Mayor Vince Gray and a D.C. delegation are taking the show on the road with a June visit to three Chinese cities, where they seek to expand business opportunities.
Field Trip! Gray and D.C. Officials to Visit China
Gray Rolls Out Economic Development Plan
This morning, mayoral contender Vince Gray presented his plan for economic development in the District, criticizing Mayor Adrian Fenty for ignoring the issue, while outlining a broad, if vague plan to get more District residents to work.
Mayor's Major Donors, Staff Get Verizon Center Tickets
WTOP's Mark Segraves got a hold of a partial list of the folks who've been receiving tickets to use the city's free luxury box in the Verizon Center -- the one that the D.C. Council is so miffed they're being boxed out of -- and there's some fun tidbits he discovered.
Most of those invited to D.C.'s Luxury Suite at the Verizon Center by Fenty either contributed the maximum $2,000 to Fenty's campaign or worked on the campaign. The rest of the tickets, with only a few exceptions, went to friends, family and the mayor's senior staffers of the mayor.Segraves linked to the list he received, which shows that City Administrator Dan Tangherlini, Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil Albert and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee all received tickets to the hotly sought after Hannah Montana concert.
Council vs. Mayor Feud Gets Sporting
Now that the gloves have come off in the relationship between the D.C. Council and Mayor Adrian Fenty, it's apparently time for more of their amusingly petty disagreements to become public. The Post has a hilarious story in today's District Extra about a brewing battle over exactly how the city's allotment of free Wizards tickets will be distributed. Turns out last week the mayor's office slyly attempted to pick up all 24 tickets for the...
WalkingTown DC Preview: Marvin Gaye Park
Cultural Tourism DC's free WalkingTown DC event this Saturday, Sept. 29 has a walking tour for everyone, but one of the tours that most interests us is the "What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye Park" tour, led by volunteer Steve Coleman and presented by the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. From 10 to 11:30 a.m., participants will have the opportunity to follow the path of famed soul singer Marvin Gaye’s early life growing up...
ISO Wealthy Developer for Long-term Relationship
Written by DCist contributor Jesse Kaye T-21 days. The countdown is on for what may determine the fate of a large part of Southeast D.C. October 19 is the date set by the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development when all RFEI's, or requests for expressions of interest, are due -- and the date by which we ought to finally have an idea of what will happen to Poplar Point. A year ago, the...
Morning Roundup: Back to School Edition
Good morning, Washington, and welcome to September. After what was quite possibly the most beautiful weekend in the history of late summer weather in this city, we've finally arrived at the date many of us still associate with "back-to-school" -- the Tuesday after Labor Day. So sharpen your pencils, polish your lunchbox and make sure you have the right Trapper Keeper as we check out today's headlines. At Least Four Weekend Killings: The Examiner...
Morning Roundup: How it Is Edition
Good morning, Washington. Predictions of a cold front that will bring in spring-like conditions tomorrow have us a little bit giddy this morning, so we hope you'll forgive us for putting up a slightly hurried morning roundup so we can seize the opportunity to dance around our office with glee. You know want to do the same, so go on, we won't tell. Post Starts Beating Examiner's Drum: A front page story this morning in...
Old Convention Center Plans Finalized
UPDATE: We've now gotten word from intrepid boy reporter Kriston Capps that the D.C. Council's Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation voted to table Bill 16-734, in a motion brought by At-Large Councilmember Carol Schwartz, which carried 3 to 2 with Marion Barry, Schwartz and surprise vote Vincent Gray against Kathy Patterson and Phil Mendelson. What does this mean for the future of Williams' library plan? Hard to say. Tabling a bill is usually a...
Should We Pay to Fix the Corcoran's Roof?
The proposed 2007 budget shows $9 million for the Commission on Arts and Humanities, but total arts funding sprinkled throughout the budget adds up to at least $35 million. Most of it shows up in the budget of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. While supporting the arts should be part of a broad economic development strategy, it would be far better to list all arts funding in one place, presumably the Commission on Arts and Humanities. Doing this would lead, I hope, to better discussions about how to set priorities in this area.He has a point, though we're guessing that a significant reason for funneling art institution development funds through the Planning and Economic Development office is the fact that it is more adept at handling the financing of large construction projects than the Commission on Arts and Humanities.
A Building Grows in Anacostia
Mayor Williams, along with representatives from the National Capital Revitalization Corporation, the Anacostia Economic Development Corporation and DRI Partners today broke ground on the first new construction in the historic core of Anacostia in 15 years.
Dremo's No More?
For the past few weeks we've heard rumors buzzing around that Dr. Dremo's, a favorite dive-y hang-out in Arlington, had been sold and would soon be closing its doors. This news distressed us, because where exactly are we supposed to go to play outdoor beer pong come summertime, huh?! In fact, we were so perturbed that we actually picked up a phone, grabbed a notepad, and did this reporting thing that's all the rage.
Plotting the Future of Shaw, U Street
If you have any interest in the future of U Street and Shaw as a whole, the District’s Office of Planning and Economic Development and the Office of Planning is hosting a forum tonight on the future of planning in the neighborhoods, especially along the U Street and Seventh Street corridors in Northwest.

