National Gallery of Art tunnel taken by Digital Obscura, posted in DCist Photos Thank our lucky stars, it's Friday. And all this weekend, we'll be in for a spectacular sky show. Venus, Mercury and Saturn will be closely aligned that'll make it look like they're forming a new constellation. Then Mercury comes into the picture on Monday night. The "separation of Mercury and Venus by one-tenth of one degree -- or... more ›

>> Itching to display your own art? Artdc.org is seeking entrants for a group art show in Takoma Park scheduled to begin May 21. For the exhibit, titled "What Does It Mean to Emerge?," Artdc organizers will show the best artists within a 150-mile radius of the D.C. area. Entrants must be registered at artdc.org with a completed profile including username, interests and webpage, if available. The exhibit organizers are also seeking musicians and master... more ›

Anyone who has passed through Dulles Airport recently knows it seems like half construction site and half airport these days. With construction of an airport rail system and other changes well under way, passengers have to pass around temporary walls in the terminal and the moon rovers skirt fenced construction sites scattered across the tarmac. The airport hasn't exactly been wowing passengers recently: In January, Dulles rated near the bottom of a list of... more ›

Today will be mostly cloudy with highs around 40 and a chance of snow showers. The photo is by John W. via Flickr. Snow Storm Falls Short Predictions: The area papers noted yesterday's storm fell short predictions, but closed schools in the area, to the frustration of parents. WTOP notes the snowfall set a record at Dulles Airport. Indian Lobbying Up: The Examiner reports that lobbying expenditures by Native American tribes is up recently. They... more ›

Although activists might have complained and created a protest website and the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose the toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road, it was to no avail. The Post reports that the toll increase has been approved, increasing the maximum toll possible to $1.25 from $.85. The money would be use to help fund an extension of the Orange Line to Dulles Airport. The Virginia transportation secretary noted that... more ›

Today will be mostly cloudy with highs around 50 with rain likely this morning. The photo is from photographer Elliott Teel's photoblog "D.C. In B&W" NoVa Gang Slices Again: The Northern Virginia street gang Mara Salvatrucha is in the news again, this time for slicing three fingers off the hand of a man at the Lee Highway Multiplex Cinemas in Merrifield. Millions of dollars in funding for anti-gang programs have flowed to authorities in... more ›

(By DCist contributor Amadie Hart) Forget Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Harris Teeter, and Balduccis. The latest grocery store import to enthrall D.C.-area consumers is Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans. The first Northern Virginia branch opened out by Dulles Airport in February, and the retail giant is set to open a second branch in Fairfax in early 2005. Connoisseurs of fresh produce, gourmet prepared foods, and fine wines have flocked to the Sterling branch since its grand opening.... more ›

The Financial Times' Jurek Martin is peeved. He hates Dulles Airport, the large international gateway way out in the Virginia suburbs so much so he calls it a "hell hole" and has even called the Post to press them to investigate Dulles and break the "silence in the American media" about its horrid service, particularly its far-from-tolerable waits to clear security in the Eero Saarinen-designed terminal. From Martin's "Letter to America" in this weekend's FT:... more ›

DCist joins all of New York in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the New York subway system. Check out Gothamist for full centennial coverage. Though Boston may have the nation's oldest subway line, New York's subway truly defined what transit is. It has had more influence on American culture and notions of urbanity than any other transportation system, including D.C.'s very own metrorail, despite the slogan as being "America's Subway." As New York and... more ›

Today marks the three year anniversary of the horrible terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which turned a beautiful September morning into a day that changed the nation and the world. Flight 77, out of Dulles Airport, was hijacked, descended on the city and crashed into the northwest side of the Pentagon. Flight 93, out of Newark, N.J., turned around near Cleveland and was heading toward Washington with its eyes on the Capitol, but... more ›