It's blazing hot outside, so a long line snaking outside the Capital Hilton since this morning couldn't help but engender some curiosity - and sympathy - from onlookers. Turns out the line waiters are here for the free, five-day long "Save the Dream of Homeownership" event hosted by the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America. Michelle Singletary explained the event last week, which invited homeowners in danger of foreclosure to come to D.C. and meet with......

It was just a couple weeks ago that we told you about Olsson's plans to shutter its Penn Quarter location -- which it finally did, on Friday. In an email to customers, owner John Olsson had said that "The landlord has other plans for the space," and we confirmed that those plans were to bring in UK noodle shop Wagamama. But the Post reported on Saturday that it looks like there's a lot more to......

Given the record high gasoline prices consumers are paying at the pump right now, it's not terribly surprising that the D.C. Taxicab Commission took "emergency action" this week to extend the expiration date of the current $1 per trip gas surcharge by another 120 days. The previous gas surcharge, which was also an "emergency" extension, went into effect at the end of January and expired on May 28. When the $1 gas surcharge cycle we're......

The annual visit of the Mariinsky Theater's traveling opera troupe from St. Petersburg came a little early this year. The themes that unite the Kennedy Center double-bill of Verdi's Otello and Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades are self-destructive obsessions and tenor heroes who become villains. Who better to perform The Queen of Spades than the Mariinsky Theater, which hosted the world premiere of The Queen of Spades on December 19, 1890? The opera is thoroughly Russian,......

The interminably delayed Capitol Visitor Center took one small step toward becoming a reality yesterday, as the AP reports that the U.S. House of Representatives voted to name the largest room in the new center Emancipation Hall. The room would be named in honor of the slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol. The House passed the bill 398-6 on Tuesday. The U.S. Senate will now consider the bill, which is unlikely to be defeated......

"The trouble with radicals,” goes a quote widely attributed to early 20th century economist Thomas Nixon Carver, “is that they only read radical literature, and the trouble with conservatives is that they don’t read anything.” That both sides of the political spectrum have proven that to be a lie will be apparent tomorrow tonight at the Trover Shop on Capitol Hill, which is hosting The Hill’s Sixth Annual Political Book Fair. Participating authors include current......

The most recent exhibition at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, organized with help from the National Museum of African Art, Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries, is as much a chronicle of history as it is a document for how art records history. Trying to pigeonhole this exhibition into a one category is difficult. It is more than just the fact the exhibition displays more than 260......

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. Over the past few weeks, events have conspired to place race squarely at the center of the debate over public education in the District of Columbia. After appointing Michelle Rhee the first ever Chancellor of District Schools, Mayor Fenty found himself faced with a barrage of criticism and innuendo from the Washington Post drawing attention to the fact that she was not......

DCist reader Torrey writes: I was hoping you knew of a good local computer repair shop. It's for my personal laptop. I have been looking all morning and I cant find anything but GeekSquad in NW. Computer repair is an awful business to be in, and an even worse one to have to patronize. NBC4's Liz Crenshaw did a piece on it a week or two ago and reached a depressing conclusion: faced with a......

Good morning, Washington. With the holiday behind us and temperatures closing in on 90, it now feels solidly like summer, huh? Well, we're glad to have the warm weather. What we're not as glad about is the spike in crime that usually accompanies it. After yesterday's relentlessly depressing conversation about race, gentrification and crime, we're kind of wishing for snow simply to stave off the bitter comment threads that a few bored hooligans can spawn.......

Two long years ago, gas prices in the city were hovering around an eye-popping $2.59 for a gallon of regular. That may seem like chump change these days, but back then, it had a lot of people worried. At the top of that list were D.C. cabbies. Worried that the rising cost of gas would cut into their profits, the D.C. Taxicab Commission responded to the price spike by implementing a $1.00 per ride surcharge......

The past week or so has been tough for all you car commuters out there, huh? For each of the past 10 days, the average price of gas in the U.S. has reached yet another record high. The price for a gallon of regular is currently at $3.21 and rising, which exceeds the 1981 record of $1.35, or $3.15 in current dollars. Experts don't expect prices to go down any time soon, if ever. The......

Former Editor-in-Chief Ryan Avent writes a weekly column about neighborhood and development issues. The news came as absolutely no surprise to most observers of the city of Washington, but it still managed to produce banner headlines and an outbreak of hand wringing. Which, I suppose, should also have been no surprise, in a city where issues of race and income lade every public policy discussion. Earlier this week, the Census Bureau released new data on......

Whoops. We neglected to bring you our weekly calendar of notable author visits yesterday, so here's your slightly abbreviated version. Go forth and enjoy the wordy goodness. TUESDAY: Get ready for the farmer's market season with Russ Parsons tonight at Politics and Prose, where he'll be discussing how (and how not) to squeeze and shake for the perfect piece of fruit when he reads from How to Pick a Peach. 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY: Turn off......

Remember when a loaf of bread cost a quarter, a gallon of gas was 50 cents, and you could see a movie for a buck or two? Neither do we. The fact is, as time goes on, elusive forces at work in our economy inevitably drive up the price of most items. Though no one likes having to shell out hard earned money for something that cost less yesterday, we grudgingly pay the extra amount......

Today activists around the country are planning demonstrations supporting immigrantions. You'll recall that last year organizers staged a national boycott to highlight immigrants' contribution to the American economy. In D.C. several demonstrations are slated. The National Immigrant Solidarity Network sponsors a few of the events. WTOP has a fairly exhaustive list: A May Day Asian American rally is planned for noon at Taft Memorial Park, north of the Capitol. A hunger strike and rally at......

Another week, another set of transit headlines. This week we've got "controversy" over the new Taxicab Zone Map, Metro's contribution to the, er, local economy, and questions about the new rail cars Metro's been bringing on line. Also, yet another story of inaction on Metro funding...but by Maryland. Worth noting: The Metro Riders Advisory Council is holding an event this evening at Metro's 600 5th St. NW headquarters to take suggestions on transit improvements......

Not to alarm you, gentle readers, but the Snowpocalypse is nigh. The National Weather Service has already issued a winter storm watch for the entire area beginning late tonight and lasting through Wednesday morning. Forecasters aren't certain they want to label it an exclusively snow event, or if we can expect a wintry mix, which, by the way, is our second favorite kind of mix, after margarita. CapitalWeather predicts the fluffy stuff will start falling......

Well, Washington, we seem to be stuck in a rut here. The country is mired in war, the Tysons tunnel debate drones on, and the weather remains nothing but frigid. Even the Grammys were stuck in the past. A show meant to honor the best music of the past year was dominated by The Dixie Chicks and Mary J. Blige? Red Hot Chili Peppers? Lionel F%&$ing Richie? Rest in Peace, Pop Music. Solid Year Expected......

Joe Lally should need no introduction. As one half of one of the most rock-solid and inventive rhythm sections in rock and roll, he spent the better part of two decades playing the part of unshakeable anchor for Fugazi's storms of dueling guitars. His fluid, rolling bass lines have been often imitated, and, in one case, appropriated for the unlikely purpose of rallying fans at sporting events. With his former band in the midst......

No one who spends any time walking around Columbia Heights, U Street or Logan Circle probably needed the New York Times to tell them that there are way more condos on the market than people to buy them. But it's nice the rest of the country now knows how shortsighted our local real estate developers and investors have been. From today's Times: In hopes of salvaging something from their costly plans, hundreds of developers like......

The polling on the prohibition of gay marriage and the support for incumbent senator George Allen proves what we've always known -- Northern Virginia is becoming less and less like the rest of the state. But what to do about the polarization? Easy. Secession. D.C. Metblogs head honcho Tom Bridge, himself a Virginian, today proposed giving the District back the Virginia lands (and then some) that originally formed part of the city but were retroceded......

It's shaping up to be a beautiful day here in Washington, with a high around 70 degrees and mostly sunny skies. Here's hoping the great weather can brighten the days of Montgomery County election officials, who are reporting that they won't have a final count of all provisional ballots in the county until sometime next week, thanks to mistakes which forced many early morning voters to cast the paper ballots. We know the idea that......

Never has a nineteenth-century Ibsen drama felt so contemporary than with Shakespeare Theatre Company's current production of An Enemy of the People. And while this makes a somewhat lofty play resonate more clearly with its audience, it can also add a strange, didactic clunkiness to some of Ibsen's words. An Enemy of the People is an appealing study of personal integrity in the face of devastating opposition. Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a town-employed engineer, helped build......

Good morning, Washington, and thanks to everyone who joined us last night to celebrate Butterstick's first birthday. We had a great time meeting folks, downing cheap beer and generally looking ridiculous in our black and white regalia. We're grateful to everyone who came out. And we swear we had nothing to do with the gun-control-themed reggae that eventually filled the room. Slots Petitions Draw Complaints: Washington is a city with a booming economy, a lingering......

Pity the poor interns. It's about this time every year that one begins reading articles that warn about the coming summer crop by comparing them to a descending swarm of locusts. It's grossly unfair. Okay, sure — it's true that they'll soon be here, covering every available outdoor surface, their mandibles clicking unpleasantly in the still night air. And yes, there'll be a certain "swarming" quality to the proceedings, as they form a furious and......

If you're a fan of sushi, it may come as a bit of a surprise to know that your eating habits may directly be propping up the Washington Times and the rest of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's quirky religious empire. A reader recently tipped us off to an article in the Chicago Tribune outlining how Moon -- a self-proclaimed messiah and leader of the Unification Church -- has all but cornered the sushi market, using......

This week's Washington Post magazine features a sprawling story by David Von Drehel on Washington's economic juggernaut. The piece jumps around a lot, throwing out some questionable economic assertions, overhyping (we feel) the terrorist menace, and curiously detouring on the morality of Washington's growth in a post-September 11th world, but the main point of his story is clear: In the past four years, government spending in the area has skyrocketed (increasing by $18.5 billion over......

D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams may not be mayor for much longer, but he does have a few wishes for his successor's benefit, writes the Post today. First off, that the title be changed from "mayor" to "governor," a recognition of the fact that the District serves both the functions of a city and a state. Second, a good retirement package. Third and final, a mayoral house. Williams quickly backed off of asking for a mayoral......

There's a simple reason Kojo Nnamdi is on radio -- something about his voice is soothing, reassuring and disarming. Whether testing microphones or querying his guests or the audience, Kojo speaks in a steady, curious tone, rarely betraying his opinion on any matter. But enough about Kojo -- we don't want you to think this is a review of a Scott Stapp show or something. Yesterday Kojo took his daily WAMU show on the road,......